FM 2011

[Lucky Pierre]

Jordan Ayew.

[Chairman Meow]

Obviously as part of my current game is to try and turn a nation into a football powerhouse I've been trying to keep on eye on how well the dynamic league reputation and such like work.

 

Progress in the Champions League is definitely making an impact, my record has been quarter finals two years running then the semi finals last year while the other Belgian sides have typically been group stage at best.

 

My European seeding/coefficient has gone:

11/12 44.49 (didn't check placing as it was very low)

12/13 25th position 62.69

13/14 14th position 76.96 (season that is about to start)

Our placing has changed and we are now seeded to go straight in at the group stage rather than the qualifiers and will be seeded for that too.

 

The Pro League on the competition rankings screen (the one with the stars showing) has seen the league as 34th in 11/12 31st in 12/13 and 22nd in 13/14.

 

So progressing seemingly does work in terms of making the Belgian League look more interesting, however I suspect it will plateau eventually, if I keep making the quarters/semis in the Champions League I am going to end up with a fairly static co-efficient and then be reliant on the other teams in Belgium becoming more competitive also. I don't know whether I am actually better off getting knocked out and having a crack at the winning the Europa, which would also give me a shot at the Super Cup as well.

 

I imagine with the increased league ranking the others should be able to sign better players though which will help? Toying with the idea of trying to get my Dresden manager into the Belgian League as well (currently have him managing at HSV but I'm holidaying his career at the moment as I got pissed of with the Dynamo Berlin sacking). I've got a hell of a lot of very good young player who need blooding so taking over another side and building them up may be a good idea to boost things and see how it pans out.

 

I think it's bordering on cheating if I take over a second Belgian side and sell them all of my cheap youngsters so not sure if that is the way to go.

[Chairman Meow]

Anderlecht start of season 2013/14

 

I'm not at the end of the summer window. The biggest transfers out are Steven Defour to Sevilla, Federico Fazio to Hoffenheim, Sergey Krivets to PSG, Simone Missiroli to Valencia, Mehdi Carcela to Stuttgart and Jelle Van Damme to Feyenoord. That lot alone brought in over £52m and offloading a load of the younger lads for a couple of million here and there brought our total transfer income to £78m from around 30 players leaving, obviously a lot of that is spread over the next few years in add ons.

 

No real big names in apart from Lassana Diarra, Fernando Gago and Carlos Villanueva all on free transfers, other than that it's been my usual collection of misfits and regens, I want to try and give some of the younger lads a chance. Thorgan Hazard and Mateo Kovacevic for instance are nowhere near the level Sergey Krivets was but without giving them the chance they won't develop as I'm still working on improving training facilities at the moment. Villanueva will give us slightly more experienced cover for them if needed.

 

Lukaku and Maurinho drew lots of transfer talk but no actual bids and with the departure of Defour I have now made Lukaku our captain.

 

Our only issue really is the lack of Belgian home grown players (the league requires six in the match day squad), some of the younger lads qualify next year but in the short term it might prove an issue if start picking up lots of injuries. I brought Hans Cornelis back from loan and Ziguy Badibanga in purely to cover this until the others qualify. Aside from that we are pretty solid I think, I'm giving Mirko Barocelli a proper chance on the left, he is very right footed but should cause a danger cutting in.

 

So far competitively we have won the Belgian Super Cup for the 4th year in a row with a 3-0 win over Standard thanks to a Marquinhos hat trick. We have played 5, won 4 and drawn 1 in the league so far and sit top with a 4 point lead.

 

In the Champions League our improved seeding means we have gone straight in at the group stage and been drawn with Valencia, Dynamo Kyiv and Lokomotive Sofia. Sofia look terrible, Dynamo Kyiv are reasonable but not as good as we are so only Valencia who look like a problem. They still have the likes of Mata, Banega, Soldado and Jonas but have added players like Pjanic and Witsel to that so I anticipate tough games against them. That said with Junmin on the right and the Lukaku/Maurinho partnership up front we are more than capable of scaring anyone.

 

Current 1st Team Squad

 

Goalkeepers

Thibaut Courtois

Davy Schollen (Player/Coach)

Paul Sergio (Regen)

Adrien Faidherbe (Out on loan to Lokeren)

 

Right Backs

Romario

Hans Cornelis

Constant Sylla (Regen)

 

Centre Backs

Dzmitriy Verkhovtsev

Breno

Daniel Van Buyten (Player/Coach)

Richie De Laet

 

Left Backs

Jan Lejcaks

Olivier Deschacht (Player/Coach)

 

Right Wingers

Hao Junmin

Ziguy Badibanga

Matthias Roth (Regen)

 

Defensive Midfielders

Lassana Diarra

Fernando Gago

Kara

 

Attacking Midfielders

Mateo Kovacevic

Thorgan Hazard

Carlos Villanueva

 

Left Wingers

Mirko Barocelli

Toni Silva

 

Strikers

Romelu Lukaku

Maurinho

Karim Bashiru (Regen)

Sani Emmanuel

Daniel Pacheco

Miguel Medina

 

Current Youth Squads

 

Goalkeepers

Jacques Badang - On loan to FCV Dender

 

Defenders

Johnson Omadiagbe - On loan at Aalst (D C)

Thomas Forsgren - Oa loan at Aalst (D C)

Mohamed Abdellaoui - On loan at Aalst (D C)

Nick Benson (D C)

Sten Madsen (D L)

 

Midfielders

Martin DeWitte (DM/AM C)

Claudio Camera - On loan at Ingolstadt (M C)

Djamel Ibouzidene (AM LC)

Charles Mumba - On loan at Aalst (AM L)

Adryan (AM C)

Cyrille Coullibaly (AM C)

Fred Wangu - On loan at Aalst (AM C)

Mostafa Lotfi (AM LC)

 

Strikers

Marquinhos

Taifour Cisse

[James Dean]

Been on a FM hiatus for half a decade, but decided to get the new one off steam yesterday.

 

Safe to say I've been glued to the screen since.

 

The media bit is still fucking crap, but the rest is just brilliant.

I started a Liverpool game, and figured I was finally gonna make a formation with proper wingers work, but I reverted back the same old 4-1-2-1-2. It's probably my inadequaties as a manager, but I ever since the CM times I just can't get it to work. Either I'm leaking goals, don't score enough or both. Plus the wingers themselves are hugely inconsistent. (or rather proper shite 8 out of 10 games).

 

 

That Zabaya or whatever his name is is boss, as are Phil Jones. I play Defour as a deep lying playmaker with M'Vila and Jones as the 2 battling CM and Gerrard the AMC. Suarez and Carroll being the prefered pairing up top.

 

I started out with fluid/attacking style, but found after a while I scored a lot more goals with the standard/balanced setting, for whatever reason. Those who have got a formation with wingers work, please share your secrets..

[James Dean]

Also, got this little regen gem.

 

 

What's the best way of snatching up new regens btw? I found that one by chance.

Just scout the world for youth players?

[stevienando]

If you're a lazy prick like me, it's all in the scouting. Send them all around the world (as per their expertise) and they will report back with those beautiful gems.

[Joe Le Taxi]

Play with inside forwards rather than wingers, always works for me.

[RedinSweden]

Also, got this little regen gem.

 

 

What's the best way of snatching up new regens btw? I found that one by chance.

Just scout the world for youth players?

 

Shitting hell, he's good.

[James Dean]

Play with inside forwards rather than wingers, always works for me.

 

Do you focus passing down both flanks then?

[James Dean]

Shitting hell, he's good.

 

It's a bitch getting a work permit for him. He has signed, but he still needs a wp in order to play, so I loaned him out to an affiliate club.

 

Anyone had experience with this? Do you have to wait the 3 years for him to get a belgian passport?

[Chairman Meow]

 

It's a bitch getting a work permit for him. He has signed, but he still needs a wp in order to play, so I loaned him out to an affiliate club.

 

Anyone had experience with this? Do you have to wait the 3 years for him to get a belgian passport?

 

Yes, you have to keep sending him out till he gets his Belgian nationality.

 

If he is getting international games though you might find you can get him a work permit before then by offering him a new contract.

 

I always try to get a Spanish side as a feeder because they only take two years for South Americans to get a Spanish passport.

[James Dean]

Yes, you have to keep sending him out till he gets his Belgian nationality.

 

If he is getting international games though you might find you can get him a work permit before then by offering him a new contract.

 

I always try to get a Spanish side as a feeder because they only take two years for South Americans to get a Spanish passport.

 

Cheers, that's a good advice.

 

I tried to convince the board to get another feeder club but they told me to bugger off.

[Chairman Meow]

They often do. You can get away with two requests for feeders in a year, on the old version you could manage a couple of over the summer but it doesn't seem to allow it now, I tend to go for one at the start of the summer window and one at the start of the Janaury window.

[James Dean]

I wonder if they would be more lenient if you cancelled the deal with one of the exisitng feeder clubs.

[RedinSweden]

I am having a mare with Shrewsbury at the moment. I got promoted in second place after the first season, having endured a really bad start, but I have 1 point from the first 10 matches. I felt i had improved the squad enough and I have some cracking young players on my books, but i just can't get a win. I was predicted for relegation, so i reckon I'll keep my job if we go down, but it is dodgy.

[Lee909]

I'm playing with shaktar at the moment. 8pts clear after 8 games so far. I'm hoping to get a bigger job after 1/2 years if I can get to the later stages in europe. It's hard to find some decent Ukrainians as you can only have a 7 foreigners in the first 11.

[James Dean]

Finally getting into our stride. Using Neymar and Suarez/Marin as inside forwards, 2 sitting DM's and Gerrard/Defour as the playmaker in the middle. With Hulk up top.

 

Safe to say I'm scoring loads. Neymar had 8 assists in 3 games. Last season he got 7 in 30.

 

Hulk is living up to his name. Absolute monster.

[Furmedge]

Can't get in the Champions League with Torquay. This will be my third consecutive 5th placed finish. Just can't get the funds to sign enough quality.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

I hate West Ham. Keep fecking conceding in the last minute, especially against the big 5.

[Joe Le Taxi]

Do you focus passing down both flanks then?

 

Depends who plays really. My wingers are:

 

Sanchez

Bale

Hazard

Delhaye (regen)

Muniain

 

If I play with Bale and Sanchez I play down both flanks and also go into advanced settings and make them switch positions. If I play Hazard down the left I focus down the right and have Sanchez on that wing (he's right footed) as a winger then have Hazard as an inside forward. Neymar is 24 now so I may sign him as Muniain has been shite for me.

 

Finally getting into our stride. Using Neymar and Suarez/Marin as inside forwards, 2 sitting DM's and Gerrard/Defour as the playmaker in the middle. With Hulk up top.

 

Safe to say I'm scoring loads. Neymar had 8 assists in 3 games. Last season he got 7 in 30.

 

Hulk is living up to his name. Absolute monster.

 

So it worked? :whistle:

[Guest Jon Snow]

I got a pretty good winger tactic if any one wants to try it.

 

ParkThePlane 4-4-2 (Crewe, Jan 2015).tac

[RedinSweden]

I am just about to pull off the best comeback ever. I was 16 points off safety in Feb in league 1 and I have 4 matches left and I am in sniffing distance of safety now. Come on.

[James Dean]

So it worked? :whistle:

 

Indeed it did. ;)

 

Although getting Hulk, Neymar and Marin to play the specific roles as compared to Pacheco, Suso and Carroll might have helped!

 

 

This feeder club stuff is really starting to piss me off. I made an ultimatum of some sorts to the board, and they finally went along with it. "your request have been granted", or something along those lines. Then nothing happened. I still cant choose from the affiliate page, and they haven't come to me with any alternatives either. Bugged?

[Joe Le Taxi]

Loaded up a save with Forest and I have them in the playoffs so I took a look at the Premier League and found Liverpool in 18th place with 3 games left, most other teams have 2 games left and they are 2 points off safety.

 

Madness.

[Lucky Pierre]

The mancs ruin everything. Go down 3-0 and beat me to hand Citeh the league. Then When I score a 90th minute winner from Phil Lahm, they score in the 95th minute, even though Webb had only added on 3!