Manager Mode Progress

[KG]

For all of those who are still soldiering on with FIFA, I'd like to hear your MM progress. I'll start it off.


Team: Nottingham Forest
League: EPL
Difficulty: Legendary


Current Season: Yr 6 (2013-2014)
Standings: N/A
Silverware:
European Club Competition:
FA Cup:
English Cup:


Key Acquisitions:
Summer Window -
Jan Window -


Yr 5 (2012-2013)
Standings: 1st
Silverware:
European Club Competition: Champions League (Beat Roma in the Finals 4-1 on PKs
FA Cup: Trophy Winners (3-1 win over Tottenham)
English Cup: Knocked out by Arsenal in Round 5
Barclays Premier League Winner


Key Acquisitions: Summer Window – Jorge Williams, ST/LM/LF (Hanover 96),
Jan Window - None

All of my silverware came down to the last 3 matches. First up was the EPL which required is to get 3 pts @ Anfield. We went up 1-0 but Torres tied it at 1-1. We then ran off 3 straight goals to celebrate Forest’s 1^st EPL Title since 1978.
>
Next up was the Spurs in the FA Cup @ the New Wembley. We thrashed them 3-0 behind a hat trick from ST Nathaniel Tyson

The CL Final vs Roma was in Stadio Olympico so our backs were against the wall. We went up 1-0 on a Tyson goal before Totti headed in the equalizer. We then went up 2-1 on a Ruben Ramos goal in the 75^th which appeared to be the match winner until Julio Baptista put a poor clearance in the back of the net

After 2 scoreless ET’s my GK Paul Smith stepped up huge stopping Baptista’s first PK. Vucinic then hit the crossbar while Obi Mikel, Jesus Navas, Victor Obinna calmly sunk their shots. After Totti went top right corner, ST Nate Tyson stepped up and banged in the winner and the celebration was on.

Our goal this yr was to win 4 trophies. We fell short but 3 is a great accomplishment. There were rumors that the Forest Manager was moving to La Liga but those fell through and he signed a 1yr deal to remain in West Bridgeford


Yr 4 (2011-2012)
Standings: 2nd
Silverware:
European Club Competition: None
Knocked out of FA Cup in Round 2
English Cup: Knocked out by Wigan in Round 5

Key Acquisitions: Summer Window - Jesus Navas, RM (Sevilla),
Jan Window - Jerome Boateng, RB (Portsmouth, originally Hamburg SV), Franco Di Santo, ST (Free Agent, but originally Chelsea)

All I needed was 2 pts out of the last 2 matches and lost 1-0 to West Ham and tied Newcastle 1-1. UGH. Finished 1 pt behind Manchester United but qualified for the CL

Yr 3 (2010-2011)

Standings: 7th
Silverware:
European Club Competition: Qualified for CL by beating AC Milan 6-2 on agg, Knocked out in Group Stage 0-4-2
Knocked out of FA Cup by Crystal Palace in Round 4
Knocked out of the English Cup in Round 5 vs Everton (EA got me with 2 games on the same day

Key Acquisitions: Summer Window - Breno Borges, CB (Bayern Munich), Marek Stech, GK (West Ham), Kamil Rinaudo, LB (Created Player, 19yrs old - 75 Ovr = STUD). Jan Window - Erik Winstrom, CAM, (Scouted, 21 81 Ovr)

Was sitting in 4th with 3 matches left. Lost @ Craven Cottage, Lost at home to Liverpool, and lost @ Everton. Didn't qualify for any Euro Club tournament action and Job Security dipped down to 65%.

Yr 2 (2009-2010)

Standings: 3rd place. Secured a Champions League birth
Silverware: Community Shield
European Club Competition: Lost to Juve 6-1 on agg in the semifinals of the UEFA Cup (Buffon was a stud
Key Acquisitions: Summer Window - Bryan Ruiz Gonzalez, LW (Gent, Costa Rica), Alvaro Gonzalez, RW (Boca Jrs) Jan Window - Ruben Ramos, ST (Atletico Madrid) , Carlos Albert Gomes, CM (Sao Paulo)


Yr 1 (2008-2009)

Standings: 1st with 90pts. Promoted to EPL
Silverware: FA Cup (Only faced 2 EPL teams and beat Newcastle in the final) & Championship League Title
Key Acquisitions: Summer Window - Diego Godin, CB (Villarreal) Jan Window - Obi Mikel, CDM (Chelsea), Pedro Lopez, RB (Valladoid) , Rafael Miranda, CDM, LB (Miranda, Brazil)

With a lower league team you really have to add depth since the fitness manager starts off at 4. With UEFA, Cups, and the EPL you can play close to 60 matches a year.

[southernbelle]

Arsenal Season 5, just beat Villareal for qualifying into group stage of ECC.

Won Barclays Cup and ECC cup in season 3, but got nothing last year. Some people say it is scripted... maybe so, but still feels special when you when it. Season 4 I

I keep all my "assistants" at moderate levels. And I turn auto growth off and only progress players moderately. My big buy was in summer after season 2. I bought Sergio Ramos to fortify my backline and we won the silverware. I just sold Rosiscky. Arshavin, gallas, toure are declining rapidly as they are all over 30.

Alll the young gooners are coming along at low 70s. I have used the Carling Cup and The FA cup to let the youngsters play.

FIFA manager mode is severly broken, but its still like crack to me... imagine when they fix it. though, i am not overly encouraged for this coming year... i think 09 was gameplay and '10 will be online....

As far as transfers... now I have so much money that i will only buy if the player is on the "sell" sheet. i will not agressively go after players. its just too easy with a big club.

**I need to take a lower club up the ranks... i am just a die hard gooner.

[Blaxican8504]

Team: Bristol City
League: EPL
Difficulty: Legendary

Year One: 35-3-8 (108 points; 1st in Championship)
Silverware: FA Cup (2-1 win over Chelsea), Coca-Cola Championship, Lost 2-0 in Carling Cup Final to Newcastle
Summer Acquisitions: Michael Mancienne (CB, Chelsea), Kyle Naughton (RB, Sheffield United), Joe Mattock (LB, Leicester City), Fabian Delph (CM, Leeds United), Fraizer Campbell (ST, Tottenham Hotspurs)
Winter Acquisitions: Michael Kightly (RW, Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tom Soares (CM, Charlton Athletic)

Year Two: 6-3-2 (21 points; Currently 2nd)
Silverware: None yet, still in all competitions
Summer Acquisitions: Jonjo Shelvey (CM, Charlton Athletic), Lee Grant (GK, Sheffield Wednesday), Ishmael Miller (ST, West Brom)

[Qb]

Blax, you bought Frazier Campbell?!?!? I simply refuse to believe that...

I just started one, also with Nottingham Forest. It took me a long time to come around and it was hard to resist going with the Gunners yet again. I'm watching the 3rd period of the Penguins/Flyers game, so after I play a few tonight, I'll update using Kg's tidy format.

[netjam99]

Quick pic above to show off the Rogues and Cosmos kits.

Well, no progress to report. Other than I spent a better part of a week 'tricking out' the MLS to my liking. Expanded to 18 teams. Which included adding the Seattle Sounders, Atlanta Chiefs, NY Cosmos and my own Memphis Rogues. (When I was a teen for as long as we had our Mphs NASL team my brothers and I went to about everygame!)

I ditched the playoffs, the champion will win it during the season. Then the champ gets into the Euro Champions League! LOL I know but hey I'm the chairman of FIFA on my PC. Oh yeah we adopted the Euro Schedule, play from Fall to Spring.

Well, after all that work I am going to kickoff my Rogues franchise today. Spent enough time working on Kits, Stadiums and Tournys on that great CM program.

[Qb]

Nice work, Netjam! OK, finally got a chance to play a few more games -- I'm in mid-September of my first season:

Team: Nottingham Forest
League: Coca-Cola Championship (for now! )
Difficulty: World Class (for now?)

League Standing: 4-2-2 (14 points, +7 GD; currently 7th in Championship and 5 points out of a promotion spot with one game in hand)
Cup Competitions: Lost in first round of Carling Cup to Norwich City
Summer Acquisitions: Chris Gunter* (RB, Tottenham); Bojan Jokic* (LB, Sochaux); Ardian Gashi (CM, Frederikstad FK); Andrew Driver (LW, Hearts)

* Indicates player purchased from the transfer list

My formation(s) and tactics are finally starting to come together with the purchase of Driver & Gashi, both of whom required the maximum fee allowed in regards to the market value (1.185M & 900K in euros). I'm currently playing a 4-3-3:

--------------- Smith (C) ---------------
Gunter --- Chambers -- Morgan --- Jokic

--------------- Moussi -----------------
------- Gashi ---------- McGougan -----

- Anderson --------------------- Driver -
---------------- Tyson -----------------

Build Up Spd/Pass: 40/70 (Organised)
Chance Creation Pass/Cross/Shoot: 80/50/35 (Free Form)
Defense Press/Agg/Width: 40/60/25 (Cover)

I also will employ a more conservative 4-5-1 with two holding mids and the wingers pulled back, along with less aggressive custom tactics when trying to defend a lead late. I'm starting to hit my stride offensively, especially after switching from a 4-4-2 to the current formation and changing to free-form chance creation. I've scored 11 goals in my last five games (time of switch) after netting only three in my first four. And of course, some player development and squad additions have helped considerably.

I updgraded my negotiator to level five and fitness coach to level six. I'd like to get fitness up to a seven before the FA Cup starts, but there's no rush as I don't have more than a game per week until Christmas. Hopefully I'll be able to bank some cash to add a few more players in the January window to cope with the compacted schedule. I'm trying to keep things reasonable in terms of whom I purchase -- I don't want to buy anyone that would never make the move.

For example, I'm not going to go out and buy a starter from a top league or too many Germans, Italians, Spaniards or South Americans, etc that wouldn't make the jump to England to play in a lower league. For instance, Gunter is from Wales and was 3rd choice RB at Spurs; Jokic is Serbian; Gashi is Norwegian; Driver is English, but was playing for an average Scottish team. Of the three, only Gashi isn't young -- but he's only 27 so he should be fine for at least a few years and will be the captain once he's acclimated to the squad. I know, I'm crazy...

Overall, I'm really enjoyed it thus far. I can see myself sticking with this for at least a few months and hopefully completing a few seasons. I just hope that when I get to the Premier League that I feel like I'm fighting for survival, not battling for European places right off the bat. Maybe I'll try Legendary, but I never really enjoyed it as the CPU just gets too many boosts/advantages/cheats...

[netjam99]

Thanks QB I appreciate it. I see you ditched the original Nott'm Forest formation. What was it? 4-3-2-1, anyway with them I went to the 4-4-2 or however you type it. But I reconize some names on your starting lineup. Like many I rolled with Nottingham when I tried a season in England.

Seems like a lot of guys like to grab Forest. Famous name and you get to work your way out of the Championship league up to the Premier.

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by netjam99

Thanks QB I appreciate it. I see you ditched the original Nott'm Forest formation. What was it? 4-3-2-1, anyway with them I went to the 4-4-2 or however you type it. But I reconize some names on your starting lineup. Like many I rolled with Nottingham when I tried a season in England. Seems like a lot of guys like to grab Forest. Famous name and you get to work your way out of the Championship league up to the Premier.

It's funny you mention ditching the default formation, as it is actually a 4-3-3. So really I went back to it, although I have it set up a little differently. The default is a straight 4-3-3 with the midfielders in an even alignment. I dropped the CM back to a CDM and pushed up the right & left CMs to RAM & LAM. I also did some positioning arrow & work rate adjustments. So my formation is a 4-1-2-3 if we're being picky...

For the record, I tried a Forest MM with 08, but playing in League One was utterly snooze-inducing. I'm sure KG heard me talking about it when we played all that OTP last summer. I think the allure is the history and the challenge of building them up to reach their former heights. I typically go with my favorite team, Arsenal, but I always find myself trying to stick with the real players and being reluctant to buy anyone. With Forest, it's all about improving the team any which way I can...

For a quick update, I knocked off the #2 team in the Championship (Preston NE) last night in a 3-2 thriller. They had only lost one in 11 matches coming into the game. Could prove to be a big win down the road...

[KG]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

It's funny you mention ditching the default formation, as it is actually a 4-3-3. So really I went back to it, although I have it set up a little differently. The default is a straight 4-3-3 with the midfielders in an even alignment. I dropped the CM back to a CDM and pushed up the right & left CMs to RAM & LAM. I also did some positioning arrow & work rate adjustments. So my formation is a 4-1-2-3 if we're being picky... For the record, I tried a Forest MM with 08, but playing in League One was utterly snooze-inducing. I'm sure KG heard me talking about it when we played all that OTP last summer. I think the allure is the history and the challenge of building them up to reach their former heights. I typically go with my favorite team, Arsenal, but I always find myself trying to stick with the real players and being reluctant to buy anyone. With Forest, it's all about improving the team any which way I can... For a quick update, I knocked off the #2 team in the Championship (Preston NE) last night in a 3-2 thriller. They had only lost one in 11 matches coming into the game. Could prove to be a big win down the road...

I think I picked Forest because they have a lot of young English talent. Talking to Blax night last night I realized I only have 8 English players now. I have really raided South America for young talent. I can't even remember what my traditional formation was but I adapted to my roster instead of trying to fit the players into my style.

--------------- Smith ----------------

P.Lopez --- D.Godin(C) -- K.Wilson --- J.Bennett

---------Obi Mikel-- Moussi ------------

------ P.Anderson ------ B.Ruiz Gonzalez-----

-------------- V. Obinna--------------

---------------- Tyson -----------------

That's what I'm rolling with right now. If I'm playing a team that is good in the air I will play Bremo as LB and Bennett against faster wingers (Man U, Chelsea, etc...)

Obi Mikel & Moussi hold me down in the midfield. Both have great size and a strong physical CDMs. Moussi is getting better at pushing forward but Tyson & Obinna are my main threats in the goal department. So far in Yr3 I have gotten doubles from both Anderson & B.R. Gonzalez. To me that's a sign of my team getting better and not having to rely on Tyson & Obinna. I don't play anyone that wide but I like it because Tyson & Obinna aren't too good in the air.

With the exception of LB/RW my starting 11 is pretty set in stone unless one of my youngins steps up big time.

[Blaxican8504]

Quote: Originally Posted by kgx2thez

I think I picked Forest because they have a lot of young English talent. Talking to Blax night last night I realized I only have 8 English players now. I have really raided South America for young talent.

That is terrible. Out of the 31 players on my squad, 21 are from England. 1 Nigerian, 1 Brazilian, and the rest are from Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland. You have turned your back on the locals.