[FM20] Class of 2020 - Manchester United

[Jack722]

Before I begin, let me know if anyone has tried this before, as I've searched online and couldn't find anything like this.

The Save

After an extremely dissapointing post Fergie period for Manchester United, it almost seems fitting that the oppertunity to break away from mediocricy and return to challenging at the top could fall to a talented group of youngsters who have come through the academy in recent years. These players certainly have the potential to be the sequel to the famous class of '92.

The goal of this save is to build a team to achieve consistent success, with the spine being built around a current group of academy players. The players listed below should be regular first teamers from the moment they become premier league quality - to the season that they begin to decline. Aside from this, every other position is fair game to sign any player for.

The Players

• Marcus Rashford
• Mason Greenwood
• Angel Gomes
• Brandon Williams
• James Garner
• Scott McTominay
• Axel Tuanzebe
• Dean Henderson
• Tahith Chong*
• Paul Pogba*
• Jesse Lingard*

Starred players are optional - due to them either spending the majority of there development elsewhere and not (in my eyes) being 'true' academy players. Or due to there being better academy options who play the same position.

What makes this save even more exciting is, not only do we have other young players who will hit there peak at similar times (Daniel James, Wan Bissaka) - but we also have a duo of strong leaders within the team, who's positions don't clash with any of the youngsters. These players (Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire) can bring much needed experience and mentoring to this group.

The follow up post will go into a little bit more detail about each player, as well as my intended tactical setup, which will be built in order to get the best out of each player. I will have to orient myself very much toward fitting "the system to the players" due to our limited options.

Edited June 13, 2020 by Jack722

[karanhsingh]

Nice idea! As a big united fan myself will follow this

[Sean1967]

This is an absolutely fantastic idea. I’ll be following intently. 

[Jack722]

I've never ventured to this side of the forums before, but I'm hoping that I can still post a little about the tactics as well as my player development + results, as I believe half the fun in these sort of saves is spent in trying to create a system to fit your limited players. It will also make up for my lack of any transfer updates . 

Mods, please let me know if this isn't OK!

[Jack722]

The Players and System

 

• The best of our young players so far
• Can either play through the centre as an AFa or on the left wing as an IFa
  • I want to use him on the wing, seeing as he has relatively poor composure so I don't want him to be our player closest to goal

 

• It looks as though this guy has the highest ceiling out of the lot
• Can also play on the wing, but as a clinical finisher, I will play him as our forward

 

• Excellent flair and good acceleration + passing + vision
• I see him playing as a creative inverted winger, as he may get bullied in the centre with his low balance and strength

 

• A composed holding player
• Can recycle possession and link the defence to the midfield

 

• A well rounded left back
• Looks to have potential to be world class

 

• Excellent pace to be a covering defender in a high line system
• Has poor jumping reach, so must be partnered with a dominat ariel defender (Likely Maguire)
• Has decent passing and 'likes to bring the ball out of defence' this compliments our small attackers, who won't want an uncomposed defender making forced clearences, as they will struggle to compete for long balls against centre backs.

 

• Our midfield enforcer
• His star rating isn't great for a 22 yr old, but I always like these sort of players, so he will have a role in my team
• Can compliment Bruno's attacking ability and Garner's composure + anticipation by being a tough tackler and giving the midifeld some steel
• His technical weaknesses should be minimized by his colleagues in midfield

 

• Honestly doesn't look that great, but his good form in real life with Sheffield Utd has given me the determination to try and fit him in
• As a sweeper keeper with better passing than De Gea, he should compliment our fast attackers well by starting counter attacks from the back

First Season XI

 

Ideal First XI Within 2 seasons max

Tactical thinking below..

Spoiler

Greenwood is a DLFa rather than an AFa, as I found that an Advanced forward and IFa got in each other's way a lot. I sacrificed Greenwood's natural role as he is younger, so can be remoulded more easy. Having him drop deep to collect the ball also allows him to use his flair more. However, I may try to revisit playing Greenwood as an AF, maybe i'll put Rashford in a more supporting role and try to have Rashford playing in Greenwood more than the other way round... 

It's a structured system with relatively conservative full backs and centre mids. This is because it gives our attacking 4 a solid base to take more risk (pass into space + be more expressive + higher tempo + counter press + counter) and not worry about losing the ball and risking turning the ball over in an exposed situation.

Neither of the full backs are attacking, this may seem too conservative, but I find that they still get up when it is necessary and safe to do so .

The high risk attacking approach also suits our attackers as they mostly have good pace + dribbling + flair, so it makes sense for them to try and beat there man and try the more dangerous option.

We distribute to CBs as they are both good on the ball. We also don't want to hit long balls from the keeper to Greenwood/Rashford as they will never beat a centreback in the air. We also don't play out of defence. This is because it slows down our build up play a bit too much, as well as drops our midfielders closer to our goal. When this happens, they get in the way of Maguire doing his trademark dribbles into midfield which can draw a defender a create a free man in attack.

The next update will be in January. We will look more into the youth player's development over results first, as this the first XI for season 1 only has the academy players in rotation positions.

I will reguarly rotate the youngsters in and out of the side so that they get adequate games time, but at the same time, don't get thrown in to the deep end.

Edited June 13, 2020 by Jack722

[karanhsingh]

Greenwood should make a good CF I would have thought. 

BTW I think Pereira also counts as home grown and should make a decent squad player.

[Jack722]

9 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Greenwood should make a good CF I would have thought. 

BTW I think Pereira also counts as home grown and should make a decent squad player.

Yes mate, I’m keeping pereira around to be a backup for Fernandes 

I also think that Greenwood will make a good CFa. Sadly his circle is empty in that role currently, so he is now only training as a CF.

i think that would work best, as he’s still looking to score goals himself, but should roam around and leave the centre forward position from time to time and allow Rashford to move into that space

[Jack722]

Pre-Season

We had a pretty turbulent start to the save.  I tend to holiday through the first few games against low reputation teams, as to me these games are only for match fitness and don't give a good inidcation of whether your tactical and squad plans are viable. Somehow we got outplayed by both Blackburn and Kransdor with out first team! 

However, the game that I want to draw your attention to was against AC Milan.

We pretty much played the future XI that was posted above, barring Bruno Fernandes. And, during the first half before both teams made lots of substitutions, we put Milan's first team to the sword. We scored 2 goals but that didn't do the game justice, we should've gotten a lot more.

With a man of the match performance from Gomes, and plenty of key passes from our ball playing defender Tuanzebe, the future looks very bright indeed.