XbeastMx

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My fellow Managers,

Looking for some feedback on my second season as Manager of Manchester United.
I had a successful 1st Season with two silverware.
When you browse the forum you always find Managers who make this major sales and investments but the true question is, are these transfers performed out of greed, need or necessity? We all want the dream team but the reality is that it is not really needed and why waste transfer funds if transfers are not really going to enhance the team.

First of all, Damiao, Hamsik and Jovetic are all transfer listed.
My management style is to keep United with English blood but still bring in Internationals, key focus is not to decrease the amount of English players. I also tend to invest in youth and never buy a player that is 26+.
For the 2nd season I have £40M in Transfer Funds.

I play with 2 central defenders, 2 fullbacks, 1 defensive midfielder, 1 central midfielder, 1 inside forward, 1 winger, 1 attacking midfielder and 1 strike, I never play a striker pair.

My current lineup;
GK: De Gea/Lindegaard
CD: Smalling/Ferdinand/Evans/Vidic
FB: Rafael/Fabio/Evra/Buttner/Stones
DM: Jones/Fletcher
CM: Carrick/Cleverly/Ward-Prowse
AM: Kagawa/Januzaj/Rooney
W: Ayew/Valencia/Zaha/Nem
ST: Persie/Welbeck/Hernandez/Henriquez

So, I am very tempted to sell Pesie since Hernandez has been excellent for me and so has Welbeck. Ferdinand and Evra are not getting and younger. Buttner is not as good as I thought he would be...
 
GK: De Gea can be your keeper for years to come. Don't need improvements in this area.

CD: Ferdinand and Vidic are getting older and are probably both on big wages. I'd consider selling one of them and replacing him with a young talent like Zouma or Papadoupolos.

DM: Jones is class, not so sure about Fletcher. Could sell Fletcher and replace him with a player like M'Vila, but that's up to you.

CM: Carrick is also class, but is getting older as well. Cleverley has potential but needs playing time, same with Ward-Prowse. Might not need changes here.

AM: Kagawa and Rooney should probably rotate this position. Not too familiar with the quality of Januzaj.

W: Four good players, don't need changes.

ST: I would sell van Persie. He is getting older but clubs will still be willing to pay big money for him. You would still have 3 others for this position, and also Rooney can play here.
 
My current lineup;
GK: De Gea/Lindegaard
CD: Smalling/Ferdinand/Evans/Vidic
FB: Rafael/Fabio/Evra/Buttner/Stones
DM: Jones/Fletcher
CM: Carrick/Cleverly/Ward-Prowse
AM: Kagawa/Januzaj/Rooney
W: Ayew/Valencia/Zaha/Nem
ST: Persie/Welbeck/Hernandez/Henriquez

1. GK - Id get a better 2nd GK in place of Lindegaard. If you have money go for TER STEGEN
2. CB - Ferdinand esp (and Vidic) are getting old. You need to plan ahead and get a new cb in. Best one is DEDE from Vasco
3. FBs are ok - You could sell Buttner and bring Chris Solly in if you want English. Id bring CORCHIA. Evra will need to be sold next season.
4. DM - You are light here. JORGE ENRIQUEZ would fit nicely
5. CM is ok as is AM (not sure about JANUSAJ tho - and if HAMSIK is on the list he's one of the top FM13 players so ..) and wings
6. I would not sell V Persie just yet. Keep him another season. Plus Henriquez is not yet ready. Loan him out and go for LEANDRO DAMIAO who is AWESOME.
 
ter Stegen, Corchia, Dede and Damiao? Wow you really want the guy to spend :p
 
My fellow Managers,

Looking for some feedback on my second season as Manager of Manchester United.
I had a successful 1st Season with two silverware.
When you browse the forum you always find Managers who make this major sales and investments but the true question is, are these transfers performed out of greed, need or necessity? We all want the dream team but the reality is that it is not really needed and why waste transfer funds if transfers are not really going to enhance the team.

First of all, Damiao, Hamsik and Jovetic are all transfer listed.
My management style is to keep United with English blood but still bring in Internationals, key focus is not to decrease the amount of English players. I also tend to invest in youth and never buy a player that is 26+.
For the 2nd season I have £40M in Transfer Funds.

I play with 2 central defenders, 2 fullbacks, 1 defensive midfielder, 1 central midfielder, 1 inside forward, 1 winger, 1 attacking midfielder and 1 strike, I never play a striker pair.

My current lineup;
GK: De Gea/Lindegaard
CD: Smalling/Ferdinand/Evans/Vidic
FB: Rafael/Fabio/Evra/Buttner/Stones
DM: Jones/Fletcher
CM: Carrick/Cleverly/Ward-Prowse
AM: Kagawa/Januzaj/Rooney
W: Ayew/Valencia/Zaha/Nem
ST: Persie/Welbeck/Hernandez/Henriquez

So, I am very tempted to sell Pesie since Hernandez has been excellent for me and so has Welbeck. Ferdinand and Evra are not getting and younger. Buttner is not as good as I thought he would be...


Only thing I'd say like every one else, sell Ferdinand or Vidic. My reccomendation would be K Papadopoulos. Signed him for my Arsenal team for about 17 mil he's class.
 
I really appreciate the feedback and you are in line with my thoughts both on transfer out and transfer in.
We will see how it goes with the transfers, Damiao will not be cheap, nor will Hamsik but I will scout and try to reduce the price, thanks again!
 
ter Stegen, Corchia, Dede and Damiao? Wow you really want the guy to spend :p

Well he's playing as MAN UTD. He should have them in place within 3 seasons really. There are others which can be found in Raikan's threads and my BOX OF SWEETS thread but ...
 
Well, it is all possible since PSG is willing to pay £60M for Persie...amazing but true.
 
Speaking from my personal experience of managing united for 5 seasons in my save. And my lineup was quite similar. I have the following. And i play 4-4-2

De gea: Outstanding. No need to touch

Ferdinand/Scholes/Giggs will retire at the end of the 2013-2014 season and i find them invaluable for tutoring players. Also iv signed ferdinand to a contract that reduced his wages to half so manageable.

Jones/Evans/Smalling/Vidic are all class. Vidic was turning in Mom performances even in 2015. So i dont touch him. The other 3 are good for years to come. Evans typically underrated but superb for me. I also brought in Steven Caulker as i prefer to keep the team english as well and he's good backup. And stones evolves really well. Since u dont have walker. play him at RB.

Fullbacks: I sold Buttner first chance i got and brought in Leighton Baines who was the best LB in Europe for years.; Evra provided good cover when fabio/baines were unavailable so i kept him. 1 year rolling contracts that reduced his salary to manage.

Fletcher is underrated. He can dominate midfields especially domestically. I play him as a BWM and he's never let me down so i say keep him. I also brought in Sandro who's awesome in European games.

Cleverley i retrained to RM and he's awesome. I mean. Awesome. Scores goals, assists plenty. He and valencia/zaha are my goto guys on the right.

Kagawa retrained to LM and i took a punt on Bale who was transfer listed. So thats my left mid done. u have ayew/nem so thts done

Get hamsik asap. He's the missing ingredient in United for me. I usually play Carrick in midfield but he gets older and i replace him with Powell/Ward-prowse myself. But they take time to develop and Hamsik is fantastic?

Strikers i dont touch. For me, Utd have the best strike options in the game. RVP is good for at least 3 seasons as is Rooney. Those are the principal, especially in Europe. Hernandez and Welbeck are brilliant and Henriquez becomes class from season 2 onwards. So you want to keep playing him. I also bough Neal Maupay who's as good.

This worked superbly for me. Hope it does for you as well. Good luck mate.
 
I'll try to keep this as "cheap" and english as possible while still giving you enough talent to compete with the top clubs in europe.

GK: De Gea/Lindegaard
Don't really need change here, maybe sell Lindegaard and buy Jason Steele/John Ruddy? Both are cheap and talented enough to cover De Gea. Other than that, don't sell De Gea. He's unbelieveably good on the game.

CD: Smalling/Ferdinand/Evans/Vidic
Both Ferdinand and Vidic needs to be replaced in the near future, Smalling is great but I have no idea on how good Evans gets, I'd also put Jones in defence as a partner to Smalling (with Evans as cover) and get someone like Jamaal Lascelles to act as a cover too. (He's very good in my save, but I'm not the "owner" of him)

FB: Rafael/Fabio/Evra/Buttner/Stones
No idea who Stones is. Evra is getting old and his replacement CAN be Fabio if he's developed enough, rotate Fabio/Buttner or sell Buttner and get someone like Matthew Briggs. Rafael is a great right back if developed good enough, if Stones is good enough then you can just rotate the two. If not, buy someone like Nathaniel Clyne.

DM: Jones/Fletcher
Is Fletcher performing well as a DM? Then keep him for a season or two, if he's playing average just sell him.
As I said previously, I'd suggest playing Jones in Defence, so you'd need two new DM's either way. (If Fletcher is good enough to keep, you get a future prospect who Fletcher can tutor)
Maybe Jay Spearing as a backup/future starter? He's performed really well in my save and developed nicely.
Unfortunately, there are not many cheap nor actually "good" English DM's on the game and the only english one I can think of is Huddlestone.

CM: Carrick/Cleverly/Ward-Prowse
Carrick is getting old, Cleverly is very game-to-game dependant. If he's good on your save, then keep him.
Ward-Prowse gets immense later on so nurture him well!
Promote Ryan Tunnicliffe from the reserves/U18 whatever, and you SHOULD still have Nick Powell, so you're pretty much set here for years to come.

AM: Kagawa/Januzaj/Rooney
I'm guessing you're playing with one AM at a time, if so, you're good for a couple of more years. BUT there is a must buy here by the name of Will Hughes. He costs around 5-15m but he's worth it at whatever price you get him.

W: Ayew/Valencia/Zaha/Nem
Pretty much set here too, maybe sell Valencia and buy Redmond/Ince or IF you buy Hughes, you can use him here too.

ST: Persie/Welbeck/Hernandez/Henriquez
Sell Persie, depending on your tactic your three strikers should cut if.. but if you play a 4-4-2 then buy someone like Mason Bennett.

These players are all future prospects, so tutor them well if you decide to follow my "instructions", and shouldn't be that expensive.
Actually.. most would go under £5M, around 2-3M maybe, which is pretty cheap considered how good they can get.
 
Last edited:
My current lineup;
GK: De Gea/Lindegaard
CD: Smalling/Ferdinand/Evans/Vidic
FB: Rafael/Fabio/Evra/Buttner/Stones
DM: Jones/Fletcher
CM: Carrick/Cleverly/Ward-Prowse
AM: Kagawa/Januzaj/Rooney
W: Ayew/Valencia/Zaha/Nem
ST: Persie/Welbeck/Hernandez/Henriquez


OUT:
Lindegaard - ****, and you should get a decent amount for a backup GK that hardly plays!

Ferdinand & Vidic - Both of their values will decline rapidly, sell them now whilst you can still get a decent price! (Possibly keep Vidic another season)

Evra, possibly Buttner (I have no idea what he is like on FM) - Evra is aging, and you say Buttner isn't that good.

Fletcher - Again quite old, not really good enough

Van Persie & Henriquez - Sell Van Persie before his value plummets, Henriquez just isn't good enough




IN:
Backup GK: Doesn't need to be good, as De Gea should be good for years. Someone cheap but decent, like Ospina/Ruffier (If you're on the 13.0 database go for Butland)

LB: Santon/De Sciglio/Corchia/Gibbs

CB (2 if you sell both Vidic and Rio): Guillherme Burdisso (Spelling might not be right, he plays for Boca)/Papadopoulos/Alderweireld

DM/Backup DM: Wanyama/Jorge Enriquezz/Papadopoulos

ST: Huntelaar/Lewandowski (His contract runs out at the end of season 2!)
 
Absolutly excellent feedback and now I need to take an evening and think cause I really want a good United Squad.
Like I said, I know I can get Persie out for £37-40M for sure and then I can get Damiao, but I don't really know if that is necessary so I will return with a verdict but all your feedback has been great!
 
Absolutly excellent feedback and now I need to take an evening and think cause I really want a good United Squad.
Like I said, I know I can get Persie out for £37-40M for sure and then I can get Damiao, but I don't really know if that is necessary so I will return with a verdict but all your feedback has been great!

If you are going to spend that much on single player, go for Cavani/Lewandowski or Isco and play Rooney at ST.
 
My fellow Managers,

Looking for some feedback on my second season as Manager of Manchester United.
I had a successful 1st Season with two silverware.
When you browse the forum you always find Managers who make this major sales and investments but the true question is, are these transfers performed out of greed, need or necessity? We all want the dream team but the reality is that it is not really needed and why waste transfer funds if transfers are not really going to enhance the team.

First of all, Damiao, Hamsik and Jovetic are all transfer listed.
My management style is to keep United with English blood but still bring in Internationals, key focus is not to decrease the amount of English players. I also tend to invest in youth and never buy a player that is 26+.
For the 2nd season I have £40M in Transfer Funds.

I play with 2 central defenders, 2 fullbacks, 1 defensive midfielder, 1 central midfielder, 1 inside forward, 1 winger, 1 attacking midfielder and 1 strike, I never play a striker pair.

My current lineup;
GK: De Gea/Lindegaard
CD: Smalling/Ferdinand/Evans/Vidic
FB: Rafael/Fabio/Evra/Buttner/Stones
DM: Jones/Fletcher
CM: Carrick/Cleverly/Ward-Prowse
AM: Kagawa/Januzaj/Rooney
W: Ayew/Valencia/Zaha/Nem
ST: Persie/Welbeck/Hernandez/Henriquez

So, I am very tempted to sell Pesie since Hernandez has been excellent for me and so has Welbeck. Ferdinand and Evra are not getting and younger. Buttner is not as good as I thought he would be...

My two penneth for what its worth....

I agree with most of what has already been said. You have the basis of a very good squad. With a few additions you should be set till you start getting regens coming thro. Because Utd have such a huge debt to start with I would advise against making lots of expensive signings as this will have serious impact on your finances. In my first couple of years I spent quite big on a couple of signings like Thiago but balanced the books by selling players like RVP and Nani and replacing with Lorrente for free.

Make sure you keep the facilities and youth training at the highest level(Utd start with top level but sometimes get downgraded after a couple of years). By doing this you will get quality regens coming thro which means in the long term you won't have to spend big every year.

I would keep Rio and Vidic for another year as they are great as tutors. I got Rio to sign as a player/youth coach on a greatly reduced contract. I personally use Jones as CB and he is excellent for me. Get him tutored by Rio/Vidic to improve his mental stats. Maybe look to make a big signing in defence like Zouma/Papadoupolos/Varane/Sarko who can be your starter for years.

In CM i found Fletcher brilliant as BWM. With your other mids you should be set for at least couple of years. Likewise you look set for wingers.

As Mersk said you could sell RVP as you have other young quality strikers but you could replace him with someone like Damiao.
 
I read every single post and weighed in the opportunities and available players.
The race for Hamsik was won by City, they offered a far higher salary than I did but then again I have a backup.
Isco was cheaper and the contract I signed was 50% cheaper than Hamsik. He is 4 years younger, peaking on his quality and definatly someone that can dominate the midfield. He is an accomplished attacking midfielder but I will form him to run the midfield with Carrick.

I sold Buttner for £7.5 to Southampton.
I am really tempted in buying Luke Shaw since he has great potential but I think Southamption wants £10-17.
Also in worst case scenario, Carrick can move down with Fletcher for the DM and Isco can release the minor games to a youngester since I have plenty to cover the CM position.
 
I read every single post and weighed in the opportunities and available players.
The race for Hamsik was won by City, they offered a far higher salary than I did but then again I have a backup.
Isco was cheaper and the contract I signed was 50% cheaper than Hamsik. He is 4 years younger, peaking on his quality and definatly someone that can dominate the midfield. He is an accomplished attacking midfielder but I will form him to run the midfield with Carrick.

Luke Shaw never seems to fulfill his potential... Sign Ben Davies from Swansea.

I sold Buttner for £7.5 to Southampton.
I am really tempted in buying Luke Shaw since he has great potential but I think Southamption wants £10-17.
Also in worst case scenario, Carrick can move down with Fletcher for the DM and Isco can release the minor games to a youngester since I have plenty to cover the CM position.
 
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