The Sir Alex Ferguson Challenge FM20

2020-06-04 20:56#273216 ScottT : A decent finish all things considered. A lot of money to spend in the summer which will significantly improve your chances of climbing further up the table next season.

I am hoping for a top 10 finish at least next season, Im thinking that the defensive areas is a must need for improvement. Got My Eye on James Justin and Joe Rodon but they are going to cost at least 30 million between them.

Plenty of money to spend to get yourself fighting for Europe next season

Only three points more and you would've finished 9th, so not that poor a season in my opinion. The money available for next season will hopefully propel you into EL reckoning, if you spend it well! Good luck in the transfer market!

Valentino Lazaro		Inter Milan			7M			47k
James Justin			Leicester			14M			44k
Joe Rodon			Swansea			        14.75M		        49k
Pepe (Pedro Rodrigues)	        Guimaraes			18M			53k

I am very happy with the above business they will all improve the first team and will most likely all be 1st team regulars. Better yet all were signed before pre-season began so they were able to integrate with the squad immediately.

Wuilker Farinez		        Millonarios			2.6M			48k	
Nuno Tavares			Benfica			        2.5M			27k
Cristian Manea		        Limassoi			2.8M			30k

Farinez is going to be more of an understudy to Dubravka however I do not think it will be long until he is challenging for a first-team spot.



Nabil Bentaleb, Jetro Williams and Danny Rose left the club after their loan deals expired.

Freddie Woodman		        Watford			         30M			13k
Achraf Lazaar			Frosinone			825k			15k
Victor Fernandez		Ameria				275k			2.5k	

I didn't want to get rid of Woodman however Watford made the initial approach for 16M with clauses I renegotiated for 30M thinking it would be rejected. Surprisingly it was accepted so with the money I knew I could easily reinvest for better and some other youth prospects.

Federico Fernandez						        Released
Jamie Sterry						                Released
Stefan O’Connor							        Released
Luke Charman							        Released
Jack Young							        Released
Mohammed Sangare						        Released
Will Brown								Released
Jude Swailes								Released
Lucas Gamblin							        Released
George Rounsfell							Released
Kain Reed								Released
Tai Ebanks								Released
Karl Darlow								Released
Thomas Allan								Released
Ollie Walters								Released
Daniel Langley							        Released
Jack Colback								Released
Javi Manquillo								Released

Pretty average pre-season, not great but by no means terrible



Liverpool is going to be tough; they have kept their core 1st team and also brought in Milan Skriniar from Inter for 78M.
Sheff Wednesday has to be a win, they have recruited well bringing in some premier league experience from Morgan Schnederlin and Michail Antonio.
Watford bought Woodman off us which to be honest looks to have taken a sizable chunk out of their transfer budget. Other acquisitions are Casper De Norre & Souleyman Dombia.
Sheffield United have spent 56M on 9 players, 2 of which were free agents. Vladimir Weiss and Harry Wison are the 2 stands out players.

I am optimistic I think I have made some good improvements to the team so with that said I'm going for 7 / 12 points.



This is going to be the main first team this season:

James Justin in LB replacing on-loan Danny Rose
Joe Rondon in CB replacing Lascelles / Schar
Valentino Lazaro in RB signing permanently from a loan deal
Pepe in CM replacing Shelvey / Hayden in CM

We are still looking a little shy in depth up top however I don't really want to bring any more players into the squad as we have already got 8 (Lazaro included).

Wonder what's your "Class of 92" will be like or who's gonna take Cantona's role in the story.
Great signings, I hope you can push for UEL spots this season.

2020-06-05 16:28#273323 Oz96 : Wonder what's your "Class of 92" will be like or who's gonna take Cantona's role in the story.
Great signings, I hope you can push for UEL spots this season.

Pepe is defiantly me best signing (at least on the stats page) however nowhere near the calibre of Cantona

2020-06-05 16:33#273324 Emprex :

2020-06-05 16:28#273323 Oz96 : Wonder what's your "Class of 92" will be like or who's gonna take Cantona's role in the story.
Great signings, I hope you can push for UEL spots this season.

Pepe is defiantly me best signing (at least on the stats page) however nowhere near the calibre of Cantona

Cantona came in Fergie's sixth season or so. You've got time.

Steve Bruce as England boss is a frightening thing to witness! That aside, some very impressive movements in the window. Rodon, Farinez, Manea and Tavares all stand out to me as fantastic deals given their age and quality. You will definitely be receiving profit as well as quality with those purchases. A shame to see Woodman depart but for that kind of cash, it's somewhat understandable.

2020-06-05 19:02#273336 ScottT : Steve Bruce as England boss is a frightening thing to witness! That aside, some very impressive movements in the window. Rodon, Farinez, Manea and Tavares all stand out to me as fantastic deals given their age and quality. You will definitely be receiving profit as well as quality with those purchases. A shame to see Woodman depart but for that kind of cash, it's somewhat understandable.

Yer its was a silly money offer for Woodman. But I do think later down the line it may come back to haunt me as he has great potential.

Strange game in the first half Liverpool really attacked and managed to get 2 goals 1 from Robert Firmino and Virgil van Dijk.

The second half started even worse for us as Jamaal Lascelles received his second yellow card of the game on 65 minutes.
Somehow the players dug in and Joelinton brought us a glimmer of hope. Alimiron then brought us level in the 89th minute. To end the game 2 - 2.





1 change to the draw at Liverpool which is Lascelles out for Schar who is serving a 1 match ban.

7 minutes Almiron places the ball ahead of Batshuayi who hits first time and strikes the keeper but he scores with the rebound. 1 - 0. 19 minutes ASM cuts inside deeb and slots it to Almiron who slots it into the far corner 2 - 0.
Second half underway and Michail Antonio sees his effort go just wide of the post. 68 minutes decided to give a couple of my new players a run out. Lazaro, Saun Longstaff & ASM off for Christian Manea, Shelvey, Kirill Despodov on.
68 minutes Rodon lofts the ball towards the area from deep, Pepe brings it down and strikes it into the top corner 3 - 0.
70 minutes, Forestieri breaks on the counter and finds Bannan who cannons a shot off Schar. Schar is too slow to react and Roberts slots it into the back of the net 3 - 1.
76Minutes, Despodov with the free kick out wide near the corner flag, whips it into the back post where Rodon gets a head to it and brings it down Jolinton manages to get a touch onto it before it passes the line 4 - 1.




Have to say I'm feeling more confident than when I made the prediction that if we play the same as we did in the second half against Liverpool we can win. I have also decided to keep Schar in the team instead of Lascelles for this game also.

Pretty even 1st half with neither team really allowing the other any clear goal scoring opportunities, most efforts were either shots from outside of the area or easily collected by the GK.
Almiron switches play to ASM who brings the ball down and hits it towards goal, Freddie Woodman pushes it to the feet of Sean Longstaff who buries it into the back of the net 1 - 0.
70 minutes ASM replaced by Despodov.
87 minute Quina is determined to get level here a solo effort with only the keeper to break but the shot is poor and Dubravka clutches the ball.
It always seemed like Newcastle had been poor in the last 20-25 minutes. De Norris crosses the ball but there is too much on it no one in the box can get near, Joao Pedro picks the ball up and tries at an awkward angle Goal. 1 - 1.

Man City & Everton the only teams that are still unbeaten after 3 games.



Some slight rotation for this game:
Wuilker Farinez will replace Dubravka in goal
Tavares will replace Justin in LB
Manea in RB instead of Lazaro
Despodov for ASM
Kilman for Schar

Very early on 46 seconds Despodov takes a freekick in the middle of the park, Rodon is highest and heads the ball into the 6 yard box. Batshuayi heads the ball into the back of the net. 0 - 1. Iheanacho breaks on the counter and beats his man Kiliman inside of the box. Baines and Preat in support. Baines shoots, Farinez manages to parry the shot but Preat is there to get the rebound. 1 - 1. 16 minute Great team play which started all the way back to the GK, eventually the ball is with Tavares who finds Batshuayi on the penalty spot, it goes over. Defensive confusion between Foyth and Cozza as the ball is crossed into the area towards Batshuayi. Foyth puts it into his goal. 1 - 2. 54 minutes. Baines with no support in the final 3rd strikes the ball clean and it’s in 2 - 2. Leicester piling the pressure on now, the last 10 minutes has seen chances go begging for Ayoze Perez, Praet and Mario Rui. 74 minutes the only team that looked like scoring has done so, another goal from outside of the area, it falls to Robert Piris who shoots, Farinez get a touch to the ball but it’s not enough 3 - 2.

Considering I made 5 changes and all were new players I’m happy with the performance of the team in this one. I'm sure the board will be angry that we are not in the cup anymore but there is always next year.



Reverted back to the same squad against Watford with 1 change which is Lascelles back into the 1st team instead of Schar.

31 minutes, it took its time in coming but it's there Rodon could not get the cross in due to George Baldock however he could not win the ball back. Almiron receives it, whips it to Lazaro who cooly moves the ball along to ASM, he shoots and scores low into the bottom corner. 0 -1.
Moments Later Harry Wison with the freekick found Knudsen with loads of space but the connected header can only hit the crossbar. 35 Minutes Knudsen with the throw in the final 3rd gives it to stevens who looks to shoot but instead Ebere Eze intercepts the ball and put it into the back of the net himself 1 - 1.
49 minutes ASM running down the wing with the ball is dispossessed but Lazaro picks up the loose ball and crosses into Almiron who scores 1 - 2.
54 minutes James Justin is replaced by Nuno Tavares.
73 minutes ASM and Almiron switch sides, Almiron comes off for Toure.
86 Minutes Tavares crosses the ball but Batshuayi cannot get to it, Toure gets it out wide, gets into the area and scores. 1 - 3.
88 Minutes brilliant solo effort from Callum Robinson to take the ball into a dangerous area the goal is put on a plate for Sander Berge to slot it home. 2 - 3.
Dramatic moments in the closing stages of the game, corner comes in Sean Longstaff looks to have cleared it however VAR shows that it was a handball penalty to Sheffield United. Harry Wilson is able to convert the change 3 - 3.




Almost on target with my predictions, Sheffield United fought back brilliant to get the draw. There is still a long way to go and plenty of points up for grabs.



Only 3 games this month, Bournemouth and Brighton have to wins. The Leicester game I would hope to be a draw however having my full 1st team out may give me a chance to compare with some of the players that played in the cup match against them.

Bournemouth have sold Diego Rico who played 27 times for the Cherries last season, they have Thiago Almada on loan from Man City while their only purchase is Brandon Williams for 24M.

Brighton bought 3 players for a total fee of 30.5M. Joakim Maehle, Rico Henry and Kevaughn Modeste with no noticeable 1st team players leaving.

Leicester sign 8 for a combined total of 49M. Ryan Bennett, Nicolas Cozza, Mario Rui, Diego Rolan, Juan Foyth, Davide Zappacosta, Ben Beechey and Fede San Emeterio.
Outgoing was of course James Justin to us, Ricardo Pereira who signed for Barcelona and Demarai Gray who went to Crystal Palace.

Prediction 6 / 9

Schar back into the starting lineup due to a minor injury to Lascelles. Should be available for the next game against brighton.

20 minutes in ASM has a freekick in the wide area the cross swings into the back post, it falls perfectly for Joelinton but the goal is ruled out for offside.
25 minutes ASM with another freekick in a similar place, it’s placed at the back post again, this time it falls for Schar who puts it in the back of the net 1 - 0.
31 minutes Adam Smith cuts inside with enough space to take the shot but its wide of the mark.
55 minutes gone and a few half chances for Jolinton who heads it above the crossbar and ASM who hits it high and wide.
75 minutes and more chances fell to Newcastle this time Jolinton with an even better chance but hit it wide. Almiron also had a chance but was unable to hit the mark.
78 minutes I felt its was coming, especially with the number of chances we were having, totally against the run of play, Wilson found the space he needed to get the ball to Almada who placed the ball low into the far corner. 1 - 1.
Very late in the game 94 minutes Almiron whips the ball into the box towards the back post where he found ASM he puts it into the back of the net 2 -1.




Almiron & ASM both injured. Almiron out for 4 - 6 weeks with a torn Pectoral and ASM out with head injury who will be back for the next game against Leicester.

Few changes:
Wuilker Farinez will start today instead of Dubravka
Kiril Despodov replaces the injured ASM
Nuno Tavares starts in place of the injured Almiron

Early stages of play say both sides have little chances in front of goal, Brighton's best effort was hit straight into the arms of Farinez, Newcastle’s best effort was an effort from outside of the area that went over the bar from Nuno Tavares. 20 minutes played.

Lazaro with the ball out wide finds the space to hit an early cross, Jolinton rises highest and is able to bring it goalward with his head. 0 - 1, 37 minutes.

59 minutes in Newcastle corner comes in from Lazaro confusion in the 6 yard box, deflection off Shane Duffy which ends up in the back of the net. 0 - 2.

73 minutes James Justin with the throw to Despodov, Despodov moves the ball through the defensive gap to Jolinton. 0 - 3.

Late flurry of chances for Brighton which are snuffed out by the defence, Gross finds an opportunity to shoot but is later ruled offside. 85 minutes.

From the resulting freekick the ball eventually finds its way to Richie on the wing who switches play to Lazaro. Lazaro played the ball forward to Despodov, it hit first time, 0 - 4.

91st minute and the ball is crossed to Gross from deep, it's headed down into the back of the net 1 - 4.

93rd minute corner to Brighton found Bernard in the middle of the box, headed low into the goal. 2 - 4.



Dubravka, Lascelles and ASM back into the first team for this one.

11 minutes ASM cuts inside and places the ball into the 6 yard box, Jolinton has to slide to make contact with the ball. 1 - 0.

ASM again on the 23rd minute cuts inside but this time drags it back to Batshuayi who hits it first time into the back of the net. 2 - 0.

Individual effort from Rolan on the 26th minute ends up with a goal. 2 - 1.

39 minutes Longstaff picks out a long ball to James out wide he cuts inside of the 18yard box and forces a save from Schmeichel that goes out for a corner.

47 minutes in (Second Half) ASM cuts inside again causing Leicester problems when he lifts the ball towards the back post where Despodov only needs to guide the ball into the back of the net with his head. 3 - 1.

78th minutes and ASM is forced off the pitch due to injury Toure is his replacement.


Slight rotated squad for the last game of the season

Early into the 1st half and Besic has been sent off. 14 minutes. Almiron from the resulting free kick finds space outside of the box and scores 1 - 0. Nothing else really to report from the 1st half. Toure finds his way inside of the box and puts it on a plate for Gayle, the last ditch tackle stops the attack. From the GK McBurnie has acres of space no one closing him down, a screamer into the top far corner, 1 - 1. 3 changes at 70 minutes, Matt Longstaff, Almiron and Sorensen off for Shelvey, Richie and Batshuayi. Gayle has another similar chance from close range thanks to Lazaro 2 - 1.





We are one of only 2 teams that have yet faced defeat this season however we have had an easy start to the season other than Liverpool and Leicester.
Cardiff are you to get a single point this season.
Watford have struggled in the early stage so far also however 1 win and you would be applying pressure to the team above.
Sheffield Wednesday are slightly better off in that 1 win would most likely guide them out of the bottom 3 but its still incredibly tight at the bottom.



Some more winnable games this month Fulham should be an easy win, Wolves & Norwich are going to be more difficult but if we play as well as we did in the Leicester Win then we can win those games too.

The Chelsea game will be the most difficult this month, I would be happy with a draw here but realistically I am expecting to lose this one.

9 / 12 would be fantastic at this point in the season

Fulham brought a total of 14 players to the squad for a combined total of 26.5 million. Notably Rasmus Falk Signed from FC København, Cameron Carter-Vickers From Tottenham and Ben Woodburn on loan From Liverpool.

Chelsea spent big in the summer spending 241 Million on 5 players. Their biggest fee signing Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan for 88M. Hakim Ziyech from Ajax, Ruben Dias from Benfica and Thomas Lemar from Atletico Madrid and finally Paul Bernardoni from Bordeaux. Chealse did also raise a total of 128 Million on player sales Alvaro Morata, Kurt Zuma Zappacosta and Mario Pasalic.

Wolves signed 10 players for a combined total of 52 Million. Pierre-Emile Hojberg, Jesse Lingard, Andy Scullion and Nemanja Matic are some of the players they have signed.

Norwich signed 6 players for a combined total of 40 million. Jamie Shackleton, Luuk de Jong, Raul Ruidiaz and Valentin Antov. They also signed Lucas Moura on loan from Tottenham.

An absolutely blistering start. You can really pleased.

Looks like this is going to be a much better season than the last one, really good stuff! Very close in terms of points though, so you could easily fall down a couple of places. I'm sure you'll keep up the form and stay in a CL spot though!

2020-06-07 10:55#273446 Zed : Looks like this is going to be a much better season than the last one, really good stuff! Very close in terms of points though, so you could easily fall down a couple of places. I'm sure you'll keep up the form and stay in a CL spot though!

Hopefully so, I don't think that Champions league football is really on the cards this season to be honest. I would hope that we are in the top 10. 7th would be fantastic.

Miguel Almiron is still injured for another 4 weeks, ASM is also injured and will be out for 3 weeks with a twisted ankle. Nuno Tavares & Kiril Despodov will replace the duo.

Caught on the break Steven Sessegnon finds Rasmus Falk in loads of space, almost 1 v 1 with the keeps, he shoots and scores . 1 - 0. Poor first half from Newcastle, another 2 good chances fell for Fulham where shots were either over the crossbar or wide of the post.

Finally in the 89th minute Despodov whips the ball into Toure, he shoots but Marcus Bettinelli Blocks the shot. Jolinton jumps there to slot it home 1 - 1.



Unchanged squad for the Chelsea game.

Early doors chance for Chelsea with an attacking throw is passed to Abraham who finds Ziyech who puts the ball into the back of the net 0 - 1. 3 minutes.

10 minutes in a dangerous free kick for Newcastle taken by Despodov who lifts the ball over the wall and beats the keeper. 1 - 1.

33 minutes Lazaro is taken off for Manea due to an injury.

36 minutes a ball is whipped into the box by Manea but Jolinton is brought down into the box, VAR confirms the penalty. Pepe takes it and scores 2 -1.

Just before halftime James whips the ball into the box and finds Lautoro he hits the crossbar but it deflects into the back of the net 2 - 2.

56 minutes in Lautaro shoots but Dubravka is able to party the ball away, it goes into the direction of Ziyech who is able to put the ball away 2 - 3.

Lapse in concentration as Menea loses the ball in a dangerous position, Lautaro seizes on the error to make it 2 - 4.



Almiron is still out for another 3 days but will still miss out on the game against Norwich as he builds his fitness back up. ASM is back in training but will not play in this game as he also needs to build fitness up. Lazaro is out with a fractured toe and will be out for at least 2 weeks, Manea will replace him in the starting 11.

1st minute of the game. Manea tries an ambitious cross from deep into the back post, James has the better anticipation and slots it home 0 -1.

Ruben Neves with a freekick inside of the semicircle, strikes it into the back of the net 1- 1.

19 minutes corner whipped in by Podence, Boly gets a head to it 2 - 1.

88 minutes penalty to Wolves is converted by Ruben Neves 3 - 1.

Very poor game, we need to pick ourselves up from this and finish the month off with a win.

16 points from the first 10 is not terrible however it should be higher considering some of the games we have played.



Few more injuries to report in the lead up to this game. Max Kilman is out with a pulled muscle and will be out for up to 2 weeks. Matt Ritchie has a tight hamstring and is out for a few days and Elias Sorensen also out for a few days due to a pulled wrist.

Lineup


Few changes to the lineup here. Farinez in goal, Justin goes into RB and Tavares in LB. Despodov switches over to the Left and ASM returns on the right.

Half time and the score is 0 - 0. Newcastle had a host of chances mostly provided in some way by ASM. Longstaff also had a good effort that hit the crossbar. Same old story that we are just not clinical enough in front of goal.

Suprise surprise, 52 minutes Norwich took the lead from a lapse in concentration from the Defence, Ruidiaz scored the goal 0 - 1.

ASM gets the equaliser from a cracking shot outside of the area 1 - 1.

77 minutes and Despodov has a free kick from deep the initial cross is dealt with by the Norwich defense, however the chance comes back to him and he puts it into the back of the net 2 -1.

Pukki chases the ball from going out of play for a goal kick, Shackelton is there in support who gets the ball and slots it into the back of the net 2 - 2.

ASM again with the goal, the chance came from a corner at the other side of the pitch, 3 - 2. 82 minutes played.




Difficult month for us, 2 losses a draw and a win. I initially predicted 9 points where we only managed to get 4. I was however confident from the earlier month where we won all 3.

We are still oncourse for a top 10 finish so that is still positive. It's still early days but current form suggests that we have an outside chance for Europa league football.



The next 3 games are tragic, Tottenham, Arsenal and Man Utd. The optimist in me says 3 points however realistically I'm not expecting any this month.

Tottenham find themselves in 17th place currently but they cannot be counted out in this early start to the season. They signed Niklas Sule from Bayern Munich for 64 Million alongside another 5 players including a loan deal for Shaqiri from Liverpool. Their outgoing business includes Sissoko to Lyon for 36M and Lamela to Marseille.

Arsenal spent big in the summer signing 4 players for a combined total of 140M Gabriel Barbosa from Flamengo, Julian Weigl from Benfica, Eray Comert from FC Basel and Justin Kilvert From Roma. They sold Elney, Luiz and Mustafi for a combined total of 36.5M.

Manchester United also spent 105M bringing in Gabriel and Federico Chiesea from Benfica and Fiorentina. There were another 2 free signings in Cavanni and Sergio Reguilon. They raised 76M in outgoings with Brandon Williams going to Bournemouth, Eric Bailey to Lille and Andreas Pereira to Everton. Wolves also bought both Jesse Lingard and Nemanja Matic.