Football Manager

[Bigpapa42]

Well this place quieted down...

Couldn't really get into the HSV save. Toyed around with Leverkusen. Thought about trying Ajax a second time (with some buying restraint). Eyed up PSG. Just not finding clubs that appeal to the point where I think I'll get more than a season in. So I decided to say screw it and go with FC Bayern. Don't really need to buy any players or change the staff much. Having Ribery and Robben cutting inside from the wings will be fun. Doubt the game will last too long but it should be entertaining.

 

[BigHouseUSA]

Three games left in the season and I'm first by four points (with St. Pauli). It would be a lot more but I've lost five starters to injuries for the season in the last two months. I really need new physios/fitness coaches. I'm going to need considerable investment to survive in the Bundesliga, my squad is thin already and I'm only really confident in about six players in terms of being able to play at a decent level up there.

And next time i hit space my Bundesliga quality centerback gets injured in training, will miss the next three games. Pretty sure SI is just fucking with me at this point.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Injuries make me tear my hair out sometimes, too... Luckily my hair is short enough that its tough to grab (though my beard is not). Having world class physios doesn't seem to make that much differene - you still get hit with a lot of injuries. I fully accept that injuries are part of the game and players go down, regardless of their "injury rating"... but its pretty near impossible to go through a season with any club at any level in FM without getting a few big injuries. And that isn't necessarily relaistic either.

 

[BigHouseUSA]

And my second centerback (was my third until I had to move my second to DM since my starting DM is hurt) is out. Honestly, if this happened mid-season I would probably quit. Usually by the second patch injuries are slightly better, but they're still really frequent.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Nice to see you rolling with it finally Heels. I`ve been tooling around with HSV as well. Also added Bandalovski and Svennson. Managed to get something like 8.5m out of PSG for Berg, but no one would even make an offer for Castelan, even when I asked for zero.

 

[Fappin Raptor]

Wow, maybe it did get deleted. Da fuck where's Gene?

 

[Bigpapa42]

WHERE IZ HEELZ? DA FUCK?

Beyond that, anyone find any new camera angle files for FM12? There were a couple of nice ones for FM11. It feels like the one thing my game is lacking at this point.

 

[Lanteri]

As expected I've gone back to Everton. Here's how we're looking at the beginning of January:

Table

 

Squad Stats

 

Transfer-wise Donovan is the only player joining the club as of right now.

 

[Lanteri]

Second half of the season was ugly. We maintained our stout defense, but we became completely inept at winning matches. Since January, our record is: 6 wins, 10 draws, and 4 losses. In those 20 matches, we've only scored 26 goals, while conceding 16.

We did win the Carling Cup, so there is the Europa League in our future. Would've qualified regardless thanks to our top 6 finish, but yeah.

League Table

 

Squad Stats

 

Howard kept 18 clean sheets.

 

[Lanteri]

Transfers so far in the Summer...

In:

ST - Javier Saviola (free)
CM - Darron Gibson (free)
CM - Tiago from Atletico Madrid for £4.2m
ST - Marouane Chamakh from Arsenal for £3.9m

Out

Tim Cahill to Juventus for £3.5m
Diniyar Bilyaledtinov to Genoa for £3.5m
McFadden, Saha, and Distin on frees.

 

[calgaryballer]

Been a while since I fired this up as I had been struggling with Newcastle and was getting a bit frustrated at my slide down the table. Also had Barca coming up and figured that'd be another wipe out.

Well, that turned out to be wrong. Ba struck twice and Giulano got a third to give us a 3-1 lead heading back to the Nou Camp. We held our own from a chances perspective, and didn't concede too much of a possession advantage. Pretty encouraging.

I feel that English teams have me figured out, while I am still able to surprise European teams...

 

[kmanharris]

I'm still play FM11 like a boss.

I am playing as the US manager and god help me, my defense fucking sucks. It doesn't matter what combination I put back there, they always get beat down by teams who are ranked higher in the polls than us. Always.

I have tried putting bigger bodies back there... fail

I have tried calling up quicker, more agile center defenders... fail

I have a tried a combination of a faster central defender who covers more ground with a bigger body who just primarily plays his position... fail

I can't figure out the right combo to save my life.

 

[BigHouseUSA]

What kind of tactics are you running? The US defense is pretty horrible, so the only way they're going to improve is putting them in the right system.

 

[kmanharris]

What kind of tactics are you running? The US defense is pretty horrible, so the only way they're going to improve is putting them in the right system.

Against better teams I run a Counter 4-1-2-1-2.

They just do stupid shit like come up to get a cleared ball and misjudge it and have it go bouncing over their head.

 

[BigHouseUSA]

Eh, yeah there's not much you can change in terms of the formation, that's pretty much what you should be running. I would just take a look at the individual instructions of your backline and try to make them as conservative as possible.

 

[kmanharris]

Eh, yeah there's not much you can change in terms of the formation, that's pretty much what you should be running. I would just take a look at the individual instructions of your backline and try to make them as conservative as possible.

Yea, that's my next step. It's so frustrating when they do stupid shit.

The offense has been flowing pretty nicely though. Although, I wish Dempsey would put more shots on goal instead of overshooting on 95% of his chances.

 

[calgaryballer]

My 3-1 win over Barca was pretty easily overturned by them in the second leg as they beat me 3-0 at Camp Nou. Still, the NUFC fans won't soon forget the night they beat Barca at St James

 

[Lanteri]

I'm at Blackpool now trying to get them promoted again. -_-

I can't stick with one team. I have a problem. lol

I'm at the end of the January transfer window, 27 games in. 14 wins, 5 draws, 8 losses. Good for 47 points and 3rd in the table.

I brought in Knowledge Musona from Hoffenheim, Jamie Mackie from QPR, Julian Speroni from Crystal Palace, Bakary Sako from Saint Etienne and signed Rivaldo on a free transfer.

Gary Taylor-Fletcher tore some knee cartilage forcing him to miss about 6 weeks, necessitating the signing of Rivaldo for some emergency cover, as Lomana LuaLua has been out for the past 18 games and is expected to miss 6 more weeks as well. Taylor-Fletcher has been a key player for me giving me an average rating of 7.23, 5 goals and 5 assists.

Elliot Grandin has been a star, turning in a 7.32 in 25 appearances, 8 goals and 11 assists. I nearly lost him in January as he had a release clause in his contract if a higher division club came calling, but he turned down a move to West Brom, thankfully.

LuaLua had 4 goals and 3 assists in the 9 games that he played, so he's been missed as well. Prior to now I've been trotting out the ancient shell of Kevin Phillips who has returned just 5 goals in 19 appearances, and Daniel Bogdanovic, 2 in 8.

Musona and Rivaldo have yet to play in a competitive match, they're making their debuts against Coventry in the next match. Mackie and Sako have already provided early returns of 3 goals and 2 assists, in 3 matches, and 3 assists in 3 matches respectively.

My starting XI is:

GK: Speroni
DL: Crainey
CB: Cathcart
CB: Evatt
DR: Eardley
DMC: Southern
MC: Sylvestre
AML: Sako
AMC: Rivaldo
AMR: Grandin
STC: Musona

 

[kmanharris]

All of a sudden EVERY opponent's keeper is a god in net. They either block everything or I hit the crossbar/post. You're fucking Haiti, stop it.

:Iwillkillmyself:

 

[Bigpapa42]

All of a sudden EVERY opponent's keeper is a god in net. They either block everything or I hit the crossbar/post. You're fucking Haiti, stop it.

Use the analysis screens for given matches to look at where your shots are coming from. Getting super-keepered usually happens because you aren't really creating good scoring opportunities - your side isn't really breaking down the defense and most shots are coming from either way outside and/or from very straight-on at the keeper. You don't have to be a fantastic keeper to make most stops if everything is coming right at you. Typically, you need to find ways to have more options in the box and more width.