How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

[Keano16]

Quote: Originally Posted by jamiec47

TOON TO THE TOP SEASON 3 PS4 Spoiler Match 21 Norwich 1-1 Newcastle Hooper 26 Bony 34 League top scorer Gary Hooper gave Norwich the lead with his 10th league goal of the season, turning Reid to curl into the bottom corner. We equalised soon after, Bony turning and smashing into the top corner, using his incredible strength to hold off his marker. We came close to finding a winner on multiple occasions, Schurrle hitting the post and Kampl forcing 2 excellent saves, the first tipped over the bar by the keepers fingertips and the second a brilliant reaction save to deny the Slovenian from point blank range. FA Cup Round 3 Wolves 1-3 Newcastle Ayoze 12 Ayoze 36 Perez 51 Sigurdson 71 Simmed. League Cup Semi Final Leg 1 Manchester City 0-0 Newcastle Possibly the most dull match ever. We had 1 shot off target, City had none. It was just a midfield dogfight. Match 22 Manchester United 1-0 Newcastle Di Maria 10 We were unfortunate to lose this match, Di Maria getting the only goal, curling in after capitalising on a Winston Reid error. The United defence played excellently and whenever we did get past the solid backline, De Gea made an excellent save. Match 23 Newcastle 0-1 Aston Villa Agbonlahor 27 Our second loss in a row was a disappointing one. Agbonlahor got the only goal, racing clear of our defence to slot in after a brilliant ball through by Sanchez. We were unable to score, the closest we came was when Ronnie hit the post from the edge of the box. League Cup Semi Final Leg 2 Newcastle 2-1 Manchester City (2-1 agg) Negredo 65 Barkley 70 Bony 83 This was more like it. We were dominating the game, but Joe Hart was playing excellently, making 6 stops in the first half alone, denying Bony, Kampl and Schurrle. Then, completely against the run of play, Negredo headed into the top corner from a Milner cross to give City the lead, and an away goal. Barkley equalised soon after, heading in on the rebound of Schurrle's effort which was badly saved. With time running out, Bony received the ball about 30 yards out. He went on a run, beating 4 defenders before smashing into the top corner beyond Hart to put us into the final to face West Ham United. FA Cup Round 4 Bournemouth 1-1 Newcastle O'Kane 34 Oliveira 64 Simmed. Newcastle make incredible deadline day signing A move that had gone on quietly and that no-one expected, Germany international and FC Bayern centre back Jerome Boateng, has joined Newcastle United. The move was a shock as the German had expressed no prior desire to leave FC Bayern. The deal was signed in the first hours of the deadline, meaning that the deal must have been in the works for about a week, and not one site picked it up. The fee is thought to be around £12 million, however, Winston Reid has signed a deal with the German champions, taking the fee up to around £17.5 million. He has signed on a £160,000 a week contract, making him the highest paid player at the club. Brazil International joins Newcastle Hoffenheim attacking midfielder Roberto Firmino has signed for Newcastle United on a pre contract agreement. The Brazilian international is one of the hottest prospects in Germany and has been brought in to replace the retiring Ronaldinho, a player he has been compared to in the past. He will also provide stronger competition to Ross Barkley. He has signed on an £60,000 a week contract.

A tough start with that Norwich draw and then that City draw plus the consecutive 1-0 defeats to United then Villa. Nice signings with Boateng and Firmino though, they should add some extra quality to your team. How's the table looking?

Quote: Originally Posted by redsox4evur

Spoiler The Opening Days in Juventus Juventus v. Hamburg SV 0 – 1 Olic 74 PEN Sturaro makes a horrendous tackle in the box for a YC and a penalty. Storari somehow gets beat by Olic and misses the save after choosing the right placement. MOTM: Ivica Olic FC Augsburg v. Juventus 2 – 0 Tevez 21’, 78’ Simmed MOTM Carlos Tevez Juventus v. Stuttgart 3 – 1 Tevez 71’, 90’, 90’+2 Harnik PEN 56’ Vidal hit’s a shot that goes bar down right before the half! Evra body checks a guy at the outer edge of the 18 right before the half circle for a PK. Harnik boots it high and Buffon makes the wrong guess and gives up the PK. After what looked like a clear turnover from Pogba after a ****ty pass, Lichtsteiner hits a perfect cross across the box where Tevez hits the header off the post and in to tie the game at 1. After a near miss by Stuttgart we get a GK, take the short pass to the wide side. We start to move the ball up the field and it ends up being Tevez against the LB for Stuttgart one v one. He makes some moves gets into the box and scores far post. Giving Juventus their second straight win and momentum going into the SuperCoppa. This was a hard fought win for Juventus. The game was played in the rain and the referee was against us from the start making all sorts of calls in Stuttgart’s favor. MOTM: Tevez Juventus – Napoli SUPERCOPPA Spoiler 3 – 0 Vidal 20’, 90’ Llorente 42’ After a horrendous challenge Napoli’s Albiol gets sent off, in only the 5th minute. 15 minutes later this comes back to haunt Napoli as our passing attack was pulling guys out of position and left Arturo open at the top of the box for a shot on goal, which he buried. Hamsik with another horrendous tackle leading to a red for Napoli, they are now with 9 men!!! And it cost them a 3rd goal. And just like that in my first attempt to gain a trophy I have gotten it!!! MOTM: Arturo Vidal Chievo Verona v. Juventus 2 – 0 Llorente 14‘, Tevez 75’ Chievo had a chance to score in the 45th minute but it was called off do to an offsides call. 74th minute Cheivo with a free kick right on top of the box and they missed it, booted over the top, Buffon never moved. Pererya with a great pass across the box on the ground and Tevez just taps it in far post. MOTM: Fernando Llorente Man of the Month: Carlos Tevez Carlos Tevez was great for us this month. In our friendlies he had a total of 5 goals. In the SuperCoppa he had an assist. And in our first game this season he recorded a goal. So in the month of August he had a total of 7 points. Youth Academy Ivan Alexandre POS: RM OVR: 49-59 POT: 79-94 Erik Stam POS: TBA OVR: 57-75 POT: 77-94 Robert Cornelisse POS: TBA OVR: 51-61 POT: 68-92 Kevin Corvia POS: TBA OVR: 45-61 POT: 71-94 Dabney Roon POS: TBA OVR: 47-63 POT: 74-94 Hot or Not Hot Tevez He was the Man of the Month. He tallied 7 points. That's all that needs to be said. Arturo Vidal He tallied 2 goals in that SuperCoppa. He made great heads up plays in the friendlies and the game against Chievo. Gianluigi Buffon The man may be 40 years old but he is playing incredible for us. He only allowed 1 goal in the 3 games he appeared in. And had 10+ saves in the SuperCoppa. Not Patrice Evra This was the easiest choice for a not this month. In just the SuperCoppa and our first Serie A game, Mr. Evra picked up 2 Yellow Cards. So he needs to be less aggressive next month or he may be replaced when the window opens. Andrea Pirlo He made some sound plays but on the other hand he also made some plays that could have cost us a couple goals and maybe a game. Paul Pogba In the friendly against FC Augsburg he was given a Yellow Card that could have led to a 2nd goal for Augsburg. He also has been all over the place when he is on the field trying to be a one man team. Upcoming matches: Unidense (Serie A) LOSC Lille (Champions League) AC Milan (Serie A) AC Cesena (Serie A) Atalanta (Serie A) Galatasaray SK (Champions League) Any feedback is appreciated.

A decent preseason followed by a solid win over Napoli. Tevez' been on fire for you. A great looking Academy too! How's the table looking?

[redsox4evur]

Quote: Originally Posted by Keano16

A decent preseason followed by a solid win over Napoli. Tevez' been on fire for you. A great looking Academy too! How's the table looking?

I think I was tied for first but behind on differential. Because it was only one game into the season. And to be honest that's the only reason I didn't post the table. I think I was second or third. And yea I figured it would have been Vidal creating the most chances for me. And then Tevez but he has been great for me. And I stated when I posted the poll I was going to be focusing on my academy so I went out and spent most of my budget there. I bought a 5* 4*, 5* 5* and another 5* 4*, I think. But I am not positive. And the RM, I got using the scout a future star. Also because I feel the budgets are not life like, at the beginning where you can choose the "extras" or whatever. Meaning the x% budget increase and a free GTN scout. My percentage was 60% so I took that. It brought my budget from around 20M up to 40M. And the 40 seems much more life like to me. I can't see a powerhouse like Juventus only being able to spend 20 million in a window.

[Keano16]

Time to catch up on some careers I missed.

Rabbit: First off Dagenham; A really tough start with those losses but you picked it up against Arsenal and in the remaining games. It's still early days though! Good form with Venezuela! Alcorcon now; A really good month seeing you win all your games and push up to 2nd. Lopez, Farago and Correa are all doing really well. Good wins with Argentina too!

Indi: Congrats on promotion! Really well done man. The budget is ok and I'm sure you can work something from it. Gerrard would be a masterstroke. Mackay-Steven and Delph coming in will both be good players for you I reckon.

Cruzerr: Swansea are always tough. A good win against PSG and then a good month after that. Welbeck and Ramsey are doing really well. Top of both league and champions league group which is good going.

Lebowski: Good form until the last 2 games but nothing you can do about that. Davis is doing really well and you are too sitting in 4th which good.

10cabee: Not a bad team! Mabil looks like he'll be a really good keeper in a few seasons. Couple nice signings in Cole and Brown. Unfortunate Reid had to go though. All wins until the last game against Southampton and even that game looked tight! Ajeti is a beast for you and you have a big lead on 2nd place.

[Kenny77]

Hey guys, sorry about inactivity but as he all know I'm in the middle of exams. My next update should be up in roughly 72 hours time, and will be the August update of my 2nd season

[sportsfreak96]

http://strawpoll.me/3598430

Heres the poll for you guys to decide who I should manage in my next CM

Monaco was getting to be really dull because of how many good players I had with them so yea

[moose141]

West Ham United - Episode #42: He's Back to Form

In this episode, we have some injury issues to deal with and another player has an issue with his role. We then play host to a pair of Premier League contests taking on Southampton and Queens Park Rangers.

[moose141]

Quote: Originally Posted by indiblue

Interesting times at the Boleyn Ground. I'm curious to see how you approach this going forward. Might I suggest the 4-5-1 Attack? If you have a good, complete midfielder with M/H or L/H work rates for the CM position, it could be excellent. Make sure you set the LM and RM to come back on defence. As for your 3-4-1-2, how do you find it? I prefer 5ATB to 3ATB, because the LWB and RWB play more accurately than the LM and RM positions.

First of all, congrats on the promotion to the big leagues. I really like the targets list that you have drawn up, John could be a major impact player similar to Cresswell for myself seeing as he is a LB with major offensive ability.

As for formation discussion, I keep seeming to find my way back to the diamond oftentimes. Really for me with so many fixtures and so few fullbacks, I often shift to 3 at the back out of necessity with a plethora of quality CBs and no one to fill in for Jenkinson or Cresswell when they're unfit. I actually prefer the 3-4-1-2 over the 3-5-1-1 that I tested, mainly because I like having a striker pairing up top. As for the 5 at the back vs. 3 at the back debate, I've found that 3 in the back with the RM/LM set to "come back at defend" works perfectly for me, because their position is set high enough that they get involved in the attacks, but with their pace and and that setting it basically creates a 5 at the back as they always get back defensively. When I tested 5 at the back I found that the wing backs didn't attack enough for my personal liking.

The 3-4-1-2 is honestly one of my favorites right now, but the diamond (even through its rough patch) is definitely one of our top formations, just because I have such a wealth of midfield talent that sometimes it's better to get them all on the field. That's honestly why I like the 3-4-1-2 because the 5 man midfield lets me run out more midfielders while still getting the Ox out in a wide position where he is most dangerous.

[indiblue]

@Simppu Well done on the World Cup. Let me know how you beat those big teams once you figure it out (it's called Semi-Pro). Great to see you back in Italy. Hope you have fun, and why shouldn't you when you have Dybala for company? Good luck!

@Jamie Wonderful signing. Boateng is one of the best defenders in the game and justifies that massive pay packet completely. Firmino is also a good buy. Sorta surprising that you didn't really get going with Reid, but not totally surprising. He was a beast for me at West Brom but struggled to show me any reason to put him back in the XI after I'd dropped him for Omar Gonzalez.

Quote: Originally Posted by _ChicoBass

Indiblue: Congratulations on promotion! Of course, they give you a terrible budget but good to hear you were able to request more funds and have it accepted. I like your targets, and hope you can sign Gerrard! Don't know if he would ever sign with a recently promoted club, but he would be an important player in your squad if you could sign him. Looking forward to reading who you went for in the end!

Thanks, man! I actually decided to run the 4-4-2 diamond. Because of how I employ it, I can get away with good results using mostly mediocre players. I've actually taken a leaf out of the Chavez Guidebook to Coaching and Transfers, from 'Chapter 2: Be Stingy in the Window', so the answer is none of them!

Oh, and I haven't got a clue who any of your signings are. But I hope you turn these nobodies into household names! Good luck, though I suspect you have a tougher task ahead of you than you did with the Dons (the actual Dons)!

Quote: Originally Posted by moose141

First of all, congrats on the promotion to the big leagues. I really like the targets list that you have drawn up, John could be a major impact player similar to Cresswell for myself seeing as he is a LB with major offensive ability. As for formation discussion, I keep seeming to find my way back to the diamond oftentimes. Really for me with so many fixtures and so few fullbacks, I often shift to 3 at the back out of necessity with a plethora of quality CBs and no one to fill in for Jenkinson or Cresswell when they're unfit. I actually prefer the 3-4-1-2 over the 3-5-1-1 that I tested, mainly because I like having a striker pairing up top. As for the 5 at the back vs. 3 at the back debate, I've found that 3 in the back with the RM/LM set to "come back at defend" works perfectly for me, because their position is set high enough that they get involved in the attacks, but with their pace and and that setting it basically creates a 5 at the back as they always get back defensively. When I tested 5 at the back I found that the wing backs didn't attack enough for my personal liking. The 3-4-1-2 is honestly one of my favorites right now, but the diamond (even through its rough patch) is definitely one of our top formations, just because I have such a wealth of midfield talent that sometimes it's better to get them all on the field. That's honestly why I like the 3-4-1-2 because the 5 man midfield lets me run out more midfielders while still getting the Ox out in a wide position where he is most dangerous.

Thanks a lot, man! I've progressed a bit further into the season and played my first league fixture. Without giving away too much, let me just say that Declan John didn't feature among my transfer targets. Actually, I didn't even pursue any of the players I'd shortlisted, mostly because the 4-4-2 diamond worked SO well for me in preseason that I decided to carry on with it. But there are some innovations coming up in terms of team-building, and while it's going to take me until 2017 to put together the team I want, it looks like I will be able to assemble a predominantly English squad. As for 3ATB, I find that it really is a boon when you have a shortage of players in the wide positions, but I just can't sustain the system over a longer period of time. I hope you have better luck with that! Keep me updated so I can maybe experiment with the 3-4-1-2!