Manchester City - FMFormation.net - Football Manager

JoeFriar · 26-12-07, 09:48 PM

1st competitive game as manager of Manchester City is the Manchester derby! I read my scout report and made some tactics i thought could get a draw. Then this happened :)

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I played 4-2-2-2 basically and it worked brilliantly. Apart from the shots on goal we ran the game and converted our chances un-like our neighboors.

My match engine is jerky and sometimes slow but i can live with it if these are the results!

**liveru** · 27-12-07, 01:40 PM

Good start mate.

Keep us updated how the rest of the season goes.

Good luck.

JoeFriar · 27-12-07, 03:48 PM

Next three games went like this:

Sunderland (H) - W 1-0
Blackburn (A) - L 2-1
West Ham (H) - W 3-0

Things looked good with great performances in all three games and were unlucky to loose out to Blackburn. West Ham was very enjoyable, it was the first game of my most expensive signing Andrey Arshavin who delivered superbly and looked like a new Shaun Wright Phillips.

Next game was against Scunthorpe in the cup. I gave a debut to Gabriel Torje on the right wing and he stood out in a tight game. 2-2 at the end of extra time, we went on to win 3-1 on penalties with Torje scoring the winning penalty. One thing i did learn from that game - My keeper is class at saving pens!

Hangman · 27-12-07, 04:01 PM

Damn your version of FM must be bugged in some way 8-P

JoeFriar · 27-12-07, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hangman

Damn your version of FM must be bugged in some way 8-P

Haha. Utd weren't doing to well but they're slowly creeping up the league now.
I'm top after 6 games btw people. Not really played any of the big teams yet except United so i could slip down a bit then.

JoeFriar · 27-12-07, 06:04 PM

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Theres my squad after 7 games. If you're wandering Johnson, Fernandes and Ireland are unhappy about competition after i bought Arshavin but are all in contract talks now and play regularly.

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And my fixtures at the same point.

Hopefully we can keep this up :) Doubt it though. Champions League spot looks promising at the moment.

Also if anyone wants any additional screens then don't hesitate to ask and i'll be more than happy to get them for you :)

**evertonfan** · 27-12-07, 11:31 PM

keep up the good work mate :D

**John10** · 28-12-07, 01:00 AM

keep up the good start joe, just make sure ya dont finish above us :P

JoeFriar · 28-12-07, 01:54 AM

Looks like Deano jinxed it! Next 3 games went:

Fulham (A) - Carling Cup 3rd Round - L 2-1 - An average performance by a weakened City line-up saw the fans get disappointed as we crashed out in only the 3rd round. Eddie Johnson scored 1st for City before Fulham snatched two goals in quick succession in the 2nd half. Fulham's goal was clearly offside and as i was annoyed because it was the cup and i wanted to win it i went mad at the FA who admitted the ref was wrong - that annoyed me even more.

Everton (A) - Premier League - L 3-2 - This was the game i wasn't looking forward to that much. After just crashing out of the cup confidence was low at Eastlands so it wasnt a good time to play Everton. My feelings were made much worse when around the 30th minute The Toffees went 2 up through Yakubu and Johnson. Half time couldn't have come soon enough. I rallied my troops, pushed Elano up more and went out more attacking for the second half. Withing 5 minutes we had got one back, Bianchi. The Italian struck again 5 minutes later and we were confident we could go on to win. The game stayed locked at 2-2 until a late Everton corner was flicked on by Yobo before to my complete dispair, Phil Jagielka appeared to crack a deflected shot past Contofalsky. A brave effort by City in a close game. Drop from 1st to 4th.

Birmingham City (H) - Premier League - W 3-0 - The Citizens once again saved a good performance for their home fans. Banega was dropped for Sun Jihai to come in and Vassell replaced the injured Petrov. City crashed Birmingham's recent party with goals from Elano, Bianchi and E. Johnson that see the Blues rise back up to 2nd. An un-changed team is expected for the next home game against a tough Pompey side. Rise from 4th to 2nd.

JoeFriar · 28-12-07, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mirjalovic

sorry to add my bucks!

Come again??

**John10** · 28-12-07, 11:24 AM

:P Business as usual for city lol

nah seriously good luck for the rest of the season mate, we all know how frustrating FM can be

JoeFriar · 28-12-07, 11:55 AM

End of October - Manager Overview

Tough month ended with a great home result against Portsmouth. 3-0 up at half time and we let 2 sloppy goals slip. Without boasting we outclassed Pompey all across the pitch. A new tactic i'm using that has become very useful is setting your RB and LB instructions to Wing back and put runs up towards the wingers. It worked extremely well as Nedum Onouha scored our first goal out the 3, legging it up the line and inside.
I've found the perfect team now at the best possible time. Micah Richards plays DMC and Nedum Onouha right back. We now head in to a run of 3 winnable games before the Christmas period where we face 3 of the top 4 teams!! Yikes! Many of the pre-match reports suggest we are over-achieving and tbh i didnt think that by the end of October i would be 2nd behind Manchester United. I may drop points during the festive period but aslong as we stay around the top 5, it's good enough. Money wise, i'm hoping Thaksin will throw some money at me in January but at the moment we have strength in depth in most positions to be able to cope.

JoeFriar · 28-12-07, 02:39 PM

End of November - Manager overview

November was one of my best months as City manager. We nearly went all the way through the month without getting beat until Newcastle popped up at the end and beat us 2-0 at St. James' Park. We're still unbeaten at home which is brilliant going into a tough run in December. Many players have been giving me selection problems in November such as Nedum Onouha who was put in the team so we could try Richards in defensive mid. Onuoha scored in his first game at right back and he has started every game since. Now the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool are sniffing around trying to pick him up. As for the midfield i have resorted to rotation between Geovanni and Arshavin as they both put in great performances in their "trial games". Michael Johnson has been given alot of chances in the midfield and has only managed to notch up a couple of 6s and one 7 in the match ratings. Into December he will now step aside for someone else to get a chance in midfield.

This was another positive to come out of November. We gave nobody else a look in in November's awards :)

And it's good to see Carlo making a pointless appearance at the COMS, watching a player he's never going to get!

JoeFriar · 28-12-07, 06:16 PM

Manager Overview for end of December

Not a good month at The City of Manchester Stadium. We saw our unbeaten home record ended in the last minute of the Manchester Derby to a Saha late goal. We had a tough run of games from the start of December right up until the end and dispite out best efforts, i'm not suprised we dropped down to 4th. We're looking to offload some players in January and make room for some quality players to come in. Nobody will buy our players though such as Dabo, Mills, Mpenza and Dickov. On a more positive note our position is still fantastic and i still didn't think we'd be 4th above Liverpool by this time in the season. We managed to pull off 2 wins in December and 1 draw, as we lost 3 times. The best win being the 1-0 win over Arsenal on the 3rd of December. We took a 5-1 beating from Liverpool at Anfield but hopefully we can ge tone over on them when we have exactly the same order of games at the end of the season.

This is the league table half-way through the season so we're looking pretty good for the second half. If i can bring in a quality right back for when Onouha may get injured again.

california · 28-12-07, 06:30 PM

thats a excellent start

apthered · 28-12-07, 06:34 PM

good job so far :) you should make europe pretty easily. and who are you playing in fa cup?
kutgw

**evertonfan** · 28-12-07, 06:39 PM

sorry for jinxing ya lol, didnt mean to :(

hope you carry on doing well, and hope im not a jinx again

JoeFriar · 28-12-07, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apthered

good job so far :) you should make europe pretty easily. and who are you playing in fa cup?
kutgw

Sheffield Wednesday at home.

apthered · 28-12-07, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeFriar

Sheffield Wednesday at home.

should be easy, especially since youre at home

JoeFriar · 29-12-07, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apthered

should be easy, especially since youre at home

It was the easiest game of the season it turned out. 4-0 up at half time and Vassell got all 4 of them. Ended up winning 4-1 so it looks like they slacked off in the second half. In the fourth round we got Millwall at home. With a bit of luck i can avoid the big teams up until the final.