Football Manager 2020

Season 3 Review:


We finished off Schalke in the last16 then got another favourable draw in the quarters - Porto, who we got past pretty comfortably to reach the Semis! Got drawn against Barca, and done OK, but lost by the odd goal. Given we only got 8 pts in the group, the Semis is definitely an overachievement at this stage - probably wouldn’t have happened without the favourable draws. Not sure my tactics are right yet to challenge to win the CL but my squad is definitely getting there in terms of being good enough to give it a good go.


Domestically we were good again, winning another treble, but lost more league games than in the previous season.













Squad Review and Transfer Plans:


GK - Livakovic, Bain, Tenas


No changes needed


RB - Mura, Walker-Peters


Was difficult to get Walker-Peters a lot of game time - when I play 4 at the back I usually go with Mura, and in the games against the lesser sides I tend to go with a 3-4-1-2 and don’t use fullbacks. W-P is a good player but I may look to sell him and bring in a player who is comfortable at CB and RB (basically a right sided Mulgrew!) so that they can get game time in the 3 at the back system and fill in for Mura at RB when needed.


CB - Ajer, Pavlovic, Holding, McKenna


No changes needed


LB - Sehovic, Taylor


No changes needed


CM - Ntcham, Palacios, Neto, Gagliardini


Really strong here - only change I may make would be to sell Gagliardini, who’s 28, if I can get a younger player in who will improve us


CAM - Almada, Christie


No changes needed


Wingers - Magno, Hlozek, Dembele, Johnston, Forrest


Forrest is nearly 31 so probably look to sell. No replacement needed - these should be my 4 wingers for the rest of the save. All young and very promising


ST - Edouard, Arezo, Gaich


No changes needed


Expecting some more big bids but as always no key players are going anywhere no matter the size of the bid!

 

I am getting no bids at all for any of my listed players. I've offered them out above their value and gradually brought it down to well below their value and still nothing. I added Simunovic to the Unwanted List but that only ended up in a loan with an Optional Future Fee. Is there a new way to get bids in this game? trying to get rid of Sinclair, Bitton, Simo, Hayes and Gordon.

 

Hows some of the celtic boys progressing. You got any screenshots

 

Very few incomings as expected, but we did pull off one amazing signing!



Camavinga becomes our record signing and highest earner. He was valued at £31m but managed to get him by offering £25m (£10m up front and £15m in installments) and a 50% sell on clause, which will never matter anyway as he’s going no where. A big fee but offset by the sales.



I also got my right sided Mulgrew in Mason Holgate. He’ll cover both right back and centre back - will try and bring on the attacking side of his game as he looks sound defensively



Got a crazy amount of bids for top players, but none were accepted. The wee man is starting to get a lot of attention now, but tied him down to a new deal until 2027!



Had a good start to the league season, and got drawn with Barca (that’s 4 CL seasons in a row I’ll have played them), Salzburg and Freiburg - no qualifiers any more.

 

Will grab some next time I’m on

 

I found it pretty tough too. If I want rid though I always offer them out at a bit less than their value at first to get teams interested. Offering them above their value straight away might put teams off and mean they aren’t interested even when the price is lowered.

One thing that seems new for this year is that if you agree to sell someone for much less than their value the board can block the sale

 

Well well well, this is all going * swimmingly.



Had a flawless pre-season and was pleased to see that form carry through into the league. Gentle opening run of fixtures, sure, and Real + Barca away back-to-back (albeit separated by an international window) loomed as the obvious point where we’d suffer our first losses. But we actually gave Real a proper game and for the want of slightly better finishing and a less disastrous GK performance, we might’ve notched a draw.

Speaking of that GK performance, my man has a few issues admitting fault.



Played ‘well.’ Yeah, pal, sure.



Despite some ropey performances and doubt from the fans, I’m sticking with him as my #1 as he’s got the potential to develop into a long-term top talent. Robles is on par with him but there’s no point using him if it derails Dani Martin’s progress.

Favourite performance of the campaign so far would probably be our latest against Sociedad, fell behind 2-0 early on but rallied back with three second half goals to clinch the victory.



Was particularly happy that Iglesias scored the winner as he’s been struggling to score, had dropped him for Loren the past couple of games so he had a point to prove off the bench.

As for the Camp Nou massacre, let's just gloss over that particular result. Call it an aberration and move on.

Joaquin has been the early season MVP for us so far, he’s scored a goal in each of our five wins. Had a reasonably quiet window due to budget constraints but did manage to get a few things done. Sold Barragan as we were overloaded with RBs and he was a year away from expiring. Made 1.5m iirc. Also got rid of Kaptoum because I was skeptical of his ability, managed to get Mallorca to cough up 950k for him.

Made two signings, the first was Exequiel Palacios who I was familiar with from my Schalke save. He barely got a game in that as he was stuck behind Tonali and Szobaszlai, but in this save there’s a much clearer path for him to become first choice. Have been playing him ahead of Guardado and he’s adapted well, prior to pulling a calf and missing a couple of games. Cost 6m all up which is reasonable.

Other guy I bought was Pau Torres, the Villarreal centre half who I had my eye on in my Schalke save but never needed to pull the trigger on. In this instance he’s a perfect fit, particularly as you start with only 3 centre halves (4 if you count Mandi but I’m exclusively using him as an RB, punted Barca’s loanee Emerson to Betis B because he wasn’t a role fit so I didn’t want to use him) and I like operating with 4. In my Schalke save I could get Kehrer but Betis doesn’t have the sort of money to justify his salary. Pau slots in nicely on a 15k, 5 + 1 yr deal. Cost 9.75 in total with 2.8m of that up front. Will initially be 3rd-choice behind the starting pair of Sidnei and Bartra, so there’s no rush for him to come in and establish himself as a starter straight away.



Early days and that but a solid start. Kudos to Celta who are randomly romping it at the top, look forward to playing them as they seem to be on a proper tear. Gegenpress seems to be just as good in La Liga as it was in Germany. Glad I’m not having to have a first season of verging on the sack struggle to figure that out like I did with Schalke. Target is Europa League qualy, doubt we’ll hang with Atleti/Valencia/Celta for the final CL spot but you never know. Would also be nice to top Sevilla.

 

I found a similar start as well, I'm nearing the run in to first season and sit 7th, think I'm 3points off that Europa spot I need. Also find my self in the final of the Copa del Rey, should hopefully win the thing.

Got connell on an extended loan for next season as well, and hoping the two midfielders come back without having their release clause activated by spurs or palace.
If I manage that, I'm pretty happy with my squad, with only wanting some firm upgrades at CB, attk mid and a CF.

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Are you planning on buying Pedraza for LB? He's been performing reasonably well for me, despite having the doesn't enjoy big matches trait. He has a full star worth of potential to develop, is young at 23, and the buy option of 8.6m is quite reasonable. Don't think you'd find comparable quality on the market at that price so I'll probably end up taking him permanently.

I'd love to have Lo Celso back. Loan fee for him is great, think it's like 1.5m a month which I calculated works out to about 15m over the course of the loan. I'd slot him in at CM if Spurs didn't buy him, behind Fekir at #10. Not sure about Camarasa as I'd already have Exequiel as my long term CM, but perhaps Camarasa could replace Javi Garcia as my second DM option.

 

I'm not a massive fan of loans, more so ones I haven't made so I'm likely to look elsewhere.
I signed hickey, who although is weaker than him, does still have a lot of potential.
I'm likely to weight it up for a permanent move.

Inevitably I want a 25 man squad, I hate having a bloated squad and like a main starting 11 with a rotational backup 11 that has potential. Then the 3 extra is usually a keeper, versatile defender and midfielder.

I've 9million (I think) in April just now. Hoping for a decent transfer kitty though come summer. Carvalho is getting sold, he just doesn't fit my team, I don't play with a DM that deeply.

How do you find kapoutum (sp?)

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As mentioned previously I sold Kaptoum to Mallorca for 950k, not a lot of potential and got bumped out of a sub role by my acquisition of Exequiel Palacios. I quite like Carvalho having seen how the DM/CM split works, was worried about ceding the midfield to the opposition but we tend to boss most games for possession. I've got him on DM-S so he doesn't sit too far back. Will probably hang on to him unless someone bids silly money.

I'm still adjusting to La Liga's 7-man bench, my two previous saves being FM19 Samp with the massive Serie A benches, and then FM20 Schalke with the Bundesliga's 9-man bench. Always a tough juggling act to make sure you've got enough cover for everywhere, particularly both fullback spots. You've basically got to make a choice on which position to risk having less cover for, which makes things interesting. Also a big fan of La Liga's max 3 non-EU players rule, makes you have to really think about which players you allocate them to (Palacios for example being an Argentine without an EU passport/second nationality, but he merits taking one of the spots on potential).

Betis have a strongly Spanish squad to begin with (something like 83% domestic bias iirc) so I'd quite like to keep that theme going, will keep an eye out for quality young Spanish players along the lines of Pau Torres to form the backbone of my squad. Like the look of Ferran Torres for a potential Joaquin replacement, though I don't think Valencia would let him go cheaply (Rober from our U19s looks a good development project, too).

Think I've got a 23-man squad at the moment and that's generally what I like working with, tend to not have any playing time moaning and can keep a fairly consistent starting XI while rotating one or two in for the easier games.

I'm getting news reports about a consortium takeover at the moment, don't really like the sound of it as from memory the consortium takeovers tend to be business as usual and don't actually provide any extra investment.

How are you finding Cristian Tello? He's been woeful for me, hasn't had a single good game and Juanmi has taken his spot as my starting LW.

 

I'm just beginning my third season with Celtic. I won the treble last year and made the QFs of the Champions League. Sold Ajer, Forrest and Eduoard last season so trying to hold onto my key players this time.

The squad is as follows:

GK

Donnarumma, Farinez


RB

Nelson Semedo, Mura


LB

Taylor, Bolingoli, Hickey


CB

Dier, Neuhen Perez, McKenna, Souttar


CM

Ntcham, McGregor, Tonali, Alemandra, Tousart, Connell


AM

Rogic, Christie, Almeda


RW

Bruun-Larsen, Dembele


LW

Obando, Johnston


CF

Haaland, Mayoral, Salcedo, Arezo



I still have a pool of players that i can't shift: Griffiths, Bayo, Gaich and I'm wanting to move on Bolingoli and Rogic as well. I'd accept any healthy bid for Tousart as well as I want to move Tonali into the first team. Will try and send a few of the younger players out on loan as well.

This summer's transfers thus far are Donnarumma and Mayoral on frees. Semedo was 10 million from Barca and Salcedo was £3.2 million. I bought him forgetting i had Mayoral coming in but he's a bonafide wonderkid.

Hopefully i'll go further in the CL this year.


Out of interest, is anyone have issues with penalties? I scored 42 and missed 15 last season.

 

Nice squad!

Yeah at one stage I was getting a few pens every game and scoring the majority. Now I’m getting a bit less but missing roughly half of them! Frustrating.

 

Sold Ntcham for 30m and bought this guy in

 

Bastos has some good mental stats and plays as a no nonsense stopper with Ajer as a covering defender

 

Mayhem at Celtic park as the huns try every dirty trick in the book but Pure class prevails.

 

Didn't take to either Tello or Juanmi by the end of the season, both very poor for assists and goals, having basically shared left wing for most the season (talking like 1 goal and 3 assists territory).

Both are now gone!

I finished the season in the final EL spot, and lost to Valencia in the final of the Copa Del Rey. A reasonable season for Betis, but annoying not to get the silverwear, as I doubt I will get to the final again this season.

Trimmed the squad right down now, at the start of August and I am in the need for 2 or 3 players - namely a young keeper (or a massively world class one), A class CB and a world beater of a CM to give me the much needed quality. Lo Celso and Camarsa both remained at the club, so I am happy. Connell for another year is good for rotation as well, looks to be developing well and I hope to get him perm eventually. But after that in the middle I am a bit light. Arribas is making up the squad numbers, but can't rely on that lack of depth.

Starting 11 is looking like:

Robles
Francis, Sidnei, Barta, Moreno
Camarasa, Lo Celso
Fekir, Canales, Lainez
Iglesias
​

And then a second/rotational 11 of:

Martin
Frimpong, Pavlovic, Mandi, Hickey
Connell, Arribas
Dembele, Henderson, Rober
Sanabria
​

Certainly need a quality Keeper, Centre back and then a Central midfielder. Fekir can play up top which is perfectly fine for cover for me with Iglesias coming off of a great season and Sanabria looking reasonable.

Sitting with £30mill and £80k for kitty and wages - so certainly some movement to be done. But for the real quality, I will need to pay a lot more in wages, so may need to use the loan system again just to see me through another season.
Found the transfer kitty from the board to be * poor, had to generate most funds myself through selling the likes of Tello. Fingers crossed a more streamlined squad and a better understanding can see me perhaps sneak the CL spot this year and get a larger kitty for next year.

I'm noticing the club overall balance in July/August 2019 was rather poor, It stayed steady throught the season, with a very small decline, but the sales so far this season have given a good up turn and sitting at a healthier £63 balance rather than under £30 for the same time last year. Still got a fecking loan to pay off though - £41.5 million and going to be with the club till 2028 - perhaps a takeover may help there, but otherwise I'm going to have to make the club overall better to negate that as an issue.

 

Kids are looking more than adequate!

 

https://gyazo.com/d5ab533b5c980ee9feb84b3a78172e37


https://gyazo.com/6a42e43a1ebe87c95fcee2e02878a434



https://gyazo.com/ae98f25e2c5003d0dfc48bf80230c34c


https://gyazo.com/0323bd0f5deedc929b855ad67843cf2d

Start of second season and eventually I managed to get a 25 man squad. The quality isn't where I want it to challenge for the title, but it's going in the right direction and I feel I have what I would consider "my team" now.
Although the start of the season, now in to October, was slow, I'm only 2pts off 2nd place and sit in 8th - just beat Barca at home to make the table look healthier for me.

Negotiated the Europa qualifiers and got Spurs, L.Moscow and SKN St. Polten. Won the first game against SKN, but got beat by Spurs. Expecting to better Moscow over the two games, and will take 2nd place behind Spurs - which will be good, however the board some how expect me to get to the last 16 even though I only just made the EL in the league table last season.
I've still got £10.5m and £35k in transfer and wages left, with a positve EL run, I am hoping for an increase in that for January, but need to wait and see.


I'm happy now with my spine of the team, Barta, Torres and Pavlovic are going to be the CBs on the whole for the season, Mandi (and Sidnei) are the backups, which is decent. Middle, Palacios and Lo Celso and Canales provide a good attacking and flair trio, perhaps lacking in strength and dig though - so the upgrade here is on Camarasa long term, to provide good rotation and depth when it comes to the tougher games. Connell develops well and if I get him perm I will be happy. Henderson looks not to be up to much though, I am eying up a couple of youth in the squads long term.
Wingers I am happy long term, although I am hoping Rober transition to the left soon.
Up top, if Sanabria doesn't cut it, then I will equally look to add that quality.
Keeper also need a 3rd choice, or rather an amazing starter and push the other two down a peg.

So come January my hopes are to be in the last 32, still be in a EL position within the top 7 positions in the league and then look to sign a stronger CM and a replacement ST and Keeper.