Breaking the Habit - A Man United rebuild

Since not very long, I tend to specialize my search in youth academy and essentially do 4 blocks of 3 months; always Netherlands and 2 other countries per quarter. Results are pretty good, though I tend to always go for 15 or 16 year olds (unless it's a goalkeeper) and quite realistic. South America yields great attacking players, Belgium gives great defenders, Poland very good goalkeepers and other countries are there because those nationalities happen to be a lot at Ajax).

• Q3 = RB, CB, LB (Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium)
• Q4 = RW, CF/CAM, LW (Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil)
• Q1 = CDM, CM, CF/CAM (Netherlands, Ghana, Morocco)
• Q2 = ST, GK, CM (Netherlands, Poland, Türkiye)

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
Solid set of results and just one point from the top. Very tight defence but you probably need more goals. Lots of 1-goal wins leaves you vulnerable...?

Interesting commentary on the academy. How many scouts do you have and where are they scouting?

I fill my academy up pretty quickly in any career and keep it topped up. That's how I get so many coming through. It feels to me like United's history should indicate you should have quite a well-stocked academy, but you only have 4 - is that right or am I misunderstanding the image?

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No it's true, I only have these four in my academy so far. Plus a few in my scouts report, whom I'm considering signing too.

But I'm also cautious in regards to promoting too many too quickly. I always get to a point, where I'll just prefer the young prospects, and then there are no reason for me to keep a lot of the senior players around. And I don't suppose I'm happy with a transition going that quickly. In time I'm certain my youth players will 'take over' and make the seniors redundant. But for now I'll take it slow.

That's also why I use only one scout at the time. I usually send him to the country, I'm playing in, for a 9 months period. So he's currently scouting in England due to return in April.

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@Danimal5981 wrote:

Since not very long, I tend to specialize my search in youth academy and essentially do 4 blocks of 3 months; always Netherlands and 2 other countries per quarter. Results are pretty good, though I tend to always go for 15 or 16 year olds (unless it's a goalkeeper) and quite realistic. South America yields great attacking players, Belgium gives great defenders, Poland very good goalkeepers and other countries are there because those nationalities happen to be a lot at Ajax).

• Q3 = RB, CB, LB (Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium)
• Q4 = RW, CF/CAM, LW (Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil)
• Q1 = CDM, CM, CF/CAM (Netherlands, Ghana, Morocco)
• Q2 = ST, GK, CM (Netherlands, Poland, Türkiye)

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I good system, I think. I probably just prefer scouting for 9 months at a time, giving me more time to see the scout reports develop a bit, before I decide whether to sign a player or not. 

Luca Netz was on my list as well, but under current circumstances not feasible for my Ajax due to salary demands. Also, I want to try to work this season with a clear starting eleven and decent back-ups behind so I need players that are accepting their role easily.

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@Danimal5981 wrote:

Luca Netz was on my list as well, but under current circumstances not feasible for my Ajax due to salary demands. Also, I want to try to work this season with a clear starting eleven and decent back-ups behind so I need players that are accepting their role easily.

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It's funny, cause I usually don't feel too comfortable signing German players for Manchester United, since they don't really have a history of doing the that. The same goes with Italian players.

But recently I read a rumour about Luca Netz as a real life summer target, and he suddenly leaped ahead of everyone else on my left back shortlist.

Jonathan David has also been rumoured to United a few times, so both made sense and will certainly fill a gap I've come to realize during the fall. 

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@JustinCase0110 wrote:

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@Danimal5981 wrote:

Luca Netz was on my list as well, but under current circumstances not feasible for my Ajax due to salary demands. Also, I want to try to work this season with a clear starting eleven and decent back-ups behind so I need players that are accepting their role easily.

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It's funny, cause I usually don't feel too comfortable signing German players for Manchester United, since they don't really have a history of doing the that. The same goes with Italian players.

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Realism, or likelyhood is a very big argument for me. That's why I feel stuck at Ajax most of the time: it's the only team that I know inside and out, what they would or wouldn't do.

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@Danimal5981 wrote:

Realism, or likelyhood is a very big argument for me. That's why I feel stuck at Ajax most of the time: it's the only team that I know inside and out, what they would or wouldn't do.

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I like both, to be honest.

One being playing with a favourite club, doing transfer business etc as realistic as possible, using background information and knowledge about the club in question.

And the other being starting with a club, where google is used frequently to learn what it's all about. Perhaps not getting all transfers right in terms of realism etc., but learning as we go.

I always seem to fall back into - yet another - Man United save, but it's often the other ones that I enjoy the most.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
I'm considering starting one of those again. Not sure who I'll 'do' yet. Possibly a tier 2 Spanish club, or a French one, or Italian.

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I was beginning to wonder when you'd do something like that. Whenever I get to the point of winning it all (like you do with Plymouth currently), I always get the urge to start over. So I can only recommend a fresh start somewhere. France or Italy could be great, now that you've already done Las Palmas in Spain. Italy could be great IMO, now that Juventus are not winning every year anymore and the league winner seems to be a new club each season. Obviously there's the license issue, but if one can see past that, I would really enjoy following a career in "The Boot".

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
Interesting to see Hojlund and Garnacho scrapping for best goal involvements. Power to the youngsters, eh?

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Absolutely. I have Mainoo, Garnacho and Højlund in my head, whenever I picture a future "best 11" at United. So that is also reflected in this save, where all three get their share of games.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
Good set of results - even pushing City close. Fancy getting Coventry in the FA Cup - what a coincidence.
Third place, within touching distance of the top, is good, but I get the feeling this is the limit at the moment - another level required to win the title?
Jonathan David doesn't seem to be doing much...

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Coventry - yeah that was a coincidence, haha. I also considered mentioning it specifically about having just beat them in the 2024 semi finals or something, but I didn't want to jinx anything and left it unsaid 😉

Title win is possible, but I also feel that will be something for another season. Top 4 is the aim here, anything more will just be a bonus. But with Conference League football last season and the Europa League in this one, it's certainly time to return to the Champions League.

Jonathan David struggles for game time with Højlund and Toney being my preferred number 9s. Both are also the classic big and strong type of a number 9, whilst David appears shorter and adds less in terms of playing with his back against the opposition's goal. He's more versatile though, so when I do play him, he's covered in several positions and not only the central one.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
Rasmus Hojlund - the Manchester United 1-man team!!!
Seriously, though, you seem to be getting the best out of him.
Doing well in the league - if only a couple of the draws had become wins. Still, fairly well clear of Spurs at the moment, which is not bad.

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Yes, good player indeed. Of course scoring 5 in 1 game also helps bringing his number up, making him appear even more crucial than he's been.

Cause really, I do rotate quite a lot between him and Toney as the front man.