Career MM96 & Samhardy Present: Sell Them Slowly

[MerlionMaple96]

1 hour ago, Ashez said:

Oooh, going with English squads makes this challenge so much harder! From experience having a second team and extra bodies is a life saver in this challenge. 

Cracking start Sam! MM has some lead to chase already! 

As for the vote I've gone for Cech. Having to replace him on the cheap will hinder you a lot more than trying to replace Sanchez IMO. Having a shit keeper will impact the entire defence while one iffy striker won't make too much of a difference this early. 

Yeah but we can make him keep Cech till he's old and gray and his stats will deteriorate till hopefully he's crap.

 

[Ashez]

15 minutes ago, MerlionMaple96 said:

Yeah but we can make him keep Cech till he's old and gray and his stats will deteriorate till hopefully he's crap.

 

Sam could gain an advantage though if Cech is left to retire as it'll mean he can potentially control one elimination. Plus come on its Cech, he'll never be that bad haha. Having to replace Cech and use a shit keeper pre free agents for the entire save would be pretty brutal. If Sanchez goes he has offer big names to rely on for a least a few seasons. 

[PriZe]

7 hours ago, Ashez said:

Sam could gain an advantage though if Cech is left to retire as it'll mean he can potentially control one elimination. Plus come on its Cech, he'll never be that bad haha. Having to replace Cech and use a shit keeper pre free agents for the entire save would be pretty brutal. If Sanchez goes he has offer big names to rely on for a least a few seasons. 

Sanchez is 30 goals, plus there are a lot of good GK's for cheap. 

Giroud is just crap and welbeck is injury prome. Go sanchez 

[samhardy]

Poll closed! Alexis Sanchez will be the first player sold

[salohcin]

27 minutes ago, samhardy said:

Poll closed! Alexis Sanchez will be the first player sold

Damn tough luck HAHAHAHA

[samhardy]

18 minutes ago, salohcin said:

Damn tough luck HAHAHAHA

Not an issue honestly

[salohcin]

12 minutes ago, samhardy said:

Not an issue honestly

Well will be looking forward to see who your replacement will be... messi? Neymar? Ronaldo? Oh wait i dont think arsenal can attract them just yet HAHAHAHA

[samhardy]

5 minutes ago, salohcin said:

Well will be looking forward to see who your replacement will be... messi? Neymar? Ronaldo? Oh wait i dont think arsenal can attract them just yet HAHAHAHA

Spoiled the update already Picked up CR7 for £6M.

[Taff]

So is there a price limit on the players you can buy to replace your outgoing players?

[salohcin]

1 hour ago, samhardy said:

Spoiled the update already Picked up CR7 for £6M.

Aww man wadddddd!!! Sighh old Perez went crazy again i guess

[AzmiG26]

52 minutes ago, Taff said:

So is there a price limit on the players you can buy to replace your outgoing players?

10% of the voted player's transfer fees

[Taff]

1 hour ago, AzmiG26 said:

10% of the voted player's transfer fees

OK cheers dude

[MerlionMaple96]

MM96 and Samhardy Present

A H2H Battle

Season 0.5

Hi guys, I'm back with my first update of this H2H. In the last update we saw Sam take the challenge by storm in his first half season with Arsenal. In this update I will be revealing my chosen team, chosen starting XI and of course, our performance in the first half of the season.

My Team

With Sam having chosen Arsenal it may come as no surprise to you that I decided to go with their arch rivals Tottenham. This current Tottenham side are young, talented and tenacious, all of which are traits which I admire in a team. Armed with these skills I was hoping that this was the right team to tear Sam apart in this challenge.

Starting XI

Unfortunately for Spurs in real life, they don't have much squad depth to speak of necessarily. This means that picking a starting XI was quite easy for me, with my only decisions coming in the full back positions. I knew that Trippier, Rose, Davies and Walker were all fantastic full backs and Walker-Peters would develop into a class player in that position as well. However, in the end I kind of just chickened out and went with the players that I thought looked best just before the start of the season, Rose and Walker. The rest of the team picked itself really:

The Season (So Far)

Premier League

Top of the table but hardly as emphatic as Sam

League Cup

So far so good here as we just about hang on with 10 men

Champions League

Our group, consisting of Besiktas, Basel and Bayern, seemed relatively straightforward. However, I underestimated how long it would take for my team to adjust to the new tactics and management that comes with a new manager. As such we got off to a very slow start:

With only one point from our first two games I knew we were in deep trouble. We needed to pick up something from our double header against Bayern. Preferably four or more points:

It just wasn't to be though and just 2 points from our first four games left in in dire straights. We needed to a win against the Turks next to have even the slimmest chance of qualification:

With that win under our belt we faced an incredibly odd group standing heading into the final game of the round. Bayern were home and dry in first with 13 points, Besiktas were second with 6 points, we were next on 5 points and Basel rounded out the standings with 4 points. However Besiktas were hosting Bayern in their final game while we had Basel away. I knew that even a draw in our final game would probably be enough as Bayern would likely come out victorious against Besiktas and our superior goal difference would send us through. And it all looked fine and dandy at half-time. We were tied with Basel and Besiktas were down 2-0. No problem right? WRONG. I honestly thought we were golden when Kane nodded home an 87th minute winner at Basel only to hear that Besiktas had somehow made the greatest comeback in their history to beat Bayern 3-2.

I was gutted. The team was gutted. The fans were gutted. Oh well, I guess it's the Europa League for us.

Individual Performances

Player Stats

Spoiler

Well that's all from me folks. An okay start to the season if we look past the Champions League exit. We only have ourselves to blame for that though. Anyways, do let me know what you think of the season so far. And who do you think should be the first to go. Will it be our top scorer Harry Kane? Or perhaps one of our dynamic wingmen Christian Eriksen or Son Heung-Min? Or will it be someone else entirely? I'll link the strawpoll below for your votes.

http://www.strawpoll.me/14114885

[salohcin]

Not too shabby a job! A real pity for the CL though, i really thought you were going through but the game works in a mysterious way sometimes. 

Voted for Vertonghen, actually think im being too nice LOL, but lets see how u gonna replace this strong defender

[MerlionMaple96]

56 minutes ago, salohcin said:

Not too shabby a job! A real pity for the CL though, i really thought you were going through but the game works in a mysterious way sometimes. 

Voted for Vertonghen, actually think im being too nice LOL, but lets see how u gonna replace this strong defender

Same here tbh. I thought it was hakuna mattata after I peeked to see that Bayern were up 2-0 at the half haha. But I guess I counted my chickens before they hatched

Haha, replacing one of the team's spine is always going to make a big impact.

[Taff]

Unlucky with the CL dude but I’m sure you can conquer the Euro League so not a total bust

tough to know who to vote for, but I think it has to be Kane, sorry but he’s the stand out player

[samhardy]

I voted Vertonghen as well. Don't vote for Kane this early!

[Ashez]

You deserve to lose for not selecting Wanyama. Bring it home Sam! 

As for the vote I wasn't sure but I've gone for Rose. My reasoning is he's a solid defender and a key part of MM's attack with those assists so hopefully it's an all round damaging loss. I also feel the number of decent left backs are low so having to buy a cheap and effective one this early could be tough. I was going to go for Dembele originally due to how well rounded he is and how his replacement could imbalance MM's midfield three but his performances are meh so he can stay haha. 

[MerlionMaple96]

8 hours ago, Taff said:

Unlucky with the CL dude but I’m sure you can conquer the Euro League so not a total bust

tough to know who to vote for, but I think it has to be Kane, sorry but he’s the stand out player

Yeah hopefully we can ship the Europa League and get some points for that.

Kane would make sense since we did vote out an attacking player for Sam

4 hours ago, samhardy said:

I voted Vertonghen as well. Don't vote for Kane this early!

Yes everyone vote for Vetonghen!

3 hours ago, Ashez said:

You deserve to lose for not selecting Wanyama. Bring it home Sam! 

As for the vote I wasn't sure but I've gone for Rose. My reasoning is he's a solid defender and a key part of MM's attack with those assists so hopefully it's an all round damaging loss. I also feel the number of decent left backs are low so having to buy a cheap and effective one this early could be tough. I was going to go for Dembele originally due to how well rounded he is and how his replacement could imbalance MM's midfield three but his performances are meh so he can stay haha. 

But he doesn't fit in the system

Rose would be really damaging tbh. So would Dembele I think. How do you know where to hurt me like this Ash??

[samhardy]

Very tight poll! This will close tomorrow so make sure to get your votes in!

[PriZe]

Voted for Rose! Agree with @Ashez tough one to replace! Good luck MM

Spoiler

Sh*t i am team MM  what have i done

 

[Ashez]

Voting for the Premier League's top CB and ST is too easy! FMM is more than just names and the stats told me Rose was important . Rose would hinder you both attackingly and defensively. Sure losing Kane would be a blow but we've all had those unlikely star strikers. 

Dembele was in my mind before reading purely because of how balanced he is and I thought he'd be hard to replace with an equally balanced player. Go too defensive and pressure builds on Alli while going too attacking makes your unit less solid. 

The trick to this challenge isn't about taking away key names or performers but more about dismantling the core of the tactic. Rose for example offers your main width and crossing ability to Kane, and replacing him will be tough. Too attacking and your defensive unit suffers, too defensive and your attack takes the hit. 

[jakebanno]

Sam has already lost, it's just a fact! 

[mcandrew003]

Gone alli as his link up play seems vital in that midfield. 

[MerlionMaple96]

Alright poll is now closed! Looks like Mr Harry Kane will be leaving the club.

[Taff]

So two attacking players, but I think you can both thank @Ashez as we will all be looking a lot more carefully at the squad in the future to see where we can really hurt you

[MerlionMaple96]

I'm sure losing Harry Kane is always going to hurt but probably not as much as losing certain other players Ashez may have mentioned.

[Taff]

1 minute ago, MerlionMaple96 said:

I'm sure losing Harry Kane is always going to hurt but probably not as much as losing certain other players Ashez may have mentioned.

And I personally was way to hasty in choosing Kane, Ash has always had a better eye for detail and I think everyone will be looking at the providers more than the scorers in future 

[samhardy]

You're about to feast your eyes upon the end of the season 1 update but before we get underway there's a few things I must get off my chest!

Firstly, why the majority of viewers voted for Kane is beyond me... Extremely naive shortsighted voting and if you did it to help MM then that is pathetic! Then I realised you voted Sanchez and I realised it was more clueless voting than biased

@MerlionMaple96 why am I wasting my time taking on this joker? CL 3rd place? Knocked out by Besiktas? This will be over soon...

@Ashez joins team Sam, congratulations mate it means you'll finally be on the winning side for once.

@jakebanno you are a complete melt and your latest yearly absence hasn't done anything to improve your FMM knowledge. I don't do losing I'm afraid

But here we go... Second half of season 1 - Sanchez goes

Initial offer was £50M but that wasn't enough for my transfer target so I negotiated up to a better figure... So off Alexis went to City... Like he wishes he did in real life!

The phantom replacement - and the eventual replacement

We agreed a deal and terms with Centurion to be the replacement and at that stage I was happy enough with him as a replacement as I've used him to great success earlier in the year...

Bang!

So with that deal off, who was the eventual replacement?

Spoiler

Not a great start but he'll be more important in the coming seasons...

 £6.5M gets us one of the best wingers in the game in just a couple of years time! Quality stuff and thanks for voting Sanchez out first 

Results

Simple stuff really... Not many goals scored which I slightly worrying but still a walk in the park. An easy trophy and points in the bag!

No excuses here. Poor performance on the day which resulted in a disapoointing defeat and in the end ruined what would have been a perfect season.

Yep, that's right...

A double whammy that strikes through the heart of MM like a dagger! We secure maximum points with the CL win and due to my opponents early dip into the Europa League we are in the boxseat already.

The Squad - Information for voting

Spoiler

Goals

Assists

Av.R

And that brings us to the end of the first season. Can't complain too much. Who do you want to see go next? Don't forget to vote on the poll below?

http://www.strawpoll.me/14127315

Current scoreboard

Sam - 482

MM96 - 71

[jakebanno]

Very rude but I'll be honest now.

 

It's all but over, even though one of Giroud or Ozil will go either can be replaced, Lozano is still young but you should be good next season with him. 

 

I did a real reply, happy?