Football Manager 2020 & FM Touch

[Wolf]

4th season at Ajax we were 10pts clear and still unbeaten then I got offered the Arsenal job mid season so thought why not. Sneakily saved it as a separate game so I can dip back into Ajax save as have been enjoying building them up to be champions league contenders.

So Arsenal... What a poorly unbalanced squad I inherited, only 3 CB 2 were youth players & the other was Calum Chambers. I only had Tierney & Rosenboom as recognised Full backs, then midfield only gad Guendoozi and Willock. Plus an aging Ozil still sucking at wage bill.

The main highlight in the squad though was I had Saka, Zaha, Martinelli and Emile Smith-Rowe who is a beast of a player and Pepe who also is far better innthe game than real life plus Leno has immense stats. So literally building a team around that base.

Brought in Norveidt on cheap to add bite in midfield, signed Berge who is amazing from Sheff Utd, called AMN back from loan as has decent stats, same with Nketiah. Then signed regent player Thuram, Martinez and Mammana as CB.

Managed to win League Cup against City, and Europa League against Milan, so managed 2 Cup wins already and when I took over they were in 15th place when I took over, somehow managed to go unbeaten and finished a respectable 5th place.

Now to build this team properly for a challenge.

 

[Orikoru]

4th season at Ajax we were 10pts clear and still unbeaten then I got offered the Arsenal job mid season so thought why not. Sneakily saved it as a separate game so I can dip back into Ajax save as have been enjoying building them up to be champions league contenders.

So Arsenal... What a poorly unbalanced squad I inherited, only 3 CB 2 were youth players & the other was Calum Chambers. I only had Tierney & Rosenboom as recognised Full backs, then midfield only gad Guendoozi and Willock. Plus an aging Ozil still sucking at wage bill.

The main highlight in the squad though was I had Saka, Zaha, Martinelli and Emile Smith-Rowe who is a beast of a player and Pepe who also is far better innthe game than real life plus Leno has immense stats. So literally building a team around that base.

Brought in Norveidt on cheap to add bite in midfield, signed Berge who is amazing from Sheff Utd, called AMN back from loan as has decent stats, same with Nketiah. Then signed regent player Thuram, Martinez and Mammana as CB.

Managed to win League Cup against City, and Europa League against Milan, so managed 2 Cup wins already and when I took over they were in 15th place when I took over, somehow managed to go unbeaten and finished a respectable 5th place.

Now to build this team properly for a challenge.

Sounds like nothing changed in 4 years at the Emirates then.

 

[Wolf]

Sounds like nothing changed in 4 years at the Emirates then.

I beg to differ we've now won 2 cups ?
Give it a few months and they'll sack me ?

 

[Orikoru]

I didn't play over the weekend but I think Friday night my save had gone a bit daft. League has gone down the pan as we lost 4-0 to Inter and 4-0 to Lazio as well - I have no idea what happened either time. Normally our defence is great. I think we'll get top 4 but to win the league for a third time will be a step too far this time. We also lost the Italian Cup for the third time in my four seasons, which is incredibly annoying even though I don't prioritise that competition at all. We lost it 1-0 to Atalanta thanks to a JUAN FOYTH FREE KICK. Seriously. I don't know why I bother.

Champion's League though, different story! After smashing Dortmund we got Liverpool in the quarters, didn't expect to get past them but we smashed them 3-0 at home and got the 1-1 at Anfield to see us through to the semis. Barcelona awaited us, but we won the away leg 2-1 at the Nou! Just need to hold it together at home and then I can look forward to us bottling another cup final. Joy.

I've signed Thomas Lemar on a free for next season as well. I don't really need him as I already have Kluivert and Saka on the left to be fair, might let Cengiz Under go and play Kluivert on the right or something. I don't really know. I have decided Schick can leave, he's worth £69mil somehow, and although he scored 25 goals in my second season, in the third & fourth seasons he's been rubbish. Unfortunately 50% of his sale fee will go to Sampdoria (this was already set in at the start of the game), so I need to sell someone else as well and my plan is to bring in Haaland, since he's still at Dortmund somehow so I reckon I might be able to get that one over the line. Not that I've made any enquiries yet because we have basically no money again at the moment.

I might go for Luka Jovic, there was a weird situation with him. He was transfer listed at Real Madrid, PSG bought him for 31 mil, but two weeks later they transfer listed him as well. With an asking price of £60m. It's not like PSG need to wheel and deal for cash so I couldn't work out what happened there. It wasn't by player request or anything either. But anyway, it does mean he's available and he looks good if I can't get Haaland in.

A tidy 1-1 at home with Barca saw us through to final. We lost a league game to Bologna which meant the league was out of grasp, but we then won our last 5 league games to put us in great form going into the final. It was at Wembley, against Chelsea, and I was expecting another huge bottlejob from us. But what we got was an epic final. 2-0 up inside 20 mins thanks to Zaniolo and Mancini. Loftus-Cheek got one back for them, but Kluivert put us 3-1. We were gifted a penalty but Barbosa missed it, then Loftus-Cheek scored again, so rather than 4-1 and comfortable it was now 3-2 at half time! Around the hour mark I subbed Schick on and he scored immediately to make it 4-2, and that's how it stayed. Champion's League - completed it mate! 3rd in the league was disappointing but at least we have something to show for the season now. Very happy with that.

 

[Orikoru]

I was given £60m budget after that. I figured that since we've won the league twice and the champions league, the only thing left to try and do is really dominate domestically, since both our league wins were last minute affairs, and we're yet to win the Italian Cup. With that in mind, I decided to spunk most of that budget on Erling Haaland. We already had Camavinga coming in for free, as well as Lemar (although god knows why I signed him, I can't see him getting games to be honest). Inter wanted the keeper Pau Lopez, so I let them have him, and bought Vandevoort off them in return since he wasn't getting a game. And I needed another centre back, so I brought in Ben Godfrey from Norwich, reuniting with my skipper from my old Norwich save, lol. I just need to sell quite a few players to make ends meet now - we have about 7 strikers for a start! Schick is the big one I'm trying to offload since he's worth 75m now and takes home about 150k.

SWK: Vandevoort / Guilherme(regen)
IWBR: Tomiyasu / Hakimi
BPD: Mancini / Tomiyasu
BPD: Carlos(regen) / Godfrey
IWBL: Chilwell / Pesce(regen)
WR: Zaniolo / Under
BBM: Pellegrini / Ramsey / Riccardi
DLP: Camavinga / Cristante / Riccardi
WL: Kluivert / Saka / Lemar
PF: G.Barbosa / Raspadori / Ranieri(regen)
CF: Haaland / Forni(regen) / L.Traore / Schick

 

[Wolf]

So halfway through my first full season with Arsenal. Been good so far having built on the strong end of season we had previously, not lost a league game since I took over.

Signed Reece James & Bubba Rahman at full back, both have been a revelation James is flying at RB even making the World XI, Rahman I signed as cover for Tierney but he has put in performances that means I can't drop him. Willock has suddenly developed into one hell of a midfielder forming a partnership with Berge. Also Baku who I Brough back off loan has been immense in Midfield. Martinelli was banging in goals but has now been out injured for 2 months. But seems Laca is having a renaissance and can't stop scoring meaning he's now starting & Pepe is flying with a goal every other game.

19 League games played 14 Wins & 5 draws puts us 7pts clear at top of table ahead of Spurs, having beaten City twice, Spurs, Utd & Liverpool. We won our CL group smashing Dortmund 5-0, in fourth round of FA Cup and Just booked our place in the league Cup final so we could potentially win that back to back. This is certainly not the Arsenal I know ?

 

[Orikoru]

So halfway through my first full season with Arsenal. Been good so far having built on the strong end of season we had previously, not lost a league game since I took over.

Signed Reece James & Bubba Rahman at full back, both have been a revelation James is flying at RB even making the World XI, Rahman I signed as cover for Tierney but he has put in performances that means I can't drop him. Willock has suddenly developed into one hell of a midfielder forming a partnership with Berge. Also Baku who I Brough back off loan has been immense in Midfield. Martinelli was banging in goals but has now been out injured for 2 months. But seems Laca is having a renaissance and can't stop scoring meaning he's now starting & Pepe is flying with a goal every other game.

19 League games played 14 Wins & 5 draws puts us 7pts clear at top of table ahead of Spurs, having beaten City twice, Spurs, Utd & Liverpool. We won our CL group smashing Dortmund 5-0, in fourth round of FA Cup and Just booked our place in the league Cup final so we could potentially win that back to back. This is certainly not the Arsenal I know ?

Have you still got Saka there? He's immense in my squad, it's just a shame Kluivert is even better. I bought Saka for only £6m when his contract was running out, and he's now worth £70m. Unfortunately he's asked me for bloody stupid wages, which I've declined so he's transfer listed by request. Barca, Man City, Man Utd, Real Madrid and Spurs are all interested!

 

[Wolf]

Have you still got Saka there? He's immense in my squad, it's just a shame Kluivert is even better. I bought Saka for only £6m when his contract was running out, and he's now worth £70m. Unfortunately he's asked me for bloody stupid wages, which I've declined so he's transfer listed by request. Barca, Man City, Man Utd, Real Madrid and Spurs are all interested!

I do indeed he was playing superb but is currently out injured, current value is around £75m. Whilst he's out I've got Zaha playing there.

If you want a good Attacking Midfielder/Play maker check out Smith-Rowe. He's immense and is playing all the big teams off the park.

 

[Dan2501]

Won our 4th straight title with 5 games to spare. Currently unbeaten this season as well, just beat Ajax away which was our last real tough game of the season so should hopefully manage an invincibles season. Not lost a game in the league since the 6th game of last season, so on a 58 game unbeaten streak. Also not conceded in the league for 14 games or dropped points since January, we're quite good Europa League didn't go well, lost in the 2nd KO round to Leverkusen on penalties. Next season I'm hoping we'll give a better account of ourselves in Europe.

Got my eye on my big summer target for the summer window - going to splash the cash on Sebastiano Esposito. Currently at Dortmund but has a £79m release clause, so that's the most we'll have to pay, just hope his wage demands aren't mental. Gouiri's done well for us up top, has 19 goals in 36 starts but need a world class striker to take us to the next level and think Esposito is that man. If we can secure him I think the squad is going to be looking very strong.

 

[Hackers76]

Bought the game during lockdown and initially struggled to get into it this year (Last purchase was FM18). A friend who is an Everton fan offered a 3 season challenge with my team Spurs which was the push I needed...
First season won the league and league cup, as much down to Man City and Liverpool being pretty inept. I finished on 88 points with the other two on 85 & 84 respectively. Definitely the forward play that won it as I notched up 100 goals and conceded 44. With only a £15m transfer budget I only made the one first team signing pre season Schmelzer coming in from Dortmund for £4.7m, experienced left back who was needed with the injuries Spurs start with. Also signed Kenneh from Leeds and Hlozek from Sparta Prague as long term prospects. In Jan after being given extra funds I signed Oyarzabel as I couldn’t get a tune out of Lo Celso. Wasn’t able to sell him for the right price and he is still at the club after the second season (more on that in next post). In Jan I also sold Vorm, Lamela and Foyth to help reduce the wage bill. I am playing a heavy pressing 4231 so having depth in each position is important, rotates well and kept everyone happy. Kane won every award going in England and internationally, he finished with 39 goals in 35 prem matches.

 

[Hackers76]

Second season and won the league again but apart from the Community Shield that was the only success getting knocked out of the domestic cups very early, I did manage to get to the CL semi finals losing 7-6 on agg to Liverpool. Finished the season on 96 points losing just twice. Scored 89 goals but defensively much better conceding just 28. It was Liverpool’s league until last 7 games and as they had got to every final couldn’t keep up the form with So many games. They won 3 of those last 7 and I won the league by 4 points as I won 14 of my last 15 games, drawing the other.
In terms of transfer Chilwell (£53m), Wague (£32m) and Tsygankov (£34m) signed in the summer and all were superb. No big departures at that point with Rose being the biggest for £15m but cleared down the squad and recouped £53m in total. In the Jan transfer window Beijing offered £72m for Son which was too good a deal to turn down. Especially as Sancho was listed at his own request. Couldn’t afford him straight away but convinced Dortmund to loan him with an £81m fee agreed for the summer. He and Sessegnon have been superb down the left.
It’s in the AMC position I have a dilemma now as Deli Alli has been very poor so ideally I would be keeping Lo Celso and Oyazarbel but being homegrown he is good to keep about. Have a decision to make there. Also need to think about replacing Lloris and signing long term replacements for Alderweireld and Sissoko but with £81m going out of the transfer budget I am going to have some tough decisions on who to move on.

 

[Dan2501]

Well, there goes any hope of winning the CL this season. Summer window has started horrifically. Release clauses activated for Vignato and Kana, offered them significantly more money to stay but they both said no. £82m for Vignato from Real Madrid, £79m for Kana from Arsenal. Augustinsson has also gone, he's 29 and had an offer of £32.5m which I just couldn't resist, so that's 3 really good players gone and not been able to sign anyone yet.

Looks like we might get Boadu from City for £70m, which would be nice. But now need to try and find a replacement for Vignato. Eugh. This is not the transfer window I wanted.

 

[Wolf]

Just wrapped up my first full season with Arsenal.. League Champions without losing a game, League Cup Winners beating Liverpool on penalties and FA Cup winners thrashing Spurs 5-0 in the final. So we signed off a domestic treble in style, also means as a manager I haven't lost a domestic game in 3 seasons ??

Only downside was getting my arse spanked by REAL in the Quarter finals of the CL. Still been a good season built the squad to an acceptable level but now need to add those touches of excellence to further that CL dream. Have just signed Dias from Juve for an unbelievably low 6.25m?

I want another decent RB as cover for James, Another solid CM and ideally a striker as well. See what I can do with the 147m budget.

 

[Orikoru]

Season 5 is going well. After 20 games we're W14 D5 L1, scored 51 and conceded 11. Couple of annoying draws against poorer teams which are annoying, and hence Juventus are only 1 point behind us. It's February and we're unbeaten since September (and in that defeat we were absolutely robbed by VAR). Smashed our Champions League group including beating Bayern 4-0 at home and 3-1 away, and knocking 6 and 5 past Shakhtar. We've got PSG in the next round.

Haaland has 16 goals in 26(1), Kluivert has 15 in 23(3) from left wing which is superb. He just gets better and better. Thomas Lemar broke his leg which actually solved a problem for me - Saka did a massive U-turn on his contract demands and decided to stay for a lot less than originally demanded, so then I had three left wingers. So despite the fact I just signed Lemar for free, I'll probably be selling him at the end of the season without him making a single start! Oh, and I've also just signed Leon Bailey on a free as his contract is expiring at Leverkusen, so he arrives next season just to throw another world class winger into the mix. Also got Pau Torres arriving for free as centre back cover. We've got no money to spend as the whole lot goes on wage budget - every five minutes another player is demanding a better contract - but in all honesty we've top class players in every position now so it works out fine!

 

[Orikoru]

23 matches unbeaten in the league. 8 goals conceded in that time, clean sheets in the last 7 games in a row. We're 6 points clear at the top after 27 games - 68 goals for 11 against. We've reached the Italian Cup final for the 4th time in my 5 seasons - maybe we've finally win it this time! Unfortunately we're out of the Champion's League. Lost to a frankly ridiculous PSG team. Their back line was Kimmich, Van Dijk, Upamecano, Reguilon with Onana in goal. And Mbappe is just terrifying.

Most interestingly, the board takeover they've been talking about for 5 years has finally actually happened! Remains to be seen how that will affect things in terms of money. I was probably due winding this save down if we smashed the league and cup this season, but if they give us a tonne of money I could go for one more season.

 

[Orikoru]

Season finished, we've smashed it. Finally won the Italian Cup in my 4th final attempt. Won the league with 93 points, 7 clear of Juve. 98 goals for and 16 against. Bit sad we didn't quite hit 100 goals but you can't have everything. Even though we've got Leon Bailey arriving and £90mil to spend thanks to the board takeover, I'm not really sure there's much point continuing this save now, I've pretty much achieved what I wanted and there isn't much left to do now.

 

[Orikoru]

Unbelievable developments... in a bid to keep this save interesting for one more year, I threw some money plus Patrik Schick at PSG to try and sign Mbappe. To my great surprise, I've done it! They accepted 85m up front, plus Schick (who was worth 60-odd), plus another 40m in future payments. His contract demands were mental, wanted 450k, we were only allowed up to 325, but I gave him every bonus under the sun, we're talking 155k appearance fee, 155k goal bonus, 155k unused sub, you name it. But he's bloody signed! Mbappe and Haaland up top, this should be fun.

 

[Orikoru]

After signing Mbappe I also managed to bring in Declan Rice as midfield cover, and Matvienko as a back-up left back. Unsurprisingly my team is ridiculous now. It's December, we are top having won all 16 games, 53 goals and 6 against. In fact, including the end of last season we've now won our last 29 competitive games in a row. Haaland has 16 goals in 17(1), Mbappe has 15 in 18(4). Even Rice has been a goal machine with 6 in 16(3) - not really how you'd perceive him in real life! This will almost definitely be my last season on this save unless it goes disastrously wrong somehow. I'm sure the game will chuck me a stupid defeat eventually, but obviously I hope we can go the whole season unbeaten to finish it all off.

Starting to think about where to go next. I was thinking RBL, but I'm tempted to go back home to England, even with the Brexit rubbish. Man Utd are tempting but might be too easy, I'm not sure. Maybe go for a Wolves or a Leicester? Or, weirdly for a Spurs but recognising it's only a game - Arsenal might be a decent challenge!

 

[ScienceBoy]

Top 5 fan requested features for FM21

5. New Match Engine
4. Stadium Design
3. More realistic training
2. More feedback on tactic
1. Left Backs

 

[Orikoru]

Top 5 fan requested features for FM21

5. New Match Engine
4. Stadium Design
3. More realistic training
2. More feedback on tactic
1. Left Backs

I have Chilwell at left back and he's been more than decent!