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FM11: The Official Manchester City Thread - We will buy you, yes we can!!


Koki Balboa

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You want activity? I'll provide some...for now, at least. :p

So I have started a new save with Man City and instantly set about rehauling the entire club. I have removed backroom staff (coaches, scouts, physios) and obviously brought in new ones, hopefully for the better. I have also set about selling more than a few players who I have no purpose for and bringing in fresh faces (some players who I hadn't ever bought before, too). Therefore, this is my transfers in/out:

mcfctransfersinout.png

With the intentions of forging my own Barcelona of Manchester (but hopefully not as boring to watch), I am going to primarily play a 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow, with Sahin and Montolivo controlling the midfield, and Silva playing through Tevez/Balotelli (Carrol is only a backup atm), I hope that I can do well. Richards and Kolarov have freedom to bomb forwards, as Kompany/Kolo/de Jong will be there to prevent anybody from attacking (Vertonghen will become the first team CB in season 2 and also if any injuries arise). I am intending to target Schalke's Japanese RB, Atsuto Uchida who would not move to my club so soon after joining Schalke. Oh, and Dedryck Boyata and John Guidetti have been promoted to first team in my attempt to nurture some youths, as opposed to focusing on buying in foreign talent.

I'll keep this updated if I remember. It's going to be interesting, control isn't my style...

I have signed Jack Wilshere from Arsenal for a whopping £35M (£20M up front, £15M over 2 years), meaning he's basically just broke the same records as Andy Carrol did IRL. Probably going to regret this, because I don't need him (I still have the very reliable Yaya and Barry). I'll probably train him to AMC and have him as a backup to Silva... God, I should think things through before I act them out.

Okay, so with pre-season now over, here is how my friendlies went:

Man City 1-0 Man City Reserves (Balotelli)

Hibernian 0-1 Man City (Balotelli)

Hyde 0-6 Man City (Guidetti, Wilshere(3), Tevez, Wabara)

Chesterfield 0-2 Man City (Ford(OG), Drury)

St. Mirren 0-1 Man City (Carroll)

Inverness 0-5 Man City (Silva, Guidetti(2), Nimely(2))

Overall I'm very happy with that. I dominated all games as expected, and I kept clean sheets in all games. I should've perhaps scored more, but it was largely a mix of youths/reserves and the occasional first-team player getting about 45 minutes here and there.

The League is about to begin. The first three fixtures are all tough ones:

Tottenham [A]

Man United [A]

Chelsea [H]

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Season 2 Summary

I'm in October in season 3 now, but now that there's some activity in this thread, I thought I'd give a little update as to how my second season went. It was a fairly successful season, as I won the league, but I struggled in the cup competitions and my first season in the Champions League. I play a 4-2-4/4-4-2 with 2 attacking wingers.

Premier League

Screenshot2011-02-19at103950AM.png

As you can see, goals were not a problem. Mario Balotelli, Arjen Robben, and Carlos Tevez were all lethal for me. Khouma Babacar, Neymar and Emmanuel Adebayor also did well when called upon. Liverpool won 17 straight games at one point, so for a while it didn't look like I was going to win it. However, they dropped some points at the end of the season, and I was able to win my first league title.

Champions League and Cup Competitions

I lost in both the Carling Cup and FA Cup semi-finals. The FA Cup was tough to deal with, as my full strength team was unable to break down Everton, who I lost to 1-0. Though the side was unstoppable in the league at that point, we just didn't have it against Everton. The Champions League was a massive disappointment, as we suffered a devastating loss to Athletico Madrid in the quarter finals. At home in the 2nd leg, and up on aggregate 5-4, Luka Modric deflected a cross into our own net in the 93rd minute, causing us to go out on away goals. This competition is going to be a big priority for me this season.

Transfers

Screenshot2011-02-19at104020AM.png

I obviously spent a lot of money, but that's obviously not an issue with Man City. While 40m was probably a lot for Santon, he did well in his first season, and every one of those signings has worked out well so far. I came into the season wanting to improve the right side of the team, and I did just that. I'm very happy with the team now. I will show my season 3 transfers in my next update, but let's just say my spending was minimal. The team is now the youngest in the league, so hopefully I can keep these guys together for a long time and spend the money on upgrading the facilities and youth prospects.

Top Players

Screenshot2011-02-19at104043AM.png

Screenshot2011-02-19at104102AM.png

Tevez and Balotelli were arguably my two most important players this season. As a result, it was really difficult for Neymar and David Silva to get into the team.

Season 3 Preview

I will post an update when I get to January. My goal in the summer was to shed the salaries of some of the players who no longer factored into my long-term plans, and bring in some quality prospects. I was extremely pleased with the youngsters that came up through my academy. Four of them have the potential to be leading premiership players.

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I like that a lot there Skeletore, making this thread a bit more active :)

Also im pleased with how you've got Balotelli playing with is an extra bonus!

I feel you have been unlucky in a cup competitions but i think you could go on and with the Champions League this season :), oh and btw how did you do in the Europa League in the first season?

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I like that a lot there Skeletore, making this thread a bit more active :)

Also im pleased with how you've got Balotelli playing with is an extra bonus!

I feel you have been unlucky in a cup competitions but i think you could go on and with the Champions League this season :), oh and btw how did you do in the Europa League in the first season?

Thank you, I want to make sure I have a strong lineup in the FA Cup and Champions League this year. I actually lost to Athletico Madrid in the Europa League quarter-finals, a year before they beat me in the Champions League quarter-finals. Let's just say they're not my favorite team right now....

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Season 3 January Update

I got to January in season 3 today, so here's my mid-season update. This seems to be a very well balanced team now, though there's no real dominant player like there was last season. Tevez and Balotelli aren't at the same level they were last season (though they're still doing very well), and Robben has struggled to match his outstanding first season.

Premier League

Screenshot2011-02-20at95750AM.png

As you can see, I've got a fairly good lead right now. I started off a little slow, but can't seem to drop points lately. The only result I've been disappointed in was a 5-4 loss at Anfield in September, when I had a 4-2 lead into the 60th minute. I'm not scoring goals at the same ridiculous rate last season, but a lot more people seem to be doing their part. I've tightened up a bit defensively, but I still haven't found out which two central defenders form the best partnership. Tevez has scored over 100 league goals for us now, and I'm hoping he becomes our all-time leading scorer by the end of next season.

Transfers

Screenshot2011-02-20at95815AM.png

My goal coming into the season was to shed the salaries of a couple guys that weren't getting playing time, and I accomplished that. Silva, Adebayor, and the Toure brothers all were making too much money to sit on the bench, so I shipped them out. I'm hoping Madrid pay Adebayor's fee to make it a permanent move, but I'm not hopeful since he barely plays for them. Llorente was brought in as a replacement for Adebayor, at about half his salary. M'Vila takes Yaya's spot. The two other guys are some young regens that have potential. I didn't feel the need to bring in defenders, as Boyata is now getting games for the team, and Phil Jones is starting a lot more.

Champions Leage and Cup Competitions

I won my CL group, despite losing the first match away to Dynamo Kiev. I beat Inter at home, and drew with them away, allowing me to win the group. Dynamo finished 2nd, and Inter were bumped down to the Europa League for the knockout stages. So what was my reward for winning the group? A tie against Real Madrid! I'm not looking forward to that, but I'm hoping for the best. At least I'm not playing Athletico Madrid. I'm in the league cup semi-final, where I'll be playing Chelsea, who are struggling a bit this year. I'm at home to Everton in the 4th round of the FA Cup, and I'll be hoping to get my revenge for them knocking me out last season.

Squad and First Eleven

Screenshot2011-02-20at95928AM.png

As I said, I don't really have a first choice centre-back partnership at the moment. But Jones and Boyata are the ones I'm hoping will form it. Garay has been disappointing since coming over from Madrid last season, and while Lorenzo is a good regen that I've brought through, I'm not sure he has first-choice potential. Babacar is keeping Llorente out of the team, but they have both done well when called upon. Despite Robben struggling all season, he's too talented to put on the bench. Rodwell, M'Vila, Sissoko, and Modric give me plenty of options in the centre of the field, and I'm hoping Gonzalez (another regen) becomes the next Modric.

Speaking of regens, as I said in my season 2 summary, my academy promoted some exciting players. Four of them have leading premier league potential. I've upgraded my youth facilities and recruitment since coming over, and I'm starting to see results. While they're not as good as some other regens around, I'm excited that they came from my academy. Here's the guy that's probably the best of the bunch:

Screenshot2011-02-20at100008AM.png

Summary

Well I'm confident I'll hold onto the league for the 2nd time in a row. I am really hoping for a positive result against Madrid in the CL, but I'm not confident. I will post another update at the end of the season.

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Thanks for the update, looks really promising in the league :)

Your squad is filled with talent and i like the signing of Llorente!

I hope you beat Madrid in the knock out stages, would be a big win. How are they doing domestically? And i hope you get revenge on Everton (yn).

As for your tactic, do you play short passing play or direct? Do you start off with a control match strategy or something else?

Thanks!

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As I am waiting for the January transfer update to come out, I shall post what my tactic will be and the transfers I would like to bring in.

Tactic.

I was considering playing a narrow 4-1-2-1-2 but I like Adam Johnson so I will play a 4-2-3-1 with wingers.

I will use control starting match strategy with a fluid system.

Short passing play.

Closing down.

Normal tackling.

Roaming.

A mix between man and zonal marking.

Normal crossing.

Goalkeeper: sweeper keeper, defend.

Right back: full back, automatic.

Left back: wing back, automatic.

Centre backs: central defender, defend.

Centre midfield right: deep-lying playmaker, support.

Centre midfield left: ball-winning midfielder, defend.

Attacking midfielder centre: trequartista, attack.

Attacking midfielder right: inside forward, attack.

Attacking midfielder left: winger, attack.

Forward: complete forward, attack.

Transfer targets.

Nuri Sahin from Dortmund as my new playmaker. I admire this guy's talent in real life so I hope he plays well on my save.

Paulo Henrique from Santos for competition with David Silva in the trequartista position. Should turn out to be world class in a few years.

Ryan Shawcross/Adil Rami/Jan Vertonghen as a new centre back. Might go for Shawcross as he is English.

Also I might make a move for a new attacking midfielder left for competition with Adam Johnson.

Transfer youth targets.

Connor Wickham has bags of quality and as I have a season ticket for Doncaster Rovers I would know this because he bagged a hatrick against us. Could turn out to be quality.

Alex Chamberlain is one of the next big English stars. Coming from Southampton's academy this guy could turn out to be brilliant with the right training and tutoring.

Alex Smithies as a prospect for goalkeeper as City don't really have one. I don't think he's going to be tremendous but could do a job in the future.

I'm hoping to find more prospects and get them in as I like to develop youth. I shall be using Ahoj training schedules so hopefully some good youth can turn out to be worthwhile.

Thanks for reading and when I get my save under way I shall post monthly updates for you.

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So I finally got around to completing the month of August tonight, and DAMN, was it a frustrating month. Obviously, in a time of serious upheaval, new signings, departings, managerial change, tactical changes both in terms of formation and set up, as well as really tough opening fixtures (Spurs, United and Chelsea), it would not be easy. I was prepared for this. Here's how it went:

Tottenham 1-3 Man City

Carroll 41, Corluka 61, Tevez 72, Kolo Touré 90+2

Overall this game ran quite smoothly. I never looked in any trouble, and Corluka's goal was actually a deflection from 20-odd yards that struck Vertonghen and wrong-footed Hart, clipped the post and rolled in. I had more shots than Spurs and 55% possession. It was great to see Andy Carroll score on his debut, especially seeing as he came in as a late replacement because of an injury to Balotelli (nothing major, 2 days out). Nuri Sahin and Ricardo Montolivo, my planned MCs, didn't play together. Instead I opted for Milner and Montolivo, to great success. Milner got MotM (from me, at least) and even chipped in with an assist.

Man City 1-0 Maritimo

Kolarov 6

I fielded a largely weakened side, due to the congested fixtures early on in the season and also because of the Manchester derby coming up the following Sunday The game was pain-free. An early Kolarov free-kick settled my squad and they dealt with the rest easily. With 60% of possession and over 3 times more shots, this was not difficult for me. Boyata and Guidetti both started, alongside Nuri Sahin and Montolivo for the first time. It wasn't as smooth as I had hoped, the two often misplacing passes intended for each other. But in time that should sort itself out.

Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City

The derby day! And a boring affair! I started as I meant to go on - attacking from the off and creating chances. Carroll and Tevez both had great opportunities before the 8 minute mark, but both were wasteful. United then began piling on pressure and I had to defend more, breaking became difficult and I had no idea how to get a result so settled for the draw with 25 minutes to go. Not how I wanted the game to go, but there was no way I was finding a goal. United doubled my shots and had 53% of possession, so this wasn't one to remember from my point of view. However, I avoided defeat. Nuri Sahin's fitness has been poor, so it was back to Milner/Montolivo, to no avail this time round. Montolivo was very poor, actually. Joe Hart saved me a few times here, with some stunning saves, and rightfully earned MotM, with a rating of 9.1

Maritimo 1(1) - (4)3 Man City

Balotelli 2, Boyata 15, Kompany 33, Baba 60

Seeking that vital away goal from kickoff, I went rather attacking. The results paid off quickly. With Balotelli and Guidetti starting up front, I wasn't seeing much going forward. However an early freekick, converted by Balotelli, provided me with the perfect start. Following that, a corner and a free kick, both taken by Balotelli, were converted by my CB partnership, giving me a comfortable 3-0 lead. My lads switched off and we lost one, but it was plain sailing. Maritimo actually dominated possession with 55%, but it wasn't important. They rarely threatened and were put away with ease.

My Europa League Group is as follows: Stuttgart, Man City, Lokomotiv Moscow, Wisla Karkow

I'm very happy with that and expect to top the group with relative ease.

Man City 1-1 Chelsea

Ivanovic 15, Tevez 40

Injuries - Kolarov 29, out for 2 weeks

Red Cards - Richards 52 (2nd Yellow), Coentrao (69)

An awful, awful game for me. I lost my starting LB, my back-up LB is out for 2 games for a ban, I've lost my primary RB, and I missed out on an opportunity to win against title rivals when I had them there for the taking. With possession of 53%, even with 9 men, I was pretty much dominant until Coentrao was sent off (then I went Contain and parked the bus). Nuri Sahin and Montolivo started their first premier league game together, much to my enjoyment. Dominating possession (I had over 60% before Coentrao's dismissal), and with Sahin misplacing only 4, and Montolivo only 1, I was more than happy to see them linking up together. I also received a warning for saying Coentrao's dismissal was harsh.

Overall, 3 wins and 2 draws against tough opposition isn't the worst start to the season. My player of the month would be de Jong, who was a rock at DM for the team. I'm very pleased with Vertonghen, also. Sahin has looked promising, and Carroll isn't doing bad either considering he's rarely played.

For September, my opposition is:

Blackpool [H], Lokomotiv [A], Stoke [A], Aston Villa [A] (LC), Newcastle [H], Wisla [H]

A nice set of fixtures where I can accomplish wins in most, so September should be enjoyable... except for my lack of LBs.

_____________________________________________________

I have just completed the month of September. Let's just say it did NOT go as expected, with some very poor and angering results. It's a month to forget, I think.

Man City 4-2 Blackpool

Lee Chun-Soo 11 & 72, Balotelli 18 & 51, Basham (OG) 30, Wilshere 90

This seemed like a decent beginning to the month. An awful defensive error from a setpiece gifted Blackpool the lead, but a wonder goal from 30 yards out, off the post and in, from Balotelli quickly got my back into it. What would have been Silva's goal was denied when Basham got in the way to make it 2-1 and turn my fortunes around. Balotelli added another great goal to score his 2nd league goal of the season and the game, by hitting a sweet first-time strike from the edge of the box after Tevez broke down the left wing taking on 2/3 players before delivering a perfect cross. Another pathetic setpiece error gifted Chun-Soo his second, and it looked like I might be in trouble. However I brought Wilshere on and he found his first goal in a City shirt, assisted by Carroll.

Lokomotiv Moscow 1-1 Man City

Boyata (OG) 1, Yaya Touré 67

Boyata actually played well, he was one of the only players that did. However after 30 seconds a terrible shot that was going out for a throw-in took a wicked deflection and struck Boyata, before heading into his own net. Plenty of possession (61%) and plenty of long range shots later, and it took a wonder goal from Yaya to equalise. Awful game, which really angered me due to the poor manner in which my players responded after going down. There was no drive or determination.

Stoke 2-2 Man City

Tevez 1, Huth 12, Shawcross 36, Carroll 87

An amazing goal and start to the game was quickly ruined by Stoke scoring from a setpiece, yet ANOTHER defensive error from my terrible defence. Shawcross then scored an identical goal within 30 minutes, to really annoy me. Struggling to find a goal, I threw on Carroll to play alongside Balotelli and Tevez (never tried it before). Carroll scored a sublime chip from 30 yards (on the counter) to rescue me a point. Another game worth forgetting.

Aston Villa 3-1 Man City (League Cup)

Heskey 60 & 64, Kolarov 67, Carew 69

Injuries - Silva 21 (out for 2 weeks)

Red Cards - Tevez 9

Aston Villa were the first team to defeat Liverpool who were doing amazing, so I shouldn't have expected to beat them. But they were awful, against my 10 man City squad who were down to 10 for 81 minutes! Tevez really frustrated me. An idiotic challenge into the back of Collins got him a 2 match domestic ban and threw away my hopes of progressing in the League Cup. An early Silva injury also meant that I had used 2 subs before half time. Not good. 4 goals within 10 minutes and it was over. I was pressing too hard for an equaliser that Carew got through with nobody within 20 yards of him. When Heskey scores twice and Carew gets one, you know there is problems with your defence!

Man City 1-0 Newcastle

Kolarov 31

Newcastle haven't won a game in 5 attempts, 6 now. They have 3 solitary points that they earned on day 1 to Blackpool, who have yet to find a win. Imagine my frustration when my squad miss sitter after sitter after sitter. We were lucky not to concede in the dying minutes, as Newcastle struck the woodwork 3 (!) times in 5 minutes. Relieved that the big Serb has amazing free-kick abilities, relieved that I finally won again, relieved to actually keep a clean sheet...

Man City 3-1 Wisla Krakow

Carroll 13, Tevez 33, Brozek 73, Sahin 89

I was expecting more than this, and it was disappointing to not keep a clean sheet against a side who were rattled 5-0 at home to Stuttgart. However, we played well and deserved the win, despite Wisla dominating possession (57%). My tactic doesn't seem to be controlling anymore, so I need to get back to the drawing board.

Overall, September was a frustrating month. Poor performances, idiotic decisions, crap form... a month to forget. Montolivo and Sahin still aren't performing together, and I'm beginning to worry that I'm wasting my time trying to get them to. If I can rearrange my tactics and find something which accomodates everybody that I need/want it to, hopefully my season will turn around and I'll begin to play and win how I had hoped I would... I'm not holding my breath though!

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I was playing a 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow, with de Jong in behind Montolivo and Sahin, with Silva (currently Wilshere due to an injury to Silva) ahead of them, and then Tevez with Balotelli/Carroll. I was playing very short passing, with mixed tempos (originally slow, then quick, neither worked). Both MCs are simple Central Midfielders on Support, AMC is Advanced Playmaker on Support, and DMC is Anchor Man on Defend. The Strikers vary. With Tevez currently suspended I've been playing Carroll as a Target Man Attack, with Balotelli as a Trequartista Attack. It's created a lot of chances, but Carroll is so wasteful in front of goal, often opting to strike directly at the gk instead of around him.

Tevez is back in time to face Liverpool, thankfully. Maybe I'll score more goals now. Just drew 1-1 with Aston Villa in the League. Richard Dunne, of all players, scored the equaliser. Frustrating stuff, I've not had 2 league wins in a row yet.

Oh, I'm now trying a 4-1-2-1-2 with Direct passing, and it's 2 Box to Box midfielders at MC instead. Have no idea whether that will suit Montolivo, but it will suit Sahin.

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Personally I would play Sahin as a deep-lying playmaker. Not sure about Montolivo though, I would take him out and play Yaya as a box to box midfielder :)

I would play Silva as a trequartista when fit, but keep Wilshire as a advanced playmaker when playing him.

Then Tevez/Balotelli as complete forwards :)

Keep the short passing style with quick tempo.

This is my personal opinion in what might work but it's up to you and I hope you perform well whatever you do :)

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Hmmm, I'm in a really tricky dilemma...

Tevez wasn't back for the Liverpool game, I forgot that his ban was extended, so I still had to play with Carroll and Balotelli, which was fine, I suppose. I also had Silva for the bench, which was a great boost because Wilshere isn't the best (yet!). As usual, I was creating plenty, but never scoring. I had 8 Clear Cut Chances by Full Time, which was frustrating, as I could only convert one of them which came from an amazing Richards cross and a fantastic Silva finish. I beat Liverpool 1-0 at COMS. I didn't have the possession I wanted (only 48%) but my pass completion was at 82%, which is about right for what I want. The Central Mids worked, for a change. Could have been better, but they weren't awful. I think I will definitely give the Sahin/Deep Lying Playmaker a try, because he does suit that style. What to do with Montolivo though, I have no idea. He has promised me he will work harder in training etc. so I will maybe leave him out for a few games then give him a shot later on. At the moment, I think it's going to be cycled between Milner/Yaya on Box to Box, because I know that both work that role very well.

Thanks. :)

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That's a good result against Liverpool :)

Creating 8 clear cut chances against Liverpool is very good, so In time I think you will start to score more goals. Maybe do something to your training or match preparation.

Overall I think your season has started well, and maybe you've been a bit harsh on yourself :)

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ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH, this game is so frustrating!

frustration.png

After completely dominating for about 88 minutes, West Ham scored a flukey goal and I lose 3 valuable points. I've got more draws than wins in the league so far, and I don't know what the hell is wrong with my squad. Balotelli is now missing sitters. Tevez is back in the starting XI, so Balotelli who was previously scoring with ease has decided he's going to miss every clear cut opportunity he has (including a 1-on-1 with the GK with nobody within 20 yards, that he hit wide by about a mile!). I am seriously losing patience with some players now, especially Joe Hart whose form has dipped incredibly since I praised him. At this rate, I will be investing in a new, clinical finisher and a good goalkeeper. Oh, and the only reason I scored the goal against West Ham was because Nigel de Jong (!) was in the right place at the right time to rifle home a rebound at a corner.

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Just bought FM11 after playing FM10 to death and started a game as City. Always played 433 in FM10 and used 3 Roy Keanes - i.e. MCs with pace, passing and tackling 15. There were plenty around at the start of FM10 (Ramires, Sandro, Rodwell etc) but in FM11 there are none - well one, 36 year old Ze Roberto. So I guess I have 2 questions...

1. What formations are people playing at City?

2. What makes a good MC in FM11?

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Well it all depends on what MC's you like. If you want a playmaker look for Nuri Sahin from Dortmund or Andrea Pirlo from AC Milan.

City already have one of the best tacklers in the world in De Jong and one of the best box to box midfielder's in the world in Yaya Toure :).

If you want to go for an attacking MC look for Javier Pastore, Paulo Henrique *Ganso* and Miralem Pjanic.

Other good MC's are Moussa Sissoko and Jack Rodwell.

Formation wise it depends on what you like to play. Narrow? Or width? I prefer to play a 4-2-3-1 with wingers and use Adam Johnson on the left as a winger and Mario Balotelli on the right as a inside forward :).

If you use a narrow formation look to sell Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips and play James Milner as a MC and play Balotelli in his natural position as a striker :).

If you want any other advice feel free to ask :).

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Well my last game ended up being abandoned, due to me being dumb and bringing in too many players for the same position. I didn't like the makeup of the team, so I've decided to start again and try to be smarter. I am in November now, but will post an update when I get to January. Basically my plan was to spend heavily in the first season so that I can get the squad I would like, then add any missing pieces in the 2nd season, and then focus on youth from season 3 onwards. This will keep me busy until the patch.

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Well I just finished December, and things are going great. I spent a lot of money on transfers, but I've got a team that fits to my style of management. The only new signing that's really struggled has been Ganso, but hopefully he'll pick it up as he gets adapted to the league. Just like in my last save, Balotelli has been lethal in the AML position. He's had plenty of chances, due to Silva tearing his hamstring in August and being out for 4 months. Anyways, I'm top of the league, having lost just once. I won my group in the Europa League, and will be playing FC Kobenhavn in the first knockout round. I'm also in the league cup semi-final, where I'll be facing Man Utd. Here's a few screenshots for now, I will post a more lengthy summary at the end of the season.

Screenshot2011-02-23at95407PM.png

Screenshot2011-02-23at95417PM.png

Screenshot2011-02-23at95439PM.png

Screenshot2011-02-23at95804PM.png

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Good start there for you :), what role do you play Balotelli in? Inside forward, attack I guess?

Also what role do you play Yann M'Vila?

Spending all that money on players doesn't look like it's affected you, so they must have bonded quickly :)

Hope it all goes well for you, and do you know when the update will be out?

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Good start there for you :), what role do you play Balotelli in? Inside forward, attack I guess?

Also what role do you play Yann M'Vila?

Spending all that money on players doesn't look like it's affected you, so they must have bonded quickly :)

Hope it all goes well for you, and do you know when the update will be out?

Yep, inside forward/attack seems to be the best role for Balotelli. As for M'Vila, he's been used primarily as ball-winning/defend. He's been good so far, but not spectacular. However, I'm assuming that's because he's still young and needs to gel with the squad.

As for the update, no idea. Sorry.

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I bought piques minimum fee release clause in his contract which was about 45M

Got Fabregas for 65M plus Balotelli

I unsettled Messi and agreed to buy him for 90M+ Marko Marin and Adebayor. Messi scored 46 goals in his debut season, so 90M was worth it.

I had to save up for a couple of seaons before buying them.

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Me again.

So after the frustration of my last save, I lost it completely and decided to start a new game. I had way too many Central Midfielders and not enough capable goal-scorers... I have done what Skeletore did, basically. Anyway, I'm into January of my new save and things are looking much better. My team plays how I want them to, we're scoring goals, and for the most part we're defending well (at one point I went 6 league games without conceding, however in the last 3 games I've conceded 7 goals... bit like City IRL :p

mcfctable.png

My two defeats were against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (lost 2-1) and at home to Arsenal (lost 3-2, after coming back from 1-0 to lead 2-1, we capitulated in the last 10 minutes).

It's surprising to see Birmingham doing so well, especially considering the result I had against them in the League (all of the following results are in the league):

mcfcfixtures.png

To show you who I have brought in and kicked out, here's my transfers:

mcfctransfers.png

To give you an idea of how my tactics and squad looks, here is my standard formation:

mcfctactics.png

I usually play de Jong and Modric as the MCs, with Silva/Ganso as the AMC, Johnson on RW, Suarez on LW and Tevez as ST, with these two switching between positions to give Suarez good chances as well as Tevez. It's proved to be quite effective, seeing as Suarez has 13 (9 League) goals in 15(7) appearances, whereas Tevez has 13 (11 League) goals in 18(4) appearances. My back four was constant to begin with: Kolarov, Lescott, Kolo and Richards. However, Lescott got an injury so it became Kompany. Things were going well and then Kompany got an injury, so it became Boyata who has flourished and adopted the role really well. Then Kolo decided to start playing badly, so I've brought Kompany back into the first team, with Phil Jones staying on the fringes of the team. If you look at my Prem fixtures, you'll see a period where I went 4 games without conceding. In all competitions, it was actually 8 games. However, since that West Ham (2-2) game, I've not kept a single clean sheet in the league, except for against Blackpool who haven't won a game yet, which is worrying.

Due to several injuries (you can see the list on the last image) I've had to switch it up a lot. Modric doesn't do so well at AMC, Silva is just dire recently, so I've brought Yaya in who has been impressing me, and potentially challenging de Jong for the position. I'm becoming confused, because I can't find a regular partnership which I need/want. It was de Jong/Modric, but with Yaya improving by the minute, I can't simply leave him out.

As for my other competitions, I owned my Europa League Group, which consisted of CSKA Moscow, Borussia Dortmund and Red Star Belgrade. I won 5 and drew 1, the draw being away in Russia. For the majority of the competition I've played a really sub-standard team, usually with Guidetti starting, Boyata and Jones also starting, and generally other back-ups like Rodwell getting a spot. In the first knock-out round, I have to play Club Brugge, which is quite an easy game, followed by either CFR Cluj or Sampdoria, which again is quite easy.

In the League Cup, much like the Europa League, I've been playing my second string of players for the most of it. It's going really well, actually. I came close to defeat when I had to win the Last 16 on Penalties against Blackburn. However, I'm into the Semi-Finals of the LC and will have to take on Tottenham, with the final being against Crystal Palace or Fulham, effectively meaning that the game against Spurs is the Cup Final (without trying to sound too confident :p)

The FA Cup hasn't started for me yet. However I got a relatively tricky draw, with it being a home tie against Aston Villa. However, I'm (understandably) confident for this tie when you consider the last game I played against Aston Villa. Here is the stats for it - http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x246/JordanDownie/dominance.png (can't post 5 images, plus this one doesn't really matter anyway)

So, yeah, all is going well. What I do want to know, though, is this: I want to improve on RB Micah Richards because his positioning is quite frankly the worst of any RB I've ever seen. I was going to target Atsudo Uchida, however he is very attacking and his positioning is a lowly 8 (the same as Richards). I was wondering if anybody could recommend a Kolarov-esque RB? I know Kolarov only has 9 positioning, which is hardly anything to brag about. But he is an all-round powerhouse. His technical, mental and physical stats are very good and all-round he isn't a bad choice. Anybody know of an RB with similar ability? Preferably one who is no older than 25, as I don't want somebody too inexperienced and I don't want somebody close to retirement age. I'm looking at Davide Santon, because Van Der Wiel has already been signed by Bayern Munchen.

Also, would you recommend Gervinho as competition for the RW position?

Long post is long. Maybe it'll inject some life to this thread... or most likely people will ignore it and move on haha

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So, this thread is active... Anyway, I've just completed my first season as Manchester City boss... Personally, I think the Sheikh should sign me as manager now! My first season was nothing but a great success, no other words can be applied to this. I won everything there was to win, something I've never done in FM (always lose out on something). At times it was easy, at other points it was so frustrating I could've tore my hair out. However, it's all been worth it. Nothing but sweet satisfaction...

citywinners.png

As you can see, we were pretty dominant throughout the season. At times I was fortunate to avoid defeat, at other points I was really unlucky not to win and instead got a draw. There is too many draws for my liking, to be honest, but as long as I'm getting points and still winning the rest of my games, I'm happy. The only two defeats were Away to Chelsea, where I lost 2-1. My other defeat was on Boxing Day, where I lost at Home to Arsenal, 2-3 (a last minute goal from RvP sealed what was a fortuitous win). In my other competitions, I lost only one game - but I'll get to that shortly. Scoring goals was easy enough, and defending wasn't bad either. I went through a few periods of fantastic defending - at one point I went 6 league games without conceding, at another point it was 10 games in all competitions (only 5 in the league though). I sealed the League by defeating Arsenal at the Emirates with 2 games to go (this was my 37th League game, basically). 3 points clear, and drawing 2-2, I knew that all I'd need was a draw against Everton so wasn't too fussed. However, Tevez scored a penalty in the last minute (was never a penalty LOL) and I won 2-3, sealing the league before the final match. Oh, and I won the League with an average squad age of 24, which is pretty impressive IMO.

The League Cup was relatively straight forward. I beat Burnley 2-1, Blackburn 0-0 (penalties), Sheffield United 0-1, Tottenham 0-0 and 1-2 (1-2 on aggregate) and then won the final against Fulham 2-0 - all of these games had me as the Away side (I was the away team for the first leg of the semi-finals), so the results may not be great but I never ran into any true difficulties. I'm very happy my performance as a whole in this tournament, especially seeing as it was a chance for youths. I rarely started any first team players with the exception of Hart and the occasional player like Adam Johnson.

The FA Cup was a similar story to the League Cup: 2-0 Vs. Aston Villa, 2-0 Vs. Wolves, 2-3 Vs. Liverpool, 2-0 Vs. QPR, 4-0 Vs. Bolton and 0-1 Vs. Tottenham (this was quite fortunate, they probably deserved the win overall, however my players' conditioning was destroyed from so many games in so little time). The only difficult games were the final and against Liverpool, but even the latter was a deserved victory. Liverpool threatened to steal it but we always looked the better side.

The Europa League was a mixed bag of emotions. After dominating the group with 5 wins and 1 draw, with the group of Borussia Dortmund, CSKA Moscow (who finished 2nd) and Red Star Belgrade, it should've been tougher than it was. In the first round I got Club Brugge who I breezed past, 3-0 on aggregate. In the next round against Sampdoria, I was being destroyed in Italy but King Carlos came on and nabbed me a goal to take a very lucky 0-1 victory back to Manchester. I won 3-2 and went through 4-2 on aggregate to face Juventus. In Turin for the first leg was tough - at HT I was down 1-0 and never looked like coming back into. Cue: Suarez and Tevez coming on, me winning 1-3 and then comfortably winning 1-0 in England to go through to the Semi-Finals with a 4-1 aggregate win. This is where the true difficulty arose, I drew Porto. I was relatively confident - I was 29 games undefeated in all competitions and had 12 straight wins! In Portugal I was losing 0-1 until the 82nd minute when an Aleksandr Kolarov FK brought me level. Then in the dying seconds of injury time, Rolando and Helton had a mix up from a corner and it went into the Porto net to give me a totally unmitigated 1-2 victory. Never before had I been so relieved, especially as Porto played me off the pitch at COMS, but only struggled a 0-1 victory, meaning I drew 2-2 on aggregate but had Rolando's OG to give me the pass to the final. The other team was either Roma or Tottenham. Secretly I wanted Spurs, because I had beaten them twice in the League, once in the League Cup with a draw also in the Cup, and was ready to face them in the FA Cup (I went on to win that, so I could've played them 6 times in one season). But I got Roma. The final was an easy affair, they managed 5 shots in the whole game with only 1 on target. However the only goal was a Carlos Tevez penalty right before HT. Still, a goal is a goal is a goal. I was ecstatic, because this completed my quadruple.

My star player throughout the season would have to be this guy, no surprises for guessing who:

tevez.png

Phenomenal player for me. So glad I chose not to sell him in January to Chelsea. Look at those stats, just brilliant. He had the highest average rating in the league, the most assists, the most man of the matches, and the second most goals (Rooney scored 26, but started 36 games, as opposed to Tevez's 30(2)).

If I wasn't awarding it to Tevez, it would have to go to this guy. I did not expect him to even play more than 3 League matches, but following injuries to Lescott and Kolo (at different times), he managed to secure a starting position alongside Vincent Kompany and thoroughly impressed straight away, securing himself a regular spot as my CB. Now Phil Jones has to start challenging Kompany for the other CB spot...

boyata-1.png

I'm not sure how much his stats have improved over the whole season, but Pat Rice praised him and said he's improved significantly over the season, so I'm extremely happy with that. He's still only 20, so could easily become a world class player I think.

This is my whole squad and some of their stats, because I'm lazy and can't be bothered typing any more (I've went on long enough as it is anyway):

squad.png

Tevez won Footballer of the Year award

Tevez came 2nd in Top Goalscorer award

Balotelli came 3rd in Players' Player award

Suarez came 2nd in Players' Young Player award

I won Manager of the Year award

Joe Hart, Luka Modric, Adam Johnson and Carlos Tevez all got into the Players' Team of the Year, with Mario Balotelli, Aleksandar Kolarov and Luis Suarez all getting onto the bench.

Personally I feel that Dedryck Boyata deserved Young Player and a place in the Team of the Year. My Player of the Year is Tevez, and Young Player is Boyata, regardless...

I LIKE MAKING LONG POSTS! (hopefully, if anybody bothers to read this stupidly long and boring post, it may inject a bit of life?)

Having just won the Community Shield 2-0 against league runners-up Arsenal, I thought I'd let you know my transfers in/out...

In:

Khouma Babacar - £15M

Ashley Young - £9.75M (was originally going to pay £20M but then pulled out of contract negotiations. He said he wanted to leave Villa so he was offered to me for that reduced price and wanted almost half wages, couldn't say no)

James Black (regen, image below) - £1.2M

Alphonse Areola - £220k (loan deal, made permanent with a fee of £12M)

Out:

David Silva - £12.5M

Kolo Touré - £250K (loan deal, made permanent with a fee of £4.8M)

Shay Given - £1.9M

Pablo Zabaleta - £250K (loan deal, made permanent with a fee of something, I forgot)

Vladimir Weiss - £2M

X amount of crappy youths

James Black is a regen who I scouted. He is a striker, and he looks awesome. I was going to get Tevez to tutor him, but I feel that Babacar is more important at the moment, so instead Suarez is tutoring Black to try and get his determination up a tad, hopefully increasing his improvement via training. Looking forward to seeing this guy develop, he looks like he could be phenomenal. His Tackling ability makes me want to train him into a Defensive Forward, but I don't intend on starting him regularly yet (obviously), so it all depends on if/how he develops. I'll check back up on him when he's about 18. I'll give him the odd 5 minutes here and there in Cup games at this young age, but he won't be playing anything more than that.

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I hate this game.

First season, we did a domestic treble. Romped the league by 9 points and it should have been more. We were magnificent playing a 433.

Closed season we strengthened. Brought in a few established stars and some young prospects. Offloaded some deadwood.

Next season with largely the same team and tactics, we can't win for toffee. Lost 2-0 away at Blackburn. Drew 0-0 at home to Newcastle. Teams we were thumping last season are outplaying us now.

No idea what's changed.

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Hey guys, currently doing a Man City save on mine, but I just can't for the life of me, get Tevez scoring, I'm on the verge of selling him, but his stats are way too good for me to sell him, would love to get him scoring, at the moment Dzeko & Balotelli are scoring, but I'd prefer Tevez, don't like Balotelli, one of the most selfish players I've ever seen lol.

As for people wanting a good young forward, try Seydou Doumbia, I have him, signed for £17m & he's been decent, got 10 goals in 15 apps, then went off to African Nations & broke his arm, was majorly annoyed, but Balotelli filled that void.

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In my oppinion set him as a Poacher with a Deep-lying forward to support him and watch him destroy.

Here is how he is performing for me in this role. Some guys here get out the best of him scoring 30+ goals a season but I think around ~25 is really great. :)

1z21z0i.jpg

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My Tevez, who scored 24 goals and 16 assists in 30 starts, was a lone-striker playing as Complete Forward attack. If you're going to play him alongside Dzeko, I would have Dzeko as a Complete Forward Attack and Tevez as a Trequartista or a Deep Lying Forward Support. Alternatively, try playing Tevez as Complete Forward Attack with Dzeko as a Target Man Support.

Just my two cents.

EDIT: Obviously, it all depends on the service they're going to get on what you should do (with or without my advise). What is your general formation and who is a part of your regular Starting XI? An idea of the creative minds and where they're playing would be great... IMO, Silva is terrible and you shouldn't hold onto him longer than you need to. I couldn't get him to perform and Ganso and Modric done nowt but show him up every week, regardless of how he played (he got 2 goals in one game and still played worse than Ganso who didn't score/assist, strange, but shows that Silva isn't great (for me)).

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My Tevez, who scored 24 goals and 16 assists in 30 starts, was a lone-striker playing as Complete Forward attack. If you're going to play him alongside Dzeko, I would have Dzeko as a Complete Forward Attack and Tevez as a Trequartista or a Deep Lying Forward Support. Alternatively, try playing Tevez as Complete Forward Attack with Dzeko as a Target Man Support.

Just my two cents.

EDIT: Obviously, it all depends on the service they're going to get on what you should do (with or without my advise). What is your general formation and who is a part of your regular Starting XI? An idea of the creative minds and where they're playing would be great... IMO, Silva is terrible and you shouldn't hold onto him longer than you need to. I couldn't get him to perform and Ganso and Modric done nowt but show him up every week, regardless of how he played (he got 2 goals in one game and still played worse than Ganso who didn't score/assist, strange, but shows that Silva isn't great (for me)).

Erm, in my midfield I have Gervinho on the left (constantly performs), Yaya Toure as a ball winning midfielder, James Milner/Van Der Vaart (he's injured atm), and a youngster called Henry Novillo, he's performing too. I play 4-4-2, Silva gets nowhere near my squad.

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wanderer89, with a team like that I'd definitely advise playing Tevez as a deep-lying forward support. Without an Attacking Midfielder, and without VDV, your squad may not link up too well from midfield to attack. With a DLF Support, Tevez should act like an AMC. If Dzeko is set to hold the ball up, it'll also present Tevez with the opportunity to bust a gut to get forward, so set Run from Deep to Often... just what I'd try out, though.

I'll update for the 11.3 patch, but I'm not starting a new save. I'm happy with Suarez instead of Dzeko, and I've managed to offload some of my useless players anyway (in fact, only one I can't get rid of it Roque Santa Cruz).

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wanderer89, with a team like that I'd definitely advise playing Tevez as a deep-lying forward support. Without an Attacking Midfielder, and without VDV, your squad may not link up too well from midfield to attack. With a DLF Support, Tevez should act like an AMC. If Dzeko is set to hold the ball up, it'll also present Tevez with the opportunity to bust a gut to get forward, so set Run from Deep to Often... just what I'd try out, though.

I'll update for the 11.3 patch, but I'm not starting a new save. I'm happy with Suarez instead of Dzeko, and I've managed to offload some of my useless players anyway (in fact, only one I can't get rid of it Roque Santa Cruz).

Thanks for your help, I've done that, the past few games Tevez has been scoring, in fact, he'd doubled his tally for the season in 3 games, you've helped me in more ways than 1 lol.

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As the update came out I have started a new saved game. So here goes:

Tactic

The tactic I am playing is a 4-2-3-1 formation with 2 MC's and AMR/L. I think this tactic suits City because it supplies both through the middle and out on both wings.

I am using a control starting match strategy with a fluid system

Short passing play.

Closing down.

Normal tackling.

Roaming.

A mix between man and zonal marking.

Normal crossing.

Goalkeeper: sweeper keeper, support.

Right back: wing back, attack.

Left back: wing back, attack.

Centre back: ball-playing defender, defend.

Centre back: central defender, defend.

Centre midfield right: deep-lying playmaker, support.

Centre midfield left: ball-winning midfielder, defend.

Attacking midfielder centre: trequartista, attack.

Attacking midfielder right: inside forward, attack.

Attacking midfielder left: winger, attack.

Forward: complete forward, support.

Now moving on to pre season, I used a mixed squad bringing in some youngsters from the reserves to gain some experience.

Here are my results:

Manchester City vs Manchester City Reserves: 7-0. Dominated the game with Balotelli, Dzeko and Johnson all grabbing braces, Boyata with the other.

Al-Jazeera (UAE) vs Manchester City: 0-1. Dominated again but couldn't score. Kompany ended up snatching the win in the 89th minute.

Cowdenbeath vs Manchester City: 1-6. Thrashed them but I was disappointed to concede. Wright-Phillips (2), Etuhu, Guidetti, Johnson and Lescott all scoring.

Manchester City vs Galatasary: 3-2. Pretty much dominated this game. 2 moments of lapsed concentration gave them 2 goals. Johnson, Kompany and Barry scoring.

Sheffield United vs Manchester City: 0-5. Bossed the second half of this game as all the goals came in it. Johnson and Lescott grabbing braces and Dzeko with the other.

Real Madrid vs Manchester City: 1-0. No word of a lie I absolutely dominated Madrid not just in possession but in chances too.

Espanyol vs Manchester City: 2-4. Good victory against these. Came from behind twice and ended up running away with it. Tevez (2), McDermott and Johnson scoring.

Now moving onto my transfers. I didn't really want to spend heavily on players as I thought the current squad is good enough to challenge for the title and do well in Europe. I wanted a new playmaker as I thought the squad was lacking one. I also wanted a new centre back who could play the ball but intelligently I'm training Yaya Toure to play there and so far he's playing well. I also wanted a left back but I decided against it in the end. I also planned on bringing in some youth.

My transfers are as follows:

Eden Hazard loan fee of £3.5m with a view to buy for £10.25m from Lille.

Nuri Sahin £20m from Dortmund.

Alex Smithies £825K from Huddersfield.

Alex Chamberlain £2.2m from Southampton

Tom Cairney £2.4m from Hull.

Now moving onto mid August when the proper season starts. I felt I was in a good position going into my first game against Blackpool.

So here are my results ending of August:

Blackpool vs Manchester City: 1-3. Good start to the season. Slow to get out of the blocks but when up and running we played well. Captain Tevez, Johnson and Milner all scoring. Disappointed about conceding though.

The next game was in the EURO Cup 4th Qualifying Round against an unknown Swiss team Lausanne.

Lausanne vs Manchester City: 0-3. Easy 3-0 win. Made lot's of changes from the Blackpool game. Boyata, Wright-Phillips and Hazard all scoring.

The next game was the most satisfying result of the month.

Manchester City vs Chelsea: 1-0. Delighted with the win and it was a most deserved win. Tevez netting the winner from the penalty spot.

Manchester City vs Lausanne: 6-0. A straight forward win here. I was happy that Dzeko scored his first goals for City. Etuhu (2), Hazard and a own goal secured the win.

Manchester City vs Blackburn: 4-0. A really good win here. Balotelli scored his first goal on his début because of injury. Tevez (2) and Dzeko supplying the other goals.

Overall I am delighted with the start we have made in the league and EURO Cup.

My group stage contains the following teams:

Fenerbache

Dnipro

BATE

I am sitting first in the league 2 points ahead of second. Also in the league cup third round I have Tottenham at home. I will post monthly updates as I go along. Thanks for reading :).

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They are fun because you have lot's of money to spend so you can buy pretty much any body you want!

The EURO Cup should be fun, as in you should win it quite easily.

League and FA Cup should be decent, but not amazingly fun.

The premier league is something to look forward to. Should be very challenging.

If you get the right tactic and sign the right players then you've got a chance to win everything your entered in :).

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manchestercitytransfers.png

Admittedly cheated on getting Patrick viera off the wage bill. sold aj & loaned out swp because wingers don't fit into my system. Vrsaljko was loaned out because of wp issues, unfortunately not 2 a European club. my buys may look cheated but in fact they're not, just hefty percents of next sale on all players, some

50% for example, so their's a negative on the fact i can't have massive sell on values. I'm looking to buy a well rounded midfielder ie rodwell, sahin. I could of went and bought the very best players but i'm trying to play the save with less influence of money & more focus of having a nice net spend, otherwise i'd have the likes of ganso and neymar .

also could of had alex oxlade chamberline in part exchange with Cunningham but the prat turned the saints down

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