Another "team from scratch" challenge

[Mark.]

Hulk, what about the situation where it says the player cannot be transfered more than once in one year, ala Lansbury, Wilshere, Galvan. Is there anyway im allowed to get around that?

[Mark.]

Also, im still really struggling to find a good RB, just aint seeming to be happening... Hoyte aint looking too bad and I can get him for 3.5m but I think I need somone better. Mickael Chretien looks great but they want 8.2 for him but im trying to talk them down to 7.5 throwing in Buy Back Clauses and a friendly arrangement. Zebina looks good but I accidently signed Thil when im still trying to get Amauri who I should be close to getting. Is it ok to reverse out the Thil transfer?

[theincrediblehulk]

what about the situation where it says the player cannot be transfered more than once in one year, ala Lansbury, Wilshere, Galvan. Is there anyway im allowed to get around that?

I dont think there's any way around that using FMM even. The only way you can work around that is by editing the database itself which I wouldnt recommend. But if you can find a way, then go for it.

RB - I wouldnt trust Hoyte as first choice tbh. But he can be a handy guy to have off the bench. Zebina is doing great for me atm. But he can be a little inconsistent at times so watch out. Also, if you shout at him during or after a match, he usually gets a little upset and most of the time responds negatively in the game as well. But still doing a good job for me till now anyway.

A suggestion for you is Miranda. He's not a natural RB but can play there. Infact, I think that's his best position tbh because he's not particularly good in the air but is solid in all other defensive stats. Good at heading, tackling, marking, concentration, good pace, strength and decent crossing as well. He's usually available for around 5-7M from Sao Paolo. I bought him in one of my saves and played him at CB and if I'm honest, he wasnt anything special. Got 7's mostly and also a handful of 6's. But hardly ever an 8. I started retraining him to RB for season 2 and was planning on playing him there but the save got messed up before I could go through with it. I'm sure he'll do well there. Give him a go.

Else, try Wes Brown, Gianni Zuiverloon, Paulo Ferreira (who's usually listed at Chelsea. But he's over-age), Micah Richards (I've bought him for as low as 16M once with a few clauses. So if you negotiate hard with them, you might land him for a decent upfront fee.), Alex Silva (quite similar to Miranda but his pace is a little less for my liking).

Gregory Thil - well there's no way you can undo the situation but you have 3 options here:

(a) you can either sell him right away if you wish; or

(b) you can make him a tutor for the youngsters. But then make sure you stay within the rules for tutors.

© you send him on loan for the season. When he comes back next season, you can have a maximum of 3 27 and over players. So you'll be fine then.

[Mark.]

Sweet cheers mate, managed to get Miranda in. Do you use your tactic that you used for your arsenal team for this team?

[theincrediblehulk]

Yep, using the same tactic. Its working well so far.

[theincrediblehulk]

Just a quick update:

Half-way through Jan season 1. I've been doing very well so far. Am top of the league by 4 points after 22 games and am still in every competition. Amauri and Owen have been great for me. Problem is, Owen and Amauri got injured in 2 consecutive matches and are out for 1 month and 2 months respectively!!!

This is big blow unfortunately. Especially Amauri as he's critical to the way I go about attacking. Farfan is there to cover for Owen so its not the biggest loss. But Amauri is huge. Bigger problem is that before this happened, I'd already agreed to buy Miguel Torres for just under 4M and have almost exhausted by budget. So cant buy a replacement. I bought Kwabena Agouda for 1K (thats right!) though. This was before the injuries as well because I thought I could make some great profit from him. But his physical stats are poor and he's not close to Amauri's class. Think this will be a longgg 2 months!

One consolation is that Owen should be back before I play my Champions League first knockout round against Porto. Wish me luck, I'll need it!

Edit: Damn! I just noticed that David Jones has opted to play for Wales on my game!! Shame, means I'll have to buy another player to fill my 5 English players quota!

[Mark.]

Damn gutted about those injuries mate, Agouda isnt too bad, I got him for 2k Hope you manage to ge tpast Porto. Im almost at the start of the EPL season, ill post my signings at the end of the Transfer Window.

EDIT: Actually another question, players who are in my U18 squad, will they be selected to play in the reserves by my Ass Man?

[theincrediblehulk]

Yeah mate. You assistant manager selects players for the U18 squad for the reserves as he deems fit. But it wont be the other way round though. If you put a 16 or 17 year old in the reserves, he wont be selected to play in the U18 games.

[Mark.]

Sweet, cheers never really thought about that as on all my other saves my squads have been so big that the U18s and Reverves are full up as it is.

[Mark.]

2007-2008 Transfer Window

*Lansbury will be joining the team in the January Transfer Window.

**Wilshere will be joining the team at the end of the season.

Overall im pretty happy with the team, pretty much have decent cover for most positions. Not that happy with the RB situation, but Miranda has been playing great and the fans love him, just dissapointed I missed out on Hoyte as Middlesborough got him instead on loan. I was extremely happy being able to get Briand and especially Renato Augusto who took a lot of unsettling. Faizo also came extremely cheap as I was very supprised to see that they were only asking 1.9m for him. Im a tad worried about my depth at striker as while Briand, Farfan and Amauri especially are very capable, im not so confident in Thil and Agouda. Youth wise I got most of the players in that I wanted, Wijnaldum was going to cost about 2m+ so I thought I would pass on him for the time being, Bolzoni had been singed on loan by the time I got around to looking at him, so I had to bring in Stelvio instead.

Competition wise we have had a rather shaky start to the EPL winning out first at home against Middlesbrough 4-0, then proceeding to drop our next game (at home) to Reading 0-1, this was followed by another poor performance at Bolton ending in a 1-1 draw. However in our first league game since the transfer deadline we had a strong performance against Villa winning 4-0. In the ECL we one the first leg away vs Dinamo Kiev 2-0, then while playing poorly managed to squeeze out a 1-0 win at home. In the group stage we have drawn Valencia, PSV and Besiktas, so not too bad a group really.

Player performance wise nobody has really stood out except for Amauri, but even he has put in some average performances, espeically in out loss and draw, however the two 4-0 wins have seen him notch a hattrick and a brace (plus 2 assists). Briand meanwhile has 3 goals in 6 games. Neuer has been alright in goal, although I am now regretting not buying a more experienced GK to back him up as im not sure about how Costil will go in his first season. I'm thinking about bringing in a GK tutor to play behind those two.

Anyway, comments?

EDIT: An interesting note, all the goals we have had scored agasinst use have been from penalties, for some reason we can't stop conceeding them. Its actually really annoying me, add to that the fact that when we play away the other teams keeper plays as if they are the best in the world, I know these are the usual FM complaints, but I don't usually get these problems. Im using your tactic Hulk with a few tweaks to how I like players to play, but nothing to the over mentality or the defense. Grrrrr wanna punch the computer!

[theincrediblehulk]

Mark.

Wow, some great signings mate. Carrick and Briand for those prices are excellent deal. Especially Briand since I can never seem to get him under 10M. And a good bench as well. You might have been better off buying Defour instead of Adrien though. Although Adrien becomes quality apparantely, Defour would have given your great strength and reliability off the bench even though the price would have been double.

GK - Costil will be fine as backup. Dont worry about that. You can easily have Neuer play most of the match in the season. Costil can come in for a few if Neuer gets injured or needs a little rest. But he'll do fine. I'm surviving with Neuer and Edwards atm. And Edwards is really under-developed. Much less than even Costil. You really dont need a lot of GK's in the team as they hardly get injured. Just dont have them do a lot of physical training.

Penalties - just reduce the "tackling" slider for all your defenders to "normal" and you should be fine. I wouldnt let any defender tackle hard unless he has 17 or more in that area.

And there's nothing you can do about the opposition goalie playin glike Superman against your team sadly.

I'm just entering March in my game. I'll post an update as soon as I'm done with the season. Going well so far.

[theincrediblehulk]

How are you getting along on your game Mark?

I'm just about to finish season 1 (finally!). Been having a great time. I'm currently top of the league by 2 points and my only real contenders are Man Utd in second. Arsenal and Chelsea are 12+ points behind me. And I'm through to the QF's of the CL as well.

Heres the problem though. My next 9 fixtures look like this:

Lyon (H) - Champions League Quarter Final Leg 1

Man Utd (N) - FA Cup Semi Final

Lyon (A) - Champions League Quarter Final Leg 2

Liverpool (A) - Premier League

Chelsea (H) - Premier League

Arsenal (H) - Premier League

Aston Villa (A) - Premier League

Man Utd (H) - Premier League

Middlesbrough (A) - Premier League

:eek:

I'm lucky Lyon knocked out AC Milan in the previous round or that fixture list just becomes worse. To make it worse, if I get past Lyon, my oppnents in the SF will be either Real Madrid or Chelsea. And then in the final I'll face either Barcelona/Arsenal or Inter/Man Utd!

And to top it all off, if I win the FA Cup SF against Man Utd, my reward will be either Arsenal or Man City in the finals (and we know which that tie will go!)

Very, very hard run-in and it'll be tough hanging on to 1st spot in the league. I think I'm going to sacrifice the FA Cup SF and play a weaker team to protect my main players for the more important games. The only good thing atm is that all my players are fit. But that can change in one game!

Wish me luck! This is going to be a LOT of fun!

[Mark.]

Hulk

Im away on vacation at the momement so don't have access to FM currently Guess it will make me enjoy it more when I get back, anyway who can say no to a skiing vacation

That is perhaps the toughest scheule ive seen, I too would do the same as you and rest the main players for the FA SF. Did you end up making any signings during the January Transfer window?

[theincrediblehulk]

Mark.

Hope you enjoying your vacation mate. And let me be the first to tell you that once you do get back, you'll be itching for FM again!!

Anyway, I made a mistake earlier when I said I'll be playing Madrid or Chelsea in the SF if I got through Lyon. It is actually Arsenal or Barcelona that I'll be playing.

I've played a few games and very happy with the results so far. I managed to beat Lyon 4-1 at home in the first game of that lot. They had Squillaci sent off!! Was very happy with that because it meant that I could now play my strongest side against Man Utd as I could afford to rest a couple of players in the return leg against Lyon. The unfortunate thing was that Michael Owen got injured against Lyon and was out for a couple of weeks.

Up against Man Utd in the next game I went down very early to a 10th minute Giggs goal. I had to sweat it out to find the equaliser even though I was dominant but Amauri finally got it in the 85th minute. He endured a tough tackle straight after and although wasnt injured, his fitness went to below 60% so I was forced to bring him off. I put Prudnikov on instead as my bench was full of only youngsters. Into extra time and seemingly, my team-talk got them fired-up. Kalouda (on for Barnes) scored a scorcher after 94 minutes. Then came a huge blow as Steven Taylor picked up his second yellow card and was sent off. However, the youngsters were not to be denied as Prudnikov put the game to bed in the 110th minute with a delightful chip. Things got better as we hit them on the counter and Prudnikov smashed the ball low and it went it sending us into the final!

On to the second leg against Lyon, and I got off to a great start with Cris getting sent off in the 9th minute for Lyon. They were already with Squillaci because of his sending off in the last game so it meant they were a little thin at the back. It was smooth sailing after that as my second string proceeded to dominate and once again beat them 4-1.

Finally, back to the Premiership and the boys took on Liverpool at Anfield. A very even game with us dominanting possession as usual but Liverpool slightly ahead on the shots. One of Liverpool's favourite sons came back to haunt them as Michael Owen put us ahead after 62 minutes. However, Mr.Liverpool aka Steven Gerrard got things back on level terms with an absolute belter from about 35 yards out. Man Utd had dropped 3 points to Wigan the previous day and we were under no pressure to win this game. However, I was dominating the game until that point and saw this as an ideal chance to pull away in the title race. So we went to full attack mode which paid dividends as Amauri headed us into a 78th minute lead and then settled things 3 minutes later and we ran out 3-1 victors.

Thats as far as I've got so far. Got Chelsea up next and I should beat them as I'm very much planning on playing with the 1 upfront exploit. I would have played 2 upfront had Owen been available but he's nursing a small injury picked up in the last game.

So now my fixture list, which includes the SF of the Champions League, looks like this:

Chelsea (H) - Premier League

Arsenal (H) - Premier League

Arsenal (A) - Champions League Semi Final Leg 1

Aston Villa (A) - Premier League

Arsenal (H) - Champions League Semi Final Leg 2

Man Utd (H) - Premier League

Middlesbrough (A) - Premier League

Arsenal (N) - FA Cup Final

I'm an Arsenal fan but that is bloody ridiculous! I think I'm going to have an overdose of Arsenal by the end of the season! The other SF is between Man Utd and Chelsea and I'm praying Chelsea wins that as Man Utd are incredibly difficult to beat. That is provided I get past Arsenal who're just as hard, if not more so!

Oh and in the Jan transfer window, I only made 2 signings:

- Brought in Kwabena Agouda as a backup striker because Owen and Amauri were both out injured. Paid only 1K for him!

- Brought in Miguel Torres as he was listed for only 3.9M and is very handy cover at LB and RB.

I'll post a full update soon hopefully. I just cant seem to get a couple of hours free where I can just sit and complete the season. But hopefully by the end of the day I'll have it done and then I'll post a full update along with my plans for next season.

[theincrediblehulk]

Finally finished the first season!! Exceeded my expectations so am very happy.

Carling Cup

We decided to play only our youngsters in this tournament as it was not a priority. However, it was decided that should we come up against a tough opponent in the semi-finals and finals, we will play the full strength team.

We started off with a comfortable 4-1 victory at home to Birmingham. The next round we come up against Everton and we were forced to start with our 2 main striker as our youngster - Alexandr Prudnikov - had picked up an injury. Owen was in scintillating form and dismissed Everton on his own with a hat-trick. Next up was a trip to Vicarage Road to face Watford. It was another easy game for the youngsters and the strolled to a 4-1 win with Vidal scoring a brace. The SF's pitted us against Liverpool. We started the first leg with Amauri and Owen at the front and it was London Utd captain (Amauri) who ensured an easy away leg with a brace as we ran out 2-0 victors. The return leg saw us become over-confident and start with a young side. We were punished for it with Crouch and Torres scoring before half-time to level the tie up. After a real tongue lashing at half-time, the youngsters came out charged up for the second half and Defour and Agouda scored to ensure a safe passage into the final. The final brought us a confrontation with Chelsea. Their manager riled us in his pre-match press conference and we decided to go into the game with our full strength side. The opposition managers taunts seemed to inspire our team as we thrashed them 7-1 to leave them with egg on their faces and bring home our first trophy for the club.

Premier League

Continuing on from my last post, I faced Chelsea at home 34th match of the season. I was 5 points ahead of Man Utd at this stage. I was held to a 2-2 draw by Chelsea thanks to 2 goals by Amauri and Drogba (didnt use the 1 upfront exploit though as Owen came back from injury) and this allowed Man Utd to close the gap down to 3. Next up, I had a relegation threatened Aston Villa side and they gave us a hell of a game. In the end though, we managed to win 2-1 courtsey 2 Amauri goals. Then, in a must-win game for them, I faced Man Utd at home. A draw here would have made use Champions. The game was very even but we managed to beat them 2-1 thanks to 2 more Amauri goals and thus brought home the Premier League trophy!

Amauri was named English Footballer of the Year and also won the Top Goalscorer Award. Steven Defour came in 3rd in the English Players Player of the Year while Marcelo came in 2nd in the Young Player of the Year. Seven of my players were named in the Team of the Year - Neuer, Zebina, Kolarov, Farfan, Marcelo, Defour and Amauri.

FA Cup

I decided to go with my second string teams mostly for this competition unless I faced a big team. That only happened in the final 2 games.

We started the tournament with an away game to Wycombe. Our new signing - Kwabena Agouda - got his first start for the club and reponded in the perfect fashion by scoring a hat-trick to help to to a 4-1 win. Our other new signing - Miguel Torres - also got his first start and also got himself on the score-sheet. Next up, we had Leicester at home and we eased to a very comfortable 4-0 victory with Stelvio, Barnes, Prudnikov and Tales on the scoresheet. In the 5th round, we faced Wigan away and came home with a 3-1 victory courtsey Stelvio, Wijnaldum and Vidal. It was Bolton at home in the 6th round and once again, a very easy 4-0 win. Vidal, Prudnikov, Saivet and Kalouda the destroyers this time. Things got a little serious in the SF's where we were up against Man Utd. The details are below. The final game pitted us against Arsenal. They started well and had us under pressure. Sagna gave them the lead just before half-time with a tap-in. After getting the hair-dryer treatment from me at half-time, my players came out fired-up and started taking control of the game. However, it wasnt until 10mins from time that Fazio rose the highest from a corner and headed us level. The game went to extra time and looked to headed to penalties before Michael Owen scored a typical poachers goal to send us into the lead. We pushed all our players back to defend with Amauri alone upfront and it paid off as we hit them on the counter and Amauri found the net in the 120th minute to put the game to bet and handing us our 3rd trophy of the season!

Champions League

It all started with us having to qualify for the group stages. We came up against Levski who were no match for our strength and we ran out 8-0 victors over the two legs. The group stages pitted us against Valencia, Ajax and Sporting CP. Not an easy group but one which we expected to get past. It turned out be a very easy affair as we won all 6 of our matches and went through to the next round. The surprise was Valencia who finished bottom of the group.

The first knockout round saw us take on Porto. After a very tough 0-0 draw away, we taught them a lesson in the return leg and ran out 4-0 victors to advance to the quarter finals. We were paired against Lyon here. The details of our victory are in the post below. In the SF's, Arsenal awaited us in what was probably our toughest challenge to date. However, our captain rose to the occassion once again to score a brace before half time for us. Even though our vice-captain Alberto Zapater gifted Arsenal 1 goal, we saw the game through to come back with a vital away win. The next leg saw us grab a lead in the 26th minute courtsey captain fantastic again before Francesc Fabregas got sent off for the Gunners in the 33rd minute. From them on, it was smooth sailing as we kept possession and didnt allow them any chances. The game fizzled out without anything of note. The last game of the season brought us face-to-face with our old advesaries Man Utd. The Red Devils came off the blocks fired up and we had our backs to the wall from the start. We held on until the 42nd minute until Wayne Rooney scored a lucky and somewhat controversial goal to send us into the break 1-0 down. After another rollicking at half-time, we came out fired-up and started to take the game to Man Utd. We were by far the dominant team. However, in the 61st minute, we were hit on the counter and were made to pay as Cristiano Ronaldo scored a great goal to send us 2-0 down with only 30mins remaining. We decided to take off an off-color Jefferson Farfan and bring on Kwabena Agouda to play in the hole. Despite continued domination by, we were unable to break down their defence. From what was virtually the last kick of the game, Kalouda scored a 35 yard belter to give us a deserved goal. However, it was too little too late as Man Utd were crowned champions after a hard fought 2-1 victory. We took consolation from the fact that their goalkeeper, Edwin Van Der Saar, was named man-of-the-match.

Sorry if that was a long read. Decided to do the summary that way for a change. Never done it before and had some time so though I'd give it a try!! Probably wont do it again unless I find some time though!

Will post a few numbers and my next season targets in my post below.

[antfm08]

Just started this again today.

Well done on treble hulk. Long read tho

[theincrediblehulk]

Right, a few numbers:

Games Played: 65

Goals Scored: 175

Goals Conceded: 37

Yellows: 90

Reds: 6

Amauri - P: 53, G: 55, A: 13, MoM: 16, AR: 7.89

Michael Owen - P: 45, G: 22, A: 8, MoM: 6, AR: 7.33

Jefferson Farfan - P: 43(2), G: 7, A: 17, MoM: 3, AR: 7.42

Steven Defour - P: 45, G: 9, A: 17, MoM: 1, AR: 7.49

Alberto Zapater - P: 48, G: 6, A: 17, MoM: 0, AR: 7.17

Back in Jan, Amauri was awared the World Footballer of the Year and European Footballer of the Year. Manuel Neuer was awared the Goalkeeper of the Year. Steven Defour came 3rd in Midfielder of the Year.

On a final note, this year ALL my players managed to get themselves on the scoresheet. The only exception was Foster but he only played 3 games for me. Neuer got on the scoresheet in the Carling Cup Final against Chelsea. We were winning the game so I decided to let him take my penalties if I got one. I did and although the joker missed it, he scored off the rebound!

Anyway, now my plans for next season:

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do tbh. My team is quite good the way it is. A couple of things that will definitely happen is that Kuzmanovic will definitely become a London Utd player as he's transfer listed for 7.25M. The other thing that will happen is Aquino will make the step up into the first team as a backup to Marcelo for my left wing. He got nearly 20 games this year and did very well. Also, Marvin Angulo and Alexandr Prudnikov are knocking on the door atm. I'll try to send them on loan though. If I get a good club come in who'll offer them first-team football, I'll let them go on loan for season. Else, I'll keep them and incorporate them in my team somehow.

Another thing I'll look to do is to offload some players who've got low determination (12 minimum) and also who, over the course of the season, had the "nervous about todays match" etc PR icons. The players who fall under these categories are:

- David Jones (10 determination)

- Giles Barnes (11 determination)

- Jefferson Farfan (11 determination)

- Kwabena Agouda (11 determination)

- Ben Foster (12 determination)

- Jonathan Zebina (too many nervous PR things)

However, out of those, I know Barnes's determination will go up when I get him tutored by someone who does have high determination. So he'll stay. Foster's determination also goes up so he'll stay as well. Jones will probably go as he's not that good anyway and plus I'll have Kuzmanovic in to take him place. Agouda I'll probably hold on to unless I get a 10M+ offer for him. Farfan and Zebina are difficult to say though. They are both very important players for me so I cant offload them without getting a replacement who's as good or better. The only 2 players in my squad who are untouchable and untransferable are Amauri and Taylor. I wont look to sell the others but if I get a silly offer for someone, I wont mind letting them go.

Besides that, I'll probably look to buy some regens if I can find any and also will look to sign some English players if I can. Might just sell Zebina for whatever and blow all my money on Micah Richards and put him at RB. Lets see.

[theincrediblehulk]

antfm08

Good to see you back on here mate.

Yeah I know it was a long read but I wanted to try something different once. Probably the one and only time I do that anyway! Takes too long!

[antfm08]

Dont replace Farfan at any cost.

Have a look at Dentinho, Thiago Neves or Guilherme if you do decide to get rid tho. Agree about Richards as he is world class on mine

[theincrediblehulk]

Yeah, Farfan did well for me but I really cant stand players with low determination. But whatever I decide, I wont sell him unless I can find a player who's as good as him or better than him on the right wing (where I've played him most of the time). Out of the ones you mentioned, except Guilherme none of them are good to start for me. And Guilherme is better upfront.

Edit: oh, forgot to mention - I'm looking to replace Farfan with Matias atm. Lets see how I get on.

[antfm08]

My team 3rd/4th season cant remember

GK Costil / Foster

DL Armand Traore / Abdou Razack Traore

DR Micah Richards

DC Sakho / Taylor

DC Fazio / Taylor

MC Gerrard

MC Ambrosini

AMC Riquelme / Tales / Guilherme

AMR Rooney* / Farfan / Adriano

AML Adriano** / Henry / Dentinho

FC Gyan / Saivet / Henry / Rooney / Adriano

* Curently retraining

** Retrained

Squad is massive especially upfront but I think I could do with a back up right back.

[theincrediblehulk]

Thats a great team but how in the world did you manage to sign Gerrard, Rooney and Adriano??

Also, you might need to bring in a few new players to replace Ambrosini and Riquelme.

For RB, try Marvin Angulo, Nedum Onuoha, Justin Hoyte, Danny Simpson or Loic Abenzoar.

[antfm08]

Cant remember exactly but I sold players like marcelo and amrabat and others for big money to sign gerrard and rooney. Adriano was about 8.5m. I know I haven't shown it but there is enough replacements for riquelme and ambrosini. Got to wait for next season or players sales as Ive used all my budget. Damn Rules

Also is it good for a player to have as many ppm's as possible as Tales as been tutored by Riquelme, Gerrard and someone else

[theincrediblehulk]

No, its not always a good idea to give a player too many PPM's. Actually, its mostly a bad idea. You know the saying - too many cooks spoil the broth. Its the same reasoning here. I guess both Gerrard and Riquelme would be good as they both have some good PPM's and some similar ones as well. But sometimes you can come across two players who'll have conflicting PPM's and that can only be bad.

On to my game, just started season 2. I transfer listed Jefferson Farfan and offered him out for 30M + 50% sell on. Didnt expect anybody to give me that but Man City came back with a 28M + 50% offer, Liverpool with a 26M + 50% offer and Man Utd with a 22M + 50% offer all straight up. Rejected Man Utd's bid and accepted the other two. Thankfully, he decided to accept Man City's offer!

But I needed someone who can come into the first team instead of him and I've just agreed a deal to sign Matias Fernandez for 7.5M. Happy with that. Also, Kuzmanovic has agreed to join us as well in a 7.25M deal from Fiorentina. Mauro Zarate is currently being bid on by us. He'll give a lot of pace and will also give us solid backup upfront which was provided by the now departed Jefferson Farfan.

Now my main transfer target for this season is Micah Richards as I need a new RB due to Zebina's whimpering in the big matches. Also, this needs to be a priority because half-way through season 1, I noticed that David Jones has opted to play for Wales and hence is not counted as an English player now. So he'll be offloaded as well and I will need to bring in 1 Englishman into the squad. Richards would fit that bill as well.

2 big regrets I have at this time are regarding David Luiz and Jeremy Menez. These 2 players were available for cheap prices and I could have had a bargain for myself. Luiz was available for 7M and Menez for 4.2M. However, I noticed this a little too late and they had already agreeded to join other clubs.

[antfm08]

Ouch on Luiz and Menez. Wow on Farfan, Kuzmanovic and Matias as they are fantastic deals. Not sure about Zarate tho I think you could do a little better how about Walcott or Agbonlahor?

Definetly agree on Micah richards as he is fantastic on my save. David Jones won't leave on mine, offers come in but he won't accept them and keeps moaning about first team football. Im happy enough to let him run down his contract.

My right back search continues as 4 of the 5 players recently moved clubs and Simpson is now a first team regular at Man Utd so probably going to let Saunier cover Richards.

Looking to sell Foster as I'm fed up of him and his moaning, going to let the youth like Olazabal and my pa 179 and pa 190 regen cover Costil. Probably going to get rid of Rakitic and Razack Traore,

The only other place that could do with cover is centre midfield but with 14 players on loan I'll have to have a clearout first.

[theincrediblehulk]

Zarate - he's actually pretty good. His pace and set-piece ability will come in handy late in the game. Also, he's great to make a big profit.

Walcott & Gabby - both too expensive. So no go's there.

Richards - actually, I'm not a fan of his on the game (like him irl though). But I need English and he's the best available so no choice really.

Just notcied that a regen in my game (bought in season 1) is touted as the next Juan Roman Riquelme!! And I've already been planning on getting Riquelme in a year or so for tutoring!!

Also, just noticed Balotelli is a backup at Inter. Definitely getting him!

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

RB's - I guess you're stuck looking for regens in that case mate. See where Michael Mancienne is. He makes a good RB and is worth getting if available around 5-7M I guess.

GK - Yeah, sell Foster. Remember though, you'll be giving up 50% of the fee to Man Utd. So sacrificing a million or two and adding a 50% sell on clause in the transfer deal might be a good idea.

[Mark.]

Hulk

Man some great deals there, I tried to get Matias in at the start of the first season but to no avail. Balotelli will be a great steal too if you can manage to get him.

Antfm08

Good squad you have there mate, Which Adriano is that at AML? If its the Inter one I would have thought he would be better as ST and have Gyan as one of the AMs.

Anyway, can't wait to get back to FM.

[antfm08]

Mark

Yeah it is the Inter one Mark, my front 3 are fluid so swap positions a lot.

Hulk

Ill probably retrain someone like Steven Taylor or let my youth cover it. Balotelli will be a great signing I'm sure. My main targets are now Veloso and Ryan Babel so I'm hoping the board accept some offers.

[theincrediblehulk]

Mark.

Cheers mate. Yeah, was extremely happy getting Matias for that. I enquired about him and they said they want 8M. I offered 7.5 and they accepted! Could probably have got him a little cheaper still but I wasnt too bothered!

antfm08

Good call. I'm sure Taylor will be more than good enough to cover there.

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

Anyway, an update on my game. Made some signings:

Transfers In

Micah Richards - 20M

Matias Fernandez - 7.5M

Zdravko Kuzmanovic - 7.25M

Mario Balotelli - 5M

Mauro Zarate - 3.5M

Joe Mattock - 2M

Aaron Ramsey - 250K ()

Santiago Solari - Free (Tutor)

Pavel Nedved - Free (Tutor)

Also, got 6 regens in as well for a combined price of about 1M. The total expenditure this season has been 46.5M.

Transfers Out

Jefferson Farfan - 28M + 50% sell on (Man City)

Jonathan Zebina - 10M (Liverpool)

David Jones - 8M (Tottenham)

Total money recieved is about 41M.

My Team

GK - Manuel Neuer, Ben Foster

LB - Aleksandar Kolarov, Eduardo, Arturo Vidal

RB - Micah Richards, Miguel Torres, Marvin Angulo

CB - Steven Taylor, Arturo Vidal

CB - Federico Fazio, Luizao

DM - Alberto Zapater, Stelvio

AML - Marcelo, Aquino

AMR - Matias Fernandez, Giles Barnes

CM - Steven Defour, Zdravko Kuzmanovic

ST - Amauri, Mario Balotelli, Mauro Zarate

ST - Michael Owen, Alexandr Prudnikov, Kwabena Agouda

I'm very happy with what I have but I think I have too many players. Would like to shed a few off. I'll probably send Angulo and Prudnikov on loan so that cares of two people. Migh even send Balotelli out on loan but not sure just yet. And lastly, if I get a silly offer for Eduardo, I'll let him go.

[antfm08]

Hulk

What a Transfer Window for you! That's about as good as you could of done but if i was being picky I'd say that the DM and AML positions could be stronger. You should win the league this season anyway.

Can you add some more rules for like the 5th season. I don't know what but something like you have to have 5 regens in your first team squad or something.

[theincrediblehulk]

antfm08

Yeah I know. It was a freakishly good transfer window for me. If you add to that the fact that I could have even snapped by Jeremy Menez for 4.2M and David Luiz for 7M you can well imagine what my team would be like! Not to mention that at the moment, Jimmy Briand is transfer listed for 5.5M as well! I'm tempted but I'll resist it as I have plenty of strikers. Oh and I will be getting Menez in Jan or next season I'm sure as he has a 6.2M release clause at Espanyol!

On top of all that, I can get Ballack for 3M, Rosicky for 7M (I know how good he is seeing as I always play as Arsenal), Woodgate for 7M and a few other solid players cheap!

I'm very tempted to sell Marcelo for a huge fee and bring in Rosicky. This way, I can have him play on the right wing, Matias on the left wing. The reasoning is that I want Aquino to be my no.1 in a season or two. Although Marcelo has been solid for me, I play with an AML with an arrow inside to AMC and Marcelo is not best suited for that. This would also allow me to groom Buonanotte for the left wing. The only thing holding me back is that I've used Rosicky so many times, I dont want to have him again. Infact, I'm trying to steer clear of all Arsenal players as best as I can.

I've got some decisions to make atm!

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I created this save to bascially encourage people to try new players and more importantly, groom youngsters. So thats why I have a weaker player in some of the positions. Aquino did well last season for me and has earned a spot in the first-team squad. Same is the case with Stelvio. He was already in the first-team squad last year and did well enough to continue on there. Thats something that you should be aiming at with your squad as well. There's no point in me making new rules.

If you want to make your game more interesting, I suggest you get rid of Adriano, Gerrard, Ambrosini, Henry and Gyan and instead play your youngsters in the first-team. Your squad could be something like:

GK - Costil/190PA regen

LB - Traore/Traore

RB - Richards/Regen (find someone)

CB - Sakho/Taylor

CB - Fazio/Regen (find someone)

DM - Whatever replacement you said you have for Ambrosini

CM - Same as above

AMC - Tales/Guilherme

AML - Dentinho

AMR - Saivet

ST - Rooney/Guilherme

Keep your defence solid as a weak defence is almost impossible to play with. And you have a solid striking option is Rooney and Guilherme as well. Get some good, solid youngsters in midfield and use them instead of Gerrard and the likes. And dont buy such players anymore either.

You'll notice as I go along, I'll start replacing the established players I have bit by bit and start bringing youngsters through to replace them. Amauri and Owen are now 28. Another couple of seasons and I'll be selling them and bring Prudnikov and Balotelli through as first choice strikers. And to back them up, I'll try to have some youth players. When Stevlio peaks in a season or two, I'll sell Zapater and make Stelvio my no.1 DM. Miguel Torres will stay with me 1 season and then I'll sell him and bring Angulo through as my RB. I would play him now but he's a little weak atm. Kuzmanovic will last only a season or two and then will be sold to make way for Sankhare. Thats the kind of pattern I'm going to follow and I was hoping most people would follow. If you do that as well, it'll keep your interest going I'm sure.

Right now my primary concern is bringing a ST through to replace the prolific Amauri. It wont be easy but will be fun. Prudnikov looks good but needs work. Same with Balotelli. If you work with your youngsters in the same way, you'll find it a heck of lot more fun. What you could do is give yourself 1 year as a period of transition. In this 1 year, sell many of your established older stars and groom youngsters. If you play them all year, you'll probably not win a lot of trophies (if any!) but then by next season they would have developed very well and will be able to compete.

[antfm08]

I would want to do that but I just can't seem to sell players as noone wants them. However I have the players to bring through but they are just not ready. I have 6 179pa+ regens but only the goalkeeper would stand a chance in the premiership. Saivet hasn't developed at all. My regens are 2 gks, 3 midfielders, 1 striker. Plus I have another 4 players like Galvan and Neymar coming soon. Looking to sell Henry, Rakitic, Razack Traore and around 6 youth players.

[theincrediblehulk]

If someone doesnt want a player then let him stay and dont play him too often. Just put all your faith in the youngsters and keep playing them. You say that the youngsters arent ready yet. Just put them in the first-team and give them about 25 games or so in the season. It'll help them develop. The more you keep playing established start, the faster you'll get bored. Develop the youngsters and then post their screenies on here if they've come up really well. Always feels good that!

[Mark.]

Sweet, finally able to play FM again. But what an annoying start, I just cant seem to get my players to score, take for example the game im playing against Newcastle currently 61% posssession, 75% pass completion, 16 shots v 6 shots, 4 on goal for me and 3 for them..... score 1-0 to Newcastle. I know that Given is a decent keeper but this has been happening often for me.

Im thinking about moving to a 1 striker tactic, probably play with a layout similar to KIMZ but without the fullbacks getting forward and using an MC and DM combo.

EDIT: Managed to pull one back to draw 1-1 at Newcastle, but it was only due to a great long range effort from Stelvio...

EDIT2: Thought id have a look at some possible Jan transfer window signings and to my supprise Diaby is avaliable for 6m, deffinately going to look into that one. Also Steve Sidwell is listed, would he be any good for my side?

[Thandui]

This database isnt working, i extracted it to documents/sports interactive/football Manager 2008/DB and when i start the game up it isnt there when i click start game, all there is Default and 8.0.2 update, whats wrong?

Actually dont worry, i've sorted it out

[theincrediblehulk]

Mark.

Dont think you need to worry about not scoring mate. You might just be going through a bad patch. Trust me, Amauri is brilliant. He'll ignite soon enough.

Diaby would definitely be a good signing. The best part is that once you get him, play him for a season and you can make a massive profit on him. Dont think you'll need Sidwell though. You have plenty of cover for the CM/DM spots.

Thandui

Good to see you join us mate.

[Mark.]

Hulk

Ok cheers mate, hoping to see these goals soon. What are your thoughts on playing a lone striker? Its just that im not completely sold that Briand is ready to be a full time first teamer, so was thinking about perhaps moving to a 4-5-1 with AMR/L cutting into the box and 3 MCs, this way I can slowly bring Briand in as the lone striker and also use him as the AMR as well.

Im not totally sure that scoring is my only problem as my team seems to be leaking a lot more goals than I would like, im hoping its just the quality of my defenders and not the way I am playing them.

[theincrediblehulk]

I think one upfront might be a good idea for you mate. Especially because you've got some good players on the wide positions. Also, playing that extra man in midfield will provide you more defensive stability as well. When and if you bring Diaby in, you'll have a good and strong midfield 3 with Zapater, Carrick and Diaby there. So definitely worth a shot imo.

[Mark.]

Man this is so frustrating! Approaching the Jan Transfer Window and had to host Arsenal at home, I dominted possession and had 29 shots (19 on target) to their 9 (4 on target) and it comes at no supprise that I lose 1-2, Its soooo annoying, is there anything I can do to get these shots converted? I dont usually have this problem with other teams.

I guess it was Karma that my computer had a blue screen of death before I could save the game Lets hope take two is a little better.

[theincrediblehulk]

Theres nothing much you can do if your players arent converting their shots mate. As long as they're getting most of them on target, you cant do much else. You have to credit the opposition keeper in that case.

Dont be surprised that Arsenal thump you in take 2 though. If their players get fired up (especially Cesc, Ade and RVP), you're gonna struggle to contain them.

[Mark.]

Well the second take of the Arsenal game was ok, ended up drawing 1-1 which was a pretty decent result. Im getting quite frustrated with this save, my team just cant seem to perform that well, we keep letting 1-0 leads turn into 1-1 draws against teams like Reading etc. Im hoping that we pick up the pace soon as I cant think of anyhting to do to help the team.

Anyway Jan Window recap up soon.

[theincrediblehulk]

Dont worry, I'm sure things will pick up soon. How's Amauri doing for you btw?? I wouldnt have been close to winning the title had it not been for him!

On a separate note, my game's going crazy! Obafemi Martins just signed for Inter Milan. The fee... a cool 31.5M!! Add to that Chelsea buying Diego for 40M, Tottenham buying Downing for 21M and Barca buying Lucho for near 30M (when he's only on rotation there) I really think its getting a little silly! And I've only just entered August!!

I just won the Community Shield against Man Utd beating them 3-1. What really gets me that no matter what happens, they just HAVE to score against you. Come what may, and do what you will but they'll score. You can put all players on defence and they'll still manage to get atleast 1 goal. You'd think that if a team is 3-0 down with 10 minutes to go, their heads would droop and the intensity would drop. But nooooooooo. Not with Man Utd. We were both pretty even in the game till about 80minutes. Had about the same possession, the same number of shots on goal etc. But by the end of it, they had 60% of the possession and about 10 more shots on goal than me! That's all just in 10 minutes of play! Bloody irritating. Had it not been for Foster getting a 9, I might just have lot the game in the final 10 minutes. Thats probably the silliest thing about the game.

[Mark.]

Yeah you were right, things have picked up a bit. Amauri has 28 goals in 34 so im pretty happy with him.

Man those are some cray transfers and I dont even really know if the players really warrant those fees. About Man U, supprisingly I just beat the 2-0 which really helped my title chances, like usual I scored two in the first half then defended for a lot of the second, but Evra getting sent off in the 63rd minute helped to keep them from firing in the last ten. Anyway a quick upate.

January Window Update

As of 9th Feb

Transfers

IN

Abou Diaby £6m

Henri Lansbury £150k

Not really much action for me in that department, buying Diaby effectively exhausted my budget so nothing more there until next off season.

Competitions

League

After 25 games we are sitting 3rd (53p) behind Arsenal (65p) and Man U (54p) with Chelsea are 2 points in our wake and Everton on 48. So its a pretty close race for the 2nd-4th positions, while it will take Arsenal to drop a few games coupled with strong performances from my side for us to clinch the title. Its at this stage that im going to have to keep a better eye on the upcoming games to decide whether to accept we wont take the number one spot and concentrate on the ECL and FA Cup.

League Cup

We started our run vs Fulham and took a unconvincing 2-1 away victory fielding a 50/50 side. The fourth round saw us get an easier opponent in Barnsley who we dispatched of easily 3-0 at home. The Quarter Final, once again at home, saw us get and easy 4-1 win over Middlesbrough. Drawing Man City in the Semi in the I knew we were in for a tough round as they were one of the in form teams at the time. The first leg saw us grind out a tough 2-1 victory at The Silent Valley however the away leg was where it all came unstuck with a far more determined City side beating us 3-0 and 4-2 on agg. I was dissapointed with this loss but City fairly out played us and deserve their final meeting with the in form Arsenal.

FA Cup

We started by easily beating Plymouth 2-0 in the third round even though the score may suggest otherwise. The fourth round draw was unfair on us pitching us against Chelsea, however considering out formation of choice was now the 4-5-1 it was no supprise we came out tops 3-0. The fifth round which is yet to be played will once again see us travel to Fulham to contest a cup tie.

ECL

We crusied through the group stages winning all out games until the last where I fielded a youth side against a desperate PSV side who needed to beat us by 4 goals to beat out Valencia for the other qualifiying spot in our group, and that is exactly what they did, handing my side the most emphatic beating we had had under my reign. The knock-out stage sees us drawn against Schalke so depending on the remaining draws im looking to the ECL to be my best trophy option this year.

While the League looks like it could be lost I still have hope as of our remaining 13 games we only have 3 tough games in Chelsea at home (I should win this and we all know why ) Man City away and Arsenal away. Arsenal have Man U and us at Home and Chelsea and Liverpool away so there is deffiantely a chance I can catch them. I also have to make sure I don't drop too many of my remaining other league games as even draws are going to hurt us a lot.

My squad of late has been lining up as: (// Backup as opposed to / which is more of an even rotation)

GK: Neuer//Costil

DR: Miranda//Angulo

DC: Taylor//Digard

DC: Faizo/Filipe

DL: Taiwo//Eduardo (Although Eduardo has been playing a lot of late due to AFNC)

MC: Diaby//Jones

MCd: Zapater//Stelvio//Carrick

MC: Carrick//Augusto

AML: Farfan//Barnes//Augusto

AMR: Briand/Barnes/Augusto

ST: Amauri//Briand/Thil//Agouda

Amauri has clearly been the hero with 28 goals so far for the team. The midfield has been solid especially the quartet of Carrick, Diaby, Zapater and Augusto. THe wing forwards have played well, although Farfan has been a little quiet of late, but Barnes and Briand have been improving a lot over the season.

Im looking at employing an AMC for my easier home games which will see us field a 4-2-3-1, most likely Diaby will be playing in this position as well as Augusto and Barnes.

Anyway comments? Shouldnt be too long till I get to the end of this season.

EDIT: Actually I forgot to add to the list of tough games that I had Liverpool up at Anfield as my next game, but easily won 4-1 and their goal was only a consolation free kick.

EDIT2: A interesting thing just happend for me, Amauri got a 10 rating for me without getting 4 goals, he had a hattrick and 2 assists, quite interesting...

[theincrediblehulk]

Mark.

The two Arsenal lads are extremely good buys mate. Especially for those prices.

Things looks good for you so far although I doubt you'll catch Arsenal in PL. They hardly drop points anyway so being that far off is going to be a huge problem. Good luck with it anyway I guess.

The crazy season on my game just keeps getting worse! A few more ridiculous transfers have gone through since the last ones I reported above. After selling Obafemi Martins for a cool 35.5M (I reported wrong earlier) to Inter Milan, Newcastle were short of strikers having already sold Michael Owen to me last year. So King Kev decided to splash out a whopping 26M on a "world-class" striker. Name - Afonso Alves!

But it doesnt end there. No sireee. Newcastle are in the midst of it again. This time it involved crazy man Joey Barton. Everton decide that he'll be a great addition to their squad considering they sold Tim Cahill to Fiorentina for 10M. So Barton comes in. Price - 19M!

On top of that Marek Hamsik joined Werder Bremen for 24.5M!

I mean seriously, its like these clubs have no idea how to spend money once they're given a hefty sum!! Blood crazy I tell you!

[Mark.]

Hulk

Man those are some crazy transfer fees, Oba is basd but the other frees are insane, the only one of those players IMO that is worth a £10m+ bid is Hamsik and I would need someone to PAY me £20m to even think about taking Joey Barton into my side, especially after his little smirk after that hard tackle on Nasri in the weekend.

Anyway, a tad of advice.... I can probably get Arshavin for £4-5m at the end of the season as he is transfer listed. Would be be worth it? Ive never tried him before so it could be exciting. He will be 27 by that time so I would be turning Thil into a tutor or selling him for profit as I havent really needed him this season.

[theincrediblehulk]

Yeah I know mate. I wonder what transfer the game will through up next. Titus Bramble and Jean-Alain Boumsong for 15M each to Chelsea or something!!

Arshavin - I reckon he would be a good buy for you mate. He's a good player and is resonably versatile as well. For that price, you cant really complain. Go for it.

[Mark.]

Hulk

Ok great cheers mate, ive also got another signing set to be made as well, Shaun Wright-Phillips also found himself on the transfer list so he will be comign in for around the same price. Im going to be heavy on the wings so I may have to loan someone out or sell someone off.

Anyway the season is coming to a climatic end, I brushed Man U aside in the FA Semi so im through to face Bolton in the final which I hope will be a win for me. Also beat Barca 6-4agg in the ECL to reach the semi against Inter (Any tips vs these guys?, never really played against them in FM). In the League im about to play my 33rd game, Arsenal just played theirs and drew against Bolton 0-0. So if I win my game against Wigan I will move within 7 points with 5 games left. Its no doubt going to be an exciting finish, especially if Arsenals poor form continues.

[theincrediblehulk]

Yeah SWP was available to me as well for about 6M but I decided not to get him as I already had Barnes and Farfan playing on the right wing. So Man City came in for him and he's over-priced now.

The season seems to getting really exciting for you in the PL especially. Do you still have to face Arsenal? If so, then it might be extremely interesting and you could well nick it. If you dont face them, it might be a little more difficult I guess.

Inter Milan - probably one of the toughest teams to beat on the game. Right up there with Man Utd and Arsenal. If Zlatan is suspended or injured, you shouldnt have any problems. But with him in the squad, it really is a task trying to contain them. I've not played them as a weak team in ages tbh. Playing as Arsenal like I normally do, I dont bother with anything special as my team is strong enough to beat them on their own. But you have Taylor and Felipe at the back. They're both solid defenders but when you compare them to the likes of Toure and Barzagli/Burdisso/Mexes, obviously there's a huge difference. Hence I dont usually struggle when I play as Arsenal.

I would probably start with man-marking Zlatan. He really is a handful though and your best defenders will struggle against him. But I feel thats the best way. The rest of their team is solid but you shouldnt have problems containing them tbh. I remember one time playing them as Arsenal, I had Toure and Barzagli both injured for the game. I had to play them with Djourou and someone else who I forget (nobody big though). In the first leg, Zlatan hammered me and scored 4 goals IIRC. However, since my attack was so bloody good (IIRC, Cesc, Toulalan, Messi, Matias, RVP and Ade), I managed to get 5 past them. In the return leg, Cesc and Ade managed to get themselves injured or suspended and my squad was a little depleted. And I knew Zlatan is going to give me hell. I started normally and in the first 15mins he got 2 past me!! Swine! Anyway, I decided to take drastic action at that point. I put my 2 strikers and my 2 wide players on full attack and creativity. I pushed Toulalan back to DM with a b-arrow to CB. And then I put Djourou and Toulalan to BOTH man-mark Zlatan! That seemed to work as he was being heckled off the ball all the time and didnt get into the game. On the other end, RVP got me back with 2 screamers. But Zlatan, despite being marked by 2 men, still managed to find a goal for himself ffs! Cue a substitution and I brought on Cattermole instead of Toulalan. 3 mins later, Cattermole breaks Zlatans leg (as I found out later) and gets himself sent off. But that turned out to be a blessing for me. Despite being a man down, I was very comfortable from then on as Inter didnt seem to have any outlet for goals. They went on an all-out attack and I managed to hit them on the break twice to win me the game and the tie!!

That was just a little story to tell you about Zlatans awesomeness on the game. But he's not the most determined guy in the world and does have off days. Check his recent form. If he's been doing very well, I would say keep a very close eye on him. And might be in your best interest to watch the full match instead of just highlights.

Dont be overly worried because if you can brush Man Utd aside like you did, then Inter shouldnt really be that hard either. Good luck.

[Mark.]

Hulk

Cheers for the advice mate I managed to draw 2-2 away at Inter which bodes well for the return leg. To make things even brighter (in a way) the two goals that I conceeded were probably from my own folly. I started out with Zapater with a barrow to CB and had him and Faizo man mark Zlatan, and it completely shut him out of the game. However since Inter came out with a 4-4-2 it was to hurt me. Having Faizo commited to makring Zlatan left Taylor with the job of marking Suazo who is a lot quicker than him and this immediately hurt me with Suazo finding the net 1 minute in! I persevered with my set up but soon realised that it wasnt going to work as Zlatan and Suazo were switching positions which was messing up my man marking instructions and resulted in Suazo being heavily marked and finding an open Zlatan who when closed down put a great through ball to Suazo who netted his second. So form then on I kept Zapater with the barrow but put him and Faizo back on "man marking" as opposed to "specific". This ended up helping a lot as it kept both Suazo and Zlatan quiet and let me conecntrate on getting my boys to find the net.

Almost immediately after half time Carrick found the net on a brilliant pass from Diaby followed by a great 25 yard strike. From then on we continued to hold our own and with 5 minutes left I changed to a more attacking mentality and pushed players forward and we forced them to conceed a free kick which Amauri proceeded to head home. So 2-2 is a pretty good result for me and im confident if I play my cards right we should be able to get a win at home or at least a 0-0 or 1-1 draw.

In the EPL I have to play Everton at home, then Arsenal away then Fulham at home. While the leaders Arsenal have to play Liverpool away, then me at home then Chelsea away. So its deffinately going to a close race as im only 7 points down but with Arsenal having found form again I dont really like my chances. I will deffinately have to beat them and hope that they lose both or draw and lose in their other last two games. If they were to draw their other two then I would be in with a chance assuming I won all my remaineder but I would also have to win well as im 6 goals behind on GD. Its deffinately going to be an exciting finish. Oh and I have the final vs Bolton in the FA Cup still to play so im still in with a shot at the treble

EDIT: Oh well there goes the League, Arsenal just beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield , time to start resting players for the ECL and FA Cup.

[Mark.]

Well played my home leg vs Inter and they proved to be a push over really. We dominated the game for the first 65mins with something like 66% possession and a 75%+ pass completion rate. Amauri scored 4 goals off some brilliant play around the box, especially from Briand and Farfan. Playing Zapater again with a barrow to CB worked a treat as Ibra dint really have many chances at all. Very happy with my teams performance in that game, I just wish they would play like that against the weaker sides too.