Shifty*i Messes Around at FM

[ShiftyPowers]

Does anyone else do this? Occasionally when I start a game I will also take control of Monaco with another manager to buy up all the players on my team that I don't want

 

[Bobby]

Of course not!

I use Chelsea.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I don't offer with unreasonable prices or anything either, I think it's... mostly fair. I use Monaco because if they get ruined for a few years with stupid purchases and contracts, no one really cares.

 

[Juventino]

Haha, I've never done that. I usually don't have trouble selling players, I'll usually settle for a decent (still under value) amount because I consider them not needed anyway.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Second season with Wolfsburg now, my team looks really good

GK: Benaglio

DR: Jung
DC: Balanta
DC: Umtiti
DL: Oviedo

MC: Samper
MC: Lucas Romero

AMR: Iturbe
AMC: De Bruyne
AML: Depay

ST: V. Aboubakar

First season I had this guy Alan from RB Salzburg as my striker and he was a beast, scored 28 goals in 29 Bundesliga games. Cashed in on him and upgraded to Aboubakar, although the only reason I did sell Alan was because I had a contract agreed with Jese... unfortunately he chose to re-sign with Real Madrid which left me scrambling. Next season I'll replace my fullbacks and goalkeeper, and I should be set. Finished third in the first season, and I'm cruising in the second year so far, beat Arsenal 3-1 in my first CL game.

 

[Juventino]

What happened to Lacazette? Or did you start a new game?

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Yeah, I don't know what the issue is, but I'm having some serious problems with save games crashing. My laptop is pretty shitty, so I'm sure that's the problem, but it is very infuriating. In fact, my save crashed after that win over Arsenal, but luckily I had a backup only 3 games previous. So all I have to do is play those 3 games over again ensuring that I still get the correct results. Because I'll be damned if a corrupted save fucks me over.

 

[Juventino]

Who are you leaning towards for your Benaglio replacement? I remember liking needing a goalkeeper in Bundesliga, there are so many options (if you have money). I went with Bernd Leno first, but got Ter-Stegen from Gladbach two seasons later because I could. The signing didn't really make a difference, I actually won a CL title with Leno so I ended up regretting replacing him a little bit.

 

[yoyo913]

Imagine how good Unbernd Leno would be.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I want Timo Horn.

 

[Alex]

I don't offer with unreasonable prices or anything either, I think it's... mostly fair. I use Monaco because if they get ruined for a few years with stupid purchases and contracts, no one really cares.

If I ever did it, I'd use Monaco over Chelsea too (for the same reasons).

It would also mean that when I retire, I've not left the club managerless too long.

 

[Filipower]

'His Market value is priceless,' the Lyon president told Le Parisien.
'What is the name of that Welshman at Real Madrid? I think Alexandre is much better than him.

Jean-Michel Aulas, about Lacazette

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Season 2 was a glorious success, although I think I could have won the league with a bit of luck. De Bruyne broke his leg in January and was out for the rest of the year; despite this fact we still finished 2nd behind Bayern and ahead of Dortmund. We lost to Bayern on penalties in the German Cup Final. Anyway, I haven't made many changes for the coming year, but continued to reinforce the squad.

Only changes in the starting lineup are Timo Horn at GK and Ryan Bertrand, but I've brought in guys like Nicholas Stark, Shaqiri (Depay is out for the first half of the year), and Rodrigo to strengthen the side.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Last year we had a heartbreaking exit from the Champions League against Barcelona. We went down 3-0 right before halftime on a penalty, own goal, and 94 year old Xavi wonder strike. It was a complete fluke; we were dominant in the game with 60% possession and more clear cut chance than them. I berated my team at halftime and went all out to salvage the tie in the second half. We ended up losing 7-2 at the Camp Nou and eventually 9-5 on aggregate. It was a tough loss

16/17 would be different, as I hinted at in my previous post. We cruised to the league title, all but wrapping it up in April with a 4-0 throttling of Bayern at the Volkswagon Arena. To this point, it was my greatest win yet, but the hits kept coming.

Down 2-3 after the first leg at Old Trafford, that score popped up again and we demolished them 4-0 in the second leg at home to advance to the Semi Finals against PSG. This time we had the first leg at home, and wrapped it up early with a 3-0 win.

The Champions League Final would be against.... Barcelona.

I was thrilled with that because I knew that despite the 7-2 loss last year, we dominated that game. So how did we do?

SHEAH BOIIIIII!!!!!!!

After Knevitter's red card for a two footed challenge the game was essentially over. Barcelona went to a 4-4-1, which was essentially a 4-5-1 with no right winger. We started bombing Bertrand up the flank and he assisted the first goal. After halftime they decided to try a 4-4-1 narrow diamond, so I changed my strategy to have both Jung and Bertrand bomb up the flanks. The goals started flying in. At 4-1, Barcelona went to a strikerless 4-3-2, which is to say 2 advanced wingers and no one at AMC or ST. We scored a final goal and Barcelona played the game out.

What a season.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Started messing around a little bit with Ajax playing a heavily possession oriented and "very fluid" attacking style of play. Depending on the opposition we go with 3-4-3 or 4-3-3. Could be fun. Early indicators are great, but the level of competition is low in The Netherlands. Don't think I have the talent to compete in Europe for a few years until I can develop it.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Started back up with Hertha Berlin. Didn't make any signings, but I did loan in Munir and Rafinha. Valentin Stocker is awesome as a Raumdeuter so far.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Alright, finally got a chance to mess around with Football Manager. I'm off for like 11 more days and have no plans. Started up with Newcastle and I'm running an extremely boring, defensively solid 4-4-2 with Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez up top. 2 big signings in the first window were Lucas Romero (because I couldn't get a couple other guys) and John Brooks the German/American. I also have never heard of this guy, but Bryan Dabo from Montpellier is doing very well for me on the right flank. We're doing okay at Christmas. The Premier League is poor, Manchester United have only 2 more points than Leicester in real life at the same point. I'm 6th.

Some guys I'm looking at for next season are Celta Vigo's Sergi Gomez, Fulham's Lasse Virge Christensen, and if I were to get really really lucky, Pierre Hojbjerg.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I somehow beat 1st place Manchester United 7-0 at St. James' Park. Ayoze Perez with 3 goals and 3 assists. I also tore Schneiderlin's cruciate ligaments.

 

[Alex]

How is the game? Much changed from 15?

 

[ShiftyPowers]

It's fun. The Team Instructions part of the tactics screen is very streamlined and intuitive, I think. A lot easier to get your tactic right. I think some of the values are out of control at the beginning of the game, but as you get into it the actual fees you are expected to pay seem to get more realistic.

I ended up finishing 4th

3 way tie for 3/4/5th on only 64 points. Beat Chelsea 5-3 at St. James' Park on matchday 38 to secure my spot.