Football Manager

[Lanteri]

Also, I really want to bring Boyata in on a permanent basis. He's developing into a monster. Cathcart isn't bad himself, albeit lacking any kind of pace.

Screens of both of them + what Musona looks like these days.

[calgaryballer]

Musona is nice. I think I bought him in an FCK game once and he turned out to be really good

[Lanteri]

Musona is nice. I think I bought him in an FCK game once and he turned out to be really good

Yep, he's been thriving. I was happy I got him for as cheap as I did too.

Two other guys that have been incredible form for me:

Stephen Warnock is in the form of, well, his life. In his 9 appearances (he missed 6 games to injury), he has an average rating of 7.87, 4 assists, 2 MoM, and a 7.00 tkl/90. He is absurd.

Grandin is the other. 7.75 rating, 6 goals, 8 assists in 15 appearances. He is a very good passer for a winger (15 passing, 15 creativity, 14 flair, 14 decisions), and pacy (16 pace, 15 accel, 15 agility). Pretty deadly combination of pace and passing ability.

Taylor-Fletcher is exceeding expectations as well in his return to the Premiership, with a 7.36 avg rating, 5 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances. His form has been keeping Djuricic out of the starting XI.

I'm getting off for the night so I'll leave you with how the table looks, and my squad stats. We're 15 matches in.





*Forster has 3 clean sheets

[kmanharris]

I've definitely gone with the approach of trying to outscore everyone with my Blackpool side. I'm diggin' the tactic I worked on. Nice to use my own for a change. Generating a lot of clear cut chances, and we're absolutely deadly on the counter attack. We do very little crossing, and I don't allow much creative freedom. My wingers are inside forwards.

May not challenge for Europe just yet, but we should be able to avoid relegation, finish mid-table, and certainly play some attractive football.

This post has changed my USA squad. Granted it has only been 2 games but they were a 3-0 at home vs Trinidad and a 4-1 win on the road against Costa Rica. My squad usually plays like absolute dick on the road, we had just lost to Canada 2-0... fucking Canada. To win 4-1, after being down 1-0 after a PK, is phenomenal.

After reading that post I decided to make a new tactic.

It is a 4-1-2-1-2

Line-up:

Dempsey ------- Davies
Donovan
Kljestan -------- Diskerud
Torres
Bornstein----Franklin----Onyewu----Alston
Howard

Philosophy: Rigid
Starting Strategy: Counter
Passing Style: Default
Creative Freedom: More Disciplined
Closing Down: Press More
Tackling: Default
Marking: Default
Crossing: Drill Crosses
Roaming: Stick to Position

[Lanteri]

I'll be switching back to a 2 striker formation, thanks to our latest acquisition: Jermaine Defoe. Spurs had him transfer listed, and I was able to scoop him up for a mere £2.4m. He had made just 2 league appearances thanks to Tottenham's acquisition of Seydou Doumbia.

[Lanteri]

Interesting..

Tycoon taking over Walsall down in League One. Wonder if they need a manger?

[calgaryballer]

Wow, £34 million in League 1? You had best be in the Prem in under three years

[Bigpapa42]

Could you even spend that much in League One? How many Prem-caliber players are going to come to a League One club? Its not so easy getting top-quality players to a club like Shakhtar, who have endless money, but at least there is some prestige there. Work permits are gonna keep you from bringing in a lot of South Americans. Could be an interesting task but I think it would be tougher than it seems.

[calgaryballer]

Very good point. Perhaps offer fat wages to older players who are out of contract?

[Bigpapa42]

Very good point. Perhaps offer fat wages to older players who are out of contract?

Having tons of money to throw around should land you a few players that are above the expected level of that league. I just can't see it being easy to build a truly quality side.

Made it through the pre-season with Blackburn. Did quite well but played few clubs of real note. The game managed to remind me why I used to end up punching my monitor... Playing a friendly against Botafogo. They have a forward who is short, and I have him sandwiched between my two 6'2" central defenders. The winger blasts in a cross. Despite my two tall defenders - who both have really good Marking, Jumping, Anticipation, Positioning - being in exactly the right place to do something about it, the tiny little forward still manages to outjump them both for the header to score. Similarly frustrating is having my MC stand at the top of the oppositions box and not move when a rebound lands 2 years in front of him, allowing a defender to come from about 6 yards away to clear the ball.

[Lanteri]

So, since Defoe joined the club and I switched to a 2 striker formation...

3 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses.

16 GF, 22 GA.

Yeah, this two striker formation isn't working out. Defoe has 9 goals, but Musona has gone dry as a result, with just 1 goal since Defoe joined the team.

I'm probably going to go back to the 1 striker formation and use Defoe as a substitute.

[Bigpapa42]

When you don't have squad of world class players, having that extra man in midfield can really make a difference. A 4-4-2 can work, but it just seems like having 5 across the midfield in some format seems to be easier to get to function well. It gives your defenders, fullbacks, wingers, and central mids another passing option.

With two strikers, I find the problem is often the same as with one - they may be isolated. You need one of them working to bring the other into play.

[Lanteri]

Well, stuck it out with two strikers thanks to Djuricic and Southern picking up injuries, and my disciplining of Thomson for being a bitch. We got a little back on track and started scoring for fun again like we were earlier in the season.

First year back in the Premiership has to be considered a successful one with a 7th place finish. As I mentioned earlier, we definitely set out to play attractive high scoring football while pretty much forsaking any kind of defensive responsibility. Resulted in leading the premiership in goalscoring with 91 goals, while having the 6th worst defensive record.

Squad Stats

 

League Table

 

Definitely going to look towards improving the quality of my midfield so I can continue to use a two striker formation. Defoe and Musona really started to click in the final 5-6 games. Delph has been training well and picked up his play as well, so it's really just a matter of getting a midfield partner for him. Taylor-Fletcher is solid, but he's getting old and losing pace rapidly. I'll keep him around for cover.

[Lanteri]

Was just approached by Chelsea who offered me a 5 year contract with £45.5k per week wages, and turned it down so I could stay at Blackpool and continue making 20k per week.

Only in FM would this ever happen.

[calgaryballer]