Ryan Giggs - The next big thing?

[AW190]

February + March
Potential for the first trophy of the season, plus some tough Europa League games.

View attachment 160732
Results:
View attachment 160728
Relatively good, West Ham stopped it being perfect... Not beaten them in the league yet :/

Middlesbrough, Stoke, Norwich and Everton: Comfortable wins, nothing else to really add.
Tottenham: What a game! They took an early 2-0 lead, only for us to peg them back at half time. We came storming out after half time and eventually took the lead. 10 minutes later, they were level. Only for us to go and score just 2 minutes after that! Great entertainment, but not our finest defensive efforts...
West Ham: I'm not happy with this... Malcom had a goal ruled out for pushing, a shot off the line AND a saved penalty at 2-1 up! We really should've won this.

League Table:
View attachment 160711
No spoilers from the League Cup here Also, despite having 2 games in hand the next game is a must win - Chelsea at home!


Awards:
View attachment 160714View attachment 160715
Jean Carlos + Paulo Freitas take the player awards for February

View attachment 160712View attachment 160713
I win MotM, and Freitas is 2nd in PotM for March.

View attachment 160731
Results:
View attachment 160727
Two comfortable wins. No way West Ham were gonna stop me lifting this cup!

Draw:
It went to a replay between Sheffield Wednesday + Sunderland. Having played further along in the save, we get Sunderland.
View attachment 160730
Results:
View attachment 160726
Taking the tough route round...

Valencia A: A commanding win to set us up well for the home leg. Super performance by Carlos
Valencia H: Professionally done, simple win. 2 more for Freitas
Dortmund H: A definite step up from Valencia but we were still the better team by far. However, Dortmund stayed firm at the back and showed their class on the counter to nick what could have been a vital away goal for them.
Dortmund A: Lots of drama here! A real end to end game looked to be ending goaless, and us going through until De Gea made an absolute howler in the 87th minute, dropping the ball at the feet of a grateful Carillo. All our hard work seemed to be over, until kick off anyway. We literally walked through their defence to score within 30 seconds of them. Massive drama, and Ancelotti looked broken.

Draw:
View attachment 160710
And the tough route is over! The easiest QF opponent we could have got Semi's will be Arsenal or Lyon, and the final will most likely be Bayern if we get there.

View attachment 160729
Result:
View attachment 160725
We did it! First trophy in the bag, and still in the running for the other 3 available to us. Suliman's early goal meant we could play the game our way, and we did.

Team of the Update:
De Gea, Shaw, Romagnoli, Suliman, Chambers, Moreno, Mitropoulos, Herrera, Carlos, Malcom, Freitas

Injury Update:
View attachment 160706
Short term things again.

Board Confidence:
View attachment 160705
They still love me

Next Time: The end of season run-in (Except the Europa League final if we get there)
View attachment 160707Hmm, if we get through the cups this might go into June...​

 

[AW190]

April + Some of May Review
The end to the league season, plus the business end of the FA Cup and Europa League.

View attachment 159914
Results:
View attachment 159911
Too many to go through... Good in April, decided to try and screw it up in May.

Was it enough?
Final League Table:
View attachment 159905
Despite holding a healthy advantage going into the home stretch, we only just stumbled over the line to become champions!



Awards:
View attachment 159909View attachment 159908View attachment 159907
A clean sweep in April for us!


View attachment 159916
Result:
View attachment 159912
Comfortably into the final

View attachment 159915
Results:
View attachment 159913
Destroyed the Scots, and put in an efficient away performance at the holders to get to the final. Quadruple dream well and truly on!

Team of the Update:
De Gea, Shaw, Laporte, Romagnoli, Chambers, Neves, Mitropoulos, Malcom, Meyer, Carlos, Freitas


Injury List:
All clear!


Board Confidence:
View attachment 159902


NEXT TIME:
THE FA CUP FINAL:
View attachment 159903
and

THE EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL:
View attachment 159904

​

 

[AW190]

​End of Season award, plus my favorite news of the season!

Awards
Footballer of the Year - Malcom (United)
View attachment 159892

Golden Boot - Simone Zaza (Spurs)
View attachment 159891

Golden Glove - David De Gea (United)
View attachment 159890

Players' Player of the Year - Hector Bellerín (Arsenal)
View attachment 159889
3 of the past 4 years for him.

Players' Young Player - Paulo Freitas (United)
View attachment 159888

Team of the Year - De Gea, Shaw, Laporte, Zouma, Bellerín, Malcom, Sterling, Coutinho, Guedes, Freitas, Zaza
View attachment 159887
Just 5 for us!

Manager of the Year - Ryan Giggs!!!!
View attachment 159886
Win the league = Manager of the Year


And... the big news:
View attachment 159885
Hahahaha!!​

 

[AW190]

THE DOUBLE FINAL!!!
Massive update, as we go for the quadruple.

First up - THE FA CUP FINAL
View attachment 159584
View attachment 159583
The first of the 2 finals sees us have a chance to complete the domestic treble, and it would be so sweet to do it against the noisy neighbours!

Lineups:
View attachment 159582
Man City didn't have to worry about a Europa League final 3 days earlier, so they are at full strength. Due to the EL final, we have to name a rotated squad - with the likes of Nunnely, Cioni and Schneiderlin all getting rare starts.

0': Kick off.
11': First real chance of the game, as Bentacur heads over from a corner.
20': Another chance from a corner for City, this time Laporte blocks Kanes header on the line!
38': City with a flurry of corners, nothing comes from them though.
45': Half Time. One of the most boring halves of football we've seen this season, albeit slightly expected due to United's exertions in midweek.

46': Kick off. United have made a change, Mitropoulos replacing Schneiderlin
48': First good chance for United, Freitas turning Nunnely's free kick goalbound only for Donnarumma to parry it away.
62': United make their other 2 changes, Icardi and Malcom on for Freitas and Nunnely.
63': De Gea punches clear a strong header from Kane.
69': Icardi flashes a shot across goal after good work from Malcom.
88': Massive chance for United to win it, but Icardi can only power straight at Donnarumma when clean through!
90': Full Time.

91: Kick Off
95': Romagnoli hits the bar from a corner, United starting well in extra time.
97': But just like that, City score - Bentacur slamming home after penalty area pinball. 0-1
101': Back in business! Icardi stabs home a Malcom cross. 1-1
105': Half Time
113': What a plonker! Cioni loses his cool, and hacks down Ceballos (an earlier sub for City) with 2 feet. Jon Moss has no choice; United are down to 10 men!
116': 10 v 10, as Sterling goes off injured for City. A blow, as he was a likely penalty taker if it gets that far.
120': Full Time, we go to penalties!

Penalties
Suaréz (City) - GOAL 0-1
Mitropoulos (United) - GOAL 1-1
Ibrahim Aslan (City) - GOAL 1-2
Icardi (United) - GOAL 2-2
Stones (City) - SAVED 2-2
Januzaj (United) - GOAL 3-2
Kondogbia (City) - WIDE 3-2
Malcom (United) - GOAL 4-2

WIN FOR MANCHESTER UNITED!!!

That's the three domestic trophies sorted, but how did we do in the biggest challenge - the Europa League?

View attachment 159579
View attachment 159576

Lineups:
View attachment 159577
Full strength for both sides as United look to avenge last years Champions League final defeat to the same side.

0': Kick off.
11': A good pass by Rabiot sees Coman through on goal, but he can only lift his shot over both De Gea and the crossbar.
31': Yeboah flashes a low cross across the face of the goal, and Freitas is denied by Neuer!
40': Romagnoli wins a header from a corner, but it's straight at Neuer!
43': Neves finds some space in the area, but his shot is blocked by Rabiot.
45': Half time, but United are on top

46': Kick off!
47': Meyer sends a superb ball over the top for Carlos to chase. He does, but his shot flies past the far post
50': Goal for United!!! Meyer's free kick evades everyone except Malcom who fires home! 1-0
63': Muller floats a cross over, but Lewandowski can't control his header. Harmlessly over.
67': Neves splits the Bayern defence in 2 with a superb through ball for Icardi to chase. He beats Neuer to it, and ***** it over him! 2-0
71': Goretzka repeats the Neves pass, but De Gea saves Mullers effort
77': Alaba gets in behind Yeboah, but his cross/shot is skewed off target.
87': Corner to Bayern, but De Gea claims it off the head of Goretzka!
90': FULL TIME - UNITED WIN THE EUROPA LEAGUE!!!
A brilliant performance here, we deserved the win.

View attachment 159575

Next time - Pre Season stuff
​

 

[AW190]

View attachment 159234

This is tempting, so tempting. What would you guys do?


​

 

[Godfish93]

United are only a small club, I'd join the big leagues.

 

[AW190]

View attachment 1043795
Breaking: Ryan Giggs rejects Real Madrid

Ryan Giggs has today turned down the offer of the Real Madrid job, opting to stay at his club Manchester United with the aim on building on the previous seasons quadruple.

As with moving to United, this makes the most sense for the sake of the story - if Giggsy was to manage United, he'd hardly leave them after 1 season!


​

 

[AW190]

Summer Transfer Window + August Update​

View attachment 158338
I resist the urge to splash the cash, as I buy one promising youngster and the backup keeper we've been so desperately looking for. I've also agreed a deal for a young goalie from Brazil, but he won't join until next summer (and needs a WP as well). Just one major outgoing, as Spurs cough up a ridiculous £20m for Nunnely - he doesn't play much for us, and is definitely worse than anyone ahead of him in his positions. A no-brainer.

Yerai - DC
View attachment 158337
Youth wise, we're covered in strikers - too many tbh, yet we only really have one decent CB prospect who is on loan with a view to being in the squad next season. So I bought this guy, who looks like he could be good. He's been loaned back to Valladolid for the season.

Stefanos Kapino - GK
View attachment 158336
I'd been tracking him for a while, but for all that time Wolfsburg wanted around £20m for him. As soon as they lowered their price, we swooped. Looks a good deal for a backup GK.

Elsewhere
View attachment 158335View attachment 158334View attachment 158333
Real Madrid left it late, and then swooped in 2 big deals for Jedvaj and a ST regen who I would've signed if we didn't have Freitas, Icardi and Malcom...

Most Expensive Signing Each Month
Alexandr Udaltsov (PSG)
View attachment 158332
Potential? Yes. First team material for PSG? No. But still, if you have the cash...

Facundo Dominguez (Bayern)
View attachment 158331
2nd big move in a year for him. I don't see it though...

Fabian Kammerbauer (Real)
View attachment 158330
Not too shabby

---

August
We have 3 trophies to defend (and one to avoid defending!)

Competition Expectations (Mine, not the boards)
BPL: Retain
FA Cup: Final
League Cup: Semi's (but play youngsters)
CL: Group dependant, but ideally Semi's
Euro Super Cup + Community Shield: Win.

View attachment 158325
Result:
View attachment 158321
A win to kick off the season, a solitary Freitas strike enough to claim the trophy. One down, 5 to go.

View attachment 158329
Results:
View attachment 158322
A tough run of fixtures, but we emerge with maximum points!

League Table:
View attachment 158317
Swansea the surprise early leaders, closely followed by us and the noisy neighbours.

Award:

View attachment 158328
Draw:
View attachment 158315
Could've been easier.

View attachment 158324
Result:
View attachment 158320
A bore draw, followed by penalties to match it. We won 2-1 on penalties. 2 down, 4 to go.

View attachment 158327
Draw:
View attachment 158316
"Welcome back to the Champions League; please enjoy your complimentary Group of Death"
This will be fun


Team of the Update:
De Gea, Shaw, Laporte, Romagnoli, Yeboah, Mitropoulos, Kranevitter, Malcom, Meyer, Carlos, Freitas

Injury List:
Nothing to report

Board Confidence:
View attachment 158314

Next time:
​

View attachment 158319

 

[AW190]

Woah, I didn't realise I'd left it so long without updating!

---

September + October Review
View attachment 156797
Fixtures:
View attachment 156788
A good start, as we remained strong defensively and went 4 on the trot without conceding before Southampton ended our run. A good bounce back win against City, before Norwich shock us again.

League Table:
View attachment 156781
So despite ending the unbeaten runs of the other parts of the top 3, we aren't top as City have had an even better start than us. Chelsea down in 12th is the big shock so far, you can't imagine Roman being too patient with Luis Enrique for much longer.


Awards:
View attachment 156778View attachment 156777View attachment 156776
Our all conquering September form sees us take MotM (me) and PotM (Freitas), whilst one of our better youngsters on loan takes third in YPotM (Le Cam)


View attachment 156796
Result:
View attachment 156787
A solid win, we were excellent in the first half but dodgy in the second.

Draw:
View attachment 156780
A chance for instant revenge against Norwich.

View attachment 156795
It is worth noting that we are already 2nd favourites for the title, behind 11 time winners Real. No pressure then!

Results:
View attachment 156786
I said it would be fun... A solid home win over Basel followed by a trip to Madrid. Atletico tore us a new a***, we just didn't show up. We responded in style though, as we absolutely humiliated Dortmund at OT.

Group Standings:
View attachment 156779
We're 2nd, but Dortmund beat Atleti (as you do...) so we know we just need to get 7 points (as long as we beat Atleti) to ensure we win the group.


Team of the Update:
De Gea, Shaw, Suliman, Romagnoli, Yeboah, Kranevitter, Mitropoulos, Malcom, Shaqiri, Januzaj, Freitas


Injury List:
View attachment 156770
Meyer suffered a pretty bad injury at the start of October, and is unlikely to play again this year.

Board Confidence:
View attachment 156769
Pretty solid, will only increase as we progress further in the cups.


Next Time:
View attachment 156782​

 

[AW190]

November + December Review

View attachment 155308
Results:
View attachment 155302
A few big wins on the way, and only conceding in 2 games as we go both months unbeaten in the league.

League Table:
View attachment 155289
Top at the halfway stage, but City are pushing us to the very limit! Carry on at this rate and we'll finish close to the records point haul!

Awards:
View attachment 155280View attachment 155281
MotM for me and PotM for Freitas in December.

View attachment 155282View attachment 155283View attachment 155284
MotM for me, 2nd in PotM for Carlos with Moreno third and 3rd in YPotM for Jimmy Benjamin (a youngster)

View attachment 155307
Results:
View attachment 155301
2 hard fought wins over BPL opposition see us through to the semi final. Still on track for 6 trophies!

Draw:
View attachment 155288
It was them, Arsenal or Liverpool. Probably the best result for us. They have sacked Enrique and replaced him with Paco Jemez.


View attachment 155306
Draw:
View attachment 155287
Mid table BPL team again.


View attachment 155305
Results:
View attachment 155300
2 draws, and a win against Basel was the best we could manage - meaning we needed a favour from elsewhere.


Group Standings:
View attachment 155286
No favours for us as we finish second to Atletico.


Draw:
View attachment 155285
And boy do we get punished! Tie of the round by a mile, and a tie you'd expect to see in the final, not the first knockout round. The winner of this *should* win the competition.

Global Awards:

World Player of the Year - Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
View attachment 155242
Still...

African Footballer of the Year - George Yeboah (US)
View attachment 155246
Couldn't get a game for Spain so declared for Ghana at the start of the year. Then wins this

Golden Ball - Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
View attachment 155245
Soon to be the age of Bellerín :/

Golden Boy - Allan Theys (Roma)
View attachment 155244

World Team of the Year - Rulli, Shaw, Hummels, Varane, Bellerín, Rodriguez, Correa, Coman, Gotze, Neymar, Messi
View attachment 155243
3 players on the subs bench (DDG, Malcom and Freitas). Exciting news about a player in this team soon

Injury List
Clean.

Next Time:
View attachment 155299

And the January transfer window!​

 

[AW190]

January Transfer Window + Review
View attachment 154844
4 of the top 5 are regens. Less action for us as we agree one deal at the moment for a youngster, and have 3 arranged for the summer along with one departure on a pre-contract.

In
Wallace Fernando (GK)
View attachment 154843
£4m from Santos, will take over from De Gea eventually. Loaned back to Brazil with Atletico Mineiro for the rest of the season.

Paulo Henrique (DL)
View attachment 154842
Pre-contract from Sao Paulo. As he's under 18 he won't join for another 2 years. Will take over from Shaw eventually.

Alejandro Solimene (DC)
View attachment 154841
£4m from River Plate. Will join in the summer, and we beat off competition from the rest of Europe's elite for him.

Angel Correa (CAM)
View attachment 154840
And the big deal! We take Correa from under Atletico's noses! One of the team of the year, and was a pain when we played Atletico in the CL. We don't have a natural CAM backup so he will rotate with Meyer.

Out
Xherdan Shaqiri
View attachment 154801
Starting to decline so we let him leave at the end of his contract... to Real Madrid!

The top 5 transfers
View attachment 154793View attachment 154794View attachment 154795View attachment 154796View attachment 154792

---

January Fixtures
View attachment 154791
Results:
View attachment 154785
4 wins, 1 defeat. Good form

League Table:
View attachment 154781
Going right to the wire I think



View attachment 154790
Results:
View attachment 154783
Through safely

Draw:
View attachment 154780
Oh yes! Feisty derby time!

View attachment 154789
Results:
View attachment 154784
Comfortable, would've liked to win both legs though

Draw:
View attachment 154779
Liverpool won the first leg as well!


Team of the Update:
DDG, Shaw, Suliman, Romagnoli, Cioni, Neves, Mitropoulos, Shaqiri, Januzaj, Carlos, Freitas


Injury List:
Clean!


Next Time:
View attachment 154782
March looks fun!​

 

[AW190]

I leave it so long between updates sometimes

---

February + March Update
View attachment 153444
Results:
View attachment 153438
1 defeat. 1 single defeat. And it had to be City! Potentially pivotal moment in the title race there.

League Table:
View attachment 153431
That's close... Us and City seperated by 2 points, we have a game in hand against Liverpool of all teams the midweek before the final game of the season. Going to the wire. Also, well done Newcastle - relegated already

Awards:
View attachment 153426View attachment 153427View attachment 153428
3rd in MotM for me, 3rd for JC in PotM and 2nd for young Besancon (who's seriously impressed me so far) in YPotM - all for February

View attachment 153442
Results:
View attachment 153437
Squeeze past Palace before easing past Blackburn.

Draw:
View attachment 153430
Best case scenario for us.

View attachment 153441
Result:
View attachment 153436
Solid win, never really troubled.
3 down, 3 to go!

View attachment 153440
Results:
View attachment 153435
We only went and did it! I thought the home draw ended our chances, but we stuck out well at the Bernabeu and took our chances when Jedvaj got sent off in extra time!

Draw:
View attachment 153429
Not too bad, they do have some good (Pogba, Isco, Dybala) players though so we need to be careful.


Team of the Update
DDG, Shaw, Laporte, Suliman, Yeboah, Kranevitter, Mitropoulos, Januzaj, Besancon, Carlos, Freitas

Injury List:
View attachment 153425
2 of our 3 RW out... Problematic if Shaqiri were to get ruled out (Spoiler: He does...)

Next Time:
View attachment 153424
Seeing as the title race will most likely go the distance, I will split April and May into seperate updates - but not do a single update for any finals we reach.​

 

[AW190]

April Review
Short but sweet

Results:
View attachment 153401
Started off poorly with 2 consecutive defeats, but turned it around towards the end.

League Table:
View attachment 153392
Going right to the end.

FA Cup Draw:
View attachment 153391
Derby time!

Champions League Draw:
We will play either PSG or Arsenal in the final. First leg was 2-2 at the Emirates.

Remaining Fixtures:
View attachment 153400

---

P.S. Without meaning to jinx the luck on the save, does anyone have any suggestions for the next save I should do (as I'm finishing this one after a CL win at United)?​

 

[AW190]

The final update?
Still got 3 trophies to fight for - can we complete an unprecedented sextuple?!

View attachment 153254
RESULT:
View attachment 153250
A solid win over the noisy neighbors, never in doubt once their RB got a red card.

4 down, just 2 to go!

View attachment 153253
RESULTS:
View attachment 153251
3 wins meant that City needed to win both their games and overturn a 10 goal deficit (before these games, so in effect a 17 goal deficit) - surely that means we're champions, right?

FINAL LEAGUE TABLE:
View attachment 153246
Of course it does!

5 down, just the Champions League to go!

END OF SEASON AWARDS:
View attachment 153239View attachment 153240View attachment 153241View attachment 153242View attachment 153243View attachment 153244View attachment 153245
Domination. Heck, we even stopped Bellerín getting his hands on an award (even if he beat Yeboah into TotY)

View attachment 153252
RESULTS:
SEMI FINAL LEG 2 - 3-2 down on aggregate.
View attachment 153249
Benfica put it one of the best defensive performances I've ever seen - think along the lines of Chelsea in the CL winning season! However, we have the difference maker that is Paulo Freitas - he banged in his 43rd goal of the season to put us through to the final. Who would we meet? Arsenal of course!

FINAL:
View attachment 153248
What. A. Comeback. I seriously thought we'd thrown it away at the last hurdle (typical FM) but the boys responded magnificently, led by Freitas - who finished the season on 47 goals! Jimmy Benjamin has performed magnificently since being called up from the youth squad and caps a remarkable breakthrough season with the goal to crown us champions of Europe!

We did it! The sextuple!
View attachment 153247


My team of the season:
View attachment 153238
Subs: Kapino, Suliman, Neves, Icardi, Meyer, Cioni, Shaqiri - Honourable mention to Jimmy Benjamin

---

So, that brings this save to a close - what a save it's been! Shame that I couldn't do the SAF challenge at West Ham - although they have still struggled since I left so it wasn't all my fault But, at least Giggsy got to go back to United and have a hugely successful spell there as a manager.
For me, time to go away and think of a new challenge/idea for a save. I'll be back, and I hope you'll all follow my new journey - whatever it may be!

​

 

[bashuijsmans]

one of the best stories around here. It was maybe even a nice twist that you got sacked lol

maybe it's a idea to start an interactive story or are you planning on a long term career?

 

[AW190]

one of the best stories around here. It was maybe even a nice twist that you got sacked lol

maybe it's a idea to start an interactive story or are you planning on a long term career?

Thanks for the comment mate, suppose it was good for the story for me to get sacked - albeit not for the challenge aha!
I'd obviously prefer to have a long(ish) term career save to do, but I'm willing to start up some form of interactive story if enough people wanted it!