Football Manager - When the journalist approaches you in the tunnel before the biggest game of the season

When the journalist approaches you in the tunnel before the biggest game of the season
I hate agents so much.
20-Year Save With Portsmouth
Group photo of my newest set of 15 year old regens
When there’s no work permit issues with the South American wonderkid you’re about to sign
Happens every time...
When you get knocked out of the Champions League so you decide to take your anger out on a pub side in the Cup, but end up feeling hollow and ashamed of yourself before full time
Talk About Raiding My Team
Took Anthony Martial 14 minutes to score a hattrick of penalties. He missed another later on.
The truth is out there
A former staff member was talking shit in the media, so I nicknamed him accordingly.
The worst kind of betrayal. :(
Absolute domination against a full-strength Tottenham
Think I just caused a war
Manchester City player positions vs. Spurs - would it be possible to recreate this in FM?
Another deserved cup win (/s)
You love to see It
Brought a Norwegian team up from the 2nd division and won the UCL after 10 years of being in charge
The hell?
I believe this is called "a chelsea"
The board making strides
Just signed a couple of amazing wonderkids
TERMINATE CONTRACT IMMEDIATELY
19 year old announces himself with a goal in preseason

When the journalist approaches you in the tunnel before the biggest game of the season

Posted: 17 Aug 2019 03:43 AM PDT

submitted by /u/PalpatinesTitties
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I hate agents so much.

Posted: 17 Aug 2019 08:17 PM PDT

submitted by /u/ClavedeSolix
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20-Year Save With Portsmouth

Posted: 17 Aug 2019 02:35 PM PDT

My only previous experience with Football Manager before 2018 was about a decade ago. An American writer, Brian Phillips, had a really cool little blog (The Run of Play) I stumbled on where he detailed taking some lower-division Italian team to the heights of European glory. As a lifelong futbol and gaming fan, this sounded insanely fun so I decided to give it a try … and utterly failed. Try as I might, I just couldn't get Aldershot promoted, so despite enjoying the game I kind of forgot about it until last fall, when I saw a review or ad somewhere and, being between games, decided to dive back in.

Hundreds and hundreds of hours – and, unfortunately, 20-25 pounds – later, I just finished my 20th and final season with mighty Portsmouth, having lined their trophy case with 11 straight Premier League championships, six Champions League titles and six FA Cups (not to mention a score of minor cups).

To be very clear: This is not a post to brag about those accomplishments. I've been around here long enough to know there are tons of better players than me, who could have done even more with the roster I assembled. (For example, despite twice coming painfully close, I didn't have an undefeated and/or 100-point league season, which seems commonplace for the best players.) Rather, I'm a former sportswriter who loves tracking stats, and especially enjoys reading / hearing about other long-term saves. (Even though I never wore a suit for any of mine, I've gotten hooked on watching FM Cup finals on YouTube.)

Hopefully this will be treated in the spirit it was intended: A tribute to just how immersive and fun and ridiculously addictive this game is, and a thank you of sorts to the community here who helped me iron out the seemingly endless kinks in my approach.

This game will definitely frustrate you. I made it all the way to season 19 before I had probably my biggest WTF loss of the save, a 5-2 loss to 18th place Huddersfield in which they scored the last five goals. And then the usual variety, like the sluggish 1-0 loss in a cup final where you just can't get anything going, or going out in the round of 16 to an inferior team in the Champions League after you hit the post three times.

But man, I have had few gaming experiences more satisfying than when my FM side is playing well, moving the ball around and playing combinations and just flowing. Fortunately there have been almost too many of those to list, from the average Premier League games to massive cup finals. I have about 25-30 games saved that I will jump back into every once in a while to reminisce, and it's crazy how satisfying they are. I must have re-watched the goals in my little 3-1 Euro Cup victory over West Ham about 30 or 40 times in the aftermath; even with all the triumphs that followed, that first major cup is still sweet.

A short overview: I got promoted to the Premier League extremely quickly after winning League 1 in Year 1 and finishing second in the Championship in Year 3. I was obviously in no shape to compete in the world's toughest league, but I'd forgotten how bad that season was: 19th place, just two points out of dead last, with two separate 12-match winless streaks and a paltry three wins in my last 31 games.

Damn.

But I was back within two seasons, making the Champions League permanently two more after than and winning the first of 11 straight league titles another year after that, my 10th season overall. Given my talent and depth -- at my peak I had 14-15 world class players, followed by another eight ranging from solid to leading PL players -- the PL got to be pretty dull. (I won my last eight titles by at least nine points, and as many as 25.) But the cup competitions were never less than thrilling, and often the highlight of my season; I was invariably the favorite regardless of my competition, but you never know what can happen in one match, especially away from home.

I wouldn't say I'm a particularly good player in relation to tactics. I found one that seemed good on YouTube before I started, and I never really deviated from it outside of my first three or four seasons back in the PL after initially getting relegated where I played a slow-paced possession style while I built up enough talent to attack hard while maintaining defensive integrity. It wasn't an exploit; I definitely dominated once I got my roster established, but not to a ridiculous extent. It generally worked so I stuck with it, rain or shine.

Otherwise, my only real in-game moves were subs and minor tactical adjustments; basic stuff. (I was also really careful with squad rotation and managing health, and that paid off with a few key guys who were pretty injury prone that I still managed to get 35-40 games a season out of. I actually had one year with only two guys on the All-PL team despite having 12 of the 14 top-rated players because they didn't play enough league matches; 25 seems to be the minimum.)

I'm sure a more skilled player could have gotten more out of my team; I'm satisfied with my achievements, but given that I always had the better team over that last decade, I feel like I could have been more successful in the cups. (Over the 11 straight seasons that I won the PL, I went 6-1 in the CL final and 6-2 in the FA Cup final. Prior to that I went 1-1 in the Euro Cup final, giving me 17 major finals appearances -- with 13 wins -- over my last 14 seasons.)

Where I did think I excelled was talent accumulation and financial management, at least until the home stretch. (I got some great tips here on the latter as my save progressed, so thanks for that.) I pretty much quit scouting or developing prospects over the final five seasons or so given that I had a finish line in sight and I had my roster largely set. (Plus, I was just tired of spending so many hours scouring the world for players.) I also got a little out of hand with my spending later on, as prospects weren't really doing me much good at that point so I was focusing on big-dollar players. Pretty much maxed out the credit card, so to speak, finishing around $80 million in the red.

But up til then, I really did a lot of penny pinching and grinding on scouting, and it paid off. I'm pretty happy with the way I was able to identify prospects, make (mostly) smart buys, be ruthless when I needed to, and basically never settle until I got to the point where only a handful of players around the world could make me better. I had a lot tough decisions along the way, getting rid of some players I was really fond of. But I had a good success rate, and most of those replacements were even better, and even more fun to deploy.

One thing I really focused on, at least until the end, was keeping my roster as young as possible. Once I was able to start spending real cash, I wanted to identify proven, world-class players in their early 20s, ideally their late teens, poach them and plug them into my lineup for a decade-plus. I rarely looked at anybody over 25, and I almost never kept anyone past 30 until I got to the end of my save and I was content to finish with what I had. But up until then I was committed to keep overhauling my roster in order to stay as young as possible and get maximum ROI on big transfers. I ended up with a great core of 8-10 players who were with me for a decade or more and formed the backbone of my dynasty. You will read about some of them here shortly.

Anybody who can extend their team beyond 20 years, I salute you. I think I could have definitely done it if that was my focus, but I could feel the seams starting to strain as I quit developing prospects and started edging deep into the red in my last few seasons due to my huge salaries and, as a result, the board reducing the percentage of funds allocated from transfers.

Oh, well. It was a pretty good run. More importantly, it was fun as hell.

20 seasons: 1,136 games (754 W, 197 D, 185 L, 66 win pct; 2.2 goals per game, 0.9 goals against)

11x PL champion; 1x L1 champion; 33 total cups (6 Champions League, 6 FA, 1 Euro); 6 doubles, 3 trebles

12x PL Coach of Year; 1x L1 Coach of Year; Ranked No. 1 in World, European Halls of Fame; club legend

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Luca Di Giacomo (Italy), striker / left wing

12 seasons: 321 goals (16 hat tricks), 102 assists, 423 total goals

7x PL Team of Year; 7x World Team of Year; 1x PL Young Player of Year

Consistent and massively productive player who wasn't elite at anything but was really good at almost everything. Eleven straight 20-goal seasons, nine with at least 25. Produced an average of 37.9 total goals over final 11 seasons, with highs of 38 goals, 18 assists and 53 total. Was my long-time PK specialist (56 career makes) and developed into a great playmaker as he got older. Tried to replace him several times but even though they seemed to have better attributes, they could never produce like him. Whether he was scoring or setting them up, playing up top or on the left, he just piled up goals.

Fabian Wiesner (Germany), right wing

10 seasons: 165 goals (two hat tricks), 163 assists (four hat tricks), 328 total goals

2x PL Team of Year; 8x World Team of Year; 7x World Player of Year; 1x PL Player of Year

I had a slick little Brazilian winger midway through the save that I was super attached to. Bought him for $1 million, groomed him into a leading PL player who helped me transition from relegation bait to contender. But Wiesner was just too good to pass up, and as tough as it was (sorry Mayco), it turned out to be a great decision. Could be a little inconsistent, and he was very fragile physically. But I managed to get at least 34 games out of him every year, with a 10-season average of 32.8 total goals (season highs: 23 goals, 26 assists). Awesome, elegant player.

NOTE: I didn't figure this out until the end of my save, but it seems like you have to START a minimum of 25 PL matches to qualify for postseason honors. Given how much I had to manage him physically, he only did that three times. Hence the disparity between PL and World awards.

Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal), goakleeper

11 seasons: 308 shutouts

9x PL Team of Year; 5x World Team of Year; 6x PL Golden Glove; 5x World Keeper of Year

Not sure what you can say about a goalkeeper, but he was an early part of the core who helped push us from really good to consistently great, and kept us there. I had real trouble finding/affording a good keeper in my first five or six seasons. But then I struck on a few dependable four-star guys, flipping them both after a couple of solid seasons before this guy popped up on my radar as a can't-miss star. I think he might have been my first $100-million player, but he paid for himself several times over with 11 seasons of consistent, world-class play.

Jordan Connelly (Scotland), left back

14 seasons: 11 goals, 96 assists (one hat trick), 107 total goals

11x PL Team of Year; 5x World Team of Year; 1x PL Player of Year; 2x PL Young Player of Year

Not very exciting to say that a left back might have been the best player of a save, but Jordan was right up there. Interestingly, he landed on my radar when he was valued at around $20 million, which was a lot of money at that point. So much, in fact, that along with the bonuses it scared me off. I instantly regretted it, and gladly bought him for twice that during the next window. Had high expectations and he was even better than I could have hoped. A little fragile, but a great, consistent, versatile player who finished third in career assists while also locking down the left side of the field.

Johan Bakker (Netherlands), midfielder

12 seasons: 121 goals (five hat tricks), 75 assists, 196 total goals

4x PL Team of Year; 3x World Team of Year

If Connelly was my first elite player, JB was the second. Reminded me a lot of Steven Gerrard, just an all-action player who bossed the midfield. Had five hat tricks in his career, and finished as my fourth-leading scorer. He also finished fifth in assists. (Best goal-producing seasons: 29, 24, 23 and 21.) Actually lost him for one season after neglecting his release clause, but gladly bought him right back for a whopping $155 million. Hung on to him a season or two longer than I should have -- his hair even went gray in his profile pic -- but he was still worth every penny.

SAVE LEADERS

Goals, career

321 - Di Giacomo
165 - Wiesner
121 - Bakker
116 - Augusto
95 - Joao

Assists, career

163 - Wiesner
102 - Di Giacomo
96 - Connelly
89 - Ahumada
75 - Bakker

Total goals, career

423 - Di Giacomo
328 - Wiesner
196 - Bakker
160 - Ahumada
150 - Joao

Goals, season

44 - Gunay
38 - Di Giacomo
37 - Di Giacomo
32 - Di Giacomo, Cummings (2x)

Assists, seasons

26 - Wiesner
22 - Wiesner
18 - Wiesner, Di Giacomo
17 - Wiesner

Total goals, season

53 - Di Giacomo
48 - Gunay
45 - Di Giacomo
44 - Wiesner
42 - Di Giacomo

Best individual performance: December of my very first season, backup striker is agitating for more playing time so I cave. He earns 5.8 rating in 56 minutes as we fall behind 2-0 before I bench him for usual starter Joe Mason in hopes he can salvage something. He promptly scores four goals in final 23 minutes to single-handedly beat Southend.

NOTABLE MATCHES

* Score twice in first 10 mins, hold on to beat Norwich, after losing 5 of 6 prior meetings, in 23 Championship playoff final to earn permanent promotion to PL. (First match at Wembley.)

* Trailing on road goals, beat Borussia Dortmund 1-0 away (3-2 agg) in 25 Euro Cup semis with 78th-min goal from substitute Tahith Chong to reach first major cup final.

* Beat West Ham 3-1 in 25 Euro Cup final for first continental championship. Flashy Brazilian wonderkid Mayco has hand in all three goals with two scores and one assist.

* Needing to beat Chelsea outright on final day of 28 season, Renan Augusto breaks scoreless tie in 90th min to edge them by two points for first of 11 straight Premier League titles.

* Score four unanswered goals after early 1-0 deficit, including brace from Augusto, to dominate Man U 4-2 in 28 for first Champions League triumph.

* Crush Man City 4-0 in 29 for first of three straight FA Cup championships, including 6-2 rout of Liverpool in 31 (braces for Fabian Wiesner and Johan Bakker).

* Slaughter Real Madrid by 9-0 aggregate in 30 Champions League semis, with three goals apiece from Augusto and Luca Di Giacomo. (Hammered Bayer 4-0 in ensuing final).

* Leading 1-0 after road win in first leg of 31 CL semis, demolish PSG 7-2 at home in second leg with hat trick from Di Giacomo. (Alas, lost to Real Madrid 1-0 in ensuing final.)

* Probably best match of save: Joao and Bakker score in extra time after Ahmed Rami nets first career hat trick in regulation of 5-3 victory over Atletico Madrid in 33 Champions League final (No. 3).

* Tied 2-2 with PSG, Aaron Eidinger scores in 94th min off brilliant long ball from Kevin Weber for 3-2 victory in 34 Champions League final, our fourth overall.

* Another big win over PSG in 36 CL semis. Down 4-2 after road loss in leg one, rally for 2-0 home win in leg two with series-clinching goal from Daniel Gilani in 80th min. (Won final.)

NOTE: Long story short, PSG poached best midfielder of save when he refused to negotiate extension with me. Still stings, but beat them three times in CL afterward, including that 34 final.

* Arguably toughest defeat of save: Lost 12-11 to Liverpool in 36 FA Cup semis in 17-round shootout. Trailed 3-1, rallied to force sudden death, traded eight straight makes, missed potential winner in Round 16, lost in Round 17.

* Tied 2-2 on aggregate in 37 CL semis, down on road goals at Bayern in second leg, Wiesner (German) feeds Peter Gullenbeck (another German) in 78th min to reach final. (Beat Dortmund for No. 6.)

* Dominate City 4-1 for sixth FA Cup in final match of save. Turkey's Aytac Gunay scores all four goals, giving him club-record 44 in first season with us despite eight- or nine-match scoreless streak. (Third quad of season, fifth hat trick.)

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Group photo of my newest set of 15 year old regens

Posted: 16 Aug 2019 09:55 PM PDT