***The Official Football Manager Thread***

[NoDakHusker]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Pshh.... Cake.

Sent from TheDutchDads way cooler than an iPhone, Samsung S8+. Android FTW.

You haven't seen me manage, bruv.

[jvalverde88]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

*Team is up 2-0 at half time* "Keep it up lads." *Game ends in a 2-2 draw*

[Zac]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

*Team is up 2-0 at half time* "Keep it up lads." *Game ends in a 2-2 draw*

I had a game today where we where up 4-1 at half time. We lost 5-6. I almost threw my laptop out the window.

[superjames1992]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Just started up a save with German third division side FC Hansa Rostock (I picked them because I was in Rostock while on vacation earlier this year). The team is predicted to finish mid-table, but through 7 games we have 2 wins, a draw, and 3 losses, and sit 13th. Not the best start, though I suppose it could certainly be worse. We have been leaking way too many goals defensively.

Rostock had a good side historically and won the last season of the top flight East German league and have been in the Bundesliga fairly recently, but they have fallen on tougher times recently.

[gopher_guy]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Well, I tried 5 at the back, and it did NOT go well. I think it was because I didn't have enough support in midfield. It was working well in friendlies, but I think that might have been because the quality of opposition was just not very good.

It was essentially a 5-1-3-1. One midfielder, 3 attacking midfielders, and a striker. I thought that with my wingers set to Support duty, they and the WBs would help cover the middle, but after losing 3-0 to West Brom, I quickly abandoned the tactic in favor of my standard 4-2-3-1. I still might tinker with that 5 at the back formation later in the season.

Hard to argue with the results since switching, though.




I like the match engine so far, I like that goals can come directly off corners. It seemed like it NEVER happened in 17, but in the games I've played so far this year, I've already seen it a few times, which is nice.

[jasontoddwhitt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

2027-28 Amiens SC Season Overview

Ligue 1: 2nd
Europa League: 1st Knockout Round (Inter)
French Cup: 11th Round (Tours)
League Cup: Winner (Laval)
Top League Goal Scorer: Martin Koops (19)
Top Overall Goal Scorer: Martin Koops (27)
Highest Attendance: 29,359 vs Kilmarnock (Europa League)
Lowest Attendance: 21,424 vs Montpellier (League Cup)
Average Attendance: 28,870

Amiens got off to a hot start to the season, not losing a match in league play until Match Day 16. Amiens went to the top of the table on Match Day 4 and stayed there until Match Day 31. A 2-3 loss to Rennais allowed PSG to finally catch us on Match Day 32. After beating PSG 3-0 earlier in the year, PSG returned the favor by annihilating us 0-5 in Paris, sealing our fates in the title race. Still, a strong second place showing sees us heading to the UEFA Champions League next season.

The January transfer period would see a lot of changes for the squad. Pranjay Kumar turned in a transfer request. He wanted a trophy, and despite us being in first place at the time, he didn't think it was realistic for us to stay there. We sold him to Manchester City for $26M. CSKA Moscow came snooping for Lee Dong-Young. And since midfield was a position of strength for us, we sold him for $13.25M. Brazilian center back Isael expressed a desire to go back to Brazil. We sold him to Fluminese for $10M. All three were sold at some nice profits....

Kumar: Free -> $26M
Dong-Young: $350K -> $13.25M
Isael: $2M -> $10M

We only invested a little bit of that money in the January period. We signed keeper Sebastian Fleury from Red Star for $325k, midfielder Giano Li Tien Bachirou from Le Havre for $8M, and defender Garry Burns from Celtic for $1.5M.

In Europa, after failing to get a win in our first two group matches (2-2 draw against Atletico and a 1-2 defeat to Sassuolo), we proceeded to win the rest of our group matches, only conceding two goals in the final four matches. We finished second in our group to Sassuolo, tying them on points. In the knockout stages, we drew Inter, who won all of their group stage matches. The writing was on the wall. In leg one, they destroyed us 0-3. Leg two, we put up a bit of a fight, scoring the first two goals of the match. But then Inter scored 3 goals, and we lost 6-2 on aggregate.

As for my coaching profile....I have achieved icon status at Amiens, just signed a three-year extension with the club, and I currently rank 9th in the American Hall of Fame, just ahead of David Wagner (won the Championship twice at Ipswich in 2022 and 2024. Hasn't coached since 2026 after being fired by Aston Villa). Next up is Caleb Porter, who was fired by Portland in 2019 after winning the Supporter's Shield in 2018, and he never coached again.

For the record...the greatest manager in football history, who is still going strong at Manchester United...Jose Mourinho....

Four EFL Cup wins (17, 19, 27, 28)
Four Community Shield wins (16, 18, 23, 25)
Six Champions Leauge wins (19, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27)
Five Premier League wins (23, 24, 25, 26, 28)
Four Super Cup wins (22, 25, 26, 27)
One Europa League win (17)
Six FIFA Club World Cup wins (19, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27)
Two FA Cup wins (19, 24)

And that's just at Manchester United. Overall...13 domestic division titles, 13 domestic cups, and 20 other club trophies.

Fans Player of the Season

DR Giulio Lupica - 41 (2) appearances, four goals, nine assists, three POM awards, 7.54 average, 54% of fan vote, voted Young Player of the Season

DC/DR Arnaud Bonnet - 32 (8) appearances, two goals, three assists, four POM awards, 7.27 average, 19% of fan vote

DL Israel Martin - 32 (2) appearances, one goal, three assists, three POM awards, 7.44 average, 16% of fan vote

Signing of the Season

DR Giulio Lupica (Free from Ipswich)

Top Five in Jersey Sales

1. AMC Steve Martial - 46 (5) appearances, 11 goals, 11 assists, five POM awards, 7.18 rating

2. MC Erhan Asiroglu - 45 (5) appearances, six goals, seven assists, four POM awards, 7.18 rating

3. ST Martin Koops - 51 (4) appearances, 27 goals, 16 assists, five POM awards, 7.21 rating

4. MC Camille Le Floch - 27 (8) appearances, three goals, nine assists, one POM award, 7.14 rating

5. ST Oliveira - 14 (16) appearances, 10 goals, two assists, 6.84 rating

[JHedges2]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

So, what's the benefit of 'adding' MORE 'active' leagues?

I was adding Spain, Germany, Italy, etc. and wondering why exactly I do that?

If I don't, do I miss out big time on stats/scouting those leagues?

[Zac]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

So, what's the benefit of 'adding' MORE 'active' leagues?

I was adding Spain, Germany, Italy, etc. and wondering why exactly I do that?

If I don't, do I miss out big time on stats/scouting those leagues?

Aside from being able to play with those team, you aren't loading those players (for transfers or their regens). Some of them will be loaded by default based on database size, but only a very small amount of the top players. Unless you use the custom database size option and choosing to load the player without the leagues.

[Zac]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Had a pretty amazing first year:



Now on to the Europa League Preliminary round playoff against Tre Penne from San Marino. For the right to lose to Videoton from Hungary in the first qualifying round. Still pretty damn good for a first year in a journeyman save with no badges or playing history.

I've never done this good in a first season doing this. Pretty sure its 100% the tactic, because players aren't very good. Using a 4-3-3 narrow counter system with defensive fullbacks. Basically just sit behind the ball and hoof it up to the three strikers who then have a 3 on 2 every time.

[superjames1992]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Just started up a save with German third division side FC Hansa Rostock (I picked them because I was in Rostock while on vacation earlier this year). The team is predicted to finish mid-table, but through 7 games we have 2 wins, a draw, and 3 losses, and sit 13th. Not the best start, though I suppose it could certainly be worse. We have been leaking way too many goals defensively.

Rostock had a good side historically and won the last season of the top flight East German league and have been in the Bundesliga fairly recently, but they have fallen on tougher times recently.

After 12 games, I was 4-4-4 and 11th in the table heading into a big home game against top of the table Unterhaching. Figuring I was going to get hammered in the game if I kept things as they were, I tried out a new tactic (an attacking 4-1-2-3 DM Narrow formation) and we surprisingly won 2-0. In the next game, against mid-table Karlsruhle on the road, we fell behind 2-0 in the first half, but outscored them 4-0 in the second half to win 4-2.

So, the early returns look good with this new tactic and we've climbed to 6th in the table through 14 games with 6 wins, four draws, and four losses. We also are undefeated in our last 7 games and have won 3 in a row. We're still 8 points behind first place and 3 points behind third (which goes into the promotion playoff), but things are looking up at the moment.

[NoDakHusker]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

I like the match engine so far, I like that goals can come directly off corners. It seemed like it NEVER happened in 17, but in the games I've played so far this year, I've already seen it a few times, which is nice.

Set pieces in general are better this year, it felt pretty rare to score from them last year. I'm seeing direct FKs going in, more varied indirect FK routines and better corners make it much more dangerous this year for both user and AI. The match engine is so good this year.

[superjames1992]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

After 12 games, I was 4-4-4 and 11th in the table heading into a big home game against top of the table Unterhaching. Figuring I was going to get hammered in the game if I kept things as they were, I tried out a new tactic (an attacking 4-1-2-3 DM Narrow formation) and we surprisingly won 2-0. In the next game, against mid-table Karlsruhle on the road, we fell behind 2-0 in the first half, but outscored them 4-0 in the second half to win 4-2.

So, the early returns look good with this new tactic and we've climbed to 6th in the table through 14 games with 6 wins, four draws, and four losses. We also are undefeated in our last 7 games and have won 3 in a row. We're still 8 points behind first place and 3 points behind third (which goes into the promotion playoff), but things are looking up at the moment.

And now at the halfway point we have won 8 games in a row (7 since changing tactics) and haven't lost in 12 games and sit at the top of the table. Wow.

We have been scoring lights-out lately (3 goals per game in the 7 games since the tactical change while allowing 1.1 goals per game).

[JHedges2]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Those of you that play with big clubs, I'm curious how much you 'handle' with regard to contracts, and more specifically--youth squads/contracts.

It's very easy to get overwhelmed with everything. I just need to go ahead and hire Mertesacker as my academy manager #BFG

*EDIT: What facepacks are you guys using? I copied over the '17 pack I used to fill the void until I get a new one and just don't use blank silhouettes. Seems there are still issues with people loading them (per FM Scout)?*

[Zac]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

*EDIT: What facepacks are you guys using? I copied over the '17 pack I used to fill the void until I get a new one and just don't use blank silhouettes. Seems there are still issues with people loading them (per FM Scout)?*

I use cutout faces from sortitoutsi. I copy the ones I already have over, and then download the updated packs to add to it as they come out. So its always up to date with new players and better quality pics. They update almost every month.

[TheDutchDad]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

I use cutout faces from sortitoutsi. I copy the ones I already have over, and then download the updated packs to add to it as they come out. So its always up to date with new players and better quality pics. They update almost every month.

Same. I've had to keep a text file in my graphics folder with the latest version of logos and cut out faces I installed last so I don't forget.

Also, if you plan to download a lot of megapacks etc from sortitoutsi, I recommend paying for premium service for the year. It's cheap, and your DL's are gonna be lightening fast as opposed to downloading in parts that will take quite awhile.