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An embarassing affair. Clearly our Chairman is too busy pumping himself full of steroids instead of keeping a close rein on the manager. The massive motivational blunder of intentionally throwing a game in order to try and force out PSG is what caused this, in my opinion. It goes against our winning culture of excellence and is simply unworthy of a club such as Wrexham.
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Oct 2, 2014 22:44
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And making buttrock. (Is Fozzy buttrock? I'm not good at buttrock identification).
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Oct 2, 2014 22:58
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Epilogue: Empty honors. May 18, 2025-June 14, 2025 I have a month to get my head on straight, the United States is set to compete in it's first serious international matches since we won the Gold Cup two years ago. I can't still be dwelling on what cannot be changed about this past season. That being said... I vowed change, and I'm not backing away from that statement.  You really don't want to ask me this now.   : Hey coach, I'm not getting much playing time, so I was thinking if I got loaned out-(COACH glowers at O'HANLON so hard that static electricity begins to build on the centerback) : I'll... ok... I'll be going then... oh god oh god please don't kill me. Die, painfully.  Know what's better than being acknowledged the greatest player in England? Winning the title.  Know what's better than the Golden Boot? Winning the Champions League.  Know what's better than Young Player of the Year? Yeah, you're starting to understand me.  I guess now that we're underachievers they're happy to put us on the team of the year.  It's a hollow crown that sits atop his head, for all his success he still has yet to bring us European victory. Despite 41 goals in 46 matches the crowd still compares him to Bastable.  McLeod deserves the award, coaching a team to 119 league goals is an insane accomplishment. I wonder if I'd have topped him had we won the title, though.  I can't remember the last time I was merely “secure” in my job.  Let it be known that if a single player gives me guff, I might kill them.  What I'd actually do is kick them down to the B team. The Confederations Cup isn't that prestigious, but it's still significantly moreso than the Gold Cup.  It's probably a good thing that the Wrexham players won't be anywhere near me over the next month and a half.  Next year it's title or bust. If you think I've been upset this past week, just imagine the vortex of rage I'll become if we finish second again.    The board has decided to upgrade the training facilities further, to the point where they match or exceed any other location in the world. They have also decided upon a £157.5m consolidated wage and transfer budget for the coming year, though the board was extremely split between those who wished parsimony and those who demanded the very best.  What? A plot to sell the Racecourse Ground? We're going to have to do something to prevent that!  I'm so torn by this. On the one hand, Chelsea and Santos can burn in hell. On the other hand, they finished fifth this season, which would usually keep them from playing in the Champions League next season. But by winning here they get an automatic berth next season. Since there can be only four Champions League qualifiers from England, that means Manchester City and Pattison are poo poo out of luck. My schadenfreude is competing against my violent disdain.   Once again, this would all mean more if we had won the trophy.  Instead, they're empty honors that serve only to remind us how close we came and how far short we still fell.  West Brom is the prettiest girl at the dance. Blackburn was relegated along with Newcastle, I'd imagine that the ardor of their potential buyers has cooled once they learned of that.  City are dropping serious cash to extend their top players now that they're out from underneath the foot of the Financial Fair Play penalties.  I didn't know that Newcastle was Constantinople.  The first axe falls. Matty Collett, you have been judged, found wanting, and exiled. Hie thee back to Arsenal, you wastrel.    Come July we shall gather our friends and neighbors for the Mini-Cwp 2.0 Reboot Redux.    We shall travel to the heart of Europe to face challengers to our continental aspirations.  We shall play Chester, because we can.  We shall play Norridge, because we have to.    We shall play in China, because we have branded tchotchkes to sell. Ni hao, Zhongguo!   Oh dear. While looking at our various transfer clauses, I noticed that this ultraprospect for Man United seems to have been winkled away from us in March. Now I feel much less bad about doing it to other clubs.  Let's get ready to amortiiiiiiiize.  Hah! Take that, Chancellor of the Exchequer!  I'm going to punch the next futurist flunkie who tells me that location doesn't matter in a globalized and interconnected world. Punch them right in the Google Glass. It makes a huge difference, and our finances are suffering for it.  Grow old and infirm, damnit. United's best play still has another 3-4 years of pestering the hell out of me by being great and winning all the awards.  Cosimo De Blasio shamed us with his mediocrity while on loan. For failing to uphold our honor he is exiled.  I guess when your position description is “Legendary Midfielder” you can wear your hair any way you like.  We are offering an exchange program for those Petts' jerseys after his terrible penalty kick cost us a trip to the Champions League final.  It's a young squad, and one featuring five players who have recently taken up US citizenship and are uncapped for their original nations. That discomfits a bunch of older players.  .png) Don't worry, you get to play in the Gold Cup. Why are you crying?  They'll all have a chance to play their way back into the main team through the Gold Cup.  I'm going to bring him to Wales if I have to smuggle him in via a rocky inlet on Anglesey.  Perhaps the Wrexham lads will speak so highly of me that they'll accidentally undermine their own teams.  Welcome, my children. Welcome to your new home.  So I went to call my son up for the Gold Cup, because that's just the sort of dad I am, and he flat refused me! .png)  : You pick up that phone right now young man or I'm canceling your service!(WILL BROWN opens his bedroom door just wide enough to poke his head out, THE CURE can be heard emanating from his room.)  : NO! I HATE YOU!(BROWN slams the door, and ROBERT SMITH's dulcet voice rises in volume.)
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Oct 3, 2014 00:26
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habeasdorkus posted:
It would be incredible if through some bullshit you ended up fired in the next season. That would just be the apex of hilarity.
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Oct 3, 2014 00:35
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TheMcD posted:It would be incredible if through some bullshit you ended up fired in the next season. That would just be the apex of hilarity. And your son takes over.
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Oct 3, 2014 00:40
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We really need to hulk up Will Brown, have him join with Tackleford and hope he gets capped for another nation. Please do that, person who wins the next boon.
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Oct 3, 2014 00:48
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TheMcD posted:It would be incredible if through some bullshit you ended up fired in the next season. That would just be the apex of hilarity. Well, time to draft a heel promo for this scenario. Writing a promo for that would be much easier if I was a Hulk Hogan ripoff instead of a Y2J ripoff. EDIT: Also how was the 40K capacity determined and how will the corporate facilities be considering they'll help us with sponsors. Dreamsicle fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Oct 3, 2014 |
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Oct 3, 2014 00:50
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whowhatwhere posted:We really need to hulk up Will Brown, have him join with Tackleford and hope he gets capped for another nation. Please do that, person who wins the next boon. "You were the Chosen One! You were destined to bring order to Wrexham, not destroy it!"
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Oct 3, 2014 00:55
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Wait I just realized, with Collett gone who's gonna back up Parr?
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Oct 3, 2014 02:16
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The "legendary -position-" title is probably the easiest one to explain. All it means is that they're over 30 and they have 100+ caps for their country. It's not a measure of actual ability directly, unless the national team in question is a difficult one to get into. You should play some goon teams online as pre-season friendles. I forget how that all works now, but it seems doable (fakely, anyway).
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Oct 3, 2014 02:32
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Dreamsicle posted:Wait I just realized, with Collett gone who's gonna back up Parr? Taborda and Parr will share the right wing role, which is what they did for most of last season anyways.
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Oct 3, 2014 07:53
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Revenant Threshold posted:You should play some goon teams online as pre-season friendles. I forget how that all works now, but it seems doable (fakely, anyway). I might just volunteer for this. Fear AFC Wimbledon, we won the Euro Cup once?
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Oct 3, 2014 09:33
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I've got a pretty darn good Sheffield Wednesday team who won the Quintuple last year. I myself am not a great strategist but my team could likely stand a chance against this Wrexham team.
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Oct 3, 2014 16:53
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I've never played an online match before, but I'd be up for a few friendlies.
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Oct 3, 2014 18:02
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What I really want to see is Wrexham vs Brian Phillips' Pro Vercelli.Insertnamehere31 posted:I've got a pretty darn good Sheffield Wednesday team who won the Quintuple last year. I myself am not a great strategist but my team could likely stand a chance against this Wrexham team. Out of curiosity, what competitions did you win? Dreamsicle fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Oct 3, 2014 |
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Oct 3, 2014 18:09
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Obliterati posted:I might just volunteer for this. Fear AFC Wimbledon, we won the Euro Cup once? Fear Bath, once we almost managed to beat a Skrill Premier team. Sigh. I guess we can't all be Wrexham.
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Oct 3, 2014 20:01
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I just upset L1 Rotterham in the first round of the FA Cup with Skrill North Stockport. I'd like to imagine my virtual coach has a picture of Scott Brown hanging in his office and stares at for inspiration on a daily basis.
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Oct 4, 2014 02:34
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Dreamsicle posted:What I really want to see is Wrexham vs Brian Phillips' Pro Vercelli. Looking at the game I actually only had a quadruple last season, but I won the Club World Championship during the same calender year so when I looked at the profile it had 5 competitions won in 2019 so I thought it was included. I won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Community Shield last year and lost in the semifinals for the League Cup.
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Oct 4, 2014 03:12
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i've got a very mega-bastardy Man Utd team, perhaps even more so than our AU Man U. I've finished first the last 5 seasons although I cant seem to win the league cup. and I'm not great with tactics or making changes during games
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Oct 5, 2014 02:30
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So after some searching, I found out that Tackleford replaced Histon F.C. Do they still exist in this universe?
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Oct 5, 2014 18:59
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Dreamsicle posted:So after some searching, I found out that Tackleford replaced Histon F.C. Do they still exist in this universe? Barely, they're currently bottom of the Calor League (Southern) Premier League, which is one level below the Conference North/South. I'm not sure what happened to them, but they were definitely relegated last year, since they were in FM2014 to be replaced by Tackleford.
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Oct 6, 2014 02:00
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Appendix: The Year in Football/Futbol/Fußball/Calcio/Soccer, 2024-2025 June 14, 2025 Wrexham  The only player who had what you could call a “poor” year was dear departed Matty Collett. And we still didn't win the Premiership, the FA Cup, or the Champions League. England  Sky Shadowing and AJ_Impy avoid relegation. It's clear who the haves and have nots are, with only five teams finishing with a positive goal differential.  Our League Cup loss came against a club that got knocked down to League One. Did I mention this past season was frustrating?  Tackleford's looking much stronger than before. Maybe this time they'll avoid immediate relegation from the Championship.  There's nothing positive to say about this.  Or this. Europe  Order is not yet restored in Spain, with USMNT mainstay Brent Woods leading Valencia to the title. Poor Sevilla don't make the Champions League, their deep run this year took too much out of them when it came to competing in the domestic competition.  Finally someone other than Juventus wins. Napoli are by far the best team from southern Italy, and they deservingly earn the Scudetto in what for my money is the most competitive league in the game right now.  Dortmund has a bigger wage bill these days than Bayern. It helped them reach the Champions League final, but didn't give them the depth to win at home.  PSG is responsible for one in every four dollars in Ligue 1 wages. That Monaco was even within 10 points of them should be cause for firing their manager.  Oh no! I believe we have an Academia supporter amongst our readers. I regret to inform them that they've been relegated.  Anzhi Makhachkala is the only thing good in Dagestan, and it must be a little sweet for their supporters to top the Russian league.  Heerenveen is the current home of Rodrigo Moctezuma, the American wunderkind that I desire so greatly.  Belgium's league splits into relegation and championship tables at some point in the season, the performance of the clubs in those mini-tables determines the champions and relegation victims. In this case Gent was on fire for the final part of the season, and overcame a very good Club Brugge squad.  Ah, that's more like it. The big Turkish clubs are back atop the table, with Besiktas winning their fourteenth Süper Lig crown.  Hey! Rangers pulled out another title! I should stop declaring the Old Firm dead. They're still managing just half the wages of Celtic, but seeing as Celtic trades off every half decent youngster they get the gap in salaries hasn't made it impossible for Rangers to compete.  Next season I want to rain goals on Chelsea. Nothing would hurt Santos more than watching his defense give up a five-spot.  I guess it's no surprise that Real Madrid waltzed through the Europa League. North America   Atlas and Monterrey pick up additional titles during the two legged Mexican season.  Colorado won the MLS, while our feeder club matched our down year by barely qualifying for the playoffs.  An MLS team won the CONCACAF Champions League. DC United are quite the force these days. Even more impressive, a Guatemalan team made it to the semifinals. South America  We're never going to pass Flamengo on the reputational rankings if they keep on winning titles and Libertadores crowns.   Down south Boca Juniors and Velez Sarsfield split the apertura and clausura.  For the first time in what seems like forever, Flamengo do not win the Libertadores. Heck, it's not even a Brazilian winner, with Velez lifting the crown jewel of South American competition. You might remember them from their 3-3 draw against us last summer during our tour of Argentina. International  There were two major international competitions in the past year, the first being the Olympic Games where we took home silver, whereupon I was very disappointed to learn that the coach does not get a medal.  The Cup of Nations final was an all Maghreb affair, with the Algerians topping Egypt in Cairo. Every European team with African players can rest easy knowing that they won't have to do without them come mid-winter 2026. Prediction Contest  The title of Least Wrong goes to AJ_Impy, who was only off by a combined -13 spots. He achieved this by dropping Uruguay and Colombia in his rankings. Special acknowledgement goes to Not My Leg, who didn't pick a single country in the right place. AJ_Impy, what boon may I grant you? Also, if Niric is still around, he's got one on tap as well. habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Oct 8, 2014 |
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Oct 8, 2014 16:22
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habeasdorkus posted:Oh no! I believe we have an Academia supporter amongst our readers. I regret to inform them that they've been relegated. NOOOOOOOO!!! Delete this post, end the LP, nothing to see here, move along. Anyways, at least I'm happy to see that Mourinho won the Champions League (yeah, I wanted him to win it, what are you gonna do about it?  )
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Oct 8, 2014 16:33
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I imagine within the Man Utd culture there's a Tokyo Rose just utterly talking poo poo about Wrexham and Brown.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:04
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Woo Rapids. I vaguely support you when I can be arsed to follow MLS. Yes, I love Peyton more than you. And always will.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:05
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habeasdorkus posted:
This is clearly fiction, well it makes me losing out on a boon to goal difference a little easier to take as I was going to pump the Rapids to MLS megabastardom. If things continue the way they have I don't think the rapids will exist in 2027.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:08
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Have the Red Bulls always sucked in this universe? Also with Tackleford's performance, I guess Ed Phillips was finally fired.Camoes posted:Anyways, at least I'm happy to see that Mourinho won the Champions League (yeah, I wanted him to win it, what are you gonna do about it? Better him than Moyes. Also I've decided to restart FM14 this time starting as megabastards Man City to get an idea for tactics. I have some tactical questions. 1) What is a naturally defensive formation? Right now I'm running a 4-2-3-1 for attacking/possession. 2) For individual training, is it most effective to just train roles instead of specific/stats? I also have a LLM Tier 8 save but it's highly frustrating. I'll get back to it once I understand tactics but I'm wondering if the following is common in that area of competition. -Almost everyone is out of contract so players can easily come and go -Almost no one is match fit by the season opening and everyone is always tired -Subs are based on condition and not whether they're fit to play in that position The first two are what's bothering me the most. I don't have any payroll to keep my best players on a contract and everyone still gets tired easily. Dreamsicle fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Oct 8, 2014 |
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Oct 8, 2014 17:14
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Can you post the Australian A league?
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Oct 8, 2014 17:14
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blakout posted:Yay Rapids Hey, we won the MLS less than half a decade ago! That's... a thing. e:  Marcelo Balboa is now coaching my old high school's soccer team. I mean, the last I'd heard about the program the previous coach had been arrested for trying to pick up a 14 year old FBI agent on the internet, so I guess that's a step up. the JJ fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Oct 8, 2014 |
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Oct 8, 2014 17:15
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habeasdorkus posted:The title of Least Wrong goes to AJ_Impy, who was only off by a combined -13 spots. He achieved this by dropping Uruguay and Colombia in his rankings. Special acknowledgement goes to Not My Leg, who didn't pick a single country in the right place. AJ_Impy, what boon may I grant you? Also, if Niric is still around, he's got one on tap as well. I feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if thousands of Arsenal supporters cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced...
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Oct 8, 2014 17:26
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Dreamsicle posted:Also I've decided to restart FM14 this time starting as megabastards Man City to get an idea for tactics. I have some tactical questions. 1) Depends what sort of defending you're after. Megabastards are probably better off defending via keeping possession, but you could always try a 4-1-2-1-2 to put a DM in front of the back line, and you could always reduce to 1 striker and have an additional midfielder. 2) I generally train by roles unless a player has a specific glaring weakness. Especially for youth this helps you build players specifically for the roles you prefer (like all my DL/Rs are training as CWBs). It can lock you into playing a specific way though so make sure you're satisfied with your overall tactical approach.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:46
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Australian A League: Obliterati posted:1) Depends what sort of defending you're after. Megabastards are probably better off defending via keeping possession, but you could always try a 4-1-2-1-2 to put a DM in front of the back line, and you could always reduce to 1 striker and have an additional midfielder. 1) What Obliterati said, and you might also try a 4-4-1-1 with a dedicated midfield destroyer (central midfielder playing as a Ball-Winning Midfielder on Defend) whose only job is to break up opposition attacks while also having your fullbacks ordered to stay home and defend rather than get up the field to support the attack. Playing narrower and more disciplined will make it harder for an opponent to break you down, as well. Formations only go so far, though, you can have a flat 5-4-1 and still not be focused defensively if you're letting your players roam from their position, ordering them to push up the field, etc. I'd also note that it's hard to defend all game, even a very good defensive team will give up chances to a superior opponent over 90 minutes and it only takes one goal to change the face of a match. 2) Same, but I tend to allow my coaches to pick my youth player's schedules. That's partly laziness, but largely because 15 and 16 year olds tend to have a few glaring weaknesses like low stamina or strength that should be fixed up quick. The thing to note about training is (and this might have changed and I could be completely wrong now) that it directs which skills a player improves rather than how much he improves. Your player's rate of improvement depends on the level of competition he's facing, how well he's doing against that competition, the quality of your facilities, and his own work ethic/personality. Your coaches can direct that progress, and the better the coach the easier it is to keep a striker from getting points in Marking rather than Composure.
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Oct 8, 2014 18:08
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Do you have the Greek league simulated? I've seen a few Greek names around, but I don't remember if you have it on.
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Oct 8, 2014 18:44
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Dreamsicle posted:Have the Red Bulls always sucked in this universe? Also with Tackleford's performance, I guess Ed Phillips was finally fired. 1A) You're Manchester City. If you're being forced to defend you're doing things wrong. 1B) While some formations are more naturally suitable to defense than others, how defensive you play is more dependent on instructions than on formations. That being said, two "classic" defensive formations are: * 5-3-2 (With the wide defenders in the wing back positions.) This formation is very dependent on having good wing-backs who can contribute both in offense and defense. Without looking ingame I imagine City's starting full backs are quite suited to this role though. The midfield can be configured in various ways, from one DM and 2 CM's for maximum Iron Curtain, through a flat 3, to 2 CM's and 1 AM to get more creativity into your side. This formation was a classic in the 90's and early 00's but fell into disuse since. (before being reinvented in this world cup) This was my go-to formation when fighting the big boys in earlier FM/CM iterations but since CM tries to model current trends in tactical succes it might be less effective in the current versions? (Haven't tried it yet.) * 4-1-4-1: Two flat banks of four with a DM in between to provide extra protection for your defense. If you give your team and players conservative instructions this formation will prove very difficult to play through, but might leave your striker isolated as well. I'm not very fond of this formation myself, but others are. (Both in real life and in the game) You can turn this into a more "balanced" formation by moving the wide midfielders into the winger positions, thus becomming something of a 4-3-3. (Which I do like, again both in the game and in real life.) Staying closer to your "basic" 4-2-3-1 formation you can easily make a more defensive variant by dropping the two midfielders back into the DM positions. (If you have midfielders that are comfortable at DM at least. Again, not sure how your players are rated there in-game.) That way you can still muster good offensive threat from you unchanged top 4 while giving some extra protection to your back four. Be careful with player instructions not to pull the team completely appart in two halves though. (By allowing one of the DM's and one or both full backs more leeway to join the attack and maybe encourage one of your wingers to drop deeper. I'm only just starting to experiment to see if the latter is helpful) Amhazair fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Oct 8, 2014 |
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Oct 8, 2014 18:51
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Prologue: Dry run. June 14, 2025-July 1, 2025 The Confederations Cup is being held in the United States over the latter half of June. A recent invention, the Cup will be the most prestigious international tournament I've coached thus far and will give us an idea of how far we might go come next years World Cup.  We can beat Mexico. We can upset England. We can win this thing.  Of course, saying that we can win isn't quite accurate. Mexico and England are both beasts, and we're liable to face them in a one-two punch come the semi-finals. We shouldn't have trouble getting out of our group, though, while Colombia is a very good side neither Saudi Arabia or Canada are in our league. vs Canada, June 15, 2025 Confederations Cup, Group A  We're playing before over 100,000 screaming fans in the historic Rose Bowl of Los Angeles California. Who says Americans won't turn out to watch a soccer match? The national team is using a variant of Wrexham's 4-2-3-1 against the inferior opposition our neighbors to the north present. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Rubio de la Fuente, Parsons, Latham, Bruno, Bartlett, Padilla, Woods (c), Fisher, Ulusal, Cowles, Carroll. Subs: Jimenez, Beer, Stevens, Needham, Garcia, Ramos, Hughes, Burman, Helmick, Moctezuma, Celeste. We have the better of the first half but it's still tied. So it's a massive relief when we score 14 seconds into the second half on a screamer from the wing. We're even better in the second half, and that allows me a chance to give sixteen year old Rodrigo Moctezuma his first senior team cap. We're well on our way to securing our place in the knockout round until Latham scores an own goal three minutes into stoppage time. We have to settle for a draw. This is not the first time America's hat has screwed us, they've played us tough at every damned level since I took over as head coach of the national team. Man of the Match: Seth Cowles   USMNT 1-1 Canada  The prior record holder was megabust Freddy Adu, a wunderkind who was supposed to be America's first world class player and who was playing pro soccer as a 14 year old. Today Adu can't even find a spot on third rate Serbian squads. It's almost impossible for Moctezuma to end up a bigger disappointment.  I don't have time for this. I wish the Director of Football feature wasn't so buggy, offloading tertiary youth prospects for low to mid seven figure sums is the perfect job for one.  Crud, I think we're still going to be a second seed. All eight clubs above us are in the Champions League next season.  I know this comes as a surprise, especially as six months ago I was saying that he was one of the top five goalkeepers worldwide and Manchester United are our bitter rival. But have faith, there's a method to my madness.  You're going to have a tough enough time with 11 men on the pitch, Tahiti. I wouldn't be so eager to earn red cards. As for Mexico, I bet they wish they were the ones playing at the Rose Bowl instead of in the Meadowlands. Matches in Southern California are basically home games for El Tri, which is why the US so often prefers to play their bitter rivals in places like Ohio.   His deal runs through 2028; I'd like to get one more year out of him on his bargain basement contract of £19,000/wk before he starts getting paid what he deserves.  I should have sold him last summer, my lack of faith in Thiago cost us £10m. Now I know Thiago is amazing, and if he slumps or gets hurt I have complete faith that Stringel will be amazing. We have no need for Aarts, who is very good but wasted on our club. vs Colombia, June 18, 2025 Confederations Cup, Group A  We're taking on Colombia in the home of the New York Giants and Jets, despite being in the Meadowlands, New Jersey. The Copa America winners are our toughest challenge in the group stage, a win or a draw here will almost certainly advance us. They are also sitting on one point after a 2-2 draw with the Saudis. Mauricio Bohoroquez, Meteor's rival for title of “Best left winger in the world” is playing and will be their biggest threat. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Beer, Parsons, Needham, Stevens, Bruno (c), Padilla, Ramos, Garcia, Burman, Celeste, Moctezuma. Subs: Jimenez, Rubio de la Fuente, Ramirez, Latham, Woods, Ulusal, Hughes, Cowles, Fisher, Hemick, Carroll. We have Colombia on the ropes early but we just can't seem to put them away. They recover from our early pressure, and seem to take the lead in the 35th minute but for the referee's whistle blowing play dead. It's the only time the ball hits the back of the net all day and it doesn't even count. We're sitting on two points, and we need a win against Saudi Arabia if we're to meet my minimum expectations for the tournament.   USMNT 0-0 Colombia  They may be satisfied, but I'm not.  Nor are the players.  You're presented with more opportunities to hold team meetings as an international coach, and a good rousing speech is exactly what the team needs to hear. I don't let them speak, I don't want to damage the afterglow of my rendition of Bluto's speech from Animal House.  The renovation of Wrexham continues. One of Taffarel or Cirjak was going, as I expect great things of Loseille next season. We have now sold £139.5m of players in the past month. More will come.  I hate scheduling friendlies. They're allegedly improving this in the coming iteration, along with the other eleventy-dozen additional features that will supposedly make the game worth my hard earned entertainment budget... Who am I kidding, of course I'm going to buy FM15.  It's the end of an era. Godspeed, you bastard. I respect you for going out after your greatest accomplishment, denying me my third title in a row in the final minutes of the season.  Screw having home grown players. We're going full Manchester City. I don't care if it means that we only register 22 players for Champions League matches. If you're not good enough to hold down a first team spot, I'm not keeping you around. vs Saudi Arabia, June 21, 2025 Confederations Cup, Group A  We need to win to advance. A draw will leave us on three points and on the outside looking in. This is not where I expected to be at this point in the group. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Rubio de la Fuentes, Parsons, Latham, Needham, Bartlett, Woods (c), Hughes, Fisher, Ulusal, Cowles, Carroll. Subs: Jimenez, Beer, Bruno, Stevens, Ramirez, Padilla, Garcia, Celeste, Burman, Helmick, Moctezuma. Carroll puts us on top after a pretty bit of passing and movement to round the keeper at 27 minutes. We're able to make it two-nil before the break from a corner. Only a brilliant save by the Saudi keeper prevents us from going up three when play resumes, and allows them to pull back within one a few minutes later. But then a rough tackle gets one of their defenders sent off with 20 minutes to play, and then his partner gives up a penalty and is also sent off two minutes later. After fighting back from down 2-0 to being within a shout, they're suddenly down two goals again and with only nine men on the pitch. We can't help but score against nine men, and our margin of victory gives us first place in the group. Bring on Mexico. Man of the Match: Seth Cowles   USMNT 4-1 Saudi Arabia  Unlike the Confederations Cup, I aim to win this tournament come hell or high water. For now, though, Paul Williams will run them through their paces in a few friendlies to build esprit de corps and match fitness.  For now, though, Paul Williams will run them through their paces in a few friendlies to build esprit de corps and match fitness. I picked the local clubs based upon where I have friends I haven't seen in a couple years... I'm sure USSF won't mind me blowing off practice to see them.  Finally! After years of dreaming and scheming and plotting, I have my man! Kôjirô Minami Goalkeeper  The best keeper in the world now wears Wrexham colors. He's better than Kovacevic in almost every way. He's wildly better in the air. He's better at controlling the box and communicating with his defense. He's got hands the size of a grizzly's paw, and they seem like they have super glue on them. He's got a better feel for the game. The single area where Kovacevic outstrips him is in making the safe play. He's even the same age as Kovacevic, so he's by no means past his prime. Oh, and his fame helps pay his way:  We have a couple players who might claim to be the best at their position in the world, but all of them reached those heights after joining Wrexham. Minami is the first signing who was hands down the best at his position before joining us.   Aww, dangit. We clearly need to win more trophies to become the biggest club in the world.   I loathe PSG. They regularly make bids for my players, which invariably leads to the targeted player moping when I refuse to deal. Yet we've been vastly more successful in the past five years than those upjumped playthings of a princeling, so when they come complaining to me about how I won't let them leave I find it hard to take them seriously. We all know what this is really about, and it has nothing to do with wanting to win. It's that they'd double Reeds wages.  The one decent opponent I could find for us to play in China pulls out. I don't get the point of training in a foreign country if the only teams the locals can see us play are amateurs.  I'd have been stunned if it was anyone else. There aren't many players who manage forty or more goals in a season who aren't named Messi or Ronaldo. Messi, btw, holds the all time record with 73 goals in a single season, 50 of which came in the 2011-2012 La Liga season.   The club's Best Eleven doesn't see anyone new crack the starting lineup. The number of appearances also seems a bit off, Justin Bailey's played in 272 league games for the club and made 352 total appearances. Meteor's made 340 total appearances, 259 of them in League Play. So who knows what's up with that.  What sort of gauntlet do we face at the end of the season?   Oh. That's... not bad at all. Other than that final match against Chelsea we get all of our megabastard opponents out of the way by the first week of February. We shouldn't have any problem keeping our best players rested and ready for our Champions League and FA Cup matches as we close in on the end of the season.  I promised you trophies. I failed to deliver. I will not fail again.  Well crap. Getting past Mexico just got harder. Carroll is one of the four or five best American players, and easily the best striker. vs Mexico, June 25, 2025 Confederations Cup, Semifinal Round  A win here sets up a final against England or Colombia. Making the final is my goal. We've got home field advantage here in New Jersey, hopefully the crowd can cheer us to a victory. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Rubio de la Fuentes, Parsons, Needham, Latham, Bruno, Woods (c), Ramos, Ulusal, Burman, Cowles, Moctezuma. Subs: Jimenez, Beer, Bartlett, Ramirez, Stevens, Padilla, Hughes, Garcia, Fisher, Helmick, Celeste. Mexico gives us a hiding. We're lucky to still be in the match at halftime, and even luckier when Brian Burman makes a blazing run down the flank and launches a cruise missile into the upper 90 of the far post in the 70th minute. Mexico redoubles it's efforts from that point on, but we stand fast and hold on for the smash and grab win. We had no right to advance to the finals over Mexico, but we're the ones playing for the trophy. Hey, maybe if we're really lucky Colombia will shock England and we'll have a glimmer of hope in the final! Man of the Match: Brian Burman   USMNT 1-0 Mexico  So much for that glimmer of hope.  We signed Allan, Fitzgerald, and Gabbianelli on free transfers two summers ago. Allan looks like he'll be a solid backup for the club, while Fitz and Gabbianelli each brought us eight figure sums upon departure. I am the Billy Beane of European football.  This kid, meanwhile, just can't take the hint that I'm trying to cash in on him.  That's what I like to see. Now to repeat it against Mexico's B team in two weeks.  Yeah. End of the road.  The boys ain't feeling it, either. I can't make much of an impact on their mood seeing as they're aware of just how hard this is going to be. vs England, June 29, 2025 Confederations Cup, Final Round  We've now made it as far as any American team in past Confederations Cups. The 2009 edition saw the Stars and Stripes race out to a two-nil lead over Brazil, after a semifinal where they handed Spain its first loss in 35 international matches. The USMNT lost against Brazil that day, so if we can somehow do them one better it'll be a banner accomplishment for the nation. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Rubio de la Fuente, Parsons, Bruno, Latham, Bartlett, Woods (c), Padilla, Ramos, Fisher, Ulusal, Celeste. Subs: Jimenez, Beer, Ramirez, Needham, Stevens, Hughes, Garcia, Burman, Cowles, Helmick, Moctezuma. We had as much chance as a heifer in a slaughterhouse. From the very start England put on a masterclass of possession and attacking movement, and showed just how far we have to go before we can even consider winning the World Cup. Steve Collecott scored in the third minute, and even with that early lead they never showed an inch of mercy. We went into the break down two, and it's a miracle that we kept the score from getting embarrassing after the break. We didn't have a shot on goal all day, while England had eleven. Sometimes you eat the bear, and, well, sometimes the bear... it eats you.   USMNT 0-2 England  We have got to start raising our sights higher. We shouldn't be happy with the way we were just run off the field.  But our performance was still considered impressive, largely based upon the flawed FIFA rankings that put us just ahead of Saudi Arabia and behind Algeria going into the tournament. Also, what was anyone expecting of Canada? To get to the semifinal over us, Saudi Arabia, and Colombia?   The trip to the final also improves my job security. While I was at no risk of being fired, the game hasn't been taking into account my work in the Olympics or with the U20 team, and won't be paying attention to how we do in the Gold Cup. So this has been their first chance to rate my performance since the Gold Cup two years prior.  That's going to be a little hard when we don't have another meaningful match until the actual World Cup in 346 days.  It's going to be even harder with our captain and midfield stalwart retiring! What the hell, man? You couldn't stick it out for one more damned year and play in the World Cup in front of your countrymen?! USMNT   We're not even close to a world class team yet. Our matches against Mexico and England proved that. We were lucky to get past one, and lucky to only lose by two to the other. The World Cup is only a year away, and I'm having to calibrate down my goals from reaching the quarterfinal at bare minimum to merely getting to the knockout stage. Worse, we've lost by far and away our best player, who decided to retire now at age 31. Now I know how Jurgen Klinsmann felt when Landon Donovan faffed off. We'll get to see how deep the national talent pool is come July in the Gold Cup, after falling short against admittedly stiff competition in the Confederations Cup I want to make sure we take home a trophy for the third straight summer under my reign. Wrexham  We had more trouble scheduling our pre-season than I'd have liked, but we have enough matches to make sure that we're locked and loaded for the season start. It's vital that we get off on the right foot, last season proved that even minor wobbles can have catastrophic effects down the line. 
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Oct 8, 2014 19:24
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The Greek league is on, but I only turned it on a year or two ago. None of their clubs have been making noise in European competitions.Amhazair posted:
That 4-3-3 is essentially what we played early on (I was calling it a 4-5-1 as my wingers had some defensive responsibilities and I'm a noob) and what I have the USMNT playing now. It's pretty well balanced, but can leave you exposed out wide if your wingers are entirely focused on offense.
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Oct 8, 2014 19:28
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I have to say that I am curious to see how this pretty big reorganisation will affect squad cohesion. We had been seeing the squad gel better than ever before last year. That said that was a nice catch goalie wise. I presume you have a few other big tragets you want to smash and grab. I also presume you don't want to spoil the surprise about the targets ans signings though. 
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Oct 8, 2014 19:41
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habeasdorkus posted:I hate scheduling friendlies. They're allegedly improving this in the coming iteration, along with the other eleventy-dozen additional features that will supposedly make the game worth my hard earned entertainment budget... Who am I kidding, of course I'm going to buy FM15. This LP won't prematurely end right? 
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Oct 8, 2014 20:18
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Barring an outrageous circumstance where we win the treble this year and then win the World Cup, at which point there'd be no better blaze of glory to go out on, I'm planning on going through the 2030 season. At that point Wrexham will have been established as a Champions League club for almost a decade, will hopefully have another five EPL titles, and will give me as good a chance as I'll get at winning the World Cup with the United States.
habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Oct 8, 2014 |
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Oct 8, 2014 20:20
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Your captain straight up retiring a year from the World Cup is kinda hosed up.
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Oct 8, 2014 20:35
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