Football Manager 2020

[Hornso]

30 League games into the 2021/22 season with Villa and I'm sitting 8th, with an 8 point gap to Chelsea in 7th so it looks like I'll take a bit of step back this season and probably missing out on Europe depending on where the cups go.

I have managed to make it through to the Quarter Final of the Euro Cup and although I'm facing Atletico Madrid, maybe I can squeak through. It does feel like I've hit a bit of a wall though as the big sides just seem to kill me. I've tried changing it up approach wise but the result seem to remain the same.

My Brazilian regen wonderkid Gilson has solved my striker issue by knocking in 18 goals thus far and Almada continues to improve with 15 goal contributions, but my French AMR wonderkid Lihadji had been quiet this season until scoring a hat-trick in the Euro Cup round of 16, whilst the left side has been a bit of a challenge all season.

I have started to get some interest in my players though for the first time in 3 seasons, but the only one to leave was my right back Zeefuik who I bought for 3.6m and managed to sell to a Chinese club for 25m which has helped balance the books. I've managed to bring in a 19yr old Dutch midfielder Kenneth Taylor and a 20 yr old French wonderkid Lucien Agoume who are due to arrive on free transfers so hopefully I can push on again a bit next season. 

 

[Hornso]

Played my Euro Cup QF against Atletico. Dominated the home leg, won 3-0 but should have been more like 6.

They score within 10 minutes in the second leg. Then my left back Katterbach gets 2 yellows after 12 minutes...he’s off. They score again before half time to make it 3-2 on aggregate. Somehow we start to get a grip on the game but don’t take our chances until Samatta comes off the bench and scores with less than 20 to go. Douglas Luiz gets another in injury time to get a draw on the day. Huge result.

Chelsea in the Semis so we’re pretty much ****. 

[Hornso]

Sorry for all the updates but I guess this is what this game is about. 1st leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They've got Sancho, Aouar & Ousmane Dembele playing behind Tammy. The rest of the team is similar to now except they've got Oblak in goal and Kepa on the bench. We go into the sheds 3-0 down at half time and Tammy gets his 2nd in the 46th minute. Gilson instantly gets one back to make it 4-1. At least I've got an away goal. After 62 minutes, I decide the change it up, triple sub. We're in the game for the last 20 minutes. Gilson smashes home a thunderbastard with five minutes left, and then sets up Jack for another in injury time. Probably getting excited over nothing but we go to Villa Park down 4-3 and still in the tie.

[Villan_of_oz]

6 hours ago, Hornso said:

Sorry for all the updates but I guess this is what this game is about. 1st leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They've got Sancho, Aouar & Ousmane Dembele playing behind Tammy. The rest of the team is similar to now except they've got Oblak in goal and Kepa on the bench. We go into the sheds 3-0 down at half time and Tammy gets his 2nd in the 46th minute. Gilson instantly gets one back to make it 4-1. At least I've got an away goal. After 62 minutes, I decide the change it up, triple sub. We're in the game for the last 20 minutes. Gilson smashes home a thunderbastard with five minutes left, and then sets up Jack for another in injury time. Probably getting excited over nothing but we go to Villa Park down 4-3 and still in the tie.

This is exactly what the thread is for, keep the updates coming - loving the read!

Good luck in the 2nd leg. I'd give the Chelsea manager a bit of grief in your pre match press conference before the match just to rile him up (just my opinion)

[villan-scott]

6 hours ago, Hornso said:

Sorry for all the updates but I guess this is what this game is about. 1st leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They've got Sancho, Aouar & Ousmane Dembele playing behind Tammy. The rest of the team is similar to now except they've got Oblak in goal and Kepa on the bench. We go into the sheds 3-0 down at half time and Tammy gets his 2nd in the 46th minute. Gilson instantly gets one back to make it 4-1. At least I've got an away goal. After 62 minutes, I decide the change it up, triple sub. We're in the game for the last 20 minutes. Gilson smashes home a thunderbastard with five minutes left, and then sets up Jack for another in injury time. Probably getting excited over nothing but we go to Villa Park down 4-3 and still in the tie.

Keep them coming. Always enjoy hearing/reading about other people’s saves. Have you played the 2nd leg yet?

[Hornso]

43 minutes ago, villan-scott said:

Keep them coming. Always enjoy hearing/reading about other people’s saves. Have you played the 2nd leg yet?

For the 2nd leg I got 3 of my first choice back four back available after losing them to suspensions (Katterbach, Wober & Cruz) whilst they lost Kovacic to suspension. Mount came in for him.

Stroke of luck. Jorginho goes off injures after 3 minutes and they decide to bring on Ben Godfrey (who they bought from relegated Norwich for 46m). After the excitement of the first leg, the second leg is fairly quiet. In the 44th minute Wober gives away a penalty for a push on a set piece. Mount slots the penalty. Chelsea lead 5-3.

I start looking at my ratings, I want to make a change at half time. Adekanye is the worst on the pitch, he’s getting the hook for Grealish (who would have started in his place if not for being underdone). Whilst deciding this a Cruz cross finds Adekanye at the back post who levels it up on the day! He earns a reprieve and rewards me with another goal at the back post provided by Gilson after 54 minutes! We’re suddenly set to go through on away goals.

I expect an onslaught late in the game but decide not to go defensive. It never works for us against good teams, they generally romp us. Surprisingly we have little to weather late on and we’re in the final! Set to play Inter at De Kuip. Underdogs of course but no different than against Atletico and Chelsea so who knows.

Meanwhile the league is a grind, we’ll finish 7th-9th. Good enough for the board but will be disappointing if we can’t make Europe again.

[Villan_of_oz]

2 hours ago, Hornso said:

For the 2nd leg I got 3 of my first choice back four back available after losing them to suspensions (Katterbach, Wober & Cruz) whilst they lost Kovacic to suspension. Mount came in for him.

Stroke of luck. Jorginho goes off injures after 3 minutes and they decide to bring on Ben Godfrey (who they bought from relegated Norwich for 46m). After the excitement of the first leg, the second leg is fairly quiet. In the 44th minute Wober gives away a penalty for a push on a set piece. Mount slots the penalty. Chelsea lead 5-3.

I start looking at my ratings, I want to make a change at half time. Adekanye is the worst on the pitch, he’s getting the hook for Grealish (who would have started in his place if not for being underdone). Whilst deciding this a Cruz cross finds Adekanye at the back post who levels it up on the day! He earns a reprieve and rewards me with another goal at the back post provided by Gilson after 54 minutes! We’re suddenly set to go through on away goals.

I expect an onslaught late in the game but decide not to go defensive. It never works for us against good teams, they generally romp us. Surprisingly we have little to weather late on and we’re in the final! Set to play Inter at De Kuip. Underdogs of course but no different than against Atletico and Chelsea so who knows.

Meanwhile the league is a grind, we’ll finish 7th-9th. Good enough for the board but will be disappointing if we can’t make Europe again.

Win the CL final and in your in Europe

[Hornso]

Wasn’t to be. Went in at half time 0-0 after having 11 shots to 2 and a goal ruled out by VAR. They caught us napping 2-3 times in the 2nd half, and eventually made us pay late in the game to win 1-0. I was pretty gutted but it was an incredible run to get there. I finished 8th in the league so no Europe. Hopefully the lack of distractions will help me break the big 6. Liverpool won the league for the 2nd time in the save, whilst Leicester surprisingly went down. They have a lot of talent which I might be able to obtain but we’ll see I guess. I spent the money I made in January in on a 17yr old French CD. Yet to find out what I’ll have to spend now the season has ended.

[villan-scott]

4 minutes ago, Hornso said:

Wasn’t to be. Went in at half time 0-0 after having 11 shots to 2 and a goal ruled out by VAR. They caught us napping 2-3 times in the 2nd half, and eventually made us pay late in the game to win 1-0. I was pretty gutted but it was an incredible run to get there. I finished 8th in the league so no Europe. Hopefully the lack of distractions will help me break the big 6. Liverpool won the league for the 2nd time in the save, whilst Leicester surprisingly went down. They have a lot of talent which I might be able to obtain but we’ll see I guess. I spent the money I made in January in on a 17yr old French CD. Yet to find out what I’ll have to spend now the season has ended.

Close but no cigar. 

Hopefully being able to focus on the league will give you the boost to push up the table. 

Im at the stage in my save in 2035 where I feel like I have a closer relationship with my newgen German striker than I do with my wife, such is the love I have for the man!

[Villaphan04]

On 13/05/2020 at 16:33, Villaphan04 said:

I absolutely stormed Serie B. Only lost in the final match of the season after I had already wrapped up the title. Lukas Mai & Tosin Adarabioyo were absolutely a rock at the back(they're both developing amazingly) and I won the league by 13 points. I think my tactics have a lot to play with this, but my squad really shares the goals around. 

Signed Matt Smith, Lukas Nmecha, & Adarabioyo all on end of contract frees from city after their loans expired (Smith ended up with the Serie B player of the year as a defensive mid). 

To replace Shackleton I signed Nathan (after his contract with Chelsea ended — actually just bagged a hat trick in the match i just played). Also signed Mai for 1.5 mil.

At the beginning I was expecting to get relegated and hopefully "yo-yo" for a season or two. But now after 15 games played I'm sitting pretty in 8th. 

Villa's still been sitting in the PL and & I finally got around to adding the other big 4 leagues as playable in case I want to branch out.

So at the end of Jan, I'm sitting absolutely pretty in 9th place (Brescia is absolute toast, just won their first game all year at the end of jan). Smith and Hartmann have been absolutely immense for me. Was also able to loan Oliver Batista Meier and he's been very good as well in rotation with Millar (who I've got a pre-contract with as well). 

On a Villa note: Dean got sacked, and I applied for the job. I didn't even get an interview, and they hired bloody Mark Bowen. A little heated about that one I have to say

[Daniel]

On 20/05/2020 at 13:42, villan-scott said:

Close but no cigar. 

Hopefully being able to focus on the league will give you the boost to push up the table. 

Im at the stage in my save in 2035 where I feel like I have a closer relationship with my newgen German striker than I do with my wife, such is the love I have for the man!

Oh i hear that.

Just check out the physicals on this guy. I love him.

 

[villan-scott]

8 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Oh i hear that.

Just check out the physicals on this guy. I love him.

 

What a player! I bet he does get the crowd going the filthy animal! Those physicals belong in a cage  

Edit - and he’s 6’5”! Sweet Jesus!

Did he come through your system or did you sign him?

Edited May 22, 2020 by villan-scott

[Daniel]

Got him from Middlesborough, cost around £20m. He was 17 years old at the time, but worth it.

[villan-scott]

1 minute ago, Daniel said:

Got him from Middlesborough, cost around £20m. He was 17 years old at the time, but worth it.

I got an awesome centre midfielder from Boro who’s one of my star men. I always keep a close eye on their academy. 

[Mjvilla]

Those are some of the best physicals I've ever seen!! Unbelievable player.

Won't be updating for the weekend now (working weekend nights ), haven't had the best year or so. Came close to losing my job in season 7, clung on and finished 7th. Have improved slightly next season but am 5th. Just cannot seem to find a tactic that works. I'm winning games, but 1-0 or 2-1 and can't dominate games even against teams down at the bottom. Don't dominate possession or anything. I have the players to do it.

On a more positive note, have a 17yo come through my academy who has been with us for 18months now and is 2n half star rated and coaches say he's not far away from the first team. Potentially 5 star quality. He's excellent and can't wait to watch him develop further. Bloody work getting in the way (Fri, sat, sun and Monday night 7-7). Going to be a long weekend.

[Okonokos]

18 hours ago, Daniel said:

Oh i hear that.

Just check out the physicals on this guy. I love him.

 

On course to smash England's goal scoring record too. 21 in 20 

[Okonokos]

So, for those interested. Following on from my Championship win on the last day of the season with Villa in FM19, this just happened the following season...

Took us 10 years, but we got our revenge!

[villan-scott]

My reign as England manager is over. I stuck around to the Nations League finals at the end of 2035. Beat Spain on pens in the semi’s then faced Belgium in the final and lost on pens, and immediately resigned. Too much faff for me doing club and country at the same time. 

My Villa season went well, finished the season undefeated, won the league, FA Cup and League Cup and the Super Cup and Community Shield. Thought I was on for the clean sweep, had to play 5th placed Liverpool in the CL final. 2-0 up at HT cruising. Never ever throw away this position with my team. 

Had a goal chalked off just after HT for offside which would have made it 3-0, (a would-be Schaffrath hat trick), they immediately go up the other end and stick a free kick top bins. No worries. We’re still dominating... then they peg us back to 2-2, another set piece. No worries. Just the match engine making it interesting, plenty of time left. Yes! 3-2 Villa, here we go. Schaffrath hat trick, my hero. Cruising and dominating the game. Liverpool only had a few efforts on goal, no danger. Last few minutes out of nowhere they equalise. Buggar. 

They take us to extra time, I continue to attack looking for the winning goal. Penalty Villa. Schaffrath slots it home. His 4th goal of the game in a CL final, including a ET time penalty. His second penalty of the game. Dispatched both. Nerves of steel this man! We lead 4-3. Surely won’t throw it away again!
 

My other striker then pops up with a goal, wait... VAR check, no goal, again! Once again, straight up the other end and the same player sticks another free kick top bins!! F**k sake!!! Game is definitely transpiring against me at this point! 4-4 final score and we go to penalties. 

Here comes my hero, Schaffrath, first up. Saved... oh sh*t. My centre back smashes his penalty wide and Liverpool win 4-3 on pens. Devastated. First time we’ve lost a CL final, and of course the board are unhappy. 

Going to try and blood some of my out on loan stars into my squad and sell some of the fringe players to freshen it up this summer. 

Edited May 25, 2020 by villan-scott

[Villan4Life]

Man Utd sues Sigames/Football Manager

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/may/22/manchester-united-sues-football-manager-makers-over-use-of-name

 

Quote

Manchester United are suing the makers of the Football Manager series for allegedly infringing its trademark by using the club’s name “extensively throughout the game”.

The English Premier League club has taken legal action against Sega Publishing and Sports Interactive (SI), the publisher and developer of the popular football management simulation.

The club also argues that Sega and SI have infringed its trademark over its logo by not using the official Manchester United crest in the game, instead “replacing the club crest with a simplified red and white striped logo”.

United claims this “deprives the registered proprietor of its right to have the club crest licensed”.

Sega and SI say the use of the club’s name is “a legitimate reference to the Manchester United football team in a football context” and has been used in Football Manager and its predecessor Championship Manager since 1992 “without complaint by the claimant”.

The companies have accused the club of trying to “prevent legitimate competition in the video games field by preventing parties not licensed by the claimant from using the name of the Manchester United football team within such games”.

At a preliminary remote hearing on Friday, Manchester United’s barrister Simon Malynicz QC said “the name ‘Manchester United’ is one of the world’s most valuable and recognised brands”.

He said the money clubs made from licensing their names and logos was “very significant” and “the products and services that are licensed by the claimant benefit from an association with the club’s winning culture and its brand values”.

Malynicz argued, in relation to the alleged infringement of the trademark on United’s logo, that “consumers expect to see the club crest next to the name Manchester United ... and this failure to do so amounts to wrongful use”.

He accepted this argument was “somewhat novel, and certainly in the context of video games, but it is certainly arguable”.

The barrister asked Mr Justice Morgan to allow the club to amend its claim against Sega and SI to include allegations involving “the practice of supplying ‘patches’ or ‘mods’, essentially downloadable files containing replica trademarks, which consumers then incorporate into the game”.

Malynicz argued Sega and SI “encouraged” the use of patches supplied by third parties “by promoting the patch providers in various ways and, of course, they directly benefited from it by avoiding the need to take any licence and enjoying increased sales of their game”.

Roger Wyand QC, representing the defendants, opposed the club’s application to amend the claim.

In their written defence to United’s claim, Sega and SI said: “The claimant has acquiesced in the use by the defendants of the name of the Manchester United football team in the Football Manager game and cannot now complain of such use.”

Wyand argued the “simplified” club badge used in the game was “one of 14 generic logo templates that is randomly chosen by the Football Manager game engine each time a new game is started” and “clearly indicates that the use of the [logo of] Manchester United is not licensed by the claimant”.

Sega and SI said preventing them using Manchester United’s name “would amount to an unreasonable restraint on the right to freedom of expression to restrain the use of the words ‘Manchester United’ to refer to a team in a computer game”.

Wyand pointed out that “copies of the game have also been sent by SI to a number of officials and players at the [club] for a number of years and there have been a number of positive press comments and tweets about the game by them”.

He added: “Further, the claimant’s staff working in the data analytics and scouting teams have contacted SI on various occasions asking for access to the Football Manager database for scouting and research purposes.”

The QC concluded “there is no likelihood of confusion or damage to the claimant’s EU trademarks ... caused by the defendants’ activities”.

Morgan reserved his judgment on United’s application to amend its claim to a later date.

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by Villan4Life

[Dante_Lockhart]

I hate this whole sue culture over stupid things like this. How petty