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Career The Herbert Chapman Way - Take 3 - Completed


StuartM
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Hi and welcome to my third attempt at my self made challenge. The aim is to emulate the feats of Herbert Chapman in the 1920s and 1930s by winning the league three times in a row, first with Huddersfield Town and then Arsenal.

I posted my second attempt which was going swimmingly until season 4 when I got sacked 😂 (I also got sacked on my first attempt!). Having played a bit more, I think I have some better tactics to use and so fingers crossed this will go a little better.

So, here goes...

I wasn't sure how aggressive to be with transfers, I could have moved on a lot of the older defenders in the squad but opted to keep them and see who performed and who didn't. I used up the budget on players who I thought could play a part this season and beyond.

1658612240_Screenshot_20210318-190412_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.f16e873dd896244da453913e97873fc0.jpg

Shape wise, as I had some reasonable playmakers and inside forwards I thought I would give this a go. Its a variant of one I 'borrowed' from the tactics page originally. If I'm still using it in a couple of seasons time it'll mean it works and I'll post it (I always seem to change after a season or two). You can see that by the end of the season, it had started to build some decent relationships.

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So, what about the results. Erm, at first I was a little worried and was thinking of bailing out on this career already!

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I kept on, as the performances weren't all bad. In the Man U game, I got Bruno'd which I have done with pretty much all teams (as we had 56% possession and more shots and clear cut chances).

Results improved quite a lot and I managed to get in touch with the auto promotion places with Lewis Ferguson proving to be a very capable scorer from RP.

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In part because he was on penalties but I don't think I've had someone in the midfield line bag more than 20 before.

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On to the end of season results, we couldn't quite make it into the top 2 but a tally of 91 points was decent (and the best 1st season of my 3 attempts!). So, on to the playoffs.

First up came Watford, and a professional away performance gave us a 2-0 lead going into the 2nd leg.

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A good early start before a first half comeback from the Hornets before an injury time nerve settler put us back in control and on the way to the final.

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Having performed well all season, the occasion nearly got to us in the final with a pretty poor performance before Isaac Mbenza stepped up to the plate with a last minute winner (not real life remember). Cue jubilant scenes!

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Edited by StuartM
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Thanks @Rich, I certainly hope so! I'm hoping I've learned from a few errors I made last time. I didn't want to be beaten by my own challenge!

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Right, we're back with season 2. On promotion to the PL, I've had mixed experiences with title challenges and relegation battles on other saves. What will it be this time?

I tried to do sensible business with the limited budget I had. Pipa went in January and in came Urgohide and Bailey with the proceeds. I needed numbers for a squad to meet the challenges over the season.

435507779_Screenshot_20210323-164659_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.ea447f936c77e27e82a1429cdb19c6b1.jpg

Interestingly (or not), I only realised that the goalie I signed was the twin of the defender I signed last year when I saw they were both R McCrorie on my tactics screen!

A few shiny academy graduates here, hopefully I will keep my job long enough to use them this time!

518599418_Screenshot_20210319-150925_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.20f82764a796b7a888cb435e45f6239c.jpg

On to the season itself, it was a bit hit and miss for much of it to be honest. Is acclimatisation a thing on FMM?

We had some horrible results:

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But also managed a cup run, which is a novelty for Town fans.

1090180364_Screenshot_20210322-184806_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.67b7959b59e0c8d70b3c7f58bd932b84.jpg

Leading up to the final, we had another bad one which had me questioning the setup.

11803428_Screenshot_20210323-122345_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.3136d30fa508f3ebff0fb33b5392e287.jpg

And we went on a bad run, including the final itself, with some worrying sounds from the board.1796069761_Screenshot_20210323-122305_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.84f172174e911484a7c8dc155d472bbd.jpg

This looks clear of relegation to me!

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I decided to strip my tactic back - the original worked really well when it worked but then fell flat at times so I changed a few instructions.

Managed to pick up 4 injuries to first teamers ahead of the next game and I feared the worst but this result stopped the rot.

427601350_Screenshot_20210323-123726_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.005c8f642754ebc3c3c6e05007117603.jpg

We did seem to have stagnated though as we stumbled home with loads of draws.178356774_Screenshot_20210323-160336_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.07bac976499409a34ea86f85dbd85bf7.jpg

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Thinking time now as I consider how to approach next season. Reinforcements are definitely needed but I'm not sure whether to revert to the original tactic, stick with the more basic version or go for something different.

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Some decent seasons from the squad but not much standing out in goals or ratings. Koroma at inside forward was probably the pick of the bunch.

1833278563_Screenshot_20210323-174352_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.ed59eb4059b4f83d30354a1b857874b7.jpg

Thanks for taking a look! All encouragement, sarcasm or advice welcomed 😁

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Even with a couple of bad results you’ve had a great first season in the prem mate and I’m sure next season will be even better 😁

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I believe with a decent budget next season and some signings in key areas you can compete for europe next season and push on again from there! KIU mate.

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After Town's magnificent showing the other night, I thought I'd better return to this save and restore some footballing pride to this corner of West Yorkshire... fortunately things are looking slightly upwards.

1621473234_Screenshot_20210409-154551_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.fba6f9d3c7d279ff8145a0c67d1aa96e.jpg

We even out Guardiola'd Peps reigining champions at the Etihad!

1464632517_Screenshot_20210409-144224_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.6801c6cb8cd6c4eeefba2450c0dcb0e5.jpg

How did we get here then? Well, not by doing anything spectacularly differently to be honest (and of course its early days in the season so far).

302895337_Screenshot_20210324-162206_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.f6917806ca6bae67eb33ab204f530ecf.jpg

Transfer business was mostly to bolster an ageing defence and grab an extra attacker. I could do with another midfielder but didn't have the budget for anyone worth getting.1398925747_Screenshot_20210323-190113_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.a97cf013de60b1c98615707755ec0010.jpg

No shiny youngsters this time, I do need to upgrade the facilities though so I'll keep plugging that with the board when I can.809408146_Screenshot_20210409-123540_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.9de44394f5960ad012dfd9607fcc2b0b.jpg

This was moderately amusing as this is the target job if/once I get the three in a row here... I bet if I get the titles it will take ages for the job to come up!

Anyway, back to it and thanks again for taking a look.

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End of season 3 update... I always tend to find the 2nd half of this season a struggle as the fixtures pile up after the World Cup. I don't go for an A and B team approach but maybe I should!

In the January window, I ended up losing my Uruguayan striker Facundo Torres, he had developed well and was starting to deliver but despite keeping him well fed with contracts, he always wanted a release clause so off he went for £44M.

199253214_Screenshot_20210410-193922_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.9ec57820103b22053edd75fb635edf57.jpg

I also let Mbenza go for £16.5M and was thinking that I could bring in some next level quality to the squad... The two that I wanted were Kenneh and Koita but neither would speak to me!

Anyway, I had some decent back ups (learning from previous experience) and it gave Keane Lewis-Potter a starting berth. He's starting to look decent but I have just spotted his release clause now 😬.

1892124409_Screenshot_20210411-202904_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.a491a7dace8d458981df8c493c9a9d15.jpg

Anyway, on to the games. After our stellar run, results became a bit more patchy, not seeing games out and conceding lots of late goals. I probably should have done something with mentality or time wasting but I was too stubborn to!

I managed to reach two semi-finals but despite a decent showing couldn't get through. The FA Cup felt like a bit of a robbery with their 2 late equalisers.

900269829_Screenshot_20210411-205328_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.785400af7ebb9704334bc91c438d278c.jpg776526866_Screenshot_20210411-175440_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.c0980d26f5b017e3cb56a38945c641cd.jpg

So, to the league. A bit of a stumble home but Championship to Champions League in 3 seasons ain't too bad I think? (Let's try not to get sacked next season, eh Stu!)

1898316420_Screenshot_20210411-202818_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.4cec4f2f4b07fb756e9c1e56cc500ea2.jpg

Liverpool managed an invincible league season but I think they were lucky against us. This one was 4 games from the end, I told you I kept conceding late goals!

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So, I should have a healthy transfer budget now as I'm also letting McCrorie (the outfield one) go for £46M and hopefully with European football on offer I can get some of the world's elite to join us.

Thanks for taking a look folks, all comments and feedback welcome.

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Well done mate that’s a great season, I’m sure you’ll be pushing for the league title next season 🤞🏻

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Hello again folks, I'm back with a mid-season update. We qualified for the Champions League and so I looked to get a bit of squad depth and extra quality with what was a decent budget. I made the mistake of asking for facilities upgrades before doing my transfers but it still meant I could go for some decent looking players.

1656437050_Screenshot_20210415-064751_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.7597415ba79a9d3d95087e09dd97f8ab.jpg

Kenneh finally wanted to speak to me, Luke Thomas' asking price dropped very nicely but PSV played hardball with me for Madueke so I paid a little more than I would have liked. Some of these transfers aren't right, Mbenza had already left, Harratt went to Hull and Bacuna is leaving in January but I haven't got there yet!

Youth wise, I got a couple of shiny youngsters but alas more goalkeepers!

565876227_Screenshot_20210412-144839_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.e4cba79dcf39daf5c48a75aa99fb0d61.jpg

I now have millions of them, having only signed two!

1983685869_Screenshot_20210413-112146_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.b5e9dc783663f42ab8bd0b35dc37b535.jpg

Before I get into the season proper, we seemed to do particularly well in the awards. Maybe not surprising as we had done fairly well but this one was out of the blue. He wasn't even a 1st choice until the 2nd half of the season!

1070824759_Screenshot_20210412-214107_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.0777dd0395e9abf91f6ed98eeb592f37.jpg

Anyway, to the matches. We had a slow start. I hadn't changed things tactically from last season and so I persevered at first and then started to get impatient. I warned some of my formerly go to players (Menino and Ferguson) for their poor form but with little effect.

Of the new boys, Thomas was good straight away but I started by bringing Kenneh off the bench which just didn't work very well so he is currently sat in the reserves. Madueke was pretty bad to start with, 6s were pretty much it and so I thought I had wasted my money. Maybe this game is more realistic than I thought with what Town can do to players 😋.

I took to looking at the squad relations and whilst they are no vendettas I did notice that there was low professionalism on the whole... Any tips here other than transfers?!

So at my lowest point I thought I was headed for the sack (again) but opted to tweak my tactics.

1082946156_Screenshot_20210415-064710_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.110bd9553f0affd485398a8d0f75f4e6.jpg

Dropped out of the Champions League and even missed the Euro Cup in a tight group 😥.

242320408_Screenshot_20210414-163647_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.4311aed23504ef3e6dd49f0a39b64d94.jpg

I was going to drop the mentality a bit to control the games more but thought sod it I'll go for it!

751804346_Screenshot_20210415-064724_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.8e6a6bdc7c135cfdf47576a669eb0880.jpg

Suddenly, things clicked and so looking up again now (famous last words!).

1091488690_Screenshot_20210415-064608_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.a87929d1e91d71e021e198f8342a6c8d.jpg

I haven't much to spend in Jan as I got through all my facilities upgrades now and despite refusing to expand the stadium in the summer, they agreed to expand it twice after the season started. Has anyone else found that?

Last note, I noticed from loaning out some of my youngsters that one of the famous old clubs had had a mighty fall and I quite fancy taking on a challenge like this... but nope I'll stick with this for now! I know its not that strange but this seems early... I wonder how far they'll fall.

1123438530_Screenshot_20210413-064040_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.b18ef62ac58685610495d424261d69c2.jpg

Thanks for taking a look, your comments are always welcome.

Edited by StuartM
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Great work mate, just caught up with this, Championship to Champions league in 3 years is an exceptional job! Horrible group you got given there though, sure you can make it back there next season.

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Thanks @Albionic and @Rich, much appreciated!

We headed into January with a bit of a spring in our step and carried on picking up wins but did then stutter a little, picking up a succession of draws against the stronger teams. No disgrace though as we dominated each of the games.

105760067_Screenshot_20210417-204239_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.e258bfdea3bced93de9502f99647a5ea.jpg

No real cup runs of note (bit like the real Town) but this allowed the classic "concentrate on the league" (not like the real Town). Not needing to rotate the team as much helped build chemistry and the likes of my big money signing Madueke, plus existing first teamers Ferguson and Menino started to perform. As a result we had a decent run in.

113776355_Screenshot_20210417-204250_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.5a5df6da36d156df665089a69871c912.jpg

We had left it too late for a proper title challenge though.

1309052808_Screenshot_20210417-191450_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.77394fa0bfd907617b8a759618ab86c4.jpg

But considering where we had been, I have to be satisifed.

218127307_Screenshot_20210414-190831_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.0c1d3c80c23b880c4b4763a5dea60865.jpg

Note to self, if in doubt flat out!

All in all, a small step forwards from last season and a bit of optimism for a proper title challenge next year.

One small spanner in the works is that I'm losing Merino as despite lots of contracts I couldn't get a last one over the line and he's off to Chelsea for a pitiful £29.5M. I should be able to get a decent replacement at IWB but I think a better striker is also needed... whilst I like the goals being spread around, even a DLF should still be top scorer right?

30463799_Screenshot_20210417-210623_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.75cbaa088f1f13ddb561680bb9e9e99a.jpg

On the player front, Lewis-Potter was a consistent threat. His stats are decent but seem to have maxed out but nevertheless his AvR is the best in the squad and he bagged 17 from 42 in the deep lying IF position.

221977292_Screenshot_20210417-191542_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.f78f514dc3cff6e6ec4af3fe7ad93656.jpg

Tavernier was a pleasant surprise too, with 14 goals and 14 assists from a mix of positions. He was a bit of a bargain basement signing at 'only' £8.75M last January and his stats have grown reasonably too.

1812487302_Screenshot_20210417-211341_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.37fcbbf3067f34fb37f01682919db497.jpg

These were the final transfers for the season, I did bring in a new Portuguese BPD in Jan as the deal was too good to turn down but then he didn't play much!

1867432195_Screenshot_20210417-191601_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.12959fe98aa0839c221f1ba5cef72574.jpg

I think thats about it for this update folks, thanks again for taking a look.

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I've managed to keep going and not get distracted so I'm back with a mid-season update.

We had a few outgoings as it was time to trim the squad and let a few fringe players go. Some had served me quite well (like Toffolo) others never quite broke through as expected. I didn't want to sell Arrrey-Mbi as he was doing well but another release clause was to blame here, Fofana came in as his replacement. Norton-Cuffy is my Menino replacement (don't think he is a regen..) and then Andreas Mendes de... (I think we need a nickname option) is a Ukrainian regen forward brought in to challenge Hernandez for the starting striker role.

1629756576_Screenshot_20210420-115521_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.4a43be08d17e96ac6c807ba1c9a2d014.jpg

Youth players, fortunately fewer goalkeepers this time!

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896833507_Screenshot_20210418-072045_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.4c20eacf784a055be36134d2711bf16a.jpg

Some of my earlier youth products are edging closer to the team now but not quite.

Anyway, on to the season. Tentative optimism for the league this time as we finished strongly and I think the squad is in good shape... We started off really well but so did everyone else!

In the Champions League, we drew an even worse group than last year! We gave it a decent go but just fell short of getting in to the top 2. I half wanted to finish 4th to avoid the fixtures but it would be nice to bag a trophy. I have made it to the League Cup semis again.

643742371_Screenshot_20210421-150020_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.e88798246c5dd58195cbd76ee822b1f1.jpg

This was the last group game 😥

1950838063_Screenshot_20210421-150009_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.f4c5a9cdd9e495a3c29aefe9839ec13d.jpg

The injury to Fofana was after 36 seconds... a few games earlier, Duhaney got injured after 23 seconds... Almost the same fitness record as the current team! Must remember screenshots next time.

So, I mentioned the league. We were going great guns and I was pleased to get this one over the defending champions to go top.

956997457_Screenshot_20210421-214639_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.1bf804152bfdff68d3da709a35801bce.jpg

Since then we've had a few disappointing results but we're still in contention at the top.

1785689694_Screenshot_20210421-205334_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.9b3ab9a9ef1ad0e6f56044b06d0f520a.jpg1925938081_Screenshot_20210421-205252_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.2e11924b29c326e0a1b0edce888c05c0.jpg

No real transfer budget to speak of so I'll be looking for the current squad to do the business. I'm also hoping that we get a new stadium, we seem to be having trouble with the planners at the moment.

Fingers crossed for the 2nd half of the season. Thanks for taking a look, all comments are welcome!

Edited by StuartM
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Good solid start mate, very unlucky in the champions league, hopefully this is the year you win the league 🤞🏻

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On 18/04/2021 at 04:22, StuartM said:

Thanks @Albionic and @Rich, much appreciated!

We headed into January with a bit of a spring in our step and carried on picking up wins but did then stutter a little, picking up a succession of draws against the stronger teams. No disgrace though as we dominated each of the games.

105760067_Screenshot_20210417-204239_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.e258bfdea3bced93de9502f99647a5ea.jpg

No real cup runs of note (bit like the real Town) but this allowed the classic "concentrate on the league" (not like the real Town). Not needing to rotate the team as much helped build chemistry and the likes of my big money signing Madueke, plus existing first teamers Ferguson and Menino started to perform. As a result we had a decent run in.

113776355_Screenshot_20210417-204250_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.5a5df6da36d156df665089a69871c912.jpg

We had left it too late for a proper title challenge though.

1309052808_Screenshot_20210417-191450_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.77394fa0bfd907617b8a759618ab86c4.jpg

But considering where we had been, I have to be satisifed.

218127307_Screenshot_20210414-190831_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.0c1d3c80c23b880c4b4763a5dea60865.jpg

Note to self, if in doubt flat out!

All in all, a small step forwards from last season and a bit of optimism for a proper title challenge next year.

One small spanner in the works is that I'm losing Merino as despite lots of contracts I couldn't get a last one over the line and he's off to Chelsea for a pitiful £29.5M. I should be able to get a decent replacement at IWB but I think a better striker is also needed... whilst I like the goals being spread around, even a DLF should still be top scorer right?

30463799_Screenshot_20210417-210623_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.75cbaa088f1f13ddb561680bb9e9e99a.jpg

On the player front, Lewis-Potter was a consistent threat. His stats are decent but seem to have maxed out but nevertheless his AvR is the best in the squad and he bagged 17 from 42 in the deep lying IF position.

221977292_Screenshot_20210417-191542_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.f78f514dc3cff6e6ec4af3fe7ad93656.jpg

Tavernier was a pleasant surprise too, with 14 goals and 14 assists from a mix of positions. He was a bit of a bargain basement signing at 'only' £8.75M last January and his stats have grown reasonably too.

1812487302_Screenshot_20210417-211341_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.37fcbbf3067f34fb37f01682919db497.jpg

These were the final transfers for the season, I did bring in a new Portuguese BPD in Jan as the deal was too good to turn down but then he didn't play much!

1867432195_Screenshot_20210417-191601_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.12959fe98aa0839c221f1ba5cef72574.jpg

I think thats about it for this update folks, thanks again for taking a look.

 

7 hours ago, Rich said:

Good solid start mate, very unlucky in the champions league, hopefully this is the year you win the league 🤞🏻

 

On 15/04/2021 at 23:43, StuartM said:

Hello again folks, I'm back with a mid-season update. We qualified for the Champions League and so I looked to get a bit of squad depth and extra quality with what was a decent budget. I made the mistake of asking for facilities upgrades before doing my transfers but it still meant I could go for some decent looking players.

1656437050_Screenshot_20210415-064751_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.7597415ba79a9d3d95087e09dd97f8ab.jpg

Kenneh finally wanted to speak to me, Luke Thomas' asking price dropped very nicely but PSV played hardball with me for Madueke so I paid a little more than I would have liked. Some of these transfers aren't right, Mbenza had already left, Harratt went to Hull and Bacuna is leaving in January but I haven't got there yet!

Youth wise, I got a couple of shiny youngsters but alas more goalkeepers!

565876227_Screenshot_20210412-144839_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.e4cba79dcf39daf5c48a75aa99fb0d61.jpg

I now have millions of them, having only signed two!

1983685869_Screenshot_20210413-112146_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.b5e9dc783663f42ab8bd0b35dc37b535.jpg

Before I get into the season proper, we seemed to do particularly well in the awards. Maybe not surprising as we had done fairly well but this one was out of the blue. He wasn't even a 1st choice until the 2nd half of the season!

1070824759_Screenshot_20210412-214107_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.0777dd0395e9abf91f6ed98eeb592f37.jpg

Anyway, to the matches. We had a slow start. I hadn't changed things tactically from last season and so I persevered at first and then started to get impatient. I warned some of my formerly go to players (Menino and Ferguson) for their poor form but with little effect.

Of the new boys, Thomas was good straight away but I started by bringing Kenneh off the bench which just didn't work very well so he is currently sat in the reserves. Madueke was pretty bad to start with, 6s were pretty much it and so I thought I had wasted my money. Maybe this game is more realistic than I thought with what Town can do to players 😋.

I took to looking at the squad relations and whilst they are no vendettas I did notice that there was low professionalism on the whole... Any tips here other than transfers?!

So at my lowest point I thought I was headed for the sack (again) but opted to tweak my tactics.

1082946156_Screenshot_20210415-064710_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.110bd9553f0affd485398a8d0f75f4e6.jpg

Dropped out of the Champions League and even missed the Euro Cup in a tight group 😥.

242320408_Screenshot_20210414-163647_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.4311aed23504ef3e6dd49f0a39b64d94.jpg

I was going to drop the mentality a bit to control the games more but thought sod it I'll go for it!

751804346_Screenshot_20210415-064724_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.8e6a6bdc7c135cfdf47576a669eb0880.jpg

Suddenly, things clicked and so looking up again now (famous last words!).

1091488690_Screenshot_20210415-064608_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.a87929d1e91d71e021e198f8342a6c8d.jpg

I haven't much to spend in Jan as I got through all my facilities upgrades now and despite refusing to expand the stadium in the summer, they agreed to expand it twice after the season started. Has anyone else found that?

Last note, I noticed from loaning out some of my youngsters that one of the famous old clubs had had a mighty fall and I quite fancy taking on a challenge like this... but nope I'll stick with this for now! I know its not that strange but this seems early... I wonder how far they'll fall.

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Thanks for taking a look, your comments are always welcome.

that is one hell of a list of GKs there! 😂 Anyway, I too always face issues of conceding late goals, some times to the most undeserving of sides. I find closing shop against the opponent and wasting time does help. Increasing the number of man markers helped too!

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Thanks @Rich, lets see what the second half of the season has in store.

Thanks @thatmonstak, some of the keepers are starting to look alright now. I was looking to sign a new one but hopefully I won't need to. On the late goals, I have stubbornly stuck to my guns and refused so far to change mentality or add time wasting. Let's see how it worked out...

So at the half way mark, we were well placed, squad was in decent shape, tactic working fairly but no transfer budget, could we push on and sustain a title challenge 99 years on from our last win?

1489610961_Screenshot_20210424-081407_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.59ad64b973ba25c9bc3104a2080855ac.jpg

The first leg against Liverpool was a big statement of intent in performance and scoreline.

1760721968_Screenshot_20210422-142107_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.3a8f4bd1f4cb9b0ff72318971d25de91.jpg

This meant we had our best chance of a trophy yet, with a final against... Barnsley! Cue, Yorkshire chants all around Wembley?

141553602_Screenshot_20210422-195651_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.ae75f60106aa623ee7597f0027359a1e.jpg

Not the greatest scoreline but we dominated the game and got the win through a Kenneh 25 yarder late on, he came good this year after a bit of a false start last season. The trophy cabinet has been brought out of the basement at the John Smiths!

We continued to push on but the fixtures were starting to mount up.

189206861_Screenshot_20210424-081436_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.5cd5186f2ea86053df6f823208933a4c.jpg

Lots of wins but the three draws were on consecutive league games, meant that Chelsea were just ahead of us. We took just one point from our games against them. The games against Arsenal and Everton were classic ding dong battles and I think were showing us as a serious team (8 clear cut chances being quite good for us). Maybe the late goals were starting to go in our favour?

384317982_Screenshot_20210423-101048_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.4351b32088c8a4ea07d8830bbd9400b3.jpg1385587446_Screenshot_20210423-103109_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.2a32af2e5c286a9e4a795f63f1118dcc.jpg

So, to the run in... League and late stages of the Euro and FA Cups.

A bit of a robbery in the Euro Cup quarters, we should never have let 3 in there.

1253107353_Screenshot_20210423-143151_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.ff4cee1e70bd332cdcb227090315e27c.jpg

Then a disappointing no show in the FA Cup semis... lots of posession but no shots

1314662881_Screenshot_20210423-145806_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.b505cf17d92d1e44c36909e9ca0f8203.jpg

Concentrate on the league then, should be a shoe in with more manageable fixtures right? We dropped a few points, making it closer than I wanted. Chelsea dropped off leaving it between us and Liverpool. The fixture computer doing its usual mischief gave us this fixture, win and the title is ours, draw and it is pretty much done...

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FFS. It should have been ours on the clear cut chances. Origi always bags loads against us so I checked him out thinking he must be some kind of monster on this save... he isn't and his record is nothing special so he must have it in for us!

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On to the last game, at home against Blackburn. Surely we just smash them and walk away with the league?

Er, no.

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Breathe Stu... and don't break your phone...

Cue, stirring comeback.. Koroma bringing us back into the game and then Mendes deep into injury time... is this our Agueroooo moment?!

834925296_Screenshot_20210424-072737_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.7875fa0be523f67432e70bd9ab4dfc21.jpg

Yesss!

1052641504_Screenshot_20210424-072722_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.8a913172850e882def52c9b50e256705.jpg

We certainly made life difficult for ourselves and so I'm hoping we are a bit more convincing in the coming years.

No real weak links in the squad so depending on who stays, who is available and how much budget I'm given, we'll have to see what happens this summer. Here are some stats, with goals, assists and ratings shared fairly evenly but nothing spectacular.

97387365_Screenshot_20210424-072940_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.567d29796fa729959926efe9b61f14db.jpg

1 down, can we follow it up with another 2? Thanks for taking a look, all your comments are very welcome.

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On 24/04/2021 at 17:50, StuartM said:

Thanks @Rich, lets see what the second half of the season has in store.

Thanks @thatmonstak, some of the keepers are starting to look alright now. I was looking to sign a new one but hopefully I won't need to. On the late goals, I have stubbornly stuck to my guns and refused so far to change mentality or add time wasting. Let's see how it worked out...

So at the half way mark, we were well placed, squad was in decent shape, tactic working fairly but no transfer budget, could we push on and sustain a title challenge 99 years on from our last win?

1489610961_Screenshot_20210424-081407_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.59ad64b973ba25c9bc3104a2080855ac.jpg

The first leg against Liverpool was a big statement of intent in performance and scoreline.

1760721968_Screenshot_20210422-142107_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.3a8f4bd1f4cb9b0ff72318971d25de91.jpg

This meant we had our best chance of a trophy yet, with a final against... Barnsley! Cue, Yorkshire chants all around Wembley?

141553602_Screenshot_20210422-195651_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.ae75f60106aa623ee7597f0027359a1e.jpg

Not the greatest scoreline but we dominated the game and got the win through a Kenneh 25 yarder late on, he came good this year after a bit of a false start last season. The trophy cabinet has been brought out of the basement at the John Smiths!

We continued to push on but the fixtures were starting to mount up.

189206861_Screenshot_20210424-081436_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.5cd5186f2ea86053df6f823208933a4c.jpg

Lots of wins but the three draws were on consecutive league games, meant that Chelsea were just ahead of us. We took just one point from our games against them. The games against Arsenal and Everton were classic ding dong battles and I think were showing us as a serious team (8 clear cut chances being quite good for us). Maybe the late goals were starting to go in our favour?

384317982_Screenshot_20210423-101048_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.4351b32088c8a4ea07d8830bbd9400b3.jpg1385587446_Screenshot_20210423-103109_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.2a32af2e5c286a9e4a795f63f1118dcc.jpg

So, to the run in... League and late stages of the Euro and FA Cups.

A bit of a robbery in the Euro Cup quarters, we should never have let 3 in there.

1253107353_Screenshot_20210423-143151_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.ff4cee1e70bd332cdcb227090315e27c.jpg

Then a disappointing no show in the FA Cup semis... lots of posession but no shots

1314662881_Screenshot_20210423-145806_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.b505cf17d92d1e44c36909e9ca0f8203.jpg

Concentrate on the league then, should be a shoe in with more manageable fixtures right? We dropped a few points, making it closer than I wanted. Chelsea dropped off leaving it between us and Liverpool. The fixture computer doing its usual mischief gave us this fixture, win and the title is ours, draw and it is pretty much done...

1178041729_Screenshot_20210424-071020_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.d9e28616fa031e15804417f14df7a19e.jpg

FFS. It should have been ours on the clear cut chances. Origi always bags loads against us so I checked him out thinking he must be some kind of monster on this save... he isn't and his record is nothing special so he must have it in for us!

1899185335_Screenshot_20210424-071952_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.34c59dc0f3a38bdde3aae8d6fb2b0796.jpg

On to the last game, at home against Blackburn. Surely we just smash them and walk away with the league?

Er, no.

1982897627_Screenshot_20210424-072517_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.5a8b89dda2f1b064d21e2253a0064c41.jpg

Breathe Stu... and don't break your phone...

Cue, stirring comeback.. Koroma bringing us back into the game and then Mendes deep into injury time... is this our Agueroooo moment?!

834925296_Screenshot_20210424-072737_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.7875fa0be523f67432e70bd9ab4dfc21.jpg

Yesss!

1052641504_Screenshot_20210424-072722_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.8a913172850e882def52c9b50e256705.jpg

We certainly made life difficult for ourselves and so I'm hoping we are a bit more convincing in the coming years.

No real weak links in the squad so depending on who stays, who is available and how much budget I'm given, we'll have to see what happens this summer. Here are some stats, with goals, assists and ratings shared fairly evenly but nothing spectacular.

97387365_Screenshot_20210424-072940_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.567d29796fa729959926efe9b61f14db.jpg

1 down, can we follow it up with another 2? Thanks for taking a look, all your comments are very welcome.

dayum that was one nail biting final matchday!!🤣🤣 That 85th minute Origi goal could have been prevented if you would just waste some time haha!

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Thanks @Rich and @thatmonstak, I still just can't bring myself to time waste... I hope it doesn't come back to bite!

I'm still going with this save whilst the going is good so here we are with the season 6 half way point update.

Back in the summer, we had a decent transfer budget and so I targeted a couple of big signings including a Messi and a Ronaldo regen and I managed to land... none of them 😂! Not to worry, the squad is still in decent shape.

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Pedro is someone I came close to signing a few times before, Dickson is a regen and then Scott is a squad player, about my 4th choice signing!

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No shiny youngsters and more goalkeepers... 🙈

On to the season, we have been quite consistent picking up plenty of points, but City have stepped up this season and look like they may challenge us this time around. Not too worried at this point.

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We had fallen short in the Champions League group stage in the last 2 years, this time the fixtures were kinder to us and we cruised through to the knockout stages.

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On another note, I managed to get about 4 stadium expansions through the first part of the season so we now have a bigger stadium than Anfield and St James' Park! I'm hoping this means that it gives us a bigger budget but I'm not sure how clever the game is on this.

Looking ahead to January, I still have a small budget so I'll see if I can pickup another backup IWB.

I don't think I have shared many player screenshots so far but I thought it might be semi-interesting to feature some of the surprises... I won't share all the usual suspects. I know I tend to sign people like Wood and Kenneh quite often.

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Daley has become a regular now... He was initially poor out on loan and then he failed to impress in his first games for me. His stats start low too but I gave him time and he is now fairly decent I would say.

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Not sure if many have used this guy, he is looking good now but I did pay a pretty penny for him.

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I signed this guy as a squad player but he has improved steadily throughout and is a good performer.

Thanks for taking a look, all your comments are welcome!

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Looking good mate, hopefully you can pip City to the title and have a good champions league run. Nice to see some players not used often do the business 😁

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Hi folks, back again with an end of season update.

I left things at the start of the window, not expecting to do much business. I featured Norton-Cuffy in my last update and promptly sold him! Liverpool came in and he wanted to move so I didn't stand in his way. This meant a few more comings and goings with signing of a few prospects. Annoyingly, some of my targets were at rivals and they just wouldn't let them go. I did end up over my wage budget so here's hoping results held up!

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I was expecting to put up a good fight for all of the trophies on offer but the FA Cup draw was a tough one and a bit of a poor showing... with Miller taking Origi's place as our tormentor.

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Back in the league, things were still looking good. City were top but we made (sort of) light work of them in our head to head.

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We cruised through the League Cup rounds and faced another final, this time against Championship Derby County with the expected outcome and 2nd consecutive win.

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This year was the first time we managed to reach the knock out stages of the Champions League. First, we disposed on Zebrentus then we faced PSG. This was a bit closer as they had a bit of an all star squad but we came though strongly.

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The semis were against Chelsea and the first leg went to plan, albeit conceding an away goal. I shouldn't be bothered about that right?

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FFS! I think my rotation policy failed there but a bit of a no show on the day from the players.

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This of course left the league which is the bread and butter of this challenge and here things were a little more plain sailing.

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Hopefully this bodes well to making it 3 in a row next year!

I featured some of the players at the mid-point. I thought I'd share this guy, he was a signing a few years ago and I was unimpressed with his goal return at first... this year an injury free season and he did pretty well, to the point that last years hero Mendes barely played.

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Daley continued to improve so I'll show him again!

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Then this guy was a youth product that kept my new £54M wonderkid (plus old favourites Koroma and Lewis-Potter) out of the team.

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So a decent season and we're in position to make it 3 in a row so lets see if we can do it next time. Thanks for watching!

Edited by StuartM
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Hello again! I hadn't forgotten about or lost this save... I went away and messed around with tactics on other saves with aim of finding something superior... Update, I didn't find one! All of them seem quite effective but equally so and now I guess I have a few alternatives.

Anyway, we were in a fairly strong position but as I didn't want to take anything for granted I went off to strengthen. I went back in for a Ronaldo(?) regen and thought I had a good chance of getting him...

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Surely, he wants to join the global giants that are Huddersfield...

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Nope! I went back a few times too but no bites. Frustrating!!

Never mind, so rather than waste my budget I just went for Aguilar at RB who City finally let talk to me. Stalwarts, Holmes, High and Koroma moved on.

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Some decent looking youngsters came through but not sure if I'll use them before I hopefully move on.

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Healthy representation in the world team, 3 players this time.

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Right, on to the season then and the traditional curtain raiser Community Shield against Liverpool. Not quite an FMM'ing but a rather frustrating one nonetheless. Perhaps some chinks in the armour?

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Domestically, we have been pretty strong in this career but we started off with 2 defeats in our first 2 Champions League games... we did come back just in time to get through in 2nd.

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How was the league form then? We got our own back on Liverpool with a fairly dominant performance.

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And despite a few draws, we're looking good at the half way stage.

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If we continue this form, it would be my best season (famous last words!) and I'm hoping Arsenal decline and put Lampard under pressure towards the end so I can jump ship as soon as possible!

Thanks for taking a look, hopefully the next update won't be as long in coming!

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And so on to the business end of the season. No business done in January, there was no one standing out that would improve our squad.

I thought I might need to bring someone in to replace Wood... he was out of the team for a while and became unhappy. I brought him back in and persuaded him to stay then in consecutive news updates:

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He can't make his mind up! It seems it is one of his quirks, I had something similar on another save.

Fixtures wise we kept our hold on the League Cup for a third successive victory.

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And the poor return in the Champions League continued too, this time in the first knockout stage, also meaning no Club World Cup 😤.

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We seem to be very strong and have the odd no show... I'm starting to discipline players for 5s so maybe that will keep them on their toes in future.

League wise we were unbeaten until Jan when we faced Arsenal, who by this point had sacked their manager and were resurgent under their new one.

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The rest of the league season was not so noteworthy, I think we lost 3 more but quite easily retained our title making it 3 in a row to achieve the first part of this challenge!

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I'm looking for the Arsenal job now but as you cam see they finished 4th so we will have to play a waiting game.

One last piece of the regular season, we made it to the FA Cup final... could we make it a domestic treble?

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We didn't blink really!

Off the field, despite having a 90000 seater stadium, the club opted for a gigantic new 125000 seater stadium for next year. I think that will be the biggest stadium in the world, which is not bad to say that we were in the Championship a little over 6 years ago!

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Players wise, I may have not have shown these guys who featured strongly this year.

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This guy came in from Watford and seems to perform better than his stats.

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This guy came in from Leicester and seems to keep improving.

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This guy was a youth product who had a poor loan spell but came back much better and after starting as 4th choice became a regular by the end of the season.

Thanks for taking a look, all feedback, comments and suggestions are welcome.

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Hello again folks, thanks to those taking a look. Having done the three times in a row, I'm now looking to jump ship and do the same at Arsenal, so its a bit of a strange summer. I decided to do a little business, bringing in a new midfielder and then just after the start of the season Wood decided he wanted to go again, so this time off he went!

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Now, the pressure was off for results we absolutely crushed it, even in Europe where we were previously unimpressive. I think we were on for a personal record season. I kept looking at how Arsenal were getting on and it wasn't good... however, the board were not putting much pressure on. Until they were.

1599804686_Screenshot_20210819-101106_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.39c45d75b8d2d0a7934409702c55e30e.jpg610740027_Screenshot_20210819-182346_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.b7273641ab87bc7d9dba6555d19b4c05.jpg1444365076_Screenshot_20210819-101019_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.8e5496769ce80b7aed4f2a34afc991d9.jpg90960209_Screenshot_20210819-160115_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.5b6ed36b7754daaf420161087c72ded4.jpg

So I might have expressed some interest to accelerate things but then they took age to offer me the job, making me worry of some previously unreported bug but eventually.

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It was a bit of a shame to leave behind the legacy that we built but all good things and all that and if Messi can leave Barca for PSG then surely I can jump. Here were a few of the stalwarts still serving me pretty well.

Ferguson was one of my first signings, the odd bad game but what a player for me!

1425386325_Screenshot_20210820-091433_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.70fbebd8253ba159004cd82173bb1129.jpg673169924_Screenshot_20210820-091427_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.f308c4d38b8667ed640ccb2d52ced21a.jpg

Fofana was a top player, BPD or CD, well both I reckon!

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Then this guy was having a breakthrough season so it'll be a shame to not help him to fulfill his potential.

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This was the state of the league table when I took the job.

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So, what of the squad? Not bad really, no massive standouts though... lots of attacking players, not many old ones, just lacking a keeper. So, knowing a club that had a lot of spares I took one that I had never picked as a backup! I joined in Jan and had a decent budget, thought I would add 2, agreed fees and they turned me down! I decided to wait until the summer for the squad overhaul and see what I could do with who we had.

We hit the ground running and pretty much won 80% of our games! Losing to my former team but climbing very healthily and giving me hope of an early title challenge next year! We managed to finish in 7th and reach the FA and EURO Cup finals, nice.

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Of course the FA Cup would be against Town... and we didn't quite make it.

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Still the EURO Cup would be a nice consolation... nope.

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Oh well, still cause for optimism and chance to finish this challenge that I can't even remember when I started!

A nice youth intake bodes well for the future and having given the exisiting squad a chance, I decided to only go for who could really improve us so lets see how this goes!

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Thanks for watching!

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Edited by StuartM
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Cheers @Rich!

I'm back with another season update. This is my first full season and largely with the squad I inherited and I'm thinking a good test of the tactic I have. I've stopped tweaking it now and I'm considering posting if anyone is interested?

The season started strongly and we put down a marker against global superpower Huddersfield Town, not really giving them a sniff and giving me hopes of an early first title with the Gunners. The new man Asensio starting to pay back the transfer fee!

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I'd not really signed too many players but did reintegrate a few of those loaned out last year. Emile Smith Rowe is a player I like in real life and he came back from Celtic and made a positive impact. He later picked up an injury and missed a couple of months but this was his start. He really seems to thrive as a roaming playmaker with good teamwork contributing to the assists perhaps?

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At the half way point, we're sitting very pretty and should be nailed on to see if through.

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I did screenshot this as I thought it was amusing. The Town fans not happy with only 3rd in the league! They did go on to win the Champions League though so I guess they would have satisfied there.

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Back to us, no transfer business in January. I had plenty of players fancying new challenges and had previously requested transfers. Seemingly the prospect of winning a league title was not enough for them, oh well it will be their loss!

We kicked on in the league, departed the League and FA Cups in un-noteworthy style (no screenshots) but made a good fist of things in the Euro Cup II. I thought this one was going to be an even bigger score but perhaps we tired.

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We made the final and light work of Eintracht Frankfurt. Chicken dinners all round!

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The bread and butter (another food reference, I must be hungry) is of course the league and we saw it through with I think my best points return of this career. One down, two to go!

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A few player profiles here, this is the keeper I signed from Huddersfield who established himself as number 1 this year.

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Smith Rowe doesn't look so special but seemed to click.

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And this was my record (and impulse) signing who turned out decent.

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A few players made the World XI too. Ideho was barely a first choice!

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Thanks for taking a look, all comments are very welcome.

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Hi folks, I'm back again and still determined to finish off this career challenge before the next season cones out!

I had intended to keep transfers to a modest amount to see how the tactic worked with a default squad but this summer people kept coming in for my squad players and the ones who were whinging so what was I to do?!

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Of course these are all regens now but couple of notes. Kalezic comes in as a new striker, potentially a Dzeko regen. Hutchinson was moaner in chief and Pacheco was a snip at £17.25M.

Neuer came in as a backup wing back and literally within days:

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Hmmm, nothing dodgy in his characteristics and who wouldn't want to play for Town but this did mean that I needed to talk down half the squad!

Youth intake was healthy again but given how this is going, I might not use any of them! Gotts does have 2* ability already though.

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Anyway, we got robbed in the traditional curtain raiser and generally had a very steady start to the season. Maybe bedding in the new additions?1686351618_Screenshot_20210904-103159_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.3230035f355696906271e5d8693544c1.jpg

I wasn't best pleased with this one and read the riot act as we were starting to fall behind Wolves.

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Champions League form was good though and we cruised through the group.

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And at the halfway stage, had got back to our rightful position.

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January came and I couldn't resist signing a new centre back, lots of potential, bargain at £87M... then I realised he had 9 for pace. Perfect for a high line right?! Bit like Arsenal's current transfer strategy!!

I randomly stumbled across an old favourite who had fallen on hard times after legging the John Smiths for the bright lights of the capital.

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We added another Carabao Cup to the collection in due course and on to the business end of the season.

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We got better as the season went on and were in the running for a few trophies.

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Well and truly FMM'ed in the FA Cup!

Europe was a happier campaign though. This was a nice one.

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We made it on to the final and despite making it hard work for ourselves, we added a 1st CL title to this career!

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The league is the only real aim though and we pulled away strongly through the 2nd half of the season to finish comfortably 1st and make it 2 in a row and set things up for a chance at finishing this next season.

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Perhaps boringly, the defence was the highlight of this year with a fairly low for me 27 conceded.

A few player profiles for you. Kalezic was the big money striker and had a decent first season.347339667_Screenshot_20210913-161612_FM21Mobile.thumb.jpg.2459251520b473a4d429f177c449de57.jpg

Justin Kluivert is one of my last originals and is starting to decline but performed well for me between injuries!

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Pacheco outshone Smith-Rowe over the course of the year and I also had him on set pieces boosting his involvement.

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Thanks for taking a look!

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