Men's Soccer (Football) Thread [ARCHIVED] Soccer • Page 1415

If you want to see a true amazing display of time wasting shithousery, turn on Rayo-Barca. Rayo have taken 25-35 seconds to get the ball back in play every time. It’s impressive and a true indictment of this ref, haha.

 

ELEVEN minutes of stoppage time.

 

I think Everton played well today but this made me laugh

 

James Ward-Prowse is very good. Wouldn’t mind him as a Xhaka rotation option if he wasn’t probably so expensive.

 

He’s closing in on Beckham’s Premier League free kick record actually.

 

Having my favourite FM game this year. Usually i choose a team and build them up (previously done Northampton Town, Wimbledon, Hertha Berlin, Fiorentina). This time i chose to just move wherever.

Got a job at Sparta Rotterdam and won the cup in S2 and Eredivisie in s3 as well as reaching the CL first knockout round.

Moved to Sporting and prioritised recruiting youngsters and promoting academy players. I won the league and league cup in S1, and then have won the league, cup and league cup in s2. Even beat Real Madrid 4-3 on aggregate to reach the CL quarter finals only to lose 4-3 to Chelsea. Now i might move to somewhere else.

Turns out it is way more fun just journeying about. Gonna see if i can manage Atletico, Arsenal and England and then retire to the MLS.

 

Yeah I’m always a journey man manager these days. Work my way up to United, usually get bored then because I reach the peak. The last really fun game I played was last year and I started unattached.

 

Breaking the Celtic/Rangers domination in the SPL and reaching the CL Semis with Dundee United (after starting with Bath in the VNS) in FM21 is probably my favourite ever save. Was also super handy for getting through the monotony of covid lockdowns haha.

Haven't had the time this year to really sink into a long term save but really am hankering one. Have you guys tried a Glory Hunter/ Pentagon challenge save before?

 

Tried the Pentagon once about 5 years ago but bored after two clubs, Europe (spain) and SA (chile), but the lack of enough playable African leagues and no Japan put me off.

Might try it next year with a J league mod.

 

Oh dear

 

Pentagon sounds fun, but a mad time sink that I can't commit to yet. Similar issues as Sam above too re: African leagues and Asian. Closest I got was a save a few years ago winning a league in MLS (I wanted to do a long MLS save but the weird rules made me annoyed), Brazil, and then a couple in Europe.

 

MLS is the worst on FM. Too many weird restrictions and too little jeopardy or reward. Just feels endlessly the same. The Zealand USA 5 tier mod makes it MUCH more enjoyable i find.

 

Link? Yeah my first season in MLS was an absolute disaster because it was so weird. Second season once I got to grips with it ended up being fairly easy.

 

probably my favourite save was in 2019 I think. Started with Pats in Ireland and wanted to try and work my way to United. Ended up moving to Hibs, then journeyed across Europe, Le Havre in the French second division, Rosenborg, Greuther Furth, then Ajax and finally getting into the Premier League with Southampton and giving up on my goal of United to take over Ireland. Didn't win a fucking thing at any club and got sacked from Ireland because of the Nations League.

 

Zealand has a good video on it here where he tells you about it and does a step by step instructional guide on installation.

 

18 years today since we won the PL at White Hart Lane.

what a man Thierry is lol

 

Doing a Mexico based FM save started with Cancun FC and then moved to Chivas two years later since Ascenso MX since their is no promotion/relegation for like 4 or 5 years in Mexico currently. While Chivas is a definitely a big club in Mexico, they have not won a title in a few years. They also do not allow foreign born players on their roster so it makes a bit of a challenge and Liga MX has that funky schedule with playoffs to win the title. I was able to win three straight titles in '25 and '26 and getting ready to look for a new challenge probably in Brazil.

 

United is in serious trouble lol. Alongside that apparently Ralf is preparing a dossier for Ten Hag with essentially details on the attitude and behavioural problems with literally every player lol.

Manchester United players lose faith in Ralf Rangnick – and some fear Erik ten Hag will not be strong enough to lift club | Sport | The Times

 

Trust me, that’s not breaking news or anything to United fans. We’ve been clamoring that it’s been a rotten group since Mourinho was still in charge. The difference now is that by bringing in and committing to a guy like EtH, you’re committing to the wholesale changes that need to be made top to bottom.

 

As I’ve said, tear the squad apart.

 

Who’s “safe” at United? Bruno, Donny, Varane, and De Gea?

 

Sancho for sure. There’s a group of talented but woefully under coached guys I can see thriving with structure and discipline instilled, on top of being properly drilled in an actual tactical system. Guys like Shaw, Fred, Lindelof I can see doing well. Rashford I know has had a particular rough couple of years, but I see him using this as a reset and figuring things out.

 

I like that you say top to bottom. Do you believe that they are committing to the wholesale changes required from the top? I feel like they think that they are doing that by appointing Ten Hag but that the structure is not in place for him to truly succeed. The question for me is do they have the motivation and willingness to sort out the structure from the top (which has made the club a bit of a joke) or is Ten Hag another sticky plaster that seems like a good idea but won’t have the resource or structure to truly be himself and achieve what he has achieved at Ajax.

 

Sancho, Bruno, Ronaldo eh… I’d say that’s about it. De Gea doesn’t really fit ETH’s style. Donny hasn’t played in two years. Varane is injured all the damn time.