Football Manager

[Lanteri]

I've got 3 formations setup in my match preparation now as well.

The 4-4-2 diamond that was my first choice, a 4-3-3 (which is more like a 4-2-3-1..two CMs, AMC, 2 wingers, and a striker), and I added a 4-3-1-2 wingerless formation to the mix as well.

I'm already having some concerns with Lallana, Puncheon, and Poulsen's ability to be effective wingers at the premiership level, and I do have a solid core of about 6 center mids (Hargreaves, Murphy, Schneiderlin, Gonalons, Edu, Saumel), so I might actually be better off going wingerless. The 4-3-1-2 has an anchorman, two center mids (B2B, BWM), and an AMC.

We won our premiership debut @ Goodison Park 1-0 using the 4-3-3. Lewandowski scored in his debut. Lambert will be available for the next match, but with Pedersen out for another 2-3 weeks, I'll likely stick to the second formation with a lone striker for now. Gives me a couple weeks to evaluate whether or not I think Poulsen and Lallana can contribute.

[Chrispy]

Is this game really that good? Im downloading it now.

Also anything i should know about it?

[calgaryballer]

Is this game really that good? Im downloading it now.

Also anything i should know about it?

Most addictive game of all time. You just have to get in there, and we can help answer questions as you go

[Lanteri]

Wheater's 90th minute header takes down Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, just one game after getting embarrassed 3-0 at home by Fulham.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwkp7LDtzYs[/ame]

[Fappin Raptor]

Half way through my first season with Everton. Just a week away from the opening of the January transfer window.

[calgaryballer]

Drew HSV, RB Salzburg and RC Lens in my Europa group. Could have had Chelsea, Inter, Spurs, Sevilla, CSKA or Villareal as a #1 seed, so could be worse. I think Lens and Salzburg are very winnable, especially since I made short work of Rapid Wien

Also, Leeds in the Carling

[Lanteri]

Signed John Fleck from Rangers for a mere £2.3m. He'll be joining the club in January. Huge capture for me, especially considering how cheaply they were willing to give him up.

Saves me from having to trot out the carcasses of Murphy and Elano at AMC.

[Lanteri]

Aaaand of course Fleck is injured for 2-3 months as of January 1st, so I'm stick with Murphy and Co. at AMC until then unless I pick up someone else on loan or something.

[Lanteri]

The rest of the transfer window:

Lallana has been sold to Burnley ( ) for £2m
Poulsen loaned to Bolton with a future fee of £1m
Lewandowski to Stoke for £6.5m/48 months (Only 5 goals in 21 apps. Fuck him)
Elano's loan terminated.
Edu to Cardiff for £2.8m/48 months

In:

Fleck from Rangers for £2.3m
Connor Wickham from Chelsea on loan.
Fran Merida on loan from Atletico Madrid.

[Lanteri]

I am now the manager of Ivory Coast as well.

Obviously wasn't my first choice of national team to manage, but after having been turned down by England, France, and Holland since I became a World Class manager, and Scotland and Ireland when I was back in the Championship as a continental, I had to take what I could get.

Should be interesting anyway.

As far as competitions are concerned, we're in a CAF group for the 2014 World Cup with South Africa, Morocco, and Sierra Leone. Should have no trouble with that group.

In the Confederations Cup 2013, we're in a group with Brazil, France, and Japan. That's going to be quite the handful as I don't think we're capable of coming out on top over Brazil and France who have to be the favorites there. Especially since Brazil is the host country.

The current in-game date is February 17th. Our first WC qualifier match is against Morocco on March 27th, followed by Sierra Leone on June 8th. After that it's all Confederations Cup stuff in the summer.

I've arranged friendlies for June 12th against Ghana, August 14th against Nigeria, November 16th against USA, and November 20th against Greece to round out 2013.

I'm undecided as of yet on what formation I'll be looking to use. It's likely going to be the 4-4-2 diamond, but I may elect to go with something different.

[Lanteri]

I've settled on a selection for Ivory Coast (barring injuries of course). Long time between now and matches that count.

[Lanteri]

Gave Bony his first cap against Morocco and he responded by banging in 2 goals in a 3-1 win.

Drogba wasn't part of the selection as he was injured. I started Sanogo, but he performed poorly and we were down 1-0 at the time in the 60th minute.

On the domestic front, Fleck is finally set to make his debut against West Ham.

[Lanteri]

First season in the premiership has come to an end, (thank god).

We got absolutely minimal contribution from any of our strikers, with Lambert, Pedersen, Wickham, and Lewandowski combining for 18 goals.

Lambert and Pedersen's contracts are both up and I'm planning on letting them both leave on free transfers. Wickham's loan is done and he's going back to Chelsea, so I have no strikers heading into the summer. Hopefully whoever I manage to sign can do a better job in front of the net.

Fleck was disappointing in his first 8 games as a Saint, but with no real targets at striker, it's tough for him to do any kind of playmaking.

Midfield was solid. Gonalons and Schneiderlin were my best two players outside of David Wheater, who had a phenomenal year at centre back. Hargreaves was solid as well, and managed to stay fit the whole season, playing in all 38 games.

The important thing is that we met our season goal, and that was to avoid relegation. Now hopefully we can build up on that in the coming year.

[Lanteri]

Eliminated from the Confederations Cup with Ivory Coast after drawing all 3 games in group play. Drawing with Japan was super-disappointing, but I was pretty happy with the results against much stronger Brazil and France sides.

Did win our first WC qualifier against Sierra Leone 4-0.

[Lanteri]

Random Sidenote: Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger both retired. Moyes took over for Wenger and

I went the route of free transfers and older players in the twilights of their careers to try and improve the squad.

Incoming transfers:

RB - Alan Hutton £1.6m from Tottenham
AMC - Steven Defour (Yeah, I saw everyone else signed him, and realized why, lol) on a free from Standard
ST - Kevin Kuranyi on a free with £4.2 compensation fee from Dinamo Moscow
ST - Dimitar Berbatov on a free from Man U
CB - Rio Ferdinand on a free from Man U
CB - Nedum Onuuoha on loan from Man City
DMC - Dickson Etuhu £3.7m from Fulham
FB - Fabio £2.5m from Fulham
FB - Danny Simpson on loan from Newcastle
ST - Yaya Sanogo on loan from OM

Out:

Lambert, Mensah, Pedersen, Puncheon, Dickson, Fonte all on frees.
Poulsen on loan with option to buy to West Ham

Going to continue running the wingerless narrow diamond. My opening starting XI will be:

-------Berbatov-----Kuranyi-------
---------------Fleck--------------
-------Schneiderlin--Gonalons-----
---------------Etuhu--------------
Fabio--Ferdinand--Wheater--Hutton
---------------Lewis---------------

Subs: Roy Carroll, Steven Defour, Nedum Onuoha, Owen Hargreaves, Kirk Brodafoot, Yaya Sanogo, Stephen Kelly
Others: Danny Simpson, Carl Dickinson

So, interestingly enough, now in my 4th season at the helm of Southampton, the lone remaining player from the original squad is Morgan Schneiderlin. Though, it isn't really that surprising considering the original squad was a League One side, so there were very little premiership-quality players. To be honest, I'd probably replace Schneiderlin as well if there wasn't a semi-emotional attachment there.

On the international side of things, Didier Drogba retired in the summer. This leaves my Ivory Coast striker combination up in the air. I'm likely to stick with the Doumbia-Bony combo though as they performed fairly well in the summer.