FM2009 - Official Manchester United Thread - The Home of the Champions

[crazy gra]

Yeah, but I need someone who's going to be good now, not in the future. I have Evans to bring through and he was awesome when he was playing in my demo game. Fazio could be great, but I'll happily keep Rio, Vidic and Evans for my whole game (unlikely that I'll get to play enough seasons to have to replace Rio).

[djt2010]

I have brought him cause thats who we are suppose to be signing in real life in Jan. Who is the other one from Partizan? I wanna get him as well.

Same reason I signed him really, was after a left winger and saw the story on Sky Sports website so snapped him up.

I would also have liked to sign the other but if he is a right winger I have just bought Valencia from Wigan so not in need.

[djt2010]

Ljajic is more of a central midfielder in the mould of Kaka hence his nickname "Little Kaka" so i'd presume thats Fergie planning for Scholes leaving. Ljajic isn't going to be signing for 18months i think if reports are to be believed.

I don't seem to have him on my game???

[rberbe2002]

Same reason I signed him really, was after a left winger and saw the story on Sky Sports website so snapped him up.

I would also have liked to sign the other but if he is a right winger I have just bought Valencia from Wigan so not in need.

they both play for partizan...

tosic is AM RL 21

ljajic is AM RLC 16

I have snapped them both up

[djt2010]

Nah not there, do you have large database?

[rberbe2002]

yes i do. probably not on anything lower if u aint got it.

[djt2010]

Aah that'll be it then. Oh well

[slipknot67]

Anyone managed to create a decent tactic yet for this version of FM.

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp162/slipknot2611755_photos/ManchesterUnited-2-1.png

I've been using this tactic for 6 yrs now and it does great home and away in the league....still can't get past last 16 in Europe though.

Btw sorry it's just a screenie but don't know hot to get the actual tactic to upload, tried export tactic but doesn't seem to be working. :confused:

[manu legend]

Yeah, but I need someone who's going to be good now, not in the future. I have Evans to bring through and he was awesome when he was playing in my demo game. Fazio could be great, but I'll happily keep Rio, Vidic and Evans for my whole game (unlikely that I'll get to play enough seasons to have to replace Rio).

Agree completely. Fazio looks very good but isn't needed imo with the 3 CB's you mentioned + Brown and O'Shea.

[superboomer23]

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp162/slipknot2611755_photos/ManchesterUnited-2-1.png

what skin is that?

[crazy gra]

Not O'Shea, but that will be revealed soon enough...

As for the Serbs, Tosic (pronounced "toes-itch" I reckon) looks quite good and like Nani but don't like his determination and first touch of 10. Ljajic (pronouced "La-zhitch"I reckon) is partly masked. I'm not bothered about getting either of them.

[Chris21]

For those who are struggling with Rooney I trained him into a AMR and he does much better out there for me. Also trained Ronaldo into a FC and he got me 29 goals in my most recent season. Seems to have got the best out of them both.

Any suggestions on a centre back guys? I currently have Rio, Vidic, Evans and Lee Heard (regen) but I feel I need to replace Rio soon because Evans doesn't seem good enough yet and Heard is only 17. I have money but don't really wanna spend big. £10m-£15m if possible.

EDIT: Just coming into 2011/12 season btw.

[manu legend]

Ffs first Tevez returns from injury so I make him available for the reserves to gt up his fitness. The next day I get the news item that he has broken his leg in the reserve game .

And yeah Tosic looks quite good but I doubt I'll go for him as he is too similar to Nani. Ljajic is good for his age and I'm scouting him up atm.

[manu legend]

For those who are struggling with Rooney I trained him into a AMR and he does much better out there for me. Also trained Ronaldo into a FC and he got me 29 goals in my most recent season. Seems to have got the best out of them both.

Any suggestions on a centre back guys? I currently have Rio, Vidic, Evans and Lee Heard (regen) but I feel I need to replace Rio soon because Evans doesn't seem good enough yet and Heard is only 17. I have money but don't really wanna spend big. £10m-£15m if possible.

EDIT: Just coming into 2011/12 season btw.

Fazio's your man for DC. Also have a look at Sakho.

I'm thinking of retraining Ronaldo to play ST as I need additional cover but I prefer him on the wing tbh.

[crazy gra]

Start of Game Update - August Transfer Window

Finally got to this update so hopefully I can get it going a bit quicker now all the transfers are done.

Transfers In

Sergio Asenjo - £6.5m

Miguel Veloso - £10.75m

Marcelo - £4.5m

Mario Balotelli - £10m

Sylvain Armand - £9.25m

Michael Owen - £3.2m

Delighted with managing to get all these. I changed the title ambition to 'winner' to increase the budget to £12.5m and it was just enough as the transfers of Armand and Owen needed the wage budget decreasing to top-up the transfer budget. United's squad really needs a striker and in Owen I've bagged a bargain who should be able to finish off a lot of chances. I'd prefer someone who's better at taking people on with better pace, dribbling and flair but Owen is fine for now.

I quite like the look of Armand. Won't be my best defender on paper, but a great backup to Evra with quality stats for a full back. Jumping of 13 doesn't make him the best candidate to play DC, but I've got lots of options there anyway. Not the cheapest, but I can't afford Chiellini...yet. Veloso and Marcelo have propably been bought by many on here and great prices for them as well. Still young but definitely good enough for the first team. Veloso should see plenty of action as he's what I like to call an "MCb" by having good defensive and attacking attributes. Marcelo is more of a long term replacement for Giggs, but will get enough games this season anyway.

Asenjo could be a great keeper in the future so another bargain in my opinion. Hopefully can build him up well over the next two seasons so that I have him and Foster as my first teamers when VDS retires. Same for Balotelli - very cheap for £10m and I can't believe I got him that cheap. Not as such a replacement for anyone, but could be great in the future. The first team sorts it self out, but I now have a very good young team to rely on of: Asenjo, Rafael, Evans, Fabio, Marcelo, Balotelli, Possebon, Petrucci and Welbeck who I'll be looking to play in League Cup and some CL games.

Transfers Out

Darren Fletcher - £20m to Man City

John O'Shea - £7.5m to Villa

Tomasz Kuszczak - £5m to Stade Rennais

These allowed me to bring in a lot of my transfers and I've definitely improved on who I've sold. I like Fletcher, but £20m is a great price. Not a fan of O'Shea or Kuszczak so good money for them I say. Hoped to sell Park, or at least ship him out on loan but that didn't go through so I'll stick him in games here and there to keep his selling price up until January.

Wages

Budget: £1.336m

Wage total: £1.301m

Slightly pushing it there, so have got to do well this season. I also gave new contracts to VDS, Neville, Scholes and Giggs which definitely helped push it down.

Long Term Targets

As well as getting in some quality youngsters, I'm still looking to improve the team and over the course of the next season or three will be attempting to lure these targets:

- Georgio Chiellini

- Sergio Ramos

- Cesc Fabregas

- Zlatan Ibrahimovic

- David Villa

[manu legend]

Some great business there Gra. Some quality signings. I envy you for getting Balotelli at £10m. I tried to unsettle him but Inter wanted £17m. And I prefer Sakho to Armand tbh.

[crazy gra]

Yeah, think Inter were also asking for about £17m for Balotelli but I bid £10m + 15% and they accepted!

Armand's a better full back than Sakho, so that's why I chose him.

[slipknot67]

what skin is that?

It's called dds09 v2 (right).

Any suggestions on a centre back guys? I currently have Rio, Vidic, Evans and Lee Heard (regen) but I feel I need to replace Rio soon because Evans doesn't seem good enough yet and Heard is only 17. I have money but don't really wanna spend big. £10m-£15m if possible.

U might want to check out Mark Beevers...Rijkaard signed him in my save last season, before I got the Man U job, he cost 5.5 million from Hull. He's already replaced Rio as my first choice cb.

[tingting]

Finally got around getting some understanding regarding tactics and started my first full game with United Had a mixed first season, finished third (two points behind Chelsea though 17 behind Arsenal) but won the league cup and lost out on penalties to Juventus in the champions league final (apart from the community shield and club world championship)

Transfers In (Summer): Balotelli (10 million + 15%), Keirrison (5 million) and Gignac (4.2 million)

(Winter): Daniel Opare (18 year old RB from Real Madrid for 200k),

Chrisantus (18 year old striker from HSV for 375k + 30%)

Diego Capel (12 million)

Rafinha (13.5 million + 10%)

Transfers Out (Summer): Manucho (600k loan fee to Harve Athletic and finally sold him off for 1.9 million)

Carlos Tevez (32 million to Arsenal)

(Winter): Ji Sung Park (9.25 million to Villarreal)

Off to a good start in the second season...was given a four year contract at the start (actually two but negotiated) with almost double the salary so as long as i remain in the top four..i hope that there will be no danger of me getting sacked. Nine games into the league season and i am second with 22 points (just one behind Chelsea and four above third placed Tottenham). More satisfying was the away victory to Arsenal (2-1) and home win against Liverpool (4-0) as i had lost all the four matches against them.

Had lost both the matches against Chelsea but hopefully will manage to win one against them this time around. Won the first three champions league matches so will try to give some match practice for younger/fringe players.

Transfers in: Van der Vaart (3 million ), Josh Lambo (free transfer), Asenjo (7.25 million)

Transfers out: Fletcher (13 million to Barcelona (could have got more but since i had already signed van der vaart i thought its better not to take chances since only barcelona were interested)

Campbell (15 million to Tottenham)

Simpson (4.5 million to Portsmouth)

Future transfers: Francisco Javier (16 year old keeper from Barca for 1.9 million..my 20 JPA world class scout says he will be a leading keeper in the future)

Have put in a bid for 15 year Mainz midfielder called Florian Lang (again a leading midfielder) hopefully will get him too. I have got a fairly settled team:

GK: Kuszczak, Asenjo and Foster (though have put Foster on the TL)

DR: Rafinha and either Neville or Rafael or Opare

DL: Evra and immediate replacement is O'Shea against tough teams while Fabio has performed good when given the chance though my assman says i should offload...will use him as a back up throughout my stay (or until he reitres:))

DC: Ferdinand/Brown

DC: Vidic/Evans

MR: Ronaldo/Balotelli

ML: Nani/Capel

MCd: Carrick/Hargreaves

MCa: Van der Vaart/Anderson

CS: Rooney/Keirrson

TM: Berbatov/Gignac

Rooney is currently out of the team since he is playing s***. Goes for long shots even though have put it to rarely (problem is with the high cf) scored just 11 goals in 34 games last season with a couple of those being penalties...and has scored 4 in 11 so far...will keep him for this season and the next since in 08 he hit great form after two seasons.

With the team settled for the next three seasons at least, will be going for youngsters...have already got a good mix..will now look for young wingers though that area should not be a problem for the next 6-7 seasons at least...finding a good young CD is a priority now...will assign the scouts as soon as they finish their current scouting...

[maverick_nc1]

I hated Rooney too, pi44es me off how he shoots from pretty much anywhere and everywhere all the time and seems to be no way of stopping it. Scores a wondergoal one in every 350 attempts.

Having said this, i somehow managed to get both Rooney And Berbatov (in particular) playing superbly in a 442 and banging them in. Then i adjusted a slider or two and its all gone to sh*t since. Incredibly frustrating that i seem to have fluked some 'magical' settings and now cannot find them again.

[opul]

I hated Rooney too, pi44es me off how he shoots from pretty much anywhere and everywhere all the time and seems to be no way of stopping it. Scores a wondergoal one in every 350 attempts.

Having said this, i somehow managed to get both Rooney And Berbatov (in particular) playing superbly in a 442 and banging them in. Then i adjusted a slider or two and its all gone to sh*t since. Incredibly frustrating that i seem to have fluked some 'magical' settings and now cannot find them again.

maybe it wasn#t the settings, but a good run? Rooney had 6.06 avg with me by February of the 2nd season... just when I thought of hte impossible, namely selling him, he started scoring magic goals and getting good ratings... now after about 10 games that has disappeared again and he's back in his old "form"

and I didn't change anything in the settings... wondering if it just happens to be assists he gets from certain players (I have heavy rotation in my squad), who play better/worse in certain positions.

[tingting]

Is there a stadium extension lined up IRL next season? Because every time i start a game as United (even in 08) i get a message at the end of the season that the stadium will be extended by 16000 then at the end of the second season it gets extended by a further 7000 (i think) to bring the total to 99000. In my final save game in 08, i joined the club midway through my seventh season and though the capacity was still 76000, the first summer that i was incharge, the club decided to expand it by 16000???

[xx11]

stadium gets expanded because we pack the stadium constantly in the first season which is what dictates expansions, so generally you will always expand it in first couple seasons.

[tingting]

stadium gets expanded because we pack the stadium constantly in the first season which is what dictates expansions, so generally you will always expand it in first couple seasons.

Then what about when we dont manage United? It should get expanded in the next couple of seasons as well. Now i am just talking about my experience and it could be a one-off scenario...have any of you gone into the second season with an entirely different team??can you check whether United will be expanding their stadium in the second season regardless of whether the manager is human or AI?

[simonbyrneno.4]

Has anyone ticked the counter attacking box on the team instructions page? I'm just wondering what the effects of it will be using a team that will dominate the majority of games like United do.

[tingting]

Has anyone ticked the counter attacking box on the team instructions page? I'm just wondering what the effects of it will be using a team that will dominate the majority of games like United do.

In my opinion counter attacking is a defensive tactic...i usually use it for away games against tough teams like the other three of the "top four" or in the later stages of the champions league or against in-form teams. Since majority of the sides will be happy to defend against United, there will be a need to take risks in order to score goals...this should be unticked for almost all of the home games and majority of away matches

[maverick_nc1]

Does anyone know what the TEAM DATA page in the data editor is actually used for?? I.E where it says depth = 15, width = 16, preferred formation = 442 etc etc.

Is this for use by the AI if they are in control of a club? If not then i have no idea what the point of it is?

[maverick_nc1]

In my opinion counter attacking is a defensive tactic...i usually use it for away games against tough teams like the other three of the "top four" or in the later stages of the champions league or against in-form teams. Since majority of the sides will be happy to defend against United, there will be a need to take risks in order to score goals...this should be unticked for almost all of the home games and majority of away matches

Sounds right but in practice im not so sure. I dont think Utd are suddenly going to give up possession to other teams, more likely when the other team attacks we will be quicker to counter on the break. Especially useful if playing a short slow build up style - sometimes this needs to quicken up to take advantage out opposition players out of position.

Would like further opinions about this - one little tickbox could potentially have a HUGE impact....

[tingting]

Sounds right but in practice im not so sure. I dont think Utd are suddenly going to give up possession to other teams, more likely when the other team attacks we will be quicker to counter on the break. Especially useful if playing a short slow build up style - sometimes this needs to quicken up to take advantage out opposition players out of position.

Would like further opinions about this - one little tickbox could potentially have a HUGE impact....

Yes...pace up front gives United an extra edge on the counter...but in most cases, the opposition will be happy if they manage to get a point and will get into match with a defensive mindset (meaning counter attack will be ticked) That will mean they will go forward only if there is a clear chance of an attack...and if you too do that..especially at home..that would mean both the sides sitting in their own half and waiting for an opening...which means less chances created and less goals scored...

In the league..there are just chelsea and arsenal who are up to (or above..thats a very different debate) United's level...even liverpool are a bit cautious playing at old trafford...that will mean that almost all of the remaining teams will be defensive in their mindset when playing at old trafford...even away from home you have got the same three teams...and possibly teams like tottenham or manchester city or in-form sides (who will be confident of getting a surprise result) who will attack...the rest will defend...so using counter attacking against such teams will be useless and will in fact tone down our attacking threat (again its my opinion )

[superboomer23]

finished 1st season - using Knapp tactics 4222 - won league, league cup, champions league...strikers work badly, however AML, AMR - do wonderful stuff...

2nd season:

Sold: Nani/Hargreaves/Fletcher/Huntelaar - 51/25/15/26 US millions

Bought: Sanchez/Van der Vaart/Agüero - 23/20/73 US millions

want to sell Berba, but noone wants to buy him

also want to get new good keeper, any recommendations?

[superboomer23]

by the way, using 4222 - trashed arsenal 3:0 away and 3:1 home...

[Evon]

If you want Balotelli, getting him on loan first may help bring the price down. I've got him on lona I'm not going to bid until I see if he's any good for me. He looks very good bar his mental stats.

[crazy gra]

GK: Kuszczak, Asenjo and Foster (though have put Foster on the TL)

Why are you using the 3rd best keeper out of those and transfer listing the best? Asenjo could be better than Foster, but not for a few years. You shouldn't have sold Tevez, at least not to Arsenal and you've got plenty of DCs. Get Armand, Sakho or Chiellini to replace O'Shea.

Then what about when we dont manage United? It should get expanded in the next couple of seasons as well. Now i am just talking about my experience and it could be a one-off scenario...have any of you gone into the second season with an entirely different team??can you check whether United will be expanding their stadium in the second season regardless of whether the manager is human or AI?

You can check any team's stadium capacity in the stadium information screen.

[pele10]

4-4-2 help anyone? i've got Ronaldo playing as he does irl same with Rooney ( apart from his rating) but berbs, and Tevez are very poor...

berbs 23 apps 5 goals 8 assists

tevez 6 apps 0 goals 2 assists

[--Galaxy--]

With Rooney.. it all depends on your tactics, i find that a free role works best for him, working as a lone striker.

[/img]

Thats his profile after season one..

I used this tatcic that i created by myself.. we on all 7 cups in the first year

[/img]

[superboomer23]

With Rooney.. it all depends on your tactics, i find that a free role works best for him, working as a lone striker.

how did you insert his pic into the game?

[crazy gra]

Not had the best start to my season. Only beat Pompey on penalties in the Community Shield after a 0-0 draw, then in the Premiership I drew 1-1 at Stoke, 0-0 at home to Hull and 0-0 away at Middlesborough and only beat Zenit 1-0 AET in the Super Cup. Owen was finally back and got himself fit with the internationals, all ready for a brilliant debut. Worth the £3.2m on its own for this match:

[knap]

No transfers in or out.

[manu legend]

Not had the best start to my season. Only beat Pompey on penalties in the Community Shield after a 0-0 draw, then in the Premiership I drew 1-1 at Stoke, 0-0 at home to Hull and 0-0 away at Middlesborough and only beat Zenit 1-0 AET in the Super Cup. Owen was finally back and got himself fit with the internationals, all ready for a brilliant debut. Worth the £3.2m on its own for this match:

Good result. I've also not had the best of starts but hopefully my form will pick up.

[slipknot67]

No transfers in or out.

.....and over 100 unread messages. How much of the season did you spend on holiday knap?

[tingting]

Why are you using the 3rd best keeper out of those and transfer listing the best? Asenjo could be better than Foster, but not for a few years. You shouldn't have sold Tevez, at least not to Arsenal and you've got plenty of DCs. Get Armand, Sakho or Chiellini to replace O'Shea.

I gave an eight-game runs for both the keepers at the start of the save (competitive matches). Kuszczak pulled off some good saves against quality teams, kept 5 clean sheets and generally looked solid at the back while Foster let in a couple of soft goals against teams such as Hull and Sunderland (costing me 5 points and ultimately the second place at the end of the season ). Asenjo has looked brilliant in the six champions league matches and two carling cup matches so far..has kept six clean sheets and has a rating of 7.31 so will look to give him some league matches (and bring him on as a sub against tough opponents but only after i take a 2 goal lead)

I sold off Tevez after the Super Cup match and he was s*** in the three matches that he played and the friendlies..very wasteful with his chances and was worse than Rooney(that is something)...I had Berbatov, Rooney and Keirrison (thanks to moj and his role theory thread:D) already and Keirrison was playing great in the creative forward position and i couldnt make myself sell off Rooney . Madrid came in with a 15+ million offer and i rejected it, offered him to other clubs for 35 million and Arsenal came in with a 32 million offer which i accepted since i needed a targetman now...he was poor with Arsenal as well..scoring 14 goals in 48 matches in the first season though he has already scored 12 in 17 now :-|

I use O'Shea only against very tough teams when i want my full backs to just defend (i use Neville on the other side) Otherwise its Evra who starts almost every matches and in the three champions league matches that i played Fabio in..he played well..has an average rating of 7.5 and put in a couple of good crosses..one of them leading to a late winner away to Feyenoord..so will keep him and Evra..will look for an attacking full back only after Evra retires (or i release him for bad stats)

You can check any team's stadium capacity in the stadium information screen.

Yeah i know that...but my doubt is whether United expand their stadium only when they are managed by human players and not AI...so i was asking whether anyone has started a new game with some other team and if they are into their second season...they could look into United's stadium facts page and let me know (please:)) whether they are extending their stadium even with an AI manager in charge

[roseboy64]

Started a game yesterday with no first transfer window as I wanted to start out like IRL. Did most of the staff changes in the OP as well as changing the fitness coaches for two unemployed guys who ahd better stats. Using the TT&F 4-4-2 Attacking ATM. Won all the preseason games with it. Won the CS 3-0 over Portsmouth and my first league game against Blackburn 2-1.

Will be busy over the next few days so thinking I should just restart it with an edited database for the Brazilians or maybe just start another save unemployed to occupy my time until the next patch. Hmm...

[Alunz]

i had to restart the game twice coz i found underating and overating of players and the injuries i just had to fix it.

[artest]

I think I'm going to continue my FM08 saved game, FM09's so frustrating.

[artest]

Maybe later, in my third season now, 5 points ahead of Arsenal with 4 left to play. Also in the semi's of the CL, against Arsenal. The next 3 games will probably make me go insane, they're all against Arsenal.

[artest]

First Arsenal game, Veloso and Aguero injured.

Second game, Vidic, Saivet, Balotelli and Moutinho injured.

[JawKam]

Finally, after playing 2 days and 16 hours, I've finished my first season with my beloved team. Had a good season, retaining the Premier League on the last day of season in a 3 way race, losing to Roma in penalties in the finals of UCL , lost out early in the Carling Cup and winning the FA Cup 2-0 against Newcastle. I also won the Super Cup, Community Shield and the World Club Cup back in December 2008.

Didn't have any transfers during July as I un-ticked the 'Allow First Transfer Window' tick-box, but got my first set of cash in November and signed quite a few players for January.

Transfers In (January):

Lorenzo De Silvestri- 9.25m (bargain-like)

John Bostock- 8.25m (much of it through payments over months/games)

Sergio Asenjo- 8m (coming in July)

Fausto Rossi- 5.25m (straight went on-loan to Birmingham)

Transfers Out (January):

Darren Fletcher- 40m (\o/ Citeh)

Park Ji Sung- 11m (\o/ Athletico Madrid)

Manucho- loan (with a view to a permanent 5m deal)

Made a few deals for the new season, all potential superstars but won't start off immediately in the first team.

Transfers In (June):

Jack Wilshere- 4.9m

Adrien- 5.25m

Mark Beevers- 1.9m

Jordan Spence- 1.1m

Ivan Rakitic- 5.25m (was transfer listed)

Fabien Delph 750k

And so far, two are going to leave.

Transfers Out (June)

Darron Gibson- 5.5m (Newcastle)

John O'Shea- 5.5m (Aston Villa)

SQUAD FOR NEW SEASON 2009/2010:

GK: Asenjo, Foster, VDS

RB: De Silvestri, Brown, Rafael, Neville

LB: Evra, Fabio, De Silvestri

CB: Ferdinand, Beevers

CB: Vidic, Evans, Spence

RM: C Ronaldo, Rakitic

LM: Nani, Rossi, Giggs

CM: Hargreaves, Carrick, Anderson, Scholes

CF: Rooney, Tevez

ST: Berbatov, Campbell

Does anyone have good intructions for my strikers? They have potential, but I can't seem to fulfill them. Rooney scored 12 goals in 32 appearances, Berbatov scored 10 in 32 appearances and Tevez has been awful 3 in 27 appearances. I need new instructions for them, but I'm not too sure what to give them. I like giving Berbatov the targetman, but how do I make him stay up front for most of the time?

[tingting]

hit the slump big time...was six points ahead of chelsea before christmas and now slipped to third..four behind arsenal and five behind chelsea:( quit the game for the time being..will start again after some time or else will go on holiday for a month or so

[Vash420]

Has anyone else signed Darijo Srna? For me he's an out and out legend. Scores virtually all the time from free kicks, and is brilliant either as a midfielder or RB.

[maverick_nc1]

Has anyone else signed Darijo Srna? For me he's an out and out legend. Scores virtually all the time from free kicks, and is brilliant either as a midfielder or RB.

Yes he is absolutely fantastic - a must buy. Lost out on him on my network game as he wanted to join Liverscum, gutted :-(