FM13: Hull City - the year of the wing back

[Ukchris]

The main attribute increases as mentioned were during the early seasons with specific focus on Strength, Positioning and Marking along with consistent game time to make him stronger in the middle of the pitch. After the first 3 seasons or so he more or less reached full potential and I switched to Box to Box role training for him to keep key areas topped up. He gained 1 or so points in various places from here but not as big a jump as the early focus.

I should note that during the season my team training is on Balanced / Average with match training down at 20% - 30% (usually assigned to defensive/attacking positioning based on opposition strengths). This means I can assign focus like this:

Player still developing: Heavy individual focus + Average team training = Heavy overall (good attribute gains where I want them most)

Player reached potential: Light role + Average team training = Medium overall (gives a little extra emphasis on key attributes without tiring the player on heavy workload)

If I have a player already at full potential but there's a specific attribute I want higher I might still go with a heavy individual focus but any gain there would require CA/attribute drop elsewhere to allow for it so I tend to avoid that as you can't control exactly where that drop is.

And indeed, a tidy player without being a match winner - though he has provided a goal or assist in a few 1-0 wins, so has been a match winner that way! Quality-wise he does a tidy job without standing out from the rest of the team.

[Niksa83]

After over 2 months break i got back to FM, im sure i had somekind of gameplan 2 months ago but i cant remember it so i just started a new game. After the roster update the Hull squad looks pretty good and balanced.

Going to be interesting to see how things work out. I think i'll roll out with the flat 4-4-2 only changing the wide midfielder roles to wingers.

[kccircle]

[kccircle]

Been a cracking play - the only one left. Not had a lot of time for the game this year but play the lite version.

10 years in - just qualified for the Champions League - best finish is 3rd so far

[kccircle]

Season 2023/24

Managed a clean sweep this season

Thinking back to the previous one we lost the title to Man City on the last day of the season losing 0-1 to Everton with Man City drawing their game. I did manage to win the Champions League though at the first time of entering it

Back to this season

The season started with the Super Cup and Athletico Maddrid were the opposition. In a thrilling game we came back from losing 1-0 at HT to run out eventual 4-1 victors

With winning the Champions League we had our first entry into the World Club Cup. In a one sided semi final we won 9-0 setting up a final with Flamengo. We eased to a 10-0 win in this game.

Next stop was the League Cup. We had an easy passage in terms of results with wins against the likes of Cardiff, Everton, Norwich and West Ham setting up a final vs West Brom. This game was quite tight. We sneaked a draw by scoring on 120 minutes to set up a penalty shootout.

Next up was the FA Cup, actually we won the league quite a way before the season ended but i'll cover that in a minute. The FA Cup saw me up against Arsenal who had just destroyed me in the 2nd Leg of the Champions League Semi Final. We actually won this final at a canter

In the League we were facing a games in hand situation from quite early on with the appearances in the Club World Cup competition. We struggled in the latter part of the season as I rotated my squad a little more in an effort to offer game experience to some players who quite frankly wouldn't get a look in normally. I think we won the league in late March which says a lot especially when it was our first league title. The table looks a little tighter, but we couldn't buy a win once we'd won it. I'm not sure if this is coded, but the players only performed when it mattered it seems

On to the Champions League. We met Arsenal in the Semi-Final and stuffed them 6-0 in the first leg. We lost the second leg 4-1 having been 4-0 down on 30 minutes. I played a weakened team and at one stage I thought it would backfire on me. I took off a striker and replaced with a DMC (I play 442) and swapped a couple of squad players for key personnel to hold it all together. The final was against Real Madrid and despite scoring early, only for them to equalise soon after we eased to a 2-1 win with Madrid losing a player to two yellows just before half time.

As for the players, there are too many to mention so I've added just 5 below.

Both of my strikers scored +50 goals this season. They are a quality combination, both Brazilian but lethal in the air. I think it is a glitch, but every three games they get goals disallowed for bundling GK and ball into the net at the far post

In the middle of the park I have a midfield destroyer who is equally apt sat in the middle of the defence. I play him as a CM as he scores a few popping up late into the box

Finally, at the back is a left back who is probably the best left back on the game. He is simply immense

Finally, Tom Cairney is still playing in the team. He is very much a squad player but I've decided to play him for as long as he will go to set some records for appearances.

[Andy 23]

Sounds like you've done it all kccircle! Well done.

I've just got started on a new game which I'm intent on sticking with until FM14, as I'm always quitting and starting again! So it's just as well I've got off to a flyer. Still very early days but, fingers crossed, I think I've learned the lessons from previous attempts and got my team set up nicely in this game. Possibly the biggest breakthrough I've had is treating Robert Koren with greater importance. I'd always tried to build my team around Tom Cairney as the attacking fulcrum, but having read about Ukchris's game, I decided to sit Cairney deeper. As it happened, he got a 3-month injury in pre-season anyway. But Koren seems to be scoring or assisting every game, breaking from midfield as a Central Midfielder (Attack). I guess it's obvious really, Koren has got one of the highest abilities in the division so it makes sense to allow him to play. I'm usually caught up on trying to improve young players' abilities.

Aluko and Elmo are flying as well, playing as ML and MR instead of AML and AMR as in my previous tactics.

I'm converting Chester to a DM. He's got all the attributes and doesn't take any time to learn the position, and his physical attributes are good for this position but slightly short for a centre back. The defence is sound with Faye and McShane, and Hobbs returning from injury as well.

[kccircle]

Sounds like you are onto a winner. Is Boyd in your game? I suspect not as he was a loanee. Koren was superb for me in the early seasons too

[Andy 23]

Very happy to report I won the Championship in my first season, keeping 20 clean sheets and losing just 7 games in the process. Great cup runs as well, losing in the League Cup quarter-final extra time to Chelsea (after beating Man City) and the FA Cup semi-final to Man Utd (after beating Everton and West Ham). My only significant signings were Seamus Coleman and Matthew Briggs, both on loan. Only player I managed to move on was Jay Simpson.

[Niksa83]

I wanted to take the time and post my progress since i started my new save game after long break. My tactical knowledge is very limited when it comes to creating tactics and what not so i went on and downloaded a "modern warfare 442" tactic as it seemed to fit the Hull city pretty well. I chose this as i like the flat 442 concept. Creating a tactic myself would have been too much of a drag for me as i know very little of football tactics and doing everything by trial and error would have taken just too much time.

Season 2012/2013

1st in Npower Champioship won:29 draw:9 lost:8 for:85 against:40 points:96

Lost to Man Utd in Capital one cup semi final

Lost to Man Utd in English FA cup final

Season 2013/2014

2nd in Premier division won:24 draw:8 lost:6 for:76 against:34 points:80

Lost to Tottenham in Capital one cup final

Lost to Man Utd in English FA cup fourth round

Lifted EURO cup after beating R. Sociedad

Season 2014/2015

1st in Premier division won:29 draw:7 lost:2 for:83 against:28 points:94

Lost to Arsenal in Capital one cup semi final

Lifted FA cup after beating Arsenal after extra time

Lifted EURO cup after beating Liverpool

Lost to Chelsea in European super cup after extra time

3rd in European champions cup group B

Season 2015/2016 (in progress)

Won against Man city in English community shield

Won against Barcelona in European super cup

[Andy 23]

I have a question for those who reached the Premier League after one season: Did Matty Fryatt make the step up? I'm desperately short of strikers, having let Gedo and Simpson go, loaned out Proschwitz for a season back in the Championship, and not rating Mclean. I need some advice on whether Fryatt can be considered a starting striker or if he's for backup only.

[Niksa83]

2013/2014 season stats for Matty Fryat as advanced forward with attack duty

League apps:36(1) goals:22 "#1 goal scorer in premier"

Cup apps:8 goals:5

Continental apps:17 goals:17 "Broke the 1995 record on goals scored"

[Andy 23]

Wow, thanks Niksa. I wonder how he'll do in my team struggling away at the bottom of the division as opposed to yours challenging for honours!

[Niksa83]

To be honest i think im doing this good only because of the tactic i downloaded. They say there is no cheat tactics this year but the one im using sure seems like one.

[DaveMUFC]

Hey guys, sorry, but a bit of shameless plugging which I think might interest you guys...

Myself and dupeball have been working on updating the DB for the 2013/2014 season, and this means that Hull City are now in the premiership with a nice £7-£8m budget to spend! I'm releasing the latest update at 2pm today, so head over to http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/354043-DaveMUFCs-Mega-Summer-2013-Transfer-Update and enjoy setting up Hull City for the survival of the Premier League!

[Andy 23]

Just into January in my second season now with things going very well indeed, picking up plenty of points in the league and I'm at the League Cup semi-final stage. I've taken points from most of the big teams; probably a result of my motivational skills, but it's the smaller teams against which we've slipped up. Carefully trying to bring in the right players now in January/pre-contract deals.

I'm still playing exactly the same 4-1-4-1 tactic. Chester, Hobbs, Cairney, Stewart, Brady, Aluko have all made the step up. Fryatt is exceeding my expectations. Only Koren is letting me down with a below 7 average rating, he's just not the same player at this level and I'm searching high and low for a goal-scoring midfielder to replace him but they're hard to come by on my budget!

[Andy 23]

I finished 2013-14 8th in the Premier League (W15 D13 L10) and League Cup runner-up. Far beyond my expectations.

I'm just about to start the next season with some signings I'm really excited about. I've still got £9m left in the kitty, but already there's some players I'm very happy with who won't be getting much game time now so I'm only spending it on young players with exceptional potential who become available.

Of the original squad, I have Hobbs and Chester in rotation at DM/cover in defence. Cairney and Fryatt had good seasons but I've made some new signings who've raised the bar. Brady and Aluko are in rotation on left wing but I expect I'll strengthen at some point. Stewart, Dudgeon and Evans have progressed well too but I think will be left behind. Nobody will take Proschwitz.

[Andy 23]

Finished 2014-15 6th in the Premier League (W19 D7 L12), and had the top 4 in touching distance so that will be my aim next season (but don't tell the chairman). Won the League Cup and lost the FA Cup semi final on penalties. Progress on all fronts then and European football to look forward to next season. Training and youth facilities are being upgraded to what must now be the maximum, and the board have agreed to buy the stadium.

Hobbs was a star again at DM, with Chester in rotation. I'm not sure if my tactic favours my DCs and DM unnaturally, they have 7.50 average ratings, and I'm averaging 20 clean sheets a season!

I'm trying to move on Brady and Aluko. Both do a pretty good job but are injured too often. Dudgeon is on the list too. Evans dropped down to the Championship in January. Cairney, Fryatt and Stewart are the only others besides Hobbs and Chester remaining from the original squad.

[Niksa83]

Finished 2014-15 6th in the Premier League (W19 D7 L12), and had the top 4 in touching distance so that will be my aim next season (but don't tell the chairman). Won the League Cup and lost the FA Cup semi final on penalties. Progress on all fronts then and European football to look forward to next season. Training and youth facilities are being upgraded to what must now be the maximum, and the board have agreed to buy the stadium.

Hobbs was a star again at DM, with Chester in rotation. I'm not sure if my tactic favours my DCs and DM unnaturally, they have 7.50 average ratings, and I'm averaging 20 clean sheets a season!

I'm trying to move on Brady and Aluko. Both do a pretty good job but are injured too often. Dudgeon is on the list too. Evans dropped down to the Championship in January. Cairney, Fryatt and Stewart are the only others besides Hobbs and Chester remaining from the original squad.

You are getting in there.....keep going bro.

I too always thought Brady was just way too injury prone.

Can you give some stats for Matty Fryatt from previous seasons?

[Andy 23]

Fryatt's stats:

2012/13 (Championship) - 30(7) - 19 goals - 7.19

2013/14 (Premier League) - 34(2) - 16 goals - 7.14

With hindsight I should have sold him then when I had the chance. New signings pushed him out of the team and his ability plummeted playing without regular first team football. I sold him in January 2016 for £1m, and he's scoring goals in the Championship again.

Just finished the 2015/16 season 3rd in the Premier League (W21 D14 L3). So I met my target of Champions League qualification quite comfortably, but a number of those draws should've been wins and given me the 8 extra points needed for the title. Slipped up playing weakened sides in both domestic cups, but won the Europa League.

I'm still happy with Hobbs and Chester in rotation at DM, although my assistant rates them lower than the rest of my first eleven. Cairney hardly featured in the league but his 'trained at club' status meant he was useful in the Europa League. Brady and Fryatt were sold for cut-price deals in January before their contracts expired. Aluko was loaned out but his stock has fallen fast and I'll struggle to get good money for him. Stewart has been a spare part this season and joins him on the transfer list. Dudgeon spent the season out on loan and will hopefully go permanently. Not really down to poor performances with any of them, just a raising of the bar with new signings.

*Stop press* A year later than anticipated, the club has finalised the purchase of the stadium!

[Mikal]

I’ve yet to have a long-term save on this year’s Football Manager as nothing has quite grabbed me yet – not through the lack of trying, mind. So here I am again trying my luck at something I’ve wanted to do since I did it back on FM09 (with Hull no less), and that is to develop and (successfully) implement the W-M (3-2-2-3) formation.

Now I don’t consider myself to be that great with tactics, so I’ll be using the rest of this forum as a way of expanding my knowledge and for any advice. I’ve already had a read of Cleon’s W-M post here as a source of inspiration. This thread will also assist as a way of noting my observations in which to hopefully learn from. I don’t expect to use the W-M in a way which I would if I was a top team, it will be a journey in itself slowly building towards what I envision.

The Tactic

V 0.1

At first glance this is how I look to setup, which at the moment is essentially a 4-3-3 but with an extra defensive mid. This could very well change over pre-season when I take a closer look during friendlies - especially in regards to how we defend. I have opted to have my wide attackers one strata lower due to not yet having the confidence we can defend with stability. The same can be said with having MC’s instead of AMC’s, which over time may change, depending how effective the MC’s are.

I will update again once pre-season is over with any transfers and also with a final tactic which I will be taking into the season.

I look forward to reading everyone else's successes and failures along the way as well!

[Andy 23]

Hi Mikal, I'm a little unclear on what you're trying to do. If you want to give any details on the functions of each role in your team setup, I'll give you my suggestions on which players may perform, as I've not seen a formation like that before.

Personally I had numerous tactical ideas - over the last two or three FM versions - I couldn't successfully translate in-game, and I've had countless saves that never made it past pre-season. Eventually I decided to keep it simple and go with what seemed to work best on FM, even if it didn't really suit my own tactical preferences. I'd rather get going, sign some players, and work my way through the seasons instead of clicking buttons on the tactics screen, watching full match highlights, and having to work at it. There's no right or wrong but that's what first got me hooked on CM and I'm happier sticking to it.

[danm2501]

I've worked out a pretty awesome wing back focused tactic recently. Incredibly good defensively, and also excellent going forward, would probably work pretty well with Hull tbh. It looks like this:

----------------------Gk--------------------------

----------------CB----------CB-------------------

--WB------------Anchorman-------------WB-----

----------------CM---------CM---------------------

----------------------AP-----------------------------

---------------DLF/AF---------P-----------------------

It doesn't really look like it'd work, looks pretty narrow, but it works brilliantly if you've got talented wing backs. I have the 2 centre defenders set to CB Defend, The wing backs are on Automatic, 2 central midfielders on automatic, Advanced Playmaker on Attack, and the 2 strikers on attack too. Also, whenever I'm playing a good side, with good attacking players, I move to one striker, generally the poacher, and move the second striker into defence, to form a back 3 of centre backs. This has proven incredibly effective. You need team instructions set to counter attack on, otherwise it won't work, but with it on, you'll defend well, and generally grab a goal or two. I went 14 games without conceding as Everton. Give it a go guys, let me know what you think, I reckon it could work pretty well with this side, you might need to invest in a creative Advanced Playmaker though, maybe try and get Ross Barkley on loan from Everton, he did the job brilliantly in my first season at Everton!

[Welshace]

I’ve yet to have a long-term save on this year’s Football Manager as nothing has quite grabbed me yet – not through the lack of trying, mind. So here I am again trying my luck at something I’ve wanted to do since I did it back on FM09 (with Hull no less), and that is to develop and (successfully) implement the W-M (3-2-2-3) formation.

Now I don’t consider myself to be that great with tactics, so I’ll be using the rest of this forum as a way of expanding my knowledge and for any advice. I’ve already had a read of Cleon’s W-M post here as a source of inspiration. This thread will also assist as a way of noting my observations in which to hopefully learn from. I don’t expect to use the W-M in a way which I would if I was a top team, it will be a journey in itself slowly building towards what I envision.

The Tactic

V 0.1

At first glance this is how I look to setup, which at the moment is essentially a 4-3-3 but with an extra defensive mid. This could very well change over pre-season when I take a closer look during friendlies - especially in regards to how we defend. I have opted to have my wide attackers one strata lower due to not yet having the confidence we can defend with stability. The same can be said with having MC’s instead of AMC’s, which over time may change, depending how effective the MC’s are.

I will update again once pre-season is over with any transfers and also with a final tactic which I will be taking into the season.

I look forward to reading everyone else's successes and failures along the way as well!

All I would say is that your midfield is likely to get overrun... you'll likely have little possession also...

You've essentially got all 4 central mids patrolling the same area with nothing ahead of them... I'd suggest you at least have one winger and a central mid supporting the attack (change to attack not support/defensive).

[Andy 23]

Danm: I just realised you arrived here because of the title of the thread! I'm sure Hull City start with the squad you need for this.

Who's tried doing a Brucey with wingbacks?

[Andy 23]

A disappointing outcome for me in 2016-17. I prioritised the Champions Cup and did very well to win a tough group containing Bayern and Inter, before going out to Dortmund on away goals in the 1st Knockout Round. Not a bad showing at all, but ultimately unrewarding and allowed other teams to overtake me in the league. I eventually finished 1 point short of 4th so it's back to the Europa League, which I've already won so am not at all interested in now. Another League Cup win is scant consolation. Next season will be all about challenging for the league.

[White Rose]

Well i will eventually get around to doing a Hull save the fact i have not had chance due to a network game in which i am managing Leeds only makes me feel worse and dirty. With the season starting soon, i felt that i would go and start a new game with us in the Premier League with all the current signings. My aim is to try and use a system Bruce would use or at least keep close it, i also want to try and do something Hull are awful at bring through some players of their own.

[Andy 23]

Finished 2017/18 in 4th place, 1 goal shy of 3rd on GD. 5 points off the top, although I was never seriously in the race. W21 D12 L5 75pts. Mission accomplished of finishing in the top 4, which is just as well because I ran up a few bills getting there. After the disappointment of going backwards the previous season, I spent £143m on six players (as well as a few freebies), and sold off £108m. All of the original squad has gone except for Cairney, who I'm only really keeping for the homegrown quota in Europe, he doesn't usually even make the bench.

Next season has to be a shot at the Premier Division title.

[Andy 23]

After a break I've picked this up again to try and complete this game by winning the big ones before FM14 comes out.

2018/19 I was always in the mix and it went down to the last couple of games but I just couldn't quite get my nose in front. Very tight, I finished in 4th place but only 3 points off the top. W22 D10 L6. Rather a deflating end to the season, losing in the Champions Cup semi-finals and the FA Cup Final. Another League Cup win was the only silverware.

So I'll go again next season with the same squad, no need for any changes, and hopefully this will be our year in the league.

[Andy 23]

2019/20 I'VE DONE IT!! Having jockeyed for first place all season, I went into the final game a point ahead and sealed the title with a 5-0 home win. W26 D7 L5.

To cap it off, I won the Champions Cup a week later! 0-0 after 90 minutes, Barcelona took the lead in the second period of extra time, only for my team to turn it around and win 2-1.

Now I take my England team into Euro 2020.

Having won the titles at club level I'm not sure if that might be it for this game. And I might finally grant Tom Cairney his wish to leave in search of first team football

[Andy 23]

I completed my own treble of Premier League, Champions League, and European Championship. Now do I push on to see if I can retain trophies and pick up the World Cup in two years, or do I bow out and start again on FM14?

[kccircle]

Well done on winning. If it was me, i'd move onto FM14. Starting in the Prem brings about a completely different challenge.