[FM 12] DeadMan's Career Dynasty

[DeadMan]

I've decided to create a sort of spin-off dynasty of the current FM12 dynasty I had going with Arsenal. Here's a link to the old thread: http://nutopiasports.com/forum/index.php?threads/fm-12-deadmans-arsenal-dynasty.244/ . And just a summary of what I've accomplished so far:

Manager History

Arsenal: 2011-2016
Charity Shield Winner: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
League Cup Winner: 2013, 2016
FA Cup Winner: 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
Premier League Winner: 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2015/2016
Champions League Winner: 2013/2014, 2015/2016
European Super Cup Winner: 2014
Club World Champion: 2014
Manager of the Month: 6 times
Manager of the Year: 4 times

Inter: 2016 - now (currently 2020)
Serie A Winner: 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020
Coppa Italia Winner: 2017, 2019, 2020
Italian Super Cup Winner: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Champions League Winner: 2017/2018, 2019/2020
European Super Cup Winner: 2018, 2020
Club World Championship Winner: 2018
Manager of the Year: 2 times


England: 2020 - now

Anyways, I decided to resign as manager after winning the quad in the 2015/16 season. My goal was to latch onto a big team that was having trouble and build them into the machine that my Arsenal team was.

After leaving Arsenal, I instantly got offers for a bunch of jobs. England, Portugal, and Manchester City all wanted me. The Euros had just ended, so a lot of jobs were open there, and Man City's manager (Mourinho) left to go manage Arsenal. I'm excited to see how Arsenal does under a new manager. I left that club in good enough shape to be a prime European contender for years to come.

Anyways, I declined all of those jobs because I wasn't really lusting after them. The US job came open in the fall of 2016 because they were knocked out of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. I was offered the job but turned it down because I wanted to be able to develop players in a way I can't with a national team job.

Eventually, one job came open that really interested me. It was a club that had some great glory years but had fallen on somewhat hard times recently. It has a mediocre, aging squad, but with a decent budget to start remaking the squad. I have decided to become the new manager of ...

That's right, Inter. Inter have been floundering a bit recently. These are the only things they've won since this game began:

Started out well, but haven't been doing much recently. At Arsenal, I met them in the Champions League a few times and had no issues at all with them. They fired their manager, and installed me as coach. Their league position isn't all that terrible:

I think that might have improved a couple of places because I waited a week to accept the job and 2 games took place. The squad:

A couple of good players, but a lot of aging ones. There are a lot of AMCs in the squad, not many box to box midfielders. The strikers leave me wanting, and the defenders, with a couple of exceptions, are pretty meh. Wingers are actually pretty solid, although I feel like they could also be improved. I have a budget of around $40M, and I'm about $600k per week under the wage budget. So I do have some room to maneuver in the transfer market. Anyways, here are some highlights:

And a couple of the more promising youngsters:

A couple of promising ones there, but nothing really to write home about. Inter have a ton of affiliated clubs that are designed to take youth players on loan (no reserve team league in Italy), so I will have to use that to get them decent game experience. Really, building a base of youth talent is going to be a challenge for me. I need to focus my money on first team players, but there isn't much in the youth team besides these few players. So, I will have to put effort in building the younger player ranks through free transfers and great scouting.

Inter did manage to advance out of their CL group. In the round of 16, I will face ... Arsenal. Of course. FM has a sense of humor about these things apparently - sort of like the actual draw.

The board expectations are that I win the league and advance to the quarters in the CL. The league is doable - there is a lot more room for error here than in the Premier League. And I think with one or two key signings, the team could turn out to be pretty damn good. I will look to fill the hole at striker first, and then move on to other areas in the transfer market.

Inter 2016/2017 Mid-Season Update

Focused on getting some younger players in this window that can contribute right away. I started by moving out about 4 players who I wasn't going play that much. And then brought in two really good young players:

Brought him in for around $30M. Slotted right into the starter at the center of defense. He looks like he'll be a great CB for a long time. He's got all the attributes he needs to be special.

I really needed a striker that could score consistently. And this guy has been on my radar for a while. Got him from Bayern for $43M. It's a risk with such a young player, but he's been outstanding so far. Been scoring consistently, which is something this team really needs.

I also brought this guy in a loan with an option to buy for relatively cheap ($10M). I wasn't really looking for a new LB, but he got good reviews, and he looks like he'll be a great offensive fullback, which is something my system needs. He needs some better physical attributes for sure, but I've been able to develop those with other players before.

He came in on a free. One for the future, if anything. Doesn't look great right now, but you never know.

I've been doing reasonably well so far:

The Arsenal victory was nice. I parked the bus with a 3-4-2-1 formation and managed to steal a goal. Have to play @Arsenal still, though, so I would be surprised to get through. I'm also through to the semi final of the Coppa Italia, with a 3-0 win going into the second leg. It would be great to get a win in that to get a trophy in my first season.

I've also made up some ground in Serie A. I'm now 4 points back, and I think it's doable. I'm going to have to win a lot of games to come out on top, though.

Inter 2016-2016 Season Review

Well, did the double. Won Serie A with a game to spare - mostly because Fiorentina blew it. They had a 7 point lead with about 8 games left, and then just completely faltered. For the most part, I won all of the games I needed to, including against Fiorentina. They actually got so bad that Napoli moved into second place with 3 games to go. Their loss actually ended up clinching the title for me. Also won the Coppa Italia. That was fairly easy, despite a couple of tense moment in the second leg of the semifinals. The final was a cakewalk.

Champions League ... blergh. I actually was on course to go through with after winning at home 1-0 and then up 2-1 with 10 minutes left. Then, Ramsey scored in the 84th minute to knock me out. Too bad, because you can see that it wasn't exactly a tough road for Arsenal after they knocked me out. Oh well.

Stats from the year:

The biggest challenge for this squad will be to challenge in the Champions League. Serie A is really, really bad. There are a lot of okay teams, but nothing that really stands out. Napoli has the most dangerous players (Cavani and Lavezzi) but also a really, really bad defense. The squad right now isn't great, but it was enough to win Serie A, and I would have won it a lot easier if I had been in charge at the beginning of the year I'm sure.

Areas I'm looking to improve in the transfer window: I need a young right back to take over for Maicon in the near future; I need a goalie to groom as Cesar's replacement; I would like to get a more balanced central mid; and I would also like to get another top notch central defender. I think I'm mostly set on the wings and at striker for now.

 

[DeadMan]

Inter 2017-18 Season Preview

Got a lot of business done - note this is without me releasing basically all of the U20 team :

Goalie to develop to eventually take over for Julio Cesar. Because I signed him from Roma, the fans are not happy about me signing him

Prospects signed on frees. I mostly signed them during the year, and this was to get some decent youngsters instead of the crap in the U20s. Some of them have gone out on loan immediately because they're too good for the U20s and there isn't a reserve competition in Italy. No point in not playing them enough I would like some control over their development.

Was on loan here last year. Exercised the buy option on him. He's improving in the areas I want him to and he's a solid attacking fullback, which is a key in my system.

Bought him as soon as I saw his stats. How I feel about him:

He's already able to play both as a box to box CM and as an AMC. I have him tutored by a old player on the team, which will make him even better. Can't wait for him to develop more.

Youngster from Arsenal that I bought there a couple of years ago. He's going to be a great CB for the next decade I think. Got him at a reasonable price too.

Right back of the future. Needs to develop his attacking game more, but he should be a decent backup to Maicon in the mean time.

Another former Arsenal player. He came on a free, and he's more for depth than to start. I could see him wrestling a starting spot from one of my current wingers, but we'll see about that one.

So all of these transfers should set my team up to be really good for a while. It will be interesting to see how the team will react to all of the signings. Only Stiefler and Eppinga will go right into the starting lineup, and Eppinga was a starter last year for the team. Most of the surgery on the squad was on the fringes and backups. So we'll see how it reacts.

My Champions League group:

I should be able to pretty easily advance in second place, as long as I get 4+ points against Kiev. Not losing both games to ManCity would be a bonus.

Hey, won the Italian Super Cup! In a romp. Nene had two assists, which is a great start to his career at Inter.

Inter 2017-18 Midseason Review

Doing pretty well in Serie A. I had a couple of disappointing results, but in general I'm pretty pleased. Napoli are definitely the biggest threat, and I'm actually 0-2 against them so far with Inter - both on the road though. I had a tough run of fixtures that coincided with with an injury crisis. But I came through that relatively unscathed and now have a good run going. I would call myself the favorite for the title right now.

Coppa Italia going well. I was actually tied 0-0 with Fiorentina at half, and they were dominating me. Read them the riot act and they reacted . Napoli is a 2 legged tied, so I should be able to survive a close loss at Napoli. Definitely the team I wanted to avoid though. Oh well.

Champions League went about as I expected. The ManCity games occurred during my injury crisis - and because Inter were shitty at developing young players, I don't have my full roster in the Champions League. But, I went 4 for 4 in beating the other teams, so advancing was never in doubt. Handed another really tough team unfortunately. Barcelona killed me at Arsenal the first couple of years, but haven't done much in the Champions League since then. I would really like to advance so I don't have to be seeded 2nd and play teams like ManCity and Arsenal in the group and the 1st knockout round.

Brought in 3 players in the transfer window:

Ross is another former Arsenal player. I overpaid for him ($35M), but I wanted a third striker to have the flexibility to play 4-4-2 occasionally. I also think Ighalo, my backup striker, doesn't have a ton of good years left in him. Ross has the ability to play many roles up front, which Ighalo doesn't. Vincente is going to push for a starting spot. I was getting frustrated with my right wingers earlier this year, so I decided to look for a new one. So far, he's done well, but he really sucks at scoring. Gotta fix that. The last signing is one for the future. He got a bunch of rave reviews from my scouts, and came for $400k, so I snapped him up.

Stats for the season so far:

Bonus! My U20 team won the youth team Champions League! I don't manage it, but at least it means the tactics that I use - U20 team uses the same tactics as my main team - are really good.

 

[DeadMan]

2017-2018 Season Review

After struggling to open up a gap in the first half of the season, I just dominated Serie A in the second half. Ended up with my only loss being away to Napoli over the entire Serie A season.

Coppa Italia was a disappointment. After a 1-0 loss away to Napoli, I thought I could take it at home. Didn't happen. Tied 2-2 and went out of the cup. I was never really in that one with a shout to win the tie. I made it 2-2 late in the game to even make it look closer than it was.

I won the Champions League! I rode my luck quite a bit in the tournament. I got by Barcelona by winning 1-0 at home and then grabbing an away goal. And then I came up against Man City ... and completely destroyed them in the second leg. I was shocked.

ManU in the semis. I won 2-1 at my place, but was not happy about giving up the away goal. The goal sort of came out of nothing for them. And then I went up 1-0 at their place early in the game. Tie more or less won, or so I thought. They score two goals to tie the tie with about 5 minutes left. Ugh. Did not want to go to extra time, but I didn't have to...

Thank you, Tadic, for making basically the only contribution of the year

Final was against Bayern, who were struggling in the Bundesliga this year.

I got behind twice, but came back to tie it twice, once late in the game. And then I got goal in the first half of extra time and killed the game off. Whew. So, if you're counting, once going through on away goals, and then twice getting really late goals to stay alive and one goal in extra time. I definitely got lucky. But I also ran through some of the best teams in Europe. The only great team I really missed was Arsenal.

Stats for the year:

 

[DeadMan]

2018/2019 Season Preview

Continuing to trim the squad and send some youngsters out on loan. My only signing looks like a great player, though:

He's going to start off at left winger as an inside forward. He can slot into either of my MC positions, too, which is really nice. I think he'll be more useful long term as a left winger, but I do like having the option to play him deeper if necessary.

Won both Super Cups already:

Both games were harder than the score looks. Liverpool are pretty dangerous but shitty at the back. Sound familiar? Glad to get a nice victory over Napoli/ They're my bogey team right now. Haven't had a ton of success against them. That was only my second win against them in 6 games.

Champions League group doesn't look too bad. I have to go away to Madrid as the first game, which is tough. But I should be able to win every game after that, and I think I can win away in Madrid. I finally got a 1 seed, so I should be able to finish first and avoid teams like Arsenal or Barcelona in the first round.

Just wanted to highlight a couple of the young players I have. Some nice development here.

He's Italy's #1.

Somehow he was left off South Africa's most recent squad.

Also, here are the elimination rounds of the World Cup. US got eliminated early in CONCACAF qualifying.

US doesn't qualify, Mexico gets third

 

[DeadMan]

Since more of you'll are now playing FM, I got back into this game after leaving it alone for a couple of months.

2018/19 Season Review

Well, did a double with Serie A and the Coppa Italia. Also won the Italian Super Cup, European Super Cup, and the Club World Championship.

Champions League was more of a disappointment.

Got through my group comfortably, and got through the round of 16 easily. Then came up against Fiorentina in the quarters, and got shocked with a 2-0 loss at home. Couldn't overturn that result, and I was done. Disappointing, because I had an easy semifinal draw, too. That was the only thing preventing me from winning every trophy possible. Oh well.

Picked up two players in the winter transfer window:

Maicon is over the hill and going to be gone soon. This is my new starting right back, and he's a baller.

Defensive midfielder for the future. More of a deep lying playmaker than an anchorman, which is what I've been playing with in this save.

End of season stats:

(note - I had Julio Cesar, but he retired before I got the stats)

 

[goblue96]

Or as the rest of us call this dynasty, "@Deadman drops 40 lb. boxes on everyone with Inter" dynasty.

 

[DeadMan]

Or as the rest of us call this dynasty, "@Deadman drops 40 lb. boxes on everyone with Inter" dynasty.

Yeah, I need a new challenge.

 

[DeadMan]

2019/2020 Season Preview

Transfer activity:

Got rid of a bunch of older players who were basically dead weight. Here are the signings:

Backup central defender because I dumped a bunch of old ones. This guy is actually a model professional, too. Looks like he'll be pretty good in the future, but I'm not sure he can supplant my 1st and 2nd choice central defenders.

New backup goalie. He's my only backup with a pulse... That might be a mistake. I'll probably fix that in the winter transfer window.

New right winger. I would ideally like better crossing, but he's got potential to grow. I like that he provides more goalscoring ability than some of my past right wingers, which is something I could use when my strikers don't produce.

Won the Super Cup again!

My CL group (sorry, forgot to take a screenshot before I played some games):

Should be relatively easy to get through in first.

I'm also going to post some of my best players for you'll's benefit:

Central defending starting pairing.

Guy I signed last season. Plays as an inside forward on the left wing. Hell of a player.

Arguably my best player. I've unleashed him as a box to box midfielder this year (previously just a supporting central midfielder), and he's now added a bunch of goals to his game. I would like to get his finishing up so he scores more - some of his shots are hilariously bad - but I want his tackling to improve more before I switch to that.

Starting forward. A little streaky at times, but he's a monster when he's on. Fast, tall, and a great finisher.

 

[GatorTD]

Yeah, I need a new challenge.

You think?

 

[Milo]

Damn, Stiefler is agonizingly close to being one of the best defenders I've seen. That 13 jumping and low bravery is a bummer, though.

He'd be a monster midfield destroyer. Sounds like you like a better player on the ball, though.

 

[DeadMan]

Damn, Stiefler is agonizingly close to being one of the best defenders I've seen. That 13 jumping and low bravery is a bummer, though.

He'd be a monster midfield destroyer. Sounds like you like a better player on the ball, though.

He's probably the best central defender I've ever had. It helps that his defensive partner is 6'6" (he's 5'10") and has 19 jumping. I have been training him on his jumping the entire time I've had him, but it hasn't moved past 13 . But, nothing gets by him on the ground. I have used him as a ball playing defender in a 3-5-2, but that's it. I like to have better passing from my defensive midfielder. I have one coming in in the winter that is pretty much my ideal player from that position, so you'll see what I look for.

 

[DeadMan]

2019/2020 Midseason Review

Doing pretty well in all competitions, except I'm a little sad about this:

88 games unbeaten in Serie A, all foiled because of a bad 1-0 loss to Udinese. They got the goal in the first minute on a breakaway, and I couldn't crack them afterwards. Guess I have to start a new run now. Even with that loss, I'm in pole position in the league. I had a spell late in the fall where I was struggling scoring, and that's where my draws mostly came from. The lack of a real challenger makes Serie A really easy. Nobody can get it together enough to challenge me consistently. Juventus had a great start to the year, but they've cooled off significantly now.

Champions League was a breeze, but I somehow find myself matched up with Man City, who are still a great team in the game right now. That will be a tough one for this team, but I should be able to get through. I've finally developed some alternative systems that are quite good when I need them to be - a 3-6-1 (that's more like a 5-3-1-1 without the ball) that is really good against good teams away. So I think I'll be able to go to that system and grind out a draw or a win away. We will see.

Two signings:

My star striker broke his leg and is out for 5-6 months. Even though he's one of the best strikers I've ever had, he's too injury prone. He hasn't played more than 25 games in Serie A for me yet, and he's had major injuries every year I've had him. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to move on from him. This guy I brought in as depth. He's been pretty solid so far, but he's mainly coming off my bench or starting in games where I'm heavily favored. He's not a bad player at all, and he came cheap. He's a stop gap solution, though - his technique and passing are not good enough to be a starter for me. Next summer, I'm going to get a top, top, top, top striker. I had my eye on one this window, but couldn't sign him because of the foreigner rules in Serie A.

Javi Martinez (and, well Song, too, but he hasn't really been more than a backup the entire time I've been here) is getting old, so I went to find a replacement. This guy has more ability with the ball at his feet, and is just as good defensively. When he plays, he plays as a deep lying playmaker (Martinez is better suited for an anchorman) for me. It gives me a little more offense from back there without losing the defensive solidity. Martinez is now moving to a backup role because of him.

Stats for the season so far:

 

[DeadMan]

Just call me Craig Levein (although I guess it's not a 4-6-0, but it is strikerless):

I ran out of strikers. Janjetovic is just about to come back from a 6 month injury (he was on the bench, but I wasn't going to play him except in an emergency), my backup got a minor injury that put him out of this game in the previous game (got a brace though, so he contributed enough in my book), my 3rd string isn't eligible for the Champions League, and my 4th stringer is out on loan.

Honestly, I was just hoping for one goal loss. I had the better chances in the game, and the hat trick was basically all breakaway goals. Suck it Liverpool.

Arsenal is up next in the semis. That will be a really tough game.

 

[DeadMan]

2019/2020 Season Review

Won the treble! I clinched Serie A with 4 games to go, which is about the norm:

There's just too much of a gap between me and other teams in Serie A right now. Fiorentina won the Europa League this year, actually, but that says a lot about Serie A, too. I beat them 1-0 in the second to last game of the season playing backups and kids. Udinese was the only team to beat me, and it was on a pretty flukely breakaway goal. I'm a little disappointed that I lost that game - broke an unbeaten streak that lasted over the course of 3 calendar years. But at least I started a new streak.

Coppa Italia was pretty easy. Roma just isn't that good anymore - I've killed them pretty much everytime I've played them. I figured Napoli would be a decent game in the final, but uh...

Never seen anything like that in a final. Napoli completely imploded. I didn't think that we played that great - definitely had some better performances than this in my book - but Napoli just couldn't get out of their way. In addition to their two own goals, their goalie (Krul) bobbled one ball into the net as well.

Champions League was a rousing success. I had to go through 3 tough teams to make it to the final. I dominated pretty much every game. The only time where I was somewhat worried was in the second leg against Arsenal. They scored an early penalty to make it 3-2 on aggregate, and they had an away goal from the first leg. But my team stepped up in the second half and pulled away from Arsenal. I decided not to gloat too much over Mourinho afterwards. The final was a pretty dull one. I got a scrappy goal off a corner, and then Valencia didn't really have much to muster in response. I think they had one shot on target the entire game.

Honestly, I'm pretty proud of this run through the Champions League. I was missing all of my strikers for one game, was down to my 4th string striker against Arsenal, and I didn't have my best player for the quarters or semis (Nane). I also got a couple of really nice tactical victories against Liverpool and Arsenal - I tend to stick with my normal tactics and rely more on motivation, so this was a change for me. I felt like my last Champions League victory was somewhat lucky. This one wasn't. We were dominant the entire competition.

Stats from the year, along with some individual awards:

4/5th of my defense in the team of the year, along with both of my wingers. As you can see, Nane had a ridiculous season. He was actually hurt for 6 weeks during the year, too.

This is pretty cool. He had one yellow card all year in all competitions. I have never seen that before. Incredible defender - although I had to tweak my set pieces instructions to hide him a bit more. He also had one really bad mistake in a game, but we ended up winning 5-1 I think.

Wellington was also ridiculous this year. With my strikers going through a bunch of injury problems, he stepped up in a big way.

I've decided that I'm going to try to take on a national team job in addition to my Inter one. I've thought about leaving, but I like playing with this team too much. The Euros are going on this summer, so I'll try to snag a job when all of the firings happen afterwards. I've got my eye on Italy or England. USA just began CONCACAF qualifying - if they fire their manager, I'll take that job. That might actually happen, too. USA just lost 3-0 to Honduras (on the road, but still). They need someone competent out there

For this year, this off season will be one of minor changes. Ozil is likely to leave because his contract his up, and he refuses to negotiate with me. We went back and forth too many times over a 10% sell on fee clause in his contract, so he got pissed. If he leaves, I would need to find a replacement of some kind. I have a young backup for him who is likely ready to take over, but I'm not 100% confident in that yet. Ozil is actually the last remaining starting player from when I took over. I also have another striker coming in, because I got tired of the injury problems my best striker has. I will have 5 strikers after that - 3 really good ones, 1 decent backup, and 1 young striker who's not quite there yet. I have to figure out who I'm going to keep and who I'm going to sell.

 

[kella]

hey hachiko it's hard to read this page with a trillion screenshots

 

[GatorTD]

88 straight unbeaten? Ok Hachiko.

 

[DeadMan]

Yeah, sorry about that. I prefer screenshots to a wall of text, so I have a bunch of them. But I'll cut down on them a little bit in the future.

 

[DeadMan]

So I decided to take the England job in addition to the Inter job. England is apparently ranked 4th in the world, but they just crashed out of the Euros in the round of 16 (expanded Euros now). I haven't had much time to poke around the team at all, but there seems to be a decent base. The big question will be what to do with a lot of the aging players. I could have another run with veterans like Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Walcott, or I could turn to a newer generation. There are two Inter players on the England team (Ross and Hayes), and they'll likely be big players for me. I'm going to keep with the 4-3-3 I've been playing because it's been so successful for me so far.

My minimum goal is to easily qualify for the 2022 World Cup. I'm in a group that has a bunch of crap but also Italy. But I've been following the Italy team, and it's pretty terrible right now. Italy actually placed 3rd in their Euros qualifying group behind Russia and Israel ( ) and only got to the Euros because of a playoff and the expansion. So I'm thinking if I either beat Italy once or draw twice, I should be able to finish first in the group. Second place would mean a playoff against another European game, which is something I would really like to avoid.

Shawcross was the captain - he won't be around for much longer I'll guess. When it comes time for some England games, I'll go a little more in depth here. I'll probably focus this dynasty more on England than Inter from now on, considering Inter will likely be more boring.

 

[DeadMan]

Quick Inter update before I get to my first two games in charge of England.

Inter 2020/2021 Preview

Transfer business:

Made one huge move, and other than that, just getting rid of some players that weren't good enough.

This guy is amazing. He scored some ridiculous goals in preseason, and has been really good so far. I paid a lot for him, basically because I was coming off a season where every one of my strikers got injured.

Paid a little too much for this guy I want to get some decent prospects into the youth system, but this was probably overboard.

Won the Italian and European Super Cups against Napoli and Fiorentina, respectively. Pretty ho-hum games overall. Neither one of them scored on me, and I just blasted them. Really, the only challenge for this Inter team is whether it can go the entire Serie A season without losing and the Champions League knockout rounds.

 

[DeadMan]

England - Matchdays 1 and 2 of World Cup Qualifying

First games in charge of England come in World Cup Qualifying. I think I could have scheduled a friendly in August, but took the job too late to schedule one in time. So, right into the fire, so to speak. I am playing Macedonia at home and Montenegro away. Montenegro away is probably one of the biggest games for me in the qualifying. Like I said earlier, the group is really easy outside of Italy. Other teams are Bulgaria, Montenegro, Lativa, and Moldova. Montenegro is probably the trickiest team among those. And since Italy is in this group, I really need to win basically every other game because I expect Italy to beat everybody else.

For my first call up, I went with a mix of youth and experience. I will probably lean these squads more towards youth in the future, but I wanted to ensure that I got 6 points from this round. Basically, if you don't recognize the name, it means that the player is a young player (i.e., a regen).

5 players that I want to highlight:

Still a good goalie. He'll be my number 1 for the World Cup. I do need to find a young understudy, because all of my goalies I called up to this squad were 30+.

This guy is a 6'8" freak. Complete athlete - no technical ability to speak of at all. I'm partnering him with Phil Jones right now, who is a much better technical player. I'm not sure if this guy will be up for it against the best teams in the world, but he'll more than do in qualifying. I have him penciled in as a starter for now, with an eye to making him a backup option in the World Cup.

Hayes is on my Inter team. He's my defensive midfielder for Inter, and I have him playing as a deep lying playmaker there because he's too creative to waste as an anchorman. But for England, he'll playing as a central midfielder. I'm expecting him to play further forward and be a jack of all trades midfielder. I playing him as a central midfielder - support for now, but I will probably experiment with a box-to-box and deep lying playmaker role for him as well. The reason I want him further forward is that I have a great anchorman player to call upon as well. I didn't get a screenshot, but basically, he's very similar to Hayes, except better in the air and a worse passer. So I want to use Hayes' passing and creativity further up the field. This will lead to the England team being more defensive than my Inter team, but that's okay.

A young winger, plays for Tottenham. Sort of in the mold of Aaron Lennon, except a much better crosser. He looks like close to a perfect player for my 4-3-3 system. I need a fast winger to whip balls into the box for my poacher. Ideally, I would like someone who is a better finisher, but beggars can't be choosers. He has zero caps because he was likely blocked by Oxlade-Chamberlain (who is now 26 or 28) and Walcott (who is now 31 I think and retired from England).

Probably the team's most important player. Rooney is 34 and shitty now, so Ross is going to have to provide all of the goals. There isn't anyone else with Ross' scoring ability that's also English. Also happens to play for Inter.

Overall, I was a little surprised at the lack of talent in England. My midfield will be very strong, but that's about it. Central defenders are going to be serviceable, but nothing that special. The big weakness for this team is left back. Although right back isn't the strongest in this squad, there's an English right back playing for Man City who was injured. He's gotten 4 stars from my scouts at Inter, and he's a fantastic player. But I'm essentially forced to play another central defender at left back. There isn't a shred of attacking talent in the pool for left backs. The guy I ended up going with has decent dribbling but 10 crossing. My fullbacks are key in the 4-3-3, and not having solid offensive fullbacks could be a problem.

The other problem area is left winger. I have Oxlade-Chamberlain starting as an inside forward there, but he's not really suited to that role. Other options are basically Raheem Sterling (who hasn't developed well in this game - he's basically just a fast dribbler on the wing). At Arsenal and Inter, my left wingers create and score a ton of goals. I'm not sure I'll get that from this England side.

Anyways, I went into these two games hoping for 6 points, but okay with 4. The first game against Moldova looked like it was going to be one of those days where you just couldn't finish. Despite having nearly 70% of the possession and creating a lot of chances, it was 0-0 with about 5 minutes to half time. I was considering changing formations to get more offense in the second half. Moldova was in full park the bus mode, playing what acted like a back 6 with 3 shielding that back 6. Finally, Roscoe got the breakthrough (after missing a better chance earlier in the game ) with about 5 minutes to half time. We got another before half time, and that was that. But we still piled on, getting 5 more in the second half to win 7-0. Ross got a hattrick, and I had a couple of players score on their debut (Roscoe, Sterling - off the bench). Big win, stories about how happy everybody is to get their first caps, etc., etc.

Montenegro was the much bigger game though. Losing to them wouldn't be the end of the campaign, but it would be pretty bad. I would have taken a draw before the game, but I did want the win to put a little pressure on Italy to have to win there too. The first 10-15 minutes of the game were really bad. Montenegro created 2 or 3 clear cut chances, and we couldn't hold onto the ball. Fortunately, Hart pulled off some great saves and kept the game at 0-0. This was the game where I wanted better fullbacks. They played a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond formation, meaning overlapping fullbacks could really cause a ton of problems. But the fullbacks were pinned deep early and couldn't contribute going forward. Fortunately, the players settled down after the first 15 minutes and we dominated the game after that. We got a goal about 25 minutes in, and cruised from there. Ended up winning 3-0, and Montenegro really never threatened after that first 15 minute spell. Ross managed to get a goal where a rebound hit him in the face (or that's how I'm choosing to interpret what happened ).

So, two comfortable wins in the end. Job done. Table after 2 games:

 

[DeadMan]

I didn't take a screenshot of my tactics/lineup, but I will do that. Here are the starters right now:

------------- Hart ---------------

Foy - Jones - Woozley - Kalu

---------- Sainsbury ------------
------ Hayes - Wilshere ------

Roscoe ----------- Oxlade-Chamberlain
------------- Ross ---------------

Wilshere is the captain, replacing Shawcross as the last captain. Wilshere is 28 now, for reference.