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

[reillyg]

In the Premiership its was and still is a 4-4-2/4-2-2-2 formation depending on who we have out wide.

Against the big european teams we played a 4-3-2-1, I cant remember against who but I remember seeing Tevez and Rooney on the wings and Ronaldo central as a sort of lone striker, so that could be classed as a 4-3-3. However it was usually either Tevez or Rooney as the lone striker with Ronaldo and Rooney/Tevez in wide positions.

I like

------------------VDS------------------

Brown--------Rio------Vidic--------Evra

----------------------------------------

Hargo------Carrick----OtherCM---Ronaldo

----------------------------------------

-----------Rooney---Berbatov-----------

This would be my choice for big games, and Hargeaves can move in to the CM and Rooney to the right when we lose the ball. To make 4-5-1.

But you can't really so that on the game.

[AndyyManutd]

End of season one, not as sucessful as i had hope but not too bad.

Only won the charity shield, world club championship and the supercup against zenit.

Quite disappointing to lose by a point, but i got a new contract & will win it next season

Cant see any real needs for the squad, i have however heard that bojan gets released by barca so will be investigating it

32 in 44 from wayne rooney was pretty good i thought

[purered22]

if you think 32 in 44 is good from rooney wait until you hear this:

47 in 58

[AndyyManutd]

Not wanting to compair after all i did LOSE the league so...

[andymancs]

At the start of the second season and things look good. On this save ive opted to change the squad almost entirely to put my mark on it and to crate a very young squad. I won the quadruple in the first season (slightly unrealistic but there you go).

Now ive accepted an offer for berbatov (25m - could have had 30m off arsenal but wanted him to go abroad), ive got aguero and balotelli to replace him but iver just been offered Adriano (inter) for £3m. I have concerns over a rooney/aguero partnership as they are very similar - the old roney/tevez argument again -and thought Adriano's height and left foot would compliment rooney. I imagine i could sell him for a nice profit after a season when balotelli should be able to replace him.

Has anyone had Adriano? Does he perform in the premiership?

My first team looks like this by the way:

GK - Akinfeev

RB - M. Richards

LB - Evra

CB - Vidic

CB - Criscito

RM - Ronaldo

LM - Messi

CM - Veloso

CM - Diarra

ST - Rooney

ST - Berbatov

[arsenal_2111]

Don't buy Adriano, he isn't as good as Rooney or Aguero, and imo even Balotelli is better.

Awful attitude, as soon as he is left out of a few games he moans, and this has an effect on the whole squad's morale.

[AndyyManutd]

I ve recently learned what a regen is Any tips for finding them?

[reillyg]

I ve recently learned what a regen is Any tips for finding them?

Get your scouts to scout countries and set the maximum age at 21. Also scout and U19,U21 tournements you see.

You can also look in international U21 and U19 teams.

Some you find will be world class try to snap them up quickly.

[Evon]

Last season we played a 4-2-3-1. Two deep lying midfielders in Scholes, Carrick, Anderson and Hargreaves and then the 4 up front would be Ronaldo, Giggs/some other player, Rooney and Tevez. All interchangeable.

[reillyg]

2013/14 Season Review

My season didn't get off the the best of starts, losing to Man City in the Super cup and Ronaldo broke his leg ruling him out for the season. However some good news came in the form of Torres who i snapped up for 100k despite his value being £28 million, because Liverpool went into adminstration. I also signed an awsome Mexican regen who at the age of 20 replaced Rio within a few weeks.

Transfer Summary

Summer In:

Torres £100k

Romera (awsome regen) £6.5 million

Kovachev (regen GK) £1.4 million

January In: None

Summer Out:

Asenjo £5mill

Fabio £6mill

Anderson loan

Wes Brown £3mill

Saviet £9 mill

Warren Booth (world class potential regen, needed matches) £8mill buy back clause £10mill

January Out:

Berbatov £8 mill

Foster £5mill

Petrucci £1mill

So not too much on the transfer front, cleared out a few players i didnt need, plus i loaned out loads of young players.

First Team

With Ronaldo injured for the season I decided on a strike force of Torres and Tevez up front with Rooney and Nani on the wings. But the injuries kept coming, Rooney broke his ribs, Torres fractured his elbow, Tevez tore his calf, not all at the same thim but it was a pain. I never had a settled team except for the defence.

Defence

------------------------Akinfeev------------------------

--Duran--------Romera------------Vidic-----------Evra--

Duran is a world class RB, his value a whopping £29 million at 21, winner of defender of the seaosn.

Romera world claa too only 20 and had highest avergae rating for the season. A Vidic and Rio hybrid.

Vidic and Evra were thier usual selves pure quality

Akinfeev was a rock as always.

Backup i had Rafinha who did well when needed, Neville never got a chance and retierd, Rio got the odd game. Helan is a nice LB a ready made replacement for Evra, Rafael covered both RB and LB and was good when needed. I also have a moody regen CB who played a few matches not sure about him though.

Central Midfield

I had alot of options in this area, so decide to loan out Anderson where he did well.

My choices were: Hargeaves, Carrick, Witsel, Camacho, Wilshere, a world class regen and a good regen.

If everyone was fit i went with Hargeaves and the world class regen. But Carrick played quite alot as did Witsel. No problems here overall, i think i will sell Camacho despite his quality he hasnt improved for a couple of years and Anderson is coming back stronger.

Wingers

Only really had one out and out winger in the form of Nani who was very good also had the odd injury though.

On the right wing Rooney was good but injuries put him out too, then i had Balotelli who was good but he got injured. So for about 2 months i was rotation Welbeck, Witsel and Wilshre, the 3 Ws. All this chopping and changing meant nobody really set the world on fire

Strikers

Torres, Tevez, Bojan, Rooney all got about equal opportuinties uptop with Welbeck getting about 10 starts and some sub appearences. Rooney and Torres lead the scoring charts all they way it was neck and neck, but then to my surprise Bojan made a late surge taking advatage of injuries and Torres being unavailable for the CL, meaning he took the top scorer prize for the season.

Competitions

Premier Leauge: Winners, easily only one loss but quite alot of draws, fortunatly the other teams were rubbish second place finished with 68 points meaning i wrapped up the title in March.

Champions Leauge: Winners, easy group and matches untill the semis against Lyon who had snapped up Mascherano and Adu from Liverpool to add to thier already strong squad. I was down 2-1 after the first leg and it took a 89th Romera winner to take me through on away goals, then it was a easy final against Spurs.

FA cups: Winners, Very easy draws a few lower league teams and WBA in the final

League Cup: Lost to Arsenal with my kids in the QF.

Super cup: lost to City

World club cup: Winners, no problems.

International

I won the Euros in 2012 and the confederations cup or whatever it its. So went in to the World cup with high hopes, beating Spain ranked 1st in the world in the 2nd rounf gave me more hope only to be knocked out by the German's in the QF, France were the eventual winners.

I promptly resigned wanting a new challenge, i applied for the Serbia job but was turned down, the next day i was offered the Brazil, Portugal, and Cezch jobs, i went for Portugal.

Summary

Successful season in terms of competitions despite massive injuries, i was probably lucky that none of the other clubs mounted a challenge. Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham made up the rest of the top 4. Liverpool finished in 16th after selling Gerrard, Torres, Mascherno, Babel and pretty much everyone else. Fulham, Leicester and Wigan were relegated.

Also great to see some regens develop well. However the quality of them coming through the United ranks seem to be poor for some reason.

But it was sad to see the last of the golden generation retire, Gary Neville retired at the age of 39 and is now a coach. Ryan Giggs did a good job at Portsmouth as manager which was good too see.

Hoping to sign a top quality young winger or two and any other regens i find that are United quality. Selling Camacho for £20 million.

Didn't reallise this reivew would be this long, sorry if it boring

[Mattyb777]

GK VDS

DR Gary

DL evra

DC vidic

DC Rio

MR Tevez (sell???)

ML nani

MC carrick

MC fletcher (sell???)

ST rooney

ST Berbatov

S1 Foster

S2 Evens

S3 Anderson

S4 Scholes

S5 Brown

S6 Giggs

S7 Oshea

Ronaldo and hargreves not in team coz injury and kuszack not in team reserves

Any good young players possibly i could sign or players i could sell?

[purered22]

hey how can i post a screenshot on this thread?

[Lisandro Lopez]

purered22;

IV. How do I Post a Screenshot?

1. Ensure that any version of Football Manager is open

2. Go to the screen you want to show

3. Press 'Prt Sc', normally next to or near F12 on your keyboard

4. Open Paint, or a similar program

5. Paste the image by either pressing 'Ctrl + V' or going to edit, then paste.

6. Save the file as a JPEG

7. Upload the image to an image hosting site, such as PhotoBucket or ImageShack

8. Post the Direct URL onto this site

Or

1. Ensure that any version of Football Manager after Football Manager 2008 is open

2. Go to the screen you want to show

3. Press Alt+F9

4. A screenshot of what you want will be saved in My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager __\Screenshots

5. Upload the image to an image hosting site, such as PhotoBucket or ImageShack

6. Post the Direct URL onto this site

[purered22]

thnx mate appreciate

[AndyyManutd]

Anyone reccomend me a good backup keeper?

Using Ben Foster atm in goals, and kuzshack (sp) as backup but hes had enough and is moving.

VDS's stats have dropped dramatically only after one season so i'd prefer to have a better one than him as backup.

Budget isnt a problem got 30m at least, jan season 2.

[arsenal_2111]

Fran Ochoa, America(MEX)

Steve Mandanda, Marseille

Igor Akinfeev, CSKA Moscow

Sergio Asenjo, Valladolid

Vincenzo Fiorillo, Sampdoria

I recommend Asenjo, £7.25mil releaseclause.

[AndyyManutd]

Thank you got Asenjo and looks pretty good, he ll overtake ben foster soon i reckon as well

[reillyg]

Thank you got Asenjo and looks pretty good, he ll overtake ben foster soon i reckon as well

I signed Asenjo £6 mill, Akinfeev £12 mill, Fiorillo free in the second season , I had VDS for the 1st.

Akinfeev was my no1 straight away, Foster and Asenjo joint second and Fiorillo on loan.

Asenjo never developed he went on loan but still never did it so I sold him in the 4th season. Foster was better but not quite upto it so he went too. Fiorillo was same as Foster.

Now in the 5th season Akinfeev is still no1 with regens as back up.

Akinfeev really is the dog's bollocks. If Asenjo doesn't work get Akinfeev.

[Campbells]

LOL, real madrid must have been desperate... they just cleared liverpools debt, but i got torres for 6 mill before that

Btw, havent decided if im selling balo yet, probably wont, i really ,ike him, very versatile. Asenjo is leaving though, got ochoa mandanda and a regen who are awesome

[reillyg]

LOL, real madrid must have been desperate... they just cleared liverpools debt, but i got torres for 6 mill before that

Btw, havent decided if im selling balo yet, probably wont, i really ,ike him, very versatile. Asenjo is leaving though, got ochoa mandanda and a regen who are awesome

£6 million, I got him for 100k:D

I sold Asenjo too, not United quality. Is Balo Balotelli? If so don't sell him he is very good.

[Talented_Yak]

i have jus started another man u game after my other one corrupted, still fuming at that.

this time i am gonna keep tevez this time, but the question is veloso or mountinho? I am on the 9.2.0 update so i am not even gonna try for baloteli, although santon may be bought if poss.

And anyone had any experience with Delph? he is supposed to be gd but on my old game he was awful so didnt go for him..but maybe the update will change that..

[Campbells]

delph seems reasonable in my save, didnt buy as i only use 1 MC and had anderson there,

yeh balo is balotelli, he is one of my favourite players, and if juve dont want to pay 70 million then he isnt for sale

veloso every time, moutinho was awful for me, left after 6 months, moany bast***

[AndyyManutd]

Season 2 Review...

Again, not as sucessful as i'd first hoped but slightly better than last season.

Finished 3rd (Yes very poor) in the league, won the league cup, charity shield, champions league etc etc..

Got knocked out fairly early in fa cup due to the young team i put out, got chelsea

Didnt have any amazingly high goal scorers but i had a few in double figures:

Bojan obviously topping the goalscorers list, him and tevez started to play well together after xmas hence rooneys lower game tally.

Any ideas were to strenghten ? Dont think budget will be a problem

[Talented_Yak]

i think i might go for joao moutinho coz of his mental attributes and i don't really play with a DM

[reillyg]

i think i might go for joao moutinho coz of his mental attributes and i don't really play with a DM

I would say go for a young CM who you can rotate, I have been doing some reseach on several United saves waiting for the new patch, and I have found that Carrick and Hargreaves make a great CM partnership with Hargreaves as the slightly more attacking.

So younger options obviously you have Anderson, but I cant get the best out of him. Camacho looks good but his development slows quickly. There are quite a few more out their too.

I would say unitill about the 4th season you dont need to buy a very good CM, there are other areas that are more improtant. But its your save.

[Force]

Currently in my first season.. I use 2 different teams, one for home and another for away games - using the stronger team for the away games. Always worked good for me. Manucho & Tevez are my current striking partnership for home games, and quite surprised..

Manucho - 10 goals in 13 appearances

Tevez - 4 goals in 13 appearances

Quite shocked. Might keep Manucho a bit longer this time, might be able to sell him for a decent amount, hopefully.

[reillyg]

Currently in my first season.. I use 2 different teams, one for home and another for away games - using the stronger team for the away games. Always worked good for me. Manucho & Tevez are my current striking partnership for home games, and quite surprised..

Manucho - 10 goals in 13 appearances

Tevez - 4 goals in 13 appearances

Quite shocked. Might keep Manucho a bit longer this time, might be able to sell him for a decent amount, hopefully.

Manucho always scored for me too but as youngsters developed he was no longer needed.

What are your 2 different teams, I guess Berba and Rooney are your away partnership.

[edrock85]

This might sound like a silly question to ask but....what formation would everyone say we used last season? Would it be best described as a 433, 4231, 41221....etc. Gonna try to make the tactic in FM and am having trouble making the basic layout of the formation ie having 3 centre mids, or just the 2 or what?

Help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ok i know u asked this a few days ago but I thought it was interesting that the football industry generally agree that we played the strikerless 4-6-0 formation. When I look back on it I think they are probably right, take a look at this

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article3648903.ece

[thegaffer91]

Hi, im planning on starting a man u save and i just wanted to run by my plans to see if anybody has any suggestions/improvements.

First, tactics. im planning on using a 442 tactic. i havnt had a look in the tactics forum yet for one, but i am planning to (as i am not very good at making my own tactics) but has anybody got any good tactics to use?

Next, signings. my plans are to sign:

Srna (1st choice RB)

Fernandez (Rotation with Giggs)

Lambo (Hopeful youngster)

Sakho (leave him at PSG for a year)

Fleck

Saivet

McCarthy (from hamilton)

McArther (from hamilton)

Adriano (on loan)

Adrien (from Sporting Lisbon)

Im planning to sell kuszack - how much should i be aiming for?

Im going to use tugs training and sort out my staff as is suggested in the opening post.

Therefore, my 1st team squad will be:

GK: VDS/Foster

RB: Srna/Neville

LB: Evra/O'Shea

CB: Ferdinand/Evans

CB: Vidic/Brown

RM: Ronaldo/Nani/Park

LM: Giggs/Fernandez

CM: Hargreaves/Carrick/Fletcher

CM: Scholes/Anderson

ST: Rooney/Tevez

ST: Berbatov/Adriano/Manucho

and the youngsters i hope to bring through are:

Lambo

Sakho

Fabio

Rafael

McCarthy

McArther

Fleck

Saivet

Adrien

Welbeck

Any advice is welcome. cheers. ill keep you updated as the season(s) go by

[reillyg]

thegaffer91 -

I wouldnt buy as many players as your are suggesting, because you dont need them and it will disrupt the squad harmony quite alot.

Adriano is not needed, Manucho can cover as can Welbeck and Campbell is back in the second season.

Fernandez could be good but Nani is better on the left wing, you should play Nani and Ronaldo on either wing and they are awsome, only Messi, Ribery etc are supirior to Nani. I would look to buy a left winger in the second season to back up Nani when Giggs is too old.

Srna is good but again not needed for a couple of years Neville and Brown are very good. Look at Santon instead, younger and potetially better.

All you really need to buy is a versitile CM/WG a great candidate for this is Axel Witsel, young, cheap and quality. And you could do with a young striker i would suggest Vicenzo Fiorillo.

Youngesters all look good.

[thegaffer91]

Reillyg -

First, cheers for reminding me about Santon - when writing the post i knew i had forgotton someone to sign, he was the one. The reason i want to buy Srna now is that i feel he is the only top class affordable RB at the start of the game, and i dont reckon that when neville is ready to hang up his boots, my youngsters will be ready for the 1st XI.

i think i shall take up your advice over Adriano - ill try 60% wages and no initial fee but if that is rejected i wont continue my interest.

Sorry if my post was a little confusing, the only signings i shall integrate in my 1st team were going to be Fernandez and srna

My reason for wanting fernandez was to have him move into the centre to replace scholes in season two and then moving nani across to the left.

I shall look at Witsel, how much does he normally cost?

When you say young striker, i presume you mean young keeper. the problem with fiorillo is the cost, previously he has cost me up to £7m and i couldnt afford that.

[reillyg]

Reillyg -

First, cheers for reminding me about Santon - when writing the post i knew i had forgotton someone to sign, he was the one. The reason i want to buy Srna now is that i feel he is the only top class affordable RB at the start of the game, and i dont reckon that when neville is ready to hang up his boots, my youngsters will be ready for the 1st XI.

i think i shall take up your advice over Adriano - ill try 60% wages and no initial fee but if that is rejected i wont continue my interest.

Sorry if my post was a little confusing, the only signings i shall integrate in my 1st team were going to be Fernandez and srna

My reason for wanting fernandez was to have him move into the centre to replace scholes in season two and then moving nani across to the left.

I shall look at Witsel, how much does he normally cost?

When you say young striker, i presume you mean young keeper. the problem with fiorillo is the cost, previously he has cost me up to £7m and i couldnt afford that.

Yea i did mean young keeper, i got Fiorillo on a free in the second season so look out for that. Adriano on loan could be good and he can tutor youngsters, but i wouldnt get him on a permant deal unless he is awsome.

Could be good with Fernandez into CM especially if Anderson doesnt develop, he didnt for me.

Witsel cost be a whoping £2 million, he can play loads of postions and always seem to performing. I'm in my 5th season and he has been my best signing ever.

[thegaffer91]

im not on FM at the moment (homework and FM dont go well) but when im on it ill have a good look at witsel, might do the same as with Sakho (pay for him now but sign him at the begining of the next season).

I was always intending only get adriano on loan as a stop gap until i can sign bojan on a free

[Mattyb777]

Just starting a 2nd save as my first save got about 10 injuries in the first month and i really had no chance

Heres who i sold and brought

In:

Guardado - £14m

Rossi - £16.25m

Defour - £7.5m

Medeiros 3.3m

Sold

Tevez

Fletcher

Anderson loan 1.2m

I am using the 4-4-2 with one cm on often forward runs and the other none.

Currently played 4 games

1-0 friendly

4-0 friendly

2-0 community shield

0-0 prem

[Arda_Turan]

Hi, starting my first Man Utd save on FM09 patch 9.2.0.

Setting some rules for myself too.

Transfers IN (£)

A. Young - 29.5M

G. Agbonlahor - 28.5M

G. Barry - 13.75M

S. Downing - 12.75M

J. Lescott - 10.5M

S. Taylor - 9.75M

L. King - 8.5M

N. Onuoha - 8.5M

M. Owen - 4M

J. Mattock - 1.9M

W. Routledge - 1.7M

A. Lallana - 1.6M

N. Delfouneso - 1.5M

M. Beevers - 1.5M

P. Edwards - 250K

J. Thomson - Free

TOTAL SPENT - £134M

Transfers OUT (£)

C. Tevez - 30M - Arsenal

P. Evra - 30M - Man City

D. Fletcher - 30M - Man City

N. Vidic - 25M - Chelsea

Nani - 16M - Newcastle

Anderson - 14M - Tottenham

J. O'Shea - 8M - Middlesbrough

J. Evans - 8M - Tottenham

T. Kuszczak - 4.1M - Sevilla

D. Gibson - 3.8M - Wigan

R. Zieler - 1M - Plymouth

TOTAL RECEIVED - £170M

GK - Foster, Edwards, Amos

DR - Neville, Onuoha

DL - Lescott, Mattock

DC - Ferdinand, Brown, King

DC - Jagielka, Taylor

MR - Young, Routledge, Thomson

ML - Downing, Young

MC - Barry, Hargreaves

MC - Scholes, Carrick

FC - Rooney, Delfouneso

FC - Owen, Agbonlahor

Hmm... something seems fishy... Oh! They're all English!

So, I'd like to try to play a game using only English players.

I was unable to sell:

Ronaldo - due to injury

Berbatov, Fabio, Rafael - just bought, no-one interested

VdS, Giggs - no-one wants OAPs

Park - realised he was in my reserves after transfer window closed

- So, they will all be sold in January, if it's possible.

Until then, I will allow them to be subs, but they cannot come on in the 1st half.

I have 26M or so left, so any advice on who I should buy in January will be appreciated

Let's hope I don't get bored before the season is over.

[Evon]

You've got some incredibly crap English players like Routledge, Edwards and Taylor. Why bother buying them?

[Arda_Turan]

I wouldn't say Taylor is crap. He develops into a pretty good CB imo.

But yeah, I thought Routledge and Edwards had potential, realise now that they don't.

[wakesta]

Has anyone brought any players through from the youth team into the first team that rate

[manu legend]

Arda_Turan

I see you've going for an all English side. Some good ins although you overpaid for some players but good luck.It will be interesting to see how you do. Let us know how you get on.

wakesta

There are a number of players with potential; F.Campbell, Rafael, Fabio and Welbeck are the main prospects. If you're lucky Brandy, Amos, Gibson and Possebon can turn out ok aswell.

[Arda_Turan]

The save was short-lived. I predicted I wouldn't get through a season tbh.

I might come back to it another time though.

[wakesta]

How good is Nani?

[gandycoleuk]

Well, I've come to the end of the 1st season on my United save and it turned out to be a fantastic season for my players:

Squad Overview

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9632/manchesterunitedendofsezt9.jpg

Individual Awards

April Premier League Player of the Month - Ronaldo

April Premier League Young Player of the Month - Anderson

September & November Premier League Manager of the Month - Khan

English Footballer of the Year - Ronaldo

Premier League Manager of the Year - Khan

Premier League Team of the Year - Ferdinand & Ronaldo

Champions League Best Player - Ronaldo

Champions League Dream Team - van der Sar, Evra, Vidic & Ronaldo

Competition Summary

After losing to both Arsenal and Chelsea in an uncertain January, my players went on a fantastic run of form culminating in clinching the title at White Hart Lane. The crucial victory though was in the previous game when I beat closest challengers Liverpool at Old Trafford, who were a point behind having played a game more. Everton's remarkable start of the season petered out in late February but still found some form at the end to break into the top four. Too many draws cost Chelsea any real chance of challenging for the title and had to settle for 3rd place. At the other end of the table, two of the promoted sides went straight down along with Wigan while West Brom did well to finish in mid-table.

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/3126/englishpremierdivision2ab0.jpg

Top Goalscorer - Adebayor (Arsenal) - 24

Top Assists - Santa Cruz (Blackburn) - 14

Average Rating - Ronaldo (Man Utd) - 7.51

Players Player of the Year - Gerrard (Liverpool)

Players Young Player of the Year - Walcott (Arsenal)

Premier League Goal of the Season - Elmander (BOLTON vs Newcastle, 28/09/2008)

My players disposed of Sporting quite comfortably in the 1st knockout round of the Champions League to set up a quarter-final against group opponents Bayern Munich, with the 1st leg in Germany. Hargreaves returned to his former club to score a stunner to give us a valuable away goal going into the home leg. Although Klose levelled the tie in the first half, with the game heading for extra-time, Rooney scored an absolutely screamer to send us through. In the semis, it was last season's beaten finalists Chelsea standing in between us and Rome and we won the 1st leg at Old Trafford thanks to Ronaldo and then kept a hard-earned clean sheet at Stamford Bridge to return to the final.

So to the final and Arsenal made it the second all-English Champions League final in a row. My team led at half-time thanks to a brace from Tevez sandwiched by Adebayor's headed equaliser. The second half was dominated by the Gunners but were finding it hard to break through until the final minute of the 90 when substitute Vela forced extra-time. A very tight and tense extra-time followed and onto the lottery that is the penalty shootout. The luck was with my players tonight as van der Sar made two saves from van Persie and Vela, paving the way for Tevez to slam home the winning spot-kick to send me wild!

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6402/arsenalvmanutdchampionsbo0.jpg

The third leg of the potential treble was in the FA Cup. We started the competition by comfortably seeing off Charlton at Old Trafford with a second string. The 4th round brought a testing trip to Goodison Park and it was all going well with Anderson's brace until Yakubu scored an absolute belter to force a replay, which Rooney won on his own 2-0. That victory set up a 5th round tie at Fulham which we won 2-1 and despite the slender scoreline, the game was very one-sided in terms of chances and possession. To the 6th round and Aston Villa made the trip to Old Trafford and went back empty-handed thanks Hargreaves' stunning freekick. In the semis, it was Wigan and it was a very tight and nervy affair which didn't yield many opportunities and resulted in another penalty shootout. van der Sar didn't have to make a save as Wigan hit the woodwork three times and we were returning to Wembley in May.

In the final, just days after lifting the Champions League, we had to pick ourselves up and face the side that beat us in 2007 - Chelsea. Evra got injured in Roma and his replacement, Marcelo, conceded a penalty which Ashley Cole converted at the second attempt. But it was a frenzied spell before and after half-time which decided this Cup final. My players turned the game upside down when Nani and Ronaldo converted only for Joe Cole to breakaway to score in stoppage time. Ronaldo was the hero though, as he scored immediately after the restart and complete a remarkable 6 days for me and my players.

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/8776/manutdvchelseafacup2009ky5.jpg

Other Competitions

In the only domestic trophy that I didn't win, the side that knocked me out went on to win the Carling Cup as Tottenham defeated Chelsea in a repeat of last year's final irl.

While in the UEFA Cup, surprise victims in the Champions League Barcelona, overcame AC Milan to lift the trophy.

Summer Transfer Targets

Firstly, I was thinking that van der Sar is getting old and need someone with great potential. My number one target at the moment is Sergio Asenjo and his stats look very promising at his age and is already a wonderkid.

Other positions I would like to strengthen are left-wing and central attacking midfielder as both Giggs and Scholes are looking surplus to requirements. Players that I'm looking at include Matias Fernandez and Andres Guardado for left-wing and Rafael van der Vaart for Scholes' replacement.

I have plenty of youngsters coming through including Rafael, Fabio, Bolzoni, Zuculini, Baxter, Wijnaldum and also Campbell coming back from Spurs looking a useful option up front.

Anyway, what do you think of my final progress from my 1st season guys? Is there any other positions that need strengthening that I haven't mentioned here?

Any feedback and suggestions appreciated.

[gandycoleuk]

How good is Nani?

Nani is pretty good if given a sustained amount of matches to play. My 1st choice down the left wing in the first season.

[reillyg]

How good is Nani?

I'm in the 7th season and he has been ever present throughout, very good indeed/

[AndyyManutd]

Lol - scolarie will be angry

EDIT: I thought sparta was full of fighting guys? ^

lol

[gandycoleuk]

I was just wondering guys which positions do you strengthen after your 1st season? And also, what changes would you guys make to my squad? (first screenshot in the above post) Thanks in advance.

[Force]

LOL, real madrid must have been desperate... they just cleared liverpools debt, but i got torres for 6 mill before that

Nice. What season do L'pool normally go into debt?

Sorry for off-topic, but where are those logos from?

Thanks!

[Force]

I was just wondering guys which positions do you strengthen after your 1st season? And also, what changes would you guys make to my squad? (first screenshot in the above post) Thanks in advance.

DR and DL - normally sell O'Shea & Brown. Either MR or ML, depending which side you use Nani at, always used Ronaldo on the right. Maybe a GK, too. But it's not that important as Foster can become fairly good. Some people bring in a new striker, but Campbell and Welbeck will be good enough as backup.

[Impzie]

Hahaha, I suddenly feel like a very silly manager after buying Veloso for 41 million pounds in my second season (yes, way way overpriced) but they refuse to drop the price at all. Then, I started reading the threads and realized that I have to constantly remind the player that I am keen to buy him every 2-3 weeks or so to unsettle him. Sigh.

Oh well, at least I got Pogrenak (can't spell his name right) for 4 million pounds, Juan Angel Mata for 5 million pounds and Camacho at 12 million pounds. Oh, for good measure, Real Madrid was dumb enough to give me 53 million pounds for Tevez. Tevez is good, but for that money? I take it.

That said, Asenjo is awesome. At 10 million pounds, he's an excellent goalkeeper prospect at 19-20 years ago. I bought him in the second season because our great Holland keeper is getting old, and Ben Foster needs some cover. Eventually, Asenjo is now the first team keeper in my second season, with Ben getting a few games here and there.

As an indication of my definite inability to sell/buy players properly (I did win the treble in my first season with Manchester United, here is a rough sketch of my purchases).

1st season

Buy

Camacho - 12 million pounds

Fleck - 4 million pounds

Balotelli - 14 million pounds

Rodwell - 9.5 million pounds

Acousta - 7.5 million pounds

Shea. B (bloody useless American player) - 1.1 million pounds

Total spending: 48.1 million pounds

Sell

Tevez - 51 million pounds

----------------------------------------------

Second season

Buy

Asenjo - 10.5 million pounds

Juan Mata - 5 million pounds

Pogrenak - 4 million pounds (need to wait for his eligibility, but worth waiting for 3 years. He's only 27 by then)

Two young players at Bosman's transfers (just average players, but bought them since I can sell them good...All of them have 6 million pounds value or more)

John Bostock - 1.7 million pounds

Veloso - 43.5 million pounds

Total value: 64.7 million pounds

Sell

Kuzshack (sic) -7.5 million pounds

Lee Martin - 3 million pounds

Darren Gibson - 12.5 million pounds.

[reillyg]

For Pogbrenyak offer him a new contract and you could get a work permit straight away. On my save he is nearly always top scorer in the Premier League for Boro who are now a top 4 side thanks to him.