the 2024-25 premier league season is up and running, with august seeing the first three matches of the season, as well as the close of the summer transfer window. united played wolves, spurs, and forest in their first three fixtures.
Well done!
Geek-Me needed to check: first time since the 2017-18 season (under José Mourinho) that United opens with three consecutive wins.
So, maybe Nagelsmaan is on route to become The Extra Special One... #sarcasm
August proved to be a fruitful month for United. Not only did Julian Nagelsmann's side win their first three matches, but the German manager won the Premier League Manager of Month and Bruno Fernandes earned the Player of the Month award, as well.
September, however, will be a test. United have six matches (four league fixtures, a Europa League group stage match against LASK, and a Carabao Cup tie against Bristol City) with an international break thrown in, too. With most of the matches falling in the last two weeks of the month, Nagelsmann will be hoping his players don't pick up an injuries on international duty.
before we take a look at each of the match results, though, an update on united's academy.
nagelsmann and ashworth have workd closely with united's academy director, youth coaching staff, and youth scouts to identify the culture, tactics, and player profiles they'll value moving forward. united have four academy players that look promising.
17 year old attacker noam van damme is a belgian talent with excellent dribbling and can play on the wing or as a number 10.
utilizing their local scouts in england, united have also earmarked two english defenders to keep an eye on. 15 year old left-footed centerback sebastian brewer has pace and great awareness, enabling him to quickly sniff out danger and make recovery runs. ethan andrews is a 17 year old left-back whose physicality and stamina allow him to get up and down the pitch without tiring, enabling him to contribute to both attack and defense
finally, united sent a scout to argentina to take a look at a young goalkeeper tipped to have a bright future. just 17 years old, german ochoa is a towering 6'5 shot stopper whose impressive distribution and reflexes caught united's eye. united acted swiftly on the recommendation from their scout and signed ochoa to the academy, where he's been a standout in the u-18's. ochoa's performances have been so impressive, in fact, that it's believed he is ready to be tested with the u-21's.
september match results incoming, but before we dive in, here's how the top of the league table looks after the first month of the season
final odds and ends to wrap up september. october sees united take on toulouse and union sg in the europa league group stage, with three league fixtures mixed in, as well.
(i figured out the screen capture thing, too, so there will be more photos). bruno fernandes' performances in september saw him win a consecutive player of the month award. and i've also included the current league table after month of fixtures.
Rare to see such consistency in United colours. It's a nice change of pace though.
However, I do have a slight concern (on your behalf) that things could quickly become too easy for you. Especially now that you've already placed yourself firmly in the title race. Usually it takes me some time to string up these kinds of win streaks and get into the same position you find yourself in.
What difficulty are you playing, if you don't mind me asking?
@sonofthepitch wrote:
i have it set to world class, but i don't play each match myself, as i think it would make the scorelines a bit unrealistic. when i do actually play a match, i usually lock to a player and change which player i choose for that with each match i play.
in my opinion, the most difficult part of manager career is navigating the combination of ea's horrible fixture congestion and a ridiculously poor fitness mechanic. player's become fatigued easily and recover slowly, meaning i get emails from them about being forced to play when not 100% or the opposite--they're unfit, can't recover and can't play, and then send an email about wanting a transfer. smh
I wonder if these things are connected somehow? I play all games myself and have no problems keeping players fit. With 5 substitutions per game, I usually spend all 5 around 55-60 mins, and the subbed players are usually at 100% or at least close, when the next game begins. The 5 outfield players, I did not substitute, will probably need a break for the next game, but then I'll make some changes in the lineup to accomodate that. So my main rotation is keeping 5 outfield players in the lineup and switching 5, subbing off those whom I need to be fit for the next match. Workes fine for me.
I never really skip playing a match, but I recall doing so at some point, and players were hit by fatigue differently than when I actually played the game. So I wonder if your fatigue issues would be less, if you played the games in stead.
