Career Head to Head - The Alan Shearer Challenge (Season 7)

[Rich]

So me and @Aaron Thornton got talking and we seen how much fun some of you had doing a head to head challenge, so we both thought let’s give one a go. 

We had a look through and this one stuck out to both of us @Jsavfc, me being a Newcastle fan especially it stuck out to me. We decided to go Newcastle United for the challenge for realism and nostalgia. So it gives me a bit of a home field advantage hopefully 😉

I’ll be starting my challenge later, so will update as soon as season 1 finishes. One thing me and @Aaron Thornton have in common is we seem to fly through seasons 🤣

So here’s the challenge:

Be interesting to see who we both go for! 

See you soon!

Edited October 18, 2020 by RichD

[JamesVilla]

Best of luck chaps, always good to see your own challenges being played out!

[Scratch]

Ooh, this will be good! Looking forward to it!

[Woody]

good luck boys....big shoes to fill!

[George Traistă]

Alright boys, place your bets!! 

[Rich]

Season 1

The Player

Well firstly as you can see i ploughed through season 1 so fast, took me 3 hours. The first thing I did was sell half of the squad because I wanted to see how much money I could raise and maybe go for a better player, but in the end two players stuck out for me the a young Ryan Edmonson from Leeds and Rhian Brewster from Liverpool, I actually decided to sell all other strikers and sign both. But Rhian Brewster would be my Alan Shearer for this challenge.

Transfers 

Spoiler

So a massive overhaul to the team, I was very happy with the people I brought in, I thought I had already built a decent squad for what I wanted to do. 
 

Tactic

Well I’m not going to post what I’ve got yet as I changed so much this season, I was trying to do something similar to the one I had with juventus, but turns out you need your striker to be a great already for that to work, so as Brewster improves I will have to try and make something work, which was a tough one all season.

Team Results

 

So as you can see a massive lack of goals all season for the boys, I struggled to find something that worked to be honest with the players and especially something to work for Brewster. We however brought the Carabao Cup home for the fans, so I already go down as a legend and a statue outside the ground for me!

Fixtures 

Spoiler

So we had a couple of food runs and then a couple of not so good runs, will be hoping to nail down a tactic next season, as that’s what I’m struggling with at the moment.

Manager Profile

Spoiler

Rhian Brewster 

 

Ok firstly, what annoyed me about this season was that he never actually improved, he got worse, which has never happened to me when using him before. But I have to be patient and take the 18 league goals for now. Hoping I can nail down a way of playing and get him scoring more goals.

Season 1 Goals - 18

Goals Left To Get - 243

Thanks for reading guys, I know @Aaron Thornton has started, looking forward to reading who he goes for and how he does!

[Aaron Thornton]

Good start mate and we didn't go for the same player thankfully 😊

[Aaron Thornton]

Season 1:

The Player:

Going into this challenge I already had my mind set on who I was going to use, he should be familiar to everyone out there for his real life exploits recently, but for me on FMM I havent used him before and I look forward to taking him on this journey to hopefully match the great Alan Shearer. The player is:

Dominic Calvert Lewin, everyone thought Dominic handing this kid his top was just a nice gesture, but little did they know he was giving away his last Everton shirt to go don the black and white stripes of Newcastle United. Their loss, our gain. 

Europe's top goalscorer right now, with the arrival of James Rodriguez to Goodison Park, this man has flourished so far, but for our challenge we aren't going to have players of that calibre to begin with, so here's hoping DCL can lead the line from day one and score plenty. 

Competitions:

Spoiler

• A good first season finishing in 4th place (Everton made a title charge without their star man, losing out on the title on the last day because City thrashed Palace 6-0, taking the league on GD, ouch for the Evertonians) 
• We were Sean Dyched by Burnley, creating a lot more chances but not taking them, eventually losing on pens
• A tough day at the King Power, losing 2-1 to Leicester in the FA Cup

Transfers:

In:

Out:

Lopez comes in as backup to Shelvey with the hope he'd eventually take over the reigns in years to come, DCL of course to tackle this head to head, Dilrosun and Danjuma come in to strengthen the wings, we bought Chabot and McKenna as left footed CB's to fix my OCD. Wijndal and Hateboer sure up the Wing-back roles, Matheson bought as a future prospect if all goes well and lastly we buyout Bentaleb and Willems loans as they are effective players for very little dough! As far as the outgoings are concerned, we didn't have a future for them in this career and Marcelo Bielsa seems to love Toon Rejects as five of our players went to Elland Road. 

DCL:

Injuries:

Two injuries this year, 10 days in October and the more disruptive two months in April which wiped him out of the last 6 games of the PL season. 

Attributes:

Start of Season:

Some nice attributes to start with and at 22 yrs old he is just about eligible for this challenge. 

End of Season:

I had much more fortune with growth than Dave did in Season 1 as, his Aerial and Strength get +1, Shooting +2 and Movement +3, despite the injuries he developed nicely, with that being said how did we do in his first year at St James Park:

Spoiler

21 goals in 30 games, a decent total with injuries causing him to miss out on 8 games this year, I think we can be happy with how he performed

Just one hat trick and it had to be against his former club, the blue side of Merseyside may quickly start to hate him. 

Awards:

Spoiler

Carlo and his exciting Everton squad earned him the MOTY, with me a close second. Everton again take the PYP award with a one-two finish, Dominic squeezing into 3rd place, watching Everton challenge for the title was the most enjoyable part of this season 😂 but we played a huge part in them not winning it, DCL scoring a hatful against them at Home and we beat them 4-1 at Goodison earlier in the season, sorry Carlo. 

 

All in all a decent first year for Dominic and a great deal of optimism for next year, like Dave, I'm still tampering and tweaking to find a tactic I'm happy with, but we'll get there eventually, thanks for reading and good luck with Season 2 Dave. 

 

Games: 30

Goals: 21

Goals needed: 240.

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by Aaron Thornton

[Rich]

Good going mate, great season, it’s funny i actually made an enquiry for him myself but decided with Brewster! Well done on getting 4th and a good total for him in his first season! You’ll only go from strength to strength here. I’ve finished season 2 already, will update tonight. Good luck with the next season 😁

[Aaron Thornton]

Come on catch up 😂 I'm at the start of Season 4, I NEED A JOB ASAP 😂😂, once you upload yours, I'll upload Myne, keep the same structure. 

[Rich]

Season 2

Transfers 

Spoiler

So I am over the moon with the group of players I’ve managed to get already and the players here are improving a lot except for the one player who matters and that is Brewster, he was still stuck in being plateaued, he only came out of it right at the end of the season season! 
 

Team Results

Huge season from the boys, we smashed it, over the moon With how we played, especially with Brewster not having great stats yet, defensively Lascelles and McKenna were outstanding, I always have bought these two whenever I go for two centre backs as they turn world class within a season! 

Manager Profile  

Spoiler

Been offered a couple of jobs already, but they will never get me!

Rhian Brewster

 

So he had the same stats as the season before up until 5/6 games to go, so delighted with how he performed, hope I can keep him fit, if he does then hopefully more of this please Rhian!

Premier League Goals Season 1 - 18

Premier League Goals Season 2 - 31

Total Premier League Goals - 49

Goals left to get- 212

Thanks for reading 😁

[Aaron Thornton]

Great season there, considering he has barely developed yet, I'm worried about how he's going to do when he does start to develop. Pressure's on early. 

 

[Aaron Thornton]

Season 2:

After a decent first year from Dominic we looked to this season hoping to improve, here's how we got on:

 

Competitions:

Spoiler

• 6th place finish this year, 4 points and 2 places worse off than last season
• A Mauro Icardi inspired Inter Milan tore us apart in Italy, 3-1 (4-2 on aggregate) in the CL semi final, we had dreams of a CL final, but it wasn't to be
• First piece of silverware as we win the FA Cup 2-0 vs Leeds United, the main man scoring two in extra time
• Liverpool were a step too far for our B team in the EFL Cup, losing 2-0 Home and Away

Transfers:

In:

Out:

Karuis replaces Dubravka, Correa comes in to fill Shelveys shoes, Lamptey and Bola are two promising wingbacks, none of which I've used before, Joshua King and Adam Idah come in as 2 and 3 to Calvert-Lewin and lastly Moha Ramos and Noah Okafor come in for free as future prospects. 

 

DCL:

A 3 month injury to kickoff the new season, lovely! 

Spoiler

32 goals in 30 games, much improved year this time around as he averages over 1 GpG, played the same amount of matches scoring 11 more goals, very nicely done Dominic! 

Amazingly he didn't finish as our top scorer, instead Joshua King took that home and I've decided he has earned himself the name 'The King Of The Cups' I think he would like it. 

 

Much better season from Calvert-Lewin in stark contrast to the teams performance, we did pickup out first bit of silverware which I was happy about and I think the trophies aren't too far off with the squad I'm building. The tactic is still a work in progress, but I'm slowly getting there with it and we just have to push on, a few more big money signings should hopefully unlock the key to success for us and Dominic. 

 

Thanks for reading, over to you Dave for Season 3, the scores are extremely tight, so just one stellar season from either of us will put that person in a great position. 

 

Games: 60

Goals: 53

Goals Needed: 208

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by Aaron Thornton

[Rich]

Great season for him mate, shame he got injured or you could have hit at least 40 I think! We are neck and neck after 2 seasons, 4 goals in it! 

[Aaron Thornton]

Just now, RichDave32 said:

Great season for him mate, shame he got injured or you could have hit at least 40 I think! We are neck and neck after 2 seasons, 4 goals in it! 

I know it's very close! Unfortunately Dominic is useless at penalties, scores 1 in 4 roughly, which can be stressful, considering Shearer was immense at them 

[Rich]

3 minutes ago, Aaron Thornton said:

I know it's very close! Unfortunately Dominic is useless at penalties, scores 1 in 4 roughly, which can be stressful, considering Shearer was immense at them 

Same happening with me! The pressures of being the main striker getting to them in them spots! 

[smoggy90]

Great challenge guys, solid starts and very close so far!

[Aaron Thornton]

Cheers Smog

[Rich]

Well as me and @Aaron Thorntonfly through seasons, this could be a fast challenge 🤣

Season 3

Transfers

Spoiler

So some huge signings, I really didn’t want to sell Tonali, but he was unhappy and wouldn’t sign a new deal, Zakaria would fill his role and somehow managed to bring Bruno Fernandes in to replace Rodrigo De Paul, winning the prem last season, meant players were not attracted by us!

Team Results

 

I nailed on a tactic last season and it doesn’t concede many at all, which took us a long way this season, very proud of the boys, we have for a very good team already in season 3, the weakest spot is actually Brewster. Couldn’t believe I got second in world coach of the year not far in to the 3rd season, I’ll take that!

Manager Profile 

Spoiler

Literally complete opposite to my previous challenges, all about not conceding at the moment to try and get the goals to go through Brewster.

Rhian Brewster

 

Premier League Goals Season 1 - 18

Premier League Goals Season 2 - 31

Premier League Goals Season 3 -32

Total Premier League Goals - 81

Goals left to get- 180

So a good season from him again especially considering he doesn’t seem to improve, I know he’s been very hit and miss in some careers I’ve had and seems like he’s on the kiss one with his stats this time around. But he’s still getting a good amount as we are now on 180.

Thanks for reading 😁

[Aaron Thornton]

Great season there @RichDave32, love the new profile pic too 😍😂 your doing much better than me on the trophy front, I can't win for love nor glory

Season 3:

With Dominic and the team improving as a whole, we hoped this year would see a big increase on last year and like Dave I finally settled on a tactic, here how we done:

Competitions:

Spoiler

• 3rd place finish this year
• Lost 1-0 to Man City in the Community Shield 
• We capitulated vs Dortmund in the Europa League, conceding two late-on and losing on away goals
• Lost 2-0 vs Leicester City in the early stages of the EFL Cup 
• Lost 2-1 to Wolves in the FA Cup Quarter Final

A trophyless season is a tough pill to swallow, but we aren't here for trophies although they would be nice. 

Transfers:

In:

Out:

Sander Berge comes in as an upgrade and replacement for Hayden, Saka signed to replace Almiron after too many injuries and poor performances I was delighted to take £40 million for him

DCL:

One injury this year, one month out in the middle of October. 

He's developing nicely, but I can't see too much growth from now on, still he's looking stellar already, England don't seem to want him though which I find strange. 

Spoiler

43 goals in 30 games! Great season from Dominic, 18 goals ahead of Salah in second, 3 years in a row now he has played 30 Premier League games, missing 8 through injury, but I can't complain with those totals, he performed brilliantly, now if we could just win some trophies 😩

This is the tactic I've sort of settled on, still working out the Shape and Attack instructions, usually I'd use a BWM with a CM, but having read Foxy's guide to the DLP it inspired me to work one into my system and it does help to have an AP advanced and a DLP behind. 

 

Very good season for our Alan Shearer, but the icing on the cake would be some silverware, thanks for reading and I look forward to Daves Season 4, since he played two seasons in one day today I imagine it will be uploaded pretty soon. 

 

Games: 90

Goals: 96

Goals needed: 165

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by Aaron Thornton

[Rich]

Well done mate, Dominic is smashing the goals in now big time! I’d take not winning as much for Brewster to score more, you’re tactic looks so much more attacking than mine, I literally have a boring 4-2-3-1. I have a busy weekend now, so won’t get to play for a couple of days😢

[Aaron Thornton]

I did play a 4-2-3-1 for the first two seasons, but I didn't like it, it was too reliant on crosses, watching this formation in attack on the match engine is interesting and frankly fun, defensively we can get caught out quite a bit with balls played in behind the WM's, in my current season I played Real Madrid in the CL group stage, lost 7-4 away and won 5-2 at home, 18 goals in 2 games, it still needs work but it scores plenty all around which I like, I just need to figure out strengthening the defence

[Rich]

Finally been able to get the next season done after a busy few days😁

Season 4

Transfers

Spoiler

Well some decent signings coming in, very happy with the squad now, got two great players for each position now.

Results

Good season overall, we really know how to keep the goals out, it would be nice to score more but I’m not complaining, I did make one change this season Brewster is now a Complete Forward even with his average stats 🤣

Manager Profile

Spoiler

Rhian Brewster

 

Premier League Goals Season 1 - 18

Premier League Goals Season 2 - 31

Premier League Goals Season 3 -32

Premier League Goals Season 4 - 44

Total Premier League Goals - 125

Goals left to get- 136

So a great season for Rhian, very happy with the return even though he’s doing my head in as his stats just are not improving at all. Loads of awards for him and he was in the world team of the year. Nearly half way there!

Thanks for reading, over to Aaron 😁

[Aaron Thornton]

Season 4:

DCL hit great heights last year notching 43 goals in 30 games, but once again we struggled to bring home silverware, our trophy looks very sad and dull with just 1 FA Cup sitting in it all alone, we looked to this season with hopes of some silverware as well as plenty more goals, here's how we done:

 

Competitions:

Spoiler

• 2nd and way behind Man City in the League
• Chelsea beat us 3-1 in the EFL Cup 4th round
• Dortmund knock us out of the CL, 3-2 on aggregate
• Tottenham sweep us aside at Wembley, 5-1

Well the trophy cabinet is staying dusty for at least one more year it would seem, really frustrating. 

 

Transfers:

In:

Out:

 

DCL:

Injuries:

3 injuries this year, this does not bode well

Goals and Notable Matches:

Spoiler

Trophies or no trophies, Dom can't stop scoring, banging 48 goals in 34 games, including a 6 goal haul vs newly promoted Bristol City. 

 

Games: 124

Goals: 144

Goals needed: 117

 

Fantastic season for DCL, he's gonna need a bigger backpack though to carry this team to trophies, thanks for reading. 

 

Cracking season from Brewster there @RichDave32, his lack of development is so strange, right about now he should be developing pretty quickly, but once he does improve his attributes he's going to be a fierce contender for the leaderboard nvm this head to head, I look forward go your Season 5 and I hope he can accelerate his growth rate a bit for you. 

[Rich]

Awesome season from Dominic again mate, absolutely smashing it! I’m so glad he’s missed a few games through injury 🤣
 

With Brewster, he still hasn’t progressed going in to this new season, maybe his potential is less on this save with me, he’s always developed better than this, But he will give his all anyway 😎

[Rich]

Had to post this as I was going, never ever started a season on any of the FM’s like this, we did however concede next game, was screenshooting after every game 🤣

Was gutted to concede in the 22nd game!

[Aaron Thornton]

3 hours ago, RichDave32 said:

Had to post this as I was going, never ever started a season on any of the FM’s like this, we did however concede next game, was screenshooting after every game 🤣

Was gutted to concede in the 22nd game!

That is one mean defense you have, 21 consecutive clean sheets is crazy 

[Rich]

Season 5

Transfers 

Spoiler

So not many changes to the team, the interesting one was brining Aaron’s Dominic Calvert Lewin in as my back up CF in January. Zaniolo for free, he slips straight in to the starting line up 😁

Results

 

So haven’t quite had a season like that with not conceding barely any goals when my first team were playing, they played pretty much all premier league games. 3 goals in a whole league campaign isn’t something that’s ever happened to me 😁

Manager Profile

Spoiler

Rhian Brewster

 

Premier League Played/Scored Season 1 - 37/18

Premier League Played/Scored Season 2 - 38-31

Premier League Played/Scored Season 3 -38-32

Premier League Played/Scored Season 4 - 38-44

Premier League Played/Scored Season 5 - 38/43

Total Premier League Played/Scored - 189/167

Premier League Goals Left To Score - 94

To be honest with his stats not improving very well at all over this career, I’m happy with how he’s done for me, we could possibly do this challenge in two seasons if he gets a growth in stats somehow.

Thanks for reading😁

[Aaron Thornton]

Another stellar year from Brewster, still very little growth boggles my mind, he was one of the Wonder kids who got downgraded after the winter update but I didn't think they downgraded him that much and I've already phoned Dominic and told him to sabotage the dressing room and he said hell do his best so keep your eye on him 😂

[Aaron Thornton]

Season 5:

With our main man DCL hitting his prime we looked to this season with a great deal of optimism for some more goals and hopefully some trophies:

 

Transfers:

 

In:

Marcus Dewhurst comes in as our first choice keeper, Archie Mair as a backup keeper. Houssem Aouar is our big money signing this year adding plenty of quality to the midfield, we needed a new left back so Angelino arrives from the Etihad, Kehrer comes in to add depth to our CB options, the forgotten wonder kid Malcom makes the LW position his own and Nketiah will act as backup to DCL when he tires. 

Out:

Correa went to where he once came, he didn't fancy a rotation role and so Atleti buy him back for 60 mil. Karius made his way to Sevilla paving the way for Dewhurst to don the No.1 shirt. Francilette played more matches for us than I hoped he would but constant injuries to our CB's left us short at times and he had to fill in for them. Matty Longstaff was make weight in the deal for Aouar. 

 

Competitions:

(Forgot to screenshot PL, sorry) 😔

Spoiler

• 2nd in the league behind Man City who have been dominant domestically throughout this career 
• Lost 2-1 in the FA Cup Final to who else but Man City
• We exited the CL after a 3-3 draw with Lyon at home, losing 5-4 on aggregate
• We lost on penalties to Wolves in the EFL Cup with the scores level at 2-2 after 90 minutes

Another year, another dusty trophy cabinet, I've never struggled this much to win trophies in all my years playing FMM, a change in system is required next year, our defence is too leaky. 

 

DCL:

Just one minor injury this year for him, one week out at the start of December. 

Goals:

Spoiler

36 goals in 36 games! A big drop on last year, scoring 12 less goals, seeing his total goals take a nose dive made my mind up for me that we have to change system next year, I didn't really mind sacrificing trophies if it meant Calvert-lewin could hit almost 50 goals a season but that wasn't the case. 

 

Games: 160

Goals: 180

Goals needed: 81

 

Good luck for season 6 Dave and thanks for reading everyone. 😊

Edited October 17, 2020 by Aaron Thornton
All the screenshots duplicated 🤷‍♂️