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Football Manager 2019
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el Fenomeno wrote: »Absolutely mental finish to this game!
Imagine if there was no tennis ball protest there wouldn't have been those 4 added minutes to score the winner.0 -
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Join Date:Posts: 49740
Mars Bar wrote:It says region Europe. I'm in the Middle East
Cant find online if FM19 is region locked or not, had a quick look and its inconclusive.
Sowwy
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Join Date:Posts: 49740
Relatively close to the end of season 2 with Arsenal. Will prob try and finish it tonight and report back tomorrow how it finishes out.
However for a spoiler: I got offered an international job...
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Join Date:Posts: 49740
So from my last update, I was coming close to January of my second season with Arsenal. Umtiti was on the way, and all was right with the world as Auba had hit 20 goals in the PL to have me clear at the top by 7 points.
My experiment with my youngsters Nelson and Smith-Rowe was paying off, but not as well as I'd have liked so I decided to sign some support so they can develop a bit better.
First off I sold Rob Holding and Calum Chambers for circa 15-20 million each to give me some funding. With about 60 million now available I targeted Federico Chiesa, who was lighting up Serie A with assists, exactly what I needed.
Initially Fiorentina wanted 75 million for him which was completely out of my budget and not what I was willing to spend. But after withdrawing my offer he became agitated and requested a transfer
Happy days, the negotiated fee with bonuses now will potentially cost me 45 million in total. I consider that a win and sign him up.
With the remainder of my budget I bring in Christian Tue, a young Danish winger and Sandro Tomali, an Italian central midfielder for about 6 million each.
Tomali immediately gets farmed out on loan to Everton whilst Tue will spend the rest of the season with my Under 23s. Two for the future.
In terms of results, the busy December to February fixture impacts me pretty hard, a game every three days testing even my own rotational tendencies.
It's not helped by my run in the Carabao Cup, which I'm determined to win this year as Arsenal haven't won it since 1993.
And the FA Cup does me no favours either. An away third round draw against Man City has me cursing at the laptop.
I make the Carabao Cup final, my first leg 8-1 demolition of Chelsea proving more than enough to see me over the line. And yes, Sarri still has a job.
We also battle to a draw away to City in the FA Cup. This doesn't help things but we manage to win the replay in extra-time, Lacazette providing two goals to finally break the deadlock.
My reward is a home draw against West Ham in the fourth round - one I decide to give my youngsters a run in, my regular team are on their knees following a brutal January fixture list.
It backfires spectacularly and only a last minute Bailey equaliser keeps us in the competition, and hands us ANOTHER fooking replay.
The replay sees us play much better, but good old Flappy Handski has a stormer and despite us peppering them with shots, he keeps us out.
Extra time looms and again Flappy denies Auba on three occasions. At this point I'm ready to scream, and we go to penalties.
It starts well with Butland saving their first one from a former Arsenal golden boy, Wilshere.
I mock his virtual figure as Auba steps up and nails the first one, to put us ahead.
Unfortunately my mocking spurred on Flappy and he promptly saves penalties first from Micky Ryan to level proceedings and then, with scores level in sudden death young Ben Sheaf cracks the bar and my unbeaten run in the FA Cup is over.
I'm despondent after the game, but also slightly relieved tbh. A deep FA Cup run would have my players under enormous pressure, particularly if I'm going to go for back to back European trophies.
The league is still going well, although Southampton for the second straight season hand me my first loss away from home. I'm getting a complex about Hassenhuttl, a thorn in my side for an unbeaten season.
The CL draw had handed me Inter in the last 16, and I have to say apart from the 5 (yes, 5) English teams in the draw, the CL is incredibly open this year.
Barca failed to make the CL this year and are in Europa League hell - thanks for Umtiti lads btw.
Juve crashed out in the group stages as Ron Ron is starting to show his age, only the four goals in six group games. They join Barca in what is shaping up to be an epic Europa League knock out this year.
Also joining them are Atletico Madrid, knocked out by a resurgent Monaco and Chelsea.
And finally in my own group I managed 14 out of 16 points, finally putting the FC Bayern hex on Arsenal to bed with a 3-1 away win and 5-2 home win.
OM compound their difficulties in Europe and at home and also beat them home and away (RB Leipzig are top at this stage by 10 points in the Bundesliga :eek:)
Anyways, a pressure cooker first game with Inter provides a 1-1 draw, and a nice handy away goal to take back to the Emirates.
As it turns out, I don't need it as they fold like a sopping wet pack of cards and I absolutely batter them 7-2.
Hoping for a kinder draw in the quarters, I curse the laptop again as United are handed Monaco and I get... Real Madrid - with new manager Arsene Wenger. Oh, it's on Mr. Arsenal.
The first leg annoys me as we hit the post on three occasions before Ndidi - who is not enjoying the same success as he did in season 1 - scores his first of the season to give us that away goal again. Unfortunately we can't hold out for a famous win and Asensio hits twice, once deep into stoppage time to confine us to our first loss in the CL this year.
I'm not too despondent though, I have that away goal and I think we can take them in fortress Emirates.
And we do just that - Auba runs riot with a 4 goal bonanza as we beat them 5-2 at home to qualify for the semi finals. Huzzah!!
Watching the semi-final draw between my fingers I see that name flash up across from our own... Man Utd. The current CL holders and my nemesis since the beginning of this season. Oh well.
Firstly though I have a league to win and my form has annoyingly started to tail off there as West Ham again decide to rain on my parade and beat us convincingly away. It's my first really bad loss, and I don't take it too well.
Then Spurs in the most Spursiest of manners beat us 3-2 with a Harold Kane hat-trick. This will not stand. I call my players in for a meeting and lay it all out on the line.
They respond well-ish. A 1-0 win at Old Trafford in the league has us back on our way, but Liverpool have narrowed the gap to 4 points, with a game in hand. Oh bugger.
Auba has only hit 4 league goals since January, and his epic performance against Real aside has been showing signs of slowing down. I'll probably need to address that in the summer unfortunately.
Lacazette was starting to fire on all cylinders, but then picked up a groin injury which has him out for 4 weeks. Well dammit.
Going into a huge game against Chelsea I have a knackered Auba in poor form, an injured Laca and Eddie Nketiah...
And then disaster strikes. First, Auba picks up a training injury and he'll be out for two weeks. Step forward Eddie... OH FFS!!! He trips getting out of bed and is out for a month.
Now I'm in trouble, I have no first team strikers for my crunch game. I go hunting in my reserves and look at my options. They are not great tbh.
The best of a mediocre bunch is a young 18 year old American - Folarin Balogun - never heard of him - but son, this is your big chance!
He goes straight into the side against Chelsea.
And like all good debuts, he has a stormer. 2 goals, 2 assists - and we keep my record of battering Chelsea twice a season intact. We run out 5-2 winners at the Bridge and Balogun is already an Arsenal legend.
Anyways, the league gets wrapped up with three games to go as Liverpool slip up to already relegated Watford. This along with a loss to United puts me 9 points clear with a +12 cushion on GD. I also have to play them last day of the season, but it shouldn't matter unless my keeper does a Karius repeatedly.
Back to CL though - and it's time for the greatest rivalry in English history (or not) to be renewed.
And they have home advantage first. Again I grab a handy away goal, but that big beast Lukaku blasts two past Leno to give them the advantage.
Not to worry, fortress Emirates will sort them out.
But not this time. We almost start amazingly with Chiesa smashing the woodwork in the first minute, but De Gea proves he's the best in the world and United thwart my early bombardment on their goal.
Then from a counter attack Martial leaves poor old captain Sakho on his arse and blasts home past a helpless Leno who can only watch onwards.
I'm in trouble now, two goals down and away goal cushion is gone. Pushing forward again, De Gea thwarts us time after time as I wonder is he actually some sort of wizard in the form of Gandalf.
1-0 at half time and I give the lads the hairdryer treatment. It seems to work, and we start the more dominant, but De Gea now has a staff in his hands and is just mocking me.
And finally, as I could almost foresee happening - United get a second. Our mucking about in defence sees Leno directly pass the ball to Martial who deftly smashes it home past him. That's us out, and myself sitting in the type of smouldering silence that can be expected in these circumstances.
The lads give up the ghost now, they know the jig is up, and United dance through my normally decent backline and hand a tap in on a plate to Jesse Lingard of all people.
Even the consolation of a rarely seen Ben Sheaf goal in added time doesn't put gloss on this scoreline. We've been outclassed and outplayed, our profligacy coming back to haunt us as is so common in FM.
So the league is wrapped up as I said and there'll be no CL for us this year.
There's really nothing left to play for....
Although earlier in the season, I did happen to apply for and be offered a certain international post...
Ireland.
This post is long enough though. More on that in a little bit. 0 -
Join Date:Posts: 49740
And so the travails of my FM journey hit a nice diversion around January. I notice that Ireland have sacked their manager - Sean O Driscoll, whoever the flip he is - and are looking for a new leader to drive them into the European Championships.
I dust down my CV and fax it to them, alongside a selfie of myself and the trophies I won in my maiden year with Arsenal.
A day later I'm offered the job, which I accept.
Although I probably should have researched the upcoming fixtures - we've qualified for a playoff semi-final away to Ukraine.... Gulp. Talk about a baptism of fire.
I look through my squad and while my midfield is relatively decent, the options at centre back, and up top are limited. True to real life then.
Firstly, I look at my best players and decide to try to build a tactic around a strong midfield with pace on both wings.
I go for a flat back 4, comprised of Coleman/Doherty at RB, Duffy and either Kevin Long or Ciaran Clarke (I know ) in the centre and Enda Stevens at LB.
My midfield will be a triumvirate of work horses, all with the BBM role. Arter, Hendrick and Hourihane are my best three, with Alan Browne and a little known Josh Cullen as back ups.
On the left I have Robbie Brady as a winger providing support and for set pieces alongside Hourihane. On the right I notice that Michael Obafemi is scoring for fun for QPR in the Championship from that position.
Daryl Horgan and Michael Duffy from Dundalk provide my back ups on the flanks.
Up top then I have one striker who is performing out of his skin for Middlesboro in the Championship. Adam Idah is top scorer and looks like he could be excellent in the coming years.
Other than that, it's not great tbh. Shane Long isn't even playing for Colorado Rapids, so he's out.
I turn to a guy I've kept an eye on for a while though. Young Troy Parrot from Spurs. He's broken into their first team as back up to Harold, and has a couple of goals recently in the cups.
With all that set I add a few youngsters to my squad, get blasted by the media who tell me I'll win nothing with kids, and off we jet to Kiev for the showdown.
Two days prior to the game, Idah comes down with a tight hamstring, he's out for 3 days which makes him a doubt for the match. FFS.
So I put the weight of qualification around the neck of young Parrot. Incidentally Hourihane is carrying a slight knock too so Browne will come in to replace him as well.
We kick off and it's a cauldron for the young guns, but they put it up to Ukraine immediately.
Arter threatens from distance and Duffy is imperious in defence.
My counter attack settings prove fruitful when Obafemi scampers down the right and drills in a low cross. One of the defenders clears it, but the ball falls to Parrot just outside the area - he hits it...
PARROT SCORES!! A GOAL ON HIS DEBUT!!
The team is pumped from this and begin to slowly dominate the game, this time it's Brady with a cross from the left -
PARROT WITH THE HEADER - OH MY WORD IT'S 2-0!!
Ireland in dreamland as Ukraine look shell shocked.
We threaten again with a low Hendrick drive barely being kept out (and that annoying goal line technology replay mocking me about something I already knew).
But Ukraine start to get control back again, and indeed on the stroke of half time pull one back. Oh bollocks.
I bring the lads in at half time and warn them about getting complacent, ad they respond excellently... in the dressing room at least.
We go back out and attempt to settle into the second half, defending like....
OH FFS BRADY!
In the first minute he trips one of their forwards and a penalty is awarded. The 2-0 lead is evaporating before my eyes as the striker (whose name escapes me) steps up to level the match...
RANDOLPH SAVES!!
I leap from my seat at the table and scare the dog as suddenly we come alive and start fighting back against the Ukrainian dominance following this.
Parrot almost gets his hattrick but it's tipped over the bar.
And then, as the Ukrainian defence scramble to clear the corner they boot it into the path of Alan Browne...
WHO BURIES IT IN THE TOP CORNER!! 3-1 IRELAND!!
The rest of the game is played out relatively fine, I make my subs to shore up the game and start time wasting like a maniac. Ukraine grow frustrated and have a man sent off for a second yellow.
Brady is hacked down and has to limp off injured, the only upsetting point of the rest of the match...
Until my perhaps premature use of time wasting backfires and they get one back in the 89th minute.
Four minutes of injury time and we hang on by our finger nails, but we get there for a famous win. We are one game away from the Euros, and more importantly we have a home draw for the final.
The draw gives us Bosnia-Herzegovina, and suddenly I feel confident of taking down another Eastern Bloc team.
That'll teach ye for not giving us points in the Eurovision.
Brady is injured and Daryl Horgan also needs replacing, so I draft in Jon Walters for the final.
I play almost an identical team with the only exception being Hourihane in for the exhausted Harry Arter.
And off we go, Hourihane immediately provides us a spark and a screamer from distance puts us ahead after 15 minutes.
And... unfortunately that's it. Neither side had a single shot on target after that in the entire game:o
Typical Ireland I guess, but the end result is we qualify for the European Championships!
At 47th in the world, we are rank outsiders.
And the draw for the group stages is NOT kind.
4th seeds and we end up in a group with Spain, Wales and Poland. FFS.
A bonus is we play all games at home I guess?
My squad for the Euros doesn't change much, I add in James Mc Carthy to provide some steel in my midfield for my upcoming battle against the Spanish, Welsh and Polish.
The first game is against Spain and we go in 1-0 down at half time, Asensio scoring a deflected shot from the edge of the area.
I rally the troops and they come back out swinging. Indeed, we should have a share of the points when Parrot buries a goal past that wizard De Gea - but he's cast a spell on VAR who rule Parrot offside even though he's clearly in line on the replay, not even a toe offside.
That consigns us to defeat, my first as Ireland manager following successful friendlies prior with two wins over Australia and Canada and a draw against Colombia.
Wales beat Poland and now we have a six pointer with them in our next group game.
To make the pressure even worse Wales scrape a draw out of the Spaniards and so the loser of our game will be eliminated as a result. Yikes.
I change up my strikers and unleash Idah on the Polish, hoping for the best.
Browne and Hourihane start in the centre with Mc Carthy dropping to DM to shield the back line against the dangerous Lewandowski.
Game starts and Poland are all over us, looking dangerous from set pieces in particular. And it proves correct, Lewandowski buries a header past Randolph and now we're on the verge of elimination.
However we start to get a foothold, and Idah hits the post before being denied by my other 'favorite' keeper in Szczesny.
But he's no Gandalf the De Gea - Hourihane hits another screamer from forty yards and we are level!!
But not ten mins later the usually imperious Duffy is beaten in the air from a corner by - yep, him again - Lewandowski. 2-1 at half time.
My full backs are not playing well and unfortunately Callum Robinson has pulled up with a bit of an injury and can't continue, so Obafemi is thrown on for him and I try to rally the troops.
It works and Idah again hits the post, but he can't hit the target. Getting desperate I toss on Parrot, hoping for a miracle but before he can be introduced Poland break Irish hearts threw Lewandowski and I'm 3-1 down.
Brady is playing awful on the left so I give Michael Duffy a run out now as well, and take off Mc Carthy for Arter as we surge forward to try and get back into the game.
But... disaster of all disasters. Parrot goes down injured and I've used all my subs.
We're down to 10 men, and Obafemi has to move up front leaving my right wing looking like a gaping chasm.
That Poland then exploit, and it's suddenly 4-1, and we are out
Browne compounds a miserable day in Irish history by getting sent off for a second yellow to reduce us to 9 men.
The game has barely finished when the protestors line up outside the Aviva, calling for my head.
I'm disappointed as I betrayed my own tactic and doubted myself, and Mc Carthy in particular let me down. Between that and the 'offside' goal by Parrot, I've likely lost my job.
I try and rally the troops to go out swinging against Wales, but the experienced squad members have already turned on me. I hate team meetings where I only get one option to say that I know will have half the players upset. It's a stupid feature of FM imo, that and the mundane press conferences.
Anyways I decide to play the reserves against Wales, at least to give them a taste of the Euros before we depart. I revert back to my 3 BBMs to counter the talents of Ramsey and Bale.
Amazingly, the reserves prove better than the first teamers, and we absolutely hammer Wales. Bale is taken off before half time, in an incident I claim not to have seen post game - something about Matt Doherty and a lunge? I never saw it anyways.
Idah, Obafemi and young Michael Duffy who earned himself a move to Aberdeen from his exploits are the scorers as we run out 5-0 winners to go home on a good note at least.
But it's too little too late, and the board are clearly unhappy. The day following the Euro final, I join other managers from France, Italy, Germany, and Belgium on the international scrapheap.
I'm disappointed as we weren't expected to do well at the Euros, particularly given our group, and there were certain factors I felt that should have let me rebuild.
But onwards and upwards. I'm not done with this save yet.
A couple of days later an email arrives in my inbox with a job offer from one of the giants of the international scene....
Move aside Joxer, Necro's off to France
TBC.....0 -
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Finally got into a save this year as 1860 Munich but it hasn't lasted long
I disabled the first transfer window which proved to be a mistake because 1860 had zero CMs or strikers that suit my usual tactics. I tried to adapt to a more defensive play-style but with only 1 goal in our first 7 or 8 games (a penalty scored by my CB) it clearly wasn't working well. All 3 strikers are best suited as Target Men which I have never found success with, my full backs were useless in attack so my wingers were always isolated and the only decent CMs I had were ball winning midfielders. Even my Attacking Midfielder wasn't great, I vastly underestimated the quality of the league when I was looking at their attributes.
A tactic change got me some results in November & December & we shot up to midtable. I thought I was safe as I could get in a couple midfielders and a striker - I was wrong. The striker, a loan signing from Bayern, didn't score a single goal. The first midfield signing was atrocious in training (I'd never seen a 4.55 weekly training rating before) and the second was decent but needed more time to adapt.
We went from unbeaten in 8 to no wins in 6 very quickly and for 5 matches the media said I was about to be sacked. A talk with the board bought me a month but unfortunately 1 win, 2 draws & a defeat wasn't enough to save my job. That final run annoyed me because 3 of the teams I played were in the top 5 & the result that sealed it was a draw against 2nd place. For the loss my old Target Man striker scored a cracker, then got a straight red before half time & I lost 3-2. I knew it was over when that happened :pac: Worth noting that once I got those results in November we never fell back into the relegation zone (bottom 4). I was sacked at the end of March and I'll not lie, I hope they go down now :P
Anyway I've no idea what to do next. I could continue this save & see what comes up but I've already missed out on the Crewe job who are 22nd in League Two so I'm not sure what positions I can even get now. I usually play as Man United, Dundalk or a lower-league English side. Munich was my 1st proper foray into different leagues & I'd be tempted to do some more if anyone has any recommendations?0 -
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A Brad Maddox Guy wrote: »Finally got into a save this year as 1860 Munich but it hasn't lasted long I disabled the first transfer window which proved to be a mistake because 1860 had zero CMs or strikers that suit my usual tactics. I tried to adapt to a more defensive play-style but with only 1 goal in our first 7 or 8 games (a penalty scored by my CB) it clearly wasn't working well. All 3 strikers are best suited as Target Men which I have never found success with, my full backs were useless in attack so my wingers were always isolated and the only decent CMs I had were ball winning midfielders. Even my Attacking Midfielder wasn't great, I vastly underestimated the quality of the league when I was looking at their attributes.
A tactic change got me some results in November & December & we shot up to midtable. I thought I was safe as I could get in a couple midfielders and a striker - I was wrong. The striker, a loan signing from Bayern, didn't score a single goal. The first midfield signing was atrocious in training (I'd never seen a 4.55 weekly training rating before) and the second was decent but needed more time to adapt.
We went from unbeaten in 8 to no wins in 6 very quickly and for 5 matches the media said I was about to be sacked. A talk with the board bought me a month but unfortunately 1 win, 2 draws & a defeat wasn't enough to save my job. That final run annoyed me because 3 of the teams I played were in the top 5 & the result that sealed it was a draw against 2nd place. For the loss my old Target Man striker scored a cracker, then got a straight red before half time & I lost 3-2. I knew it was over when that happened :pac: Worth noting that once I got those results in November we never fell back into the relegation zone (bottom 4). I was sacked at the end of March and I'll not lie, I hope they go down now :P
Anyway I've no idea what to do next. I could continue this save & see what comes up but I've already missed out on the Crewe job who are 22nd in League Two so I'm not sure what positions I can even get now. I usually play as Man United, Dundalk or a lower-league English side. Munich was my 1st proper foray into different leagues & I'd be tempted to do some more if anyone has any recommendations?
Carry on trying to keep your season going
If you get sacked someone will pick you up eventually0 -
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Deebles McBeebles wrote: »The old previous save routine, eh! Have to admit I've done that in the past in cases of getting sacked after putting in so much "work".
Nah, add new manager & retire
I just wanted to see where I'd finish with the bottom half being so close the whole year. I'm still convinced I would've gotten that result if they hadn't sacked me because I had good morale & team support right til the end. My keeper even set a clean sheet record with 17/38. We must've been awful to watch :pac:
Now to figure out who to start over with0
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