[[FM21] The Premier League Thread]

Well I left the Newcastle job February 2023. I found myself stuck in a frustrating situation after the Qatar World Cup. Bad injuries to key players alongside a run of fixtures against the big sides killed the morale in the squad and my own. It ended with a 6-2 defeat at Leeds. Mancini has since took over which is quite cool as I tried to replicate his Euro 2021 tactic, having signed the Italian duo of Leanardo Spinazzola and Gianluca Mancini. 

I got offered the Southampton job at the end of March with 6 games to go. They have had a takeover and spent a large amount of money, particularly in the last window bringing in Marcos Antonio, Dwight McNeil and a Colombian striker named Luis Suarez for a combined total of £100m. 

I like the squad. Tino Livramento and Omar Richards (Arrives permanently from Bayern Munich for £900k in the Summer) are both hugely talented wing backs. Antonio is a CL standard midfielder and I’ll build the team around him. Che Adams was a target of mine at Newcastle and has scored 30 league goals since the start of the save. Mohammed Salisu is a capable left footed central defender so I won’t have to break the bank for another player in that role just yet. Brendan Aaronson, a 22 year old American internationalist signed for £22m from Salzburg looks like an exciting attacking option. 

There is certainly a nice core of squad players to keep around but also plenty of deadwood and the youth set up is also fantastic. Bring it on.

 

[[FM22] Newcastle United F.C - Richest club in the world]

Dominik Livakovic is a player I cannot recommended enough for anyone looking to sign a new goalkeeper. He just keeps getting better and better. 7.40 average rating at the moment after 12 league games, 2nd season. Update to follow.

[[FM22] Newcastle United F.C - Richest club in the world]

Finished the first season in 8th resulting in no European football again but I’m quite happy with that because it’s means no busy schedule whilst we aim to move into the top 6. 

Man City defeated us 2-0 in the FA Cup final. I’m pretty disappointed we didn’t put up more of a fight but it’s a lesson learnt. Another solid cup run is now expected.

I’ve brought in 4 new players for the 22/23 campaign. Gianluca Mancini and Leonardo Spinazzola are both signed from Roma for a combined fee of £60m. They will be key players moving forward. I’m hoping that Spinazzola pace and ability to cut inside from the left wing back role will provide us with a different attacking dimension.

Chris Wood arrives from the relegated Burnley for £13.5m. He scored 16 league goals last year and gives us a plan B up front. Callum Wilson bagged 25 league goals but we lacked that option from the bench.

The last addition is Billy Gilmour on loan from Chelsea with the option to buy for £23m. He will compete with John McGinn, Patrick Berg, Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock for a starting place in the midfield. 

Isaac Hayden, Miguel Almiron, Jeff Hendrick, Fabian Schar, Mark Gillespie, Matty Longstaff, Dwight Gayle and Joelinton are notable players who have left the club permanently.

First up Arsenal at home.  

[[FM22] Newcastle United F.C - Richest club in the world]

Heading into the last month of the campaign and my target of a top half finish and a cup semi final looks like it’s going to be achieved. I’m happy with that. 
 

A strong 8 match unbeaten run after my last update has the team still in the hunt for a guaranteed European spot. The FA Cup run has been great, defeating Lincoln City, West Ham United, Leicester City, Sheffield United and Brentford on route to the final. Man City await at Wembley. 

January signings Tarkowski, Kelly and Alvarez have all improved the team. The squad has been shaping up nicely without a huge makeover and I will only be adding 3/4 new faces in the summer window with Dwight Gayle, Miguel Almiron, Fabian Schar and Isaac Hayden being the ones who are likely to leave. I don’t want to win the league with a squad of superstars in just a year or two, but noticeable progress each year will be required as we push towards being a regular Champions League side. 

 

[[FM22] Newcastle United F.C - Richest club in the world]

My team is consistently inconsistent, however, we are still inside the top half and a European spot isn’t out of the question just yet. 5 points from 7 games against the bottom 6 teams has been a huge frustration seeing as we have defeated the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Leicester. 
 

I aimed to bolster our fragile back line in January, bringing in James Tarkowski and Lloyd Kelly for a combined total of 21.5m. Julian Alvarez also arrived from River Plate for 16.25m and he looks like a very exciting player to finally give Callum Wilson some real competition. The other signing was Dutch U19 internationalist Xavi Simons from PSG for 350K. He goes into the U23 squad for now.

Federico Fernandez, Emil Krafth, Jonjo Shelvey, Jeff Hendrick, Joelinton, Martin Dubravka and Ciaran Clark all leave either permanently or on loan having failed to impress me over the first half of the campaign. 

Bottom of the table Burnley up next. I think it’s time to finally beat a team that is in the relegation battle. 

[[FM22] Newcastle United F.C - Richest club in the world]

A little update on my save. Good start with back to back league wins followed by a win in the Carabao Cup. We then lost three on the bounce, all convincingly. This prompted a switch in tactics from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2, albeit sticking with the cautious counter attacking approach. Since then things have started clicking into place, with a tactical switch or two depending on the opposition.
 

Callum Wilson has 8 goals in 11 games. Allan Saint-Maximin has 2 goals and 6 assists. Those two are combining very well. I am looking for more from Bukayo Saka but he’s just scored his first goal for the club in a brilliant win at home against Chelsea. He currently has 3 assists. 
 

Dominik Livakovic has been superb between the sticks. I didn’t sign any defenders apart from the injury prone Kieran Trippier but Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles, Paul Dummett, Jacob Murphy and Jamal Lewis have performed well despite having limited ability.

John McGinn (BBM) and Patrick Berg (BWM-Su) are starting to show signs of a very hard working, combative pairing in the middle of the park. 

[FM22: Leeds United - The difficult second season]

Found this quite amusing on my Newcastle save.

[[FM22] Newcastle United F.C - Richest club in the world]

Decided to start with Newcastle as my first save on the full release. I haven’t went crazy in the first window. I don’t want to rip the team apart straight away and sign 8/9 starting players so I identified what I wanted and brought in the quality required for my goal of finishing in the top half and reaching at least the semi finals of either the Carabao Cup or FA Cup.

I’ve sold two players so far - Matt Ritchie and Javi Manquillo. I’m also trying to move on the two back up goalkeepers Darlow and Gillespie.

I brought in Kieran Trippier, Bukayo Saka, John McGinn, Patrick Berg and Dominick Livakovic for a combined total of £150m. 

We won the first league game away to Norwich 4-2. Callum Wilson scored twice, backing up my decision to have him remain my key forward. I may regret this as the depth in this area isn’t great but I’m confident he can score enough goals to help us achieve our objectives.

Tactically I am going for a cautious approach using a 4-3-3 based on a low block, with a high tempo, direct counter attack to utilise the pace of Saint-Maximin and Saka. Two goals from set pieces against Norwich indicate that corners will be a vital part of how we play this season.  

 

 

 

[FM22: Manchester United: Never ending transition]

Are United broken on this BETA? I’m running an Arsenal save at the moment and 9 games in they are top having won the lot, scoring 30 goals (Ronaldo - 13) and conceded only 3. This includes a 3-0 vs Liverpool, 6-1 Man City, 5-0 Leicester and defeated my side 3-1. I would add a victory over Chelsea to that impressive list but they are currently 19th after 10 games with just 4 points. Strangely enough Tuchel’s job security is still stable. Very interesting save indeed. United’s closest rival currently is Everton with 21 points followed by Liverpool on 18 and Leeds on 17. 

 

 

[Direct Passing/Work Ball Into Box Combination]

9 hours ago, CaptCanuck said:

What is the objective of the tactic?

It sounds like a counter-attack and then controlled possession once you get in the final 3rd? If you are going to go to a 'short passing game' with everyone knocking it around amongst themselves, then why does it matter how quickly you make your way into the final 3rd? As it sounds like you're not interested in the potential benefits of getting the ball up the pitch quickly. I may be misinterpreting things, but it sounds like you'll end up hoofing it and/or legging it up the pitch and then waiting for everyone (including the opposition) to come catch up.

 

 

The objective is primarily to dominate possession in the opponents half by getting into that area quickly and directly. I will have a target man and the goalkeeper will aim to distribute the ball in his direction. I will have the two centre defenders as 'No Nonsense', a feature I have rarely used so I am unsure whether the attempts to clear the ball will have any thought behind it instead of just hoofing it into the stands.  The full backs will be on 'Support' and I rarely want to see them used in the build of play as I have set the team to play through the middle. However, I do want them to support the attack to create space and offer an alternative outlet in the scenario that the two Mezalla's, AM and two strikers are struggling to break the opposition down. Directly in the centre of midfield will be a ball winner and I would prefer if he was also rarely involved in the attacking phase, instead always being in position to break down opposition counter attacks before moving the ball quickly to one of those five players I just mentioned. I am hoping that the target man will involve the AM behind him as much as possible as I want him to be the key player, with the Mezalla's hopefully proving support on either side of him in the half spaces. The remaining striker will be looking to make those runs in behind. 

I have yet to start the save and could be overthinking it. I'm going to load it up now and do a pre season with my thoughts and the ideas presented to me so far. Comprehensive highlights are always useful I find but I'm not sure the match engine will catch on to what I'm trying to do because I think some of it may contradict itself with the options I have available to me. 

[Direct Passing/Work Ball Into Box Combination]

1 hour ago, 04texag said:

I would try CD in the back, goalkeep D, don't select play out from the back. Then on transitions tell the goalie long kicks. 

I would set your passing settings how you want for in possession play up the pitch. 

Not sure your formation, but you likely want non ball playing back 4 and DM is you use. 

Thanks for the reply. The planned formation is a narrow 4-3-1-2 with a very defensive minded central midfielder with a Mezzala on either side. However, I would like some width with the use of overlapping full backs but I'm not interested in any defenders being important in the first phase of play apart from quickly moving the ball directly up the park. Once the ball is upfield I would like the full backs to join the more attacking minded players and for them all to combine to play a short passing game. I'll need to load up a false save before I get started and have a play about with the idea but it's something I am eager to know whether that transition from long ball out from the back to a short passing game in the attacking third can be utilised effectively.  

[Direct Passing/Work Ball Into Box Combination]

I am looking to develop a new tactic and wondering if anyone can help me out? Once the ball is won back by the defence (or from a goal kick) I would like to get the ball forward as quick as possible, however, once the ball is in the forward areas I would like to play a short passing game. Therefore would setting up a very direct passing game (and long kicks by the goalkeeper) with 'work ball into the box' work? I'm unsure whether the match engine would recognise what I would like to implement. Thanks.

[[FM19] Manchester United]

Highly Recommend training Andreas Pereira to become a Regista. He has become the stand out player at the base of my narrow diamond midfield. His stats are perfect for the role and his versatility is key in allowing him to learn the role with no issues. He still isn't quite there in terms of being accomplished or natural just yet but he has performed superbly since the beginning of my save. In his first full season at the club he played a huge part in winning the league and the FA Cup whilst picking up the Footballer of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and Players' Young Player of the Year awards. I am now midway through October in my second season and his form is just getting better and better. Brazil have finally taken notice and he could be winning his first international cap over the next week or two. New bumper contract incoming also. He deserves it.