Juls317
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Posts posted by Juls317
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November
I have no idea how I'm still employed. We're 15th in the league on 15 points. I can't buy a win, the players are starting to turn. This is getting rough.
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Well Then Pt. Deux
This all went quite bad rather quickly. I didn't expect the world out of our first Europa League match, but to lose 3-5 was rather disappointing. Granted, we were away from home and Porto are a very strong side, so maybe my expectations were too high. We needed a 90+3rd minute goal from Diony to salvage a draw with Dijon, a team we should have beaten. We let a 2-0 lead slip to Red Star. And the Marseille came around and just massacred us. M'Vila got himself sent off and it all went downhill very quickly.
We are currently sitting at 10th in the table with 14 points from 11 matches, truly miserable form. Somehow Diony has managed 7 goals from just 14 shots in the league however. Our defence is abysmal, and with no money to spend, I'm not certain how we will turn it around. To make matters worse, Moukoudi and Koloziejczak have both gone down with injuries that will keep them out of the team for at least two weeks, with the latter predicted to be out for as long as a month. Which means that Saliba and Perrin are the only first team centerbacks that are currently healthy. Joy. However, there may be a solution.
The vultures are flying overhead, looking to spot their pray. With Perin coming in, it's possible that we should cash in on Bajic and use that to invest in another centerback. Something will have to be done to sort out the defence, as we are just too leaky, though our tough run of form does coincide with Ruffier going down with injury.
Hopefully the ship can be righted. The board are still giving me a C+ grade, so my job doesn't seem insecure just yet, but my time may be limited.0 -
Well Then
So after all that talk of me believing Ruffier to be vital to our team's success this season, this happens. I sent him to a specialist, figuring I might as well spend our transfer budget on something. But if you'll notice, the message above this in the inbox talks about a replacement for him. I've never seen this in FM before, but it basically said that, since Ruffier was our first team option and would be out for a prolonged period, they would sign off on the transfer of a replacement. I wasn't sure that I would take them up on it, but then I got my next scout report and...well...
Now, obviously the deal won't go through until January, but for 6mil, it was hard to pass up, and the board did all the work for me. This may turn into another sign-and-sell scenario given that Ruffier is still quality and I'd love to get him to his 350th appearance for the club, but it's also possible Perin comes in and wins the job for himself outright.
This also happened.
Luckily he was performing pretty poorly this season so hopefully this isn't too big of a blow.
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Europa League Group Draw
The Europa League group drawing has been done! We'll be facing off against Porto, Red Star Belgrade and CFR Cluj! I think this gives us a good chance of advancing, with Porto being the obvious biggest threat in the group. Our first match in the competition will be Sept. 19 in Portugal.
August Review
This will be a bit short of a review since there were only three competitive matches to go over from the month of August. We opened our Ligue 1 campaign away to Nîmes, taking a 3-0 victory. Loïs Diony opened his campaign tally with a brace, while Boudebouz scored one for himself while also missing a penalty. We played our first home match at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard with the visiting Parisians. Neymar opened the scoring in the 10th minute, and I was afraid that the floodgates would open. However, we held out for a 1-1 draw with Diony scoring again. We nearly snatched a victory in the match, with a goal disallowed in the 90+1st minute for offsides. We followed that match up with a 2-0 away to Angers with Boudebouz taking a brace for himself.
So we currently sit with 7 points, two players with 3 goals each equalling the tally of a few others in the race for top scorer, and we're level for the best goal difference with PSG, with a match in hand on them. We play Amiens on Sept. 1, with a chance to pull level with PSG at the top of the table.0 -
1 hour ago, Hootieleece said:
The 4-2-3-1 Wide always makes for a competent tactic if you get the MC's roles right.
Agreed! I think it just boils down to the fact that 4231 was such a tactical boon over the past decade so most squads are equipped to play it.
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I'm not saying we're winning the league, but we did draw with PSG 1-1 in the second match of the season. So we're winning the league.
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Preseason Summary
So, while we didn't play the toughest of opposition during the preseason, we managed to make it through with seven victories, and not a single loss. We also kept a clean sheet in five of our nine total matches. And, my biggest takeaway, was we managed to draw with Villareal in our final friendly. Obviously, it was just a friendly, but to compete with a good side (albeit one that I think probably underperformed last year) I believe is a good indication of where the squad is heading into the season. There was certainly plenty of rotation and tactical tooling (including the addition of our third tactic that I was previously unsettled on).
The Signings
We've only made two signings thus far, and will probably not be looking to make any others given limitations to the transfer budget. We started out with about 7mil GBP to spend, but that was with nothing available in the wage budget. So with some shifting of the budget and a bit of spending, we're currently sitting with about 2.5mil in the transfer budget, with basically no room for wages. So we're probably locked into the squad we have right now. There isn't much in the squad worth selling at the moment, so we'll settle for what we have. That said, here's the signings.
With Yohan Cabaye on a single year contract and at the age of 33, I took the chance to sign the man that is possibly FM20's highest profile free agent, Lucas Silva. The former Madridista has spent time in Ligue 1 before, having spent the 2015-16 season at Marseille. I expect to rotate him with Cabaye, splitting first team minutes in the playmaker role, and eventually having Silva take over while I debate whether or not I intend to renew Cabaye's contract. Worst case scenario, I can hopefully turn around and flip Silva to another club to bring in some money for the club!
This one was a bit of a punt. But, we were a bit short of options on the RW, and Gwargis was available for relatively cheap, costing a tidy 950k. He can play anywhere across the front line, and while I don't expect him to start regularly immediately, he'll be around the starting XI, with aim to get him time in cup games and with the B squad in order to help him develop.
While not actually a new signing, I figured I would throw Bajic in here anyway, as I overlooked him in my initial player breakdown. While nothing incredible at the moment, with Ruffier getting older, Stefan looks ripe to take over between the sticks. City came in with an admittedly massive bid for him that I turned down as I wanted to keep him around. He threw a fuss, but our silver-haired fox of a captain was able to talk him down. In hindsight, if City come back in for him with a bid high enough, I may move him on. My biggest issue was they offered a lot of addons for things that I didn't think would actually happen, like appearances at the club and international level, and if I'm not getting money to help the club now, and I don't think the clauses will be triggered, then it isn't worth selling in my mind.
The Tactics Update
I believe I've settled on the 4231 being our main formation moving forward, and forgoing the 433 as the main tactic. Being able to work Boudebouz into the starting XI in his natural position is a big deal, and our right and left wing players are some of the best in our squad. So Yann M'Vila has to make way. He may move into the box-to-box role in the center of midfield, or I may move the CM pairing back to DM and play him alongside Silva, I haven't settled on that yet. I've setup a 41212 as the third tactic for when our wingers need a rest as well.
Updates Moving Forward
I think I have settled on updating the thread every in-game month. I'm not entirely certain how long it will be between months, however, so I may make the time period a bit shorter to provide more consistent updates. I may also do single match updates for big matches. I'm willing to take any and all input that you as the readers have to offer on the subject, however! Like I said in my first post, I have no clue what I'm doing!
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Sorry that there hasn't been any update yet, real life is a little busy. I'm almost through preseason, so the next post will cover that, tactical developments, and transfers!
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1 hour ago, Gee_Simpson said:
@Juls317 I'm guessing you're playing him up top? What formation?
This is basically what I played the whole season, and my preferred starting XI. Pogba was a Mezzala on attack for much of the season, but just wasn't producing enough (Pereira outperformed him) so I switched him to AP-S at some point.0 -
I can snag a screenshot shortly, but I started him basically the whole of the 2019-20 season as Rashford and Martial were busy trading off injuries and covering the LW for each other. Greenwood absolutely smashed it. Top scorer in the league, one of the top scorers in the Europa League. Won Golden Boy, came second in the Golden Shoe to Ronaldo. Absolute beast.
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The Manger
I'm a wimp and not nearly good enough at FM to start out with no qualifications whatsoever, so I ticked the boxes for the proper qualifications for the club's level. I made sure to emphasize youth when it came to distributing my points, as you can see.
The Tactics
I've decided to go for a 4-3-3 gegenpressing tactic, though I do also have a direct counter-attack version set up as well since I doubt we will yet be able to gegenpress our way to victory at the Parc de Princes. This is similar to how I have Manchester United set up in my save with them, though the player quality is quite different and that may force a tactical change. I considered playing a 4231, but having M'Vila in his preferred position at DM seems like it may be important for out chances, and will help allow Trauco and Debuchy a bit more freedom to venture forward. I've yet to settle on what my third tactic will be for the squad, but there's still time yet.
The Players
I would be remiss if I were to start this section with anyone other than the club captain and one club man, Loïc Perrin. He joined the club in 2001 at the age of 16 and has gone on to make 369 appearances overall. He is currently listed as favored personnel, but I would certainly love to find a way to get him bumped up to club icon. Maybe captaining a side to some silverware will do the trick?
Though he is getting older, Stéphane Ruffier will be pivotal to our side's success this year. Entering his 9th year with the club having made 293 appearances, surely he will be looking to find his way to his 350th. With excellent reflexes, communication, handling and concentration I will be looking to him to aid Perrin to keep the backline organized and squad under control during matches.
With him sitting at the base of out midfield, I will look to do what the likes of Roberto Mancini and Big Sam Allardyce couldn't; get the best out of Yann M'vila. Back in his native France after trips to Russia, Italy and the UK with the likes of Rubin Kazan, Inter and Sunderland respectively, he'll be charged with supporting the backline as Trauco supports the attack from the leftback position, and with helping to recycle the ball when we reclaim possession.
Former Tyneside playmaker Yohan Cabaye is another player returning to his native land after a journey across the channel (and then some). After leaving Lille for Newcastle United in 2011 (what days those were for Newcastle), Cabaye has spent time at PSG, Crystal Palace, and most recently Al-Nasr in the United Arab Emirates. I wonder how many frequent flyer miles he racked up in all those trips across the channel. He'll be in charge of the playmaking duties, as he still possesses very good technique and good passing, vision and positioning. At the age of 33, he certainly finds himself in a fight with father time, but he has an immense 17 for natural fitness, so he may just manage to see off the struggles with age that many players face around this time. Maybe he'll go on to be our Pirlo.
Yet another player who has spent time in England, Wahbi Khazri is a fresh signing for this season. Coming from the other side of the Tyne-and-Wear Derby, the former Black Cats attacker scored 13 goals in 32 appearances in the league for Les Verts in 2018-19, and I will be looking in his direction for creativity and goalscoring througout this season as well. He's pretty pacey, and possesses very good technique and dribbling, so I'll be hoping he can force some struggles from opposing right backs and make use of his 15 vision to make an incisive pass.
While not really a former Premier League talent like the last three players, William Saliba may just find himself out to be a future one. After agreeing to let him leave the club for 27 million GBP, St. Étienne will be retaining his services for the 2019-20 season on loan. While not quite good enough to break into the starting XI at the moment, he's not far off and will certainly see his fair share of rotation play and chances in cup games and matches with lower-table opponents.
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Though Arnaud Nordin is only capable of playing at a Ligue 2 level at the moment according to our backroom staff, he is someone that I will be looking to to capitalize on the opportunities that he gets and make the most of his chances. With plenty of pace and good dribbling, he looks more than capable of covering for Khazri and going on to become a real threat from the left wing position.
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First off: I apologize if this is rough, I've never done one of these before! So it might be rough in the beginning, but I'll try to work out the kinks as best I can! That said...
Allez Les Verts!
History of the Club
Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (St. Ëtienne from here on) were founded in 1919 by a group of employees from a Saint-Étienne based grocery store Groupe Casino, under the name Amicale des Employés de la Société de Magasins Casino. This grocery store is where the club ended up deriving it's green primary color from. The club dropped "Casino" and simplified its name to Amical Sporting Club due to a French Football Federation rule prohibiting trademarks in sporting club's names. In 1927, the club merged with another local club, Stade Forézien Universitaire, and again changed their name to Association sportive Stéphanoise. In 1933, the club turned professional and changed their name to the current version. They joined the league in the second division, where they remained for the next four years before being promoted to the first division for a short period preceding the outbreak of World War II. In the first season following the war, St. Étienne came runners up to Lille. In 1976, les Verts became the first French club since Reims in 1959 to make it to the final of the, then, European Cup. They faced off against Bayern Munich at Scotland's Hampen Park They were facing off against the reigning champions and a team with a firm claim to the title of best team in the world, with the squad featuring the likes of Maier, Beckenbauer, Rummenigge, Muller and Hoeness. Sainté found themselves on the losing side of the contest as Bayern won their third consecutive European Cup. Success has come and gone since then, and St. Étienne managed to finish fourth in the 2018-19 campaign, behind PSG, Lille and Lyon. This means in addition to the domestic league and cup competitions, we'll be competing in the Europa League, qualifying directly into the group stage.
The club won their first piece of silverware in the form of the Coupe Charles Drago in 1955, and won their first domestic titles two years later. They captured their first Coupe de France in the 1961-62 season. The club would go on to win the league nine more times, a record in the French league, and the Coupe de France on an additional five occasions.
Notable Previous PlayersMost appearances: René Domingo (who, somehow, is without a Wikipedia page)
Top Scorer: Hervé Revelli (304), who also holds a claim to the player with the most Ligue 1 titles with seven, and is 3rd in all-time Ligue 1 goals
Other notables: Michel Platini, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Dimityi Payet, Blaise Matuidi, Sylvain Kastendeuch (6th in all-time Ligue 1 appearances), Patrick Battiston (7th in all-time Ligue 1 appearances) and Bernard Lacombe (2nd in all-time Ligue 1 goals)The Goal
We are taking control of St. Étienne in their centennial season! PSG have dominated the league for too long, and we intend to launch a challenge to their stranglehold. They are even listed as a competitive rival to us. Ideally, I would like to keep them from ever holding sole-possession of the record for most Ligue 1 titles. They currently have 8. The 2019-20 season is a given for them, as is 2020-21 most likely. That will put them even with us. I'd like to be at least challenging them by 20-21. However, I've basically only ever played with United in FM as that's who I support in real life, so I may struggle. I've played one Sir Alex Challenge save though, and I will certainly be calling on my experience in that save to help me with a club that has less resources than the tip-top clubs of the world.
We hold a fierce rivalry with Lyon, as well as a historic rivalry with Marseille, the latter of whom has nine Ligue 1 trophies to their name. Our other rivals include a historic rivalry with Nantes, who have captured Ligue 1 on eight occasions. Our other rivalries are with three other local clubs who ply their trade further down the French pyramid in Granoble and Clermont (Ligue 2) and Andréziuex-Bouthéon (French National 2). Monaco have eight Ligue 1 titles as well. So, while PSG are currently the biggest challenge to our record, it only takes one strange FM season for Marseille to pull level with us. I plan to integrate young players as best I can, and emphasize our academy when possible.0 -
3 hours ago, Kenzo said:
His PA is still quite low.
If you would call -9 "quite low," then I guess. But it quite literally can barely get higher than that.
https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-2020/player/28121564/mason-greenwood
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I'm playing Leicester for the beta. I usually play a save with United, but I'm really in love with my FM19 say with them, so when I get the United itch I'm just gonna go back and play that save. My main save is going to be either St. Etienne or Boavista, leaning towards the former. I want to return them to their former glory (for those who don't know Boavista is one of only two clubs outside of the Big Three in Portugal to with the title, and St. Etienne are in their 100th year, are 10x French champions, 6x French Cup winners and were runners up in Europe in 75-76)
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I settled on Leicester for my beta save this year, so I'll definitely be interested in keeping up with your progress!
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5 minutes ago, Zeonflux said:
Ah one of those, normally if they ask to leave I tell them that they’re integral to the squad (or something like that) and they want to stay.
is there an option for an automatic contract extension? That’s usually a good stop gap to get them to stay a year longer and then you can usually offer them a new contract a bit later when the transfer windows close
I didn't know that he was unhappy or looking to move honestly. Madrid had come in for him the year before and I refused, we chatted and I said I would accept a certain valuation that I never received and then he eventually dropped it because the value wasn't met. But then when I went to renew because he only had 12 months left, his agent said he wasn't interested because other clubs were interested in him.
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1 hour ago, Zeonflux said:
Personally I don’t see the need to cash in on players. I’ll sell players I don’t need but I’ve never sold one of my top players before, I’ve never run into FFP issues and with United I alway end up with more money then o could possibly spend on both wages and transfers.
So unless De Ligt is refusing a contract extension then keep him, especially if he’s the best in the world
Yeah he's refusing an extension because other clubs are interested in him. I ended up cancelling the transfer since his personal negotiations outran the window and I didn't have time to find a replacement. Not sure why he wants to leave honestly. We've won the past like 3 PLs and 2 of the past 3 CLs, there isn't a bigger club out there.
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Well Madrid were coming in for de Ligt in my save and I countered asking for 95mil and they apparently decided to match. He's the best CB in the world at the moment, so I guess I'm not surprised, but it has certainly given me a tough decision to make. He only has a year left on his contract as well, so maybe it's just right to cash in. Not sure how the hell I'd replace him though. Beginning of the 22/23 season so I suppose I could try to find a good regen at this point but it would probably be tough.
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13 hours ago, DjangoSrna said:
Leaving by transfer, mutual termination or rotting in U18 on GK traning are Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly, Antonio Valencia, Paul Pogba, Fred, Lingard, Martial, Rashford and Lukaka.
On the up side I'll see I'll be rid of all the toxic nature from the squad that finished 5th. I'll be looking to build a team around De Gea, Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Dalot, Lindelof, Herrera, McTominay, Matic, even Darmian. Unsure where to stand yet on Sanchez, Rojo and Pereira - depends if I can find cleaner ideas in the transfer window.
That first list seems...suspect
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On 18/04/2019 at 11:29, MatthewS17 said:
So I give up on finding an English Defensive Midfielder who's of immediate quality.
I just need a ready made DM at the moment. Matic is far too slow, Herrera is gone and Fred isn't good enough.
I don't mind the type of DM. I'll adjust accordingly.
Looking at Neves, Ndombele, Casemiro, Rodri, Allan and I probably forgot someone somewhere.
Neves is great, and his positioning is decent(14), tackling okay(13), but I question his ability to be the last man before my defence. He also lacks quite a bit of pace.
Ndombele has 13 for positioning and 13 or so for tackling which is a bit of a risk.
Casemiro is great, but them wages are a problem.
And Rodri has fantastic positioning but not much else. Doesn't look like he will develop too far either.
Allan looks a good option, but is 28 years old and will require a fee of over 50 million,which isn't too smart.
Quite a decision. :/
I signed Declan Rice and have loved having him, though I would suppose his pace is probably too close to Matic for you.
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Just wrapped up my first season, snagged the league and Carabao double. Got knocked out by a last minute goal against Shaktar in the Chamion's League Quarters and City booted me from the 6th Round of the FA Cup. Interesting highlights from the league is Palace in 6th, City in 4th and Poch and Guardiola both jobless!
Lingard or Rashford were probably my best player. Lings had 16 goals and 15 assists in all competitions (9 and 11 in the league) while Rashford raked 23 and 8, with 11 and 3 in the league. De Gea also had 26 clean sheets!
As far as transfers go, I don't know why Pereira has a fee, and it's weird that the Fred and Dalot fees are still listed, but oh well. I have permanent clauses in the loan agreements for Darmian, Jones and Sanchez and I'm hoping they get picked up, it would make my life a bit easier. I don't really play with a CAM, so letting Mata go for 25mil was fine with me, and if I need someone to play that position I can just slot Lingard over. Now it's just onto moving on the rest of the dead wood and having Rabiot join the team on a free!
EDIT: And now it looks like Pep and Klopp have switched jobs!
EDIT: I just got offered 84mil for Pogba, not sure if I should take it or not. He was quite good in the first season, but I have Palacios from River Plate and now Rabiot in as well, on top of already having Fred and Pereira. Palacios doesn't have a work permit yet though, so he'll have to go on loan.
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39 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:
I know he hase huge wages, but he's the kind of player i'd want at any club. I shortlist him in every game i do, to see if i have a chance of getting him somehow (never managed yet). Just saying
For me, it's not just the wages. It's the wages and the competition at the position. I'd just rather play Martial or Rashford. Rashford may potentially move to ST, but that will depend on how Lukaku does for me this season.
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5 hours ago, BigV said:
I struggled to get rid of him after a season so don't be too disheartened, had to loan him to chelsea and they only pay 60% of his wages :3 Jones, smalling are wildly over valued so you'd have to price them at least 20-30m mark, smalling can sometimes go for 40m in Serie A so i'd keep one around just for some income for next summer window. Young pretty much hard to fling off cause of his wage, darmian goes for a decent price, valencia quite easy, matic is hard for me anyway, Fred seems hard at first but after a season it's quite easy. Lingard gets an offer around 60m-80 from chelsea so that's worthy to look at.
Hadn't thought of loaning him, but in all honesty I guess I'm fine keeping Sanchez in for now since I didn't have the chance to sign anyone in the forward positions like I wanted, which I needed to do along with his departure anyway. The CBs aren't stumping up much interest so I'm gonna see if I can't get some eyes on them with some playing time before January. I loaned out Darmian with an option to buy as he wouldn't accept the obligation, hopefully that gets picked up. I'm ok losing Young and Valencia for free and I have no clue what I'm doing about Matic.
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Just now, zlatanera said:
He's only been there 6 months. You have to put up with him at least until January if you're to have a hope of getting rid, I've found.
Oh duh. I totally forgot about the fact that he would have only been there a short time. Still can't offload basically anyone else either, but at least the Sanchez question is solved.
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[FM20] Allez Les Verts - The Quest to Return St. Étienne to Glory
in FM Career Updates
Posted · Edited by Juls317
Well, the board has called me in for a meeting. I need 9 points in the next five matches to save my job. Those fixtures are Brest (H), Lyon (A), Nantes (H), PSG (A) and Angers (H). Those clubs are currently 12th, 5th, 9th, 1st and 7th.
So I'll be looking forward to my next save with Valencia!