@JustinCase0110 wrote:What a start to the season. In need of a penalty win vs Millwall, but apart from that incredible, especially the 3-0 win vs Chelsea.
I like your approach in the transfer window, not throwing around crazy money. The players who brought you there are also the players who will be the backbone of the team in the season, just added a few new guys to supplement them. Shackleton permanently, I like that, and the others make sense too. Sandler was highly rated in his youth, so perhaps he can regain some of the lost potential? Christian Roldan is one I signed many FIFA's back, he was far better for me than his OVR rating would suggest at the time. I hope he'll do just as well for you.
A question: Is the transfer window closed yet? It doesn't seem like you found a new striker, so maybe you've decided to trust Niall Ennis after all, despite only 5 goals in the spring? Or maybe Chris Willock has played as the number 9?
I forgot to add that part, was on my failed attempted article 😜
Transfer Window is shut. Storyline wise there'd be a lot of concern with no new striker, but in my view/as manager I don't have concern because while his goals dropped off his goal contributions didn't plus I have so many players who can fill in upfront. The likes of Willock, Szmodics, Swift, Chong and Dolan to name a few so not short on attacking options.
Plus as I struggled to offload so many players I didn't wanna bring anyone else in..I was surprisingly given nearly 60mil budget but I wasn't gonna spend it all especially with little outgoings. My squad is way to big so made no sense to add, I was also tempted to bring in Patterson from Everton as they got relegated but I didn't wanna risk taking the Nottingham Forest route.
Hopefully some deals go ahead between now and end of January it was frustrating as most of the Listed Players had offer after offer but talks kept breaking down. A few are in final.year of contracts, I let 3 go end of last season by not renewing as I just couldn't sell them before
@CO88LER5 wrote:
@thurlow885I'm interested to see what the game makes of Szmodics, as IRL he's been banging them in right, left and centre in the Championship.
He's someone I kinda addressed early on which was long time ago, but I had no plans whatsoever to use him, but turned out to be fantastic during first 2 seasons and glad I involved him. He's still lurking just outside the main squad and probably won't get anywhere near as much first team football, likely keep for this season as back up and someone can rely on and possibly move on next season.
Also know what you mean regarding random teams, sometimes you just know they ain't gonna sell or go out on loan and talks guaranteed to break down..I used to find when the offers started up again in September in preparation for January they'd go through, but even those aren't happening. It's almost always the low rated/unwanted squad players this happens too
Oops, posted them wrong way round 🤣
Down to earth again in the league, fair enough losing to Arsenal and West Ham, but you probably wanted to have made that a smaller margin. You got back at them in the Carabao Cup though, that one really sounds like a thriller! Too bad the game don't provide an opportunity for a screenshot with all the scorers, when 11 goals are scored in a game.
@JustinCase0110 wrote:Down to earth again in the league, fair enough losing to Arsenal and West Ham, but you probably wanted to have made that a smaller margin. You got back at them in the Carabao Cup though, that one really sounds like a thriller! Too bad the game don't provide an opportunity for a screenshot with all the scorers, when 11 goals are scored in a game.
Yes it's unfortunate regarding getting screenshots from the game as I've just found out The Premier League one doesn't record more than 4 different scorers on 1 side
I don't usually mess with sliders during a season, but as much as I'd love to have a high flying season it felt a little too easy so far. Unfortunately I'm not good enough to switch up to Legendary and I won't enjoy it so I've been toying with making World Class harder and Legendary slightly easier so everything is all over the place at mo, but it makes for some fun storytelling
@CO88LER5 wrote:
@thurlow885The unpredictability of football, eh? It's why we love it!
6-5 scoreline - neither defence can feel satisfied with that!
I feel happier with a 1-0, than a 3-2, or 4-3 indeed.
Still only 3 points from the top at this point. You're doing well. Unfortunate to lose to Newcastle, when you felt like being the better team on the days. And I can almost imagine how that Man United game must've felt, conceding four in quick succession after having taken an early lead. Good job stopping the goals from flying in, almost forcing an incredible comeback there. And with a hattrick there, I suppose Willock could become a wanted man in January.
@JustinCase0110 wrote:Still only 3 points from the top at this point. You're doing well. Unfortunate to lose to Newcastle, when you felt like being the better team on the days. And I can almost imagine how that Man United game must've felt, conceding four in quick succession after having taken an early lead. Good job stopping the goals from flying in, almost forcing an incredible comeback there. And with a hattrick there, I suppose Willock could become a wanted man in January.
This has crossed my mind regarding Willock, I feel like I'm not using the same guy from last season. Unless a ridiculous offer comes in I try to avoid letting inform players go in January and be a bit more stubborn unless they are unsettled/forcing a move, but come the Summer if there is a lot of interest in a player and from a better club they will likely leave.
Interesting match against Man United. Do you ever change formations during a match? I do that quite often if the opposing team is so dominant, as I find that a different formation quite often makes me more competititve. For instance, in that match, I will have changed the formation sometime in the first half (probably after the third goal) to try and stop the United goal tally getting higher. In some matches, I've switched more than once, trying to find a formula that gets me back into a game, and it does work for me at least. Another thing I've found (I use two strikers) is that, sometimes, just switching the two strikers around makes a difference, which I find a bit weird...
It's also interesting to see the scorers in that match. I do think the game as a whole does some strange transfers between clubs...
@CO88LER5 wrote:Interesting match against Man United. Do you ever change formations during a match? I do that quite often if the opposing team is so dominant, as I find that a different formation quite often makes me more competititve. For instance, in that match, I will have changed the formation sometime in the first half (probably after the third goal) to try and stop the United goal tally getting higher. In some matches, I've switched more than once, trying to find a formula that gets me back into a game, and it does work for me at least. Another thing I've found (I use two strikers) is that, sometimes, just switching the two strikers around makes a difference, which I find a bit weird...
It's also interesting to see the scorers in that match. I do think the game as a whole does some strange transfers between clubs...
I have no problem switching up during or between matches, I think I got too comfortable as I had ditched 5 at the back something I had adopted for the Premier League. Whilst I didn't revert back to 5 at the back against United if memory serves be correct I changed up to have a CDM to give some added support. My personal preference in 451 attack, but that won't work at all right now for Blackburn so I'm currently switching between a couple 541 formations and 433s
Nice to see 7th place being so close to first place at this point in the season. A lot of teams with a chance to win still. But that defense might need some upgrading..
14th at this point in the seasons isn't really a concern. But going from the form of the early games to this, that's certainly a decline, and I see why the manager is under heavy pressure at the moment. The 4-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest is poor, and you need to improve defensively to keep the goals from flying in this easily. Now, that was all the negative. Now the positive: This is a pretty good development storywise. When I saw your early form, I "feared" for you that this would become too easy, so you would just go from strength to strength from here. There's hardly much story in that.
@JustinCase0110 wrote:14th at this point in the seasons isn't really a concern. But going from the form of the early games to this, that's certainly a decline, and I see why the manager is under heavy pressure at the moment. The 4-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest is poor, and you need to improve defensively to keep the goals from flying in this easily. Now, that was all the negative. Now the positive: This is a pretty good development storywise. When I saw your early form, I "feared" for you that this would become too easy, so you would just go from strength to strength from here. There's hardly much story in that.
Yeah that's kinda why I fiddled around with things a bit, I kinda let it slide at first as it meant I completed an objective and maybe with exception to Chelsea I'd say a few opening games were winnable so wasn't completely out there. Plus had it continued and I had had a phenomenal season then the next season would've had a very different look as the squad would've been picked apart for being successful, I'll assume that would've worked anyways.
Of all the defeats the only one that annoyed me was the Forest result especially as once again 3 goals came close together not sure why this keeps happening concede 1 whether winning or drawing and my defence turns into mush
Interesting approach signing such an elderly player. I think most people here would try to find younger players, who can grow, so I like the idea of doing things a bit differently. It's also quite a decent start for the veteran, scoring in his debut. Good start for the Polish forward too.
Resultswise the Carabao Cup defeat is a disappointment, compared to your league form which is quite good. But perhaps it's not all bad to have one competition less to worry about.
@CO88LER5 wrote:
@thurlow885
I like the manager's attitude in the press conferences. It's a bit like Ferguson was at times.
Don't give much away; that's the best approach.
Tough result in the cup, but that's not the one the game targets in terms of whether you stay or get fired...
Blackburn are doing well in the league, so that's good.
Interested that you signed a veteran. There used to be an objective in the game that requires that, but I haven't seen it pop up for 2-3 years...
Yeah I remember seeing that objective before for the record it wasn't one. I'm no stranger to buying a veteran usually as either a quick fix or when in Championship and feel it adds a little something sometimes as it's not that unusual. I didn't go out with intention, but wanted an experienced forward 30+ to lead the line. I saw Ben Yedder pop up and wasn't too expensive it actually ended up being between him and Immobile, but when I checked Aston Villas player stats and they had better options plus Ben Yedder had only played 2 games I figured it was a realistic deal. Obviously ovl has gone down he's 79 currently, but it suited me. Bialek was already shortlisted so went for them both and had to do early otherwise I wouldn't have got Bialek until next season as had less than 6 months left. Hoping he'll work out going forward I like playing with wingers and him being 6ft 3 gives a good target in the box to whip balls into.
Good news that Yan Couto isn't going anywhere. From my point of view he looks like one of your outstanding players, perhaps also being a kind of a coup to even get him in the first place. So making yourself open for offers makes very good sense. I do this too. My defensive midfielder Raskin has been targeted by Chelsea among others, and I set an asking price for him, but so far they haven't been inclined to pay anything reasonable for him.
Good start in the FA Cup, which is also a must, if one wants to survive in this game. Your league form suggests that it's hit or miss each time, either winning games or losing them. You rarely draw. Perhaps this could be an area worth exploring; to turn a few of those defeats into draws in the time to come. But no panic. 12th place, same points total as Liverpool. Things are looking good.
