Phoenix711

I think Howe wanted to play 3-4-3 and hence why we were after 2 CB (one who is left footed) and a left side player like Gosen. I'm not sure how much his tactics changed and so went after Targett but it will be interesting to see his long-term tactics. I personally like 3-4-3 as it provides more defensive control and if combined with a high press game could be very productive in front of goal (ala Atlanta).

Post takeover, I'm glad he's ended up at Dortmund and not Chelsea. I know we can't challenge those teams yet but would love teams like Man Utd's attack to still be Ronaldo and Cavani when we can challenge. The best need to come to us, and only us!

He does something far more important - he sets the vision (along with the manager). If he wants only bargain basement players, scouts/ recruitment team will ever get those. If he says only English players, we'll only get those. He'll take a cue from the owner i.e. where do you want to be in 5 years and then set about making that reality - he will be the one who decides how we get there (unless our owners become like the Everton one and intervenes every other signing). The owners (PIF) will be the ones who sign off on the player (i.e. sign the cheque) but he'll have a big role in any future player we bring to the club. This is why he's more important than the recruitment team BUT recruitment is also only one aspect, he'll also oversea the whole club and make sure it develops in multiple directions. Anyways I'm quite excited to see what he how the whole clubs develops under his stewardship.

I really like Dan Ashworth as an appointment - he might not be number for 1 for recruiting players but all round from setting up the football club, help implement a good youth development program, finding key staff etc he knows how to do it as seen with the England set up. I hope we start getting other key staff in place who meet his philosophy. Given a bigger budget I hope he can bring through even better talent and make a recruitment team which can identify players with even higher skill ceilings. For the record, my number 1 for player recruitment would have been Luis Campos who helped Monaco and Lille win French Ligue 1 (found/ signed Mbappe, Fabinho, James Rodriguez, Falcao, Bernado Silva, Osimhen, Pepe, Lemar etc). You can see he found £1bn+ worth of talent BUT he would mainly help us on the recruitment side only. Ashworth can help in other aspects, especially as he's familiar with the English game that I think will benefit us in the long-term.

No mate, you just aren't thinking things through. Example table: 17th Norwich - 17 18th Watford - 15 19th Newcastle - 15 20th Burnley - 13 Team that is third bottom, is Watford, if we finish above Watford (third bottom) in the above table (16 points) it does not mean we finish above Norwich i.e. we get relegated. If the table was this: 17th Newcastle - 16 18th Watford - 15 19th Norwich - 15 20th Burnley - 13 If we finish one point above Watford (third bottom) now, we are safe but that was because we weren't in the bottom three. Your 1 point above third bottom depends on where we are. My one point above fourth bottom is position independent. I can't make it any clearer than that. I think we all agree we want 17th or higher then look forward to the summer. Just hoping now.

Agree, but the following does not mean that: The answer which guarantee topping a group in ALL scenarios is 1 point more than fourth bottom i.e. 1 point more than top in a 4 team group. Back to CL: Group B 1. Liverpool - 18pts 2. Atletico - 7pts 3. Porto - 5pts 4. Milan - 4pts Unless you were Liverpool, changing your points to 1 point more than third bottom (Atletico = 8 pts), would not result in first. Again, 1 point more than third bottom only works if you are not in the bottom three (we are). One point more than fourth bottom always works in any scenario. Just think about it.

Sorry your post is just a bit confusing. You talk about Champions League Group and then about the bottom 4. The bottom line is we need to get more points than the team in 17th, more points than 18th just puts us 18th i.e. we are currently chasing Norwich. I know what people are trying to day i.e. we need more points than three teams (which I agree), but the three teams can't include us which is why some people keep saying one point more than 18th. It's one point more than the three lowest teams that doesn't include us which so happens to be the team in 17th - if we escape the relegation zone then things will change. From a macroscopic perspective and if you read articles on relegation, the target for survival was what the team in 17th got.

This thread is distracting from the game but I'll just say this just one last time. Take your example, I guess you meant to say qualifying from a group (finish top 2) as oppose to win it. Then your answer can be right or wrong, it all depends on perspective. Take the following group: Group B 1. Liverpool - 18pts 2. Atletico - 7pts 3. Porto - 5pts 4. Milan - 4pts 1pt more than third = 6pts. So ANY team which got 6pts would qualify from this group? Obviously not. Change Liverpool or Atletico from 18 to 6 and they still qualify, but change to Porto or Milan and they still fail to qualify. If you said get 1pt more than the team who finished second, then you would guarantee qualification. So in this example, if any team changed their points to 8 (7pts + 1), they would finish second if they are Atletico, Porto or Milan or first if they were Liverpool. As you can see, to GUARANTEE qualification in ALL scenarios you need to finish 1 point above second. In certain scenarios, 1pt above third works but not all. The same for relegation, to guarantee survival for ANY team, you need 1pt above 17th. If you are already safe then you could say 1 point above 18th but that's kind of irrelevant because safety is primarily viewed from the teams in the relegation zone. Anyways, looking forward to the Everton game and hopefully we can get a much needed win.

It doesn't though. Take this example. If you are in a race and you overtook second, what place are you now? Did you think first? Then what place would you be if you overtook first? You can't be first for both overtaking second AND first. The answer is, when you overtook second, you became second and when you overtook first you became first. Just think about it for a second. If it's easier, remember to "overtake" second, you are currently third, after overtaking you became second. So back to our 17th example, when you overtake 17th by being one point ahead, you don't become 16th. You become 17th and the one you overtook becomes 18th. Here's a graphical example if it helps. The current EPL table. 16th Everton 19 17th Norwich - 16 18th Watford - 15 19th Newcastle - 15 20th Burnley - 13 If Newcastle had one point more than 17th, in this case Norwich, we would have 17 points. If we redid the table it would be: 16th Everton 19 17th Newcastle - 17 18th Norwich - 16 19th Watford - 15 20th Burnley - 13 Do you see how we push down the team to take 17th?

You're looking at it wrong. You've taken a team who were already safe and put them at the bottom of the safe pile. Relegation is irrelevant to teams who are safe. You need to take a team in relegation and see what they need to be safe. So look at a team which is 18th, 19th or 20th and then what would they need to be safe? The answer isn't 1 point more than 18th (unless 17th had the same points as 18th), it's 1 point more than 17th or 17th's points with a better goal difference. Just look at us now, we are 19th and in relegation. We need to do whatever it takes to get to 17th which means we need to look at what 17th has got and add 1 point to be mathematically guaranteed (ignoring goal difference to keep it simple). 18th is technically irrelevant as you can see last year where 18th was 11 points behind 17th.

18th + 1 point doesn't take you to 17th. 18th + 1 means 18th place + 1 point = you replace 18th place i.e. there are still 17 teams above you. So take last year, if you had 29 points (18th + 1) you would be 18th. You would need 39 points or more to survive.

I agree which is what I said or at least was trying to say :P. Prophet's numbers take the 18th team, not the 17th team. So if you had 29 points last year, you would still be 18th because Burnley (17th) had 39 - Prophet said you needed 29 points to survive, I recon you need 39 or 40 i.e. 17th's points.

Just a small correction but points to keep you up is what the 17th team gets rather than the 18th team + 1. I know what you're thinking, 18th team + 1 = 3 worse teams, but what you need to do when calculating is take one team out and put yourself in. If you do 18th + 1, then you will still be 18th as there are 17 teams higher. The 17th + 1 means you are replacing the 17tth team which is how you should calculate survival. For most seasons it only changes your total by 1 point, but for last season you would need 39+, not 29 to survive.

Great info. As for your line up, is that for FM or real life? If real life then unfortunately Onana has already signed for Inter Milan. And the midfield you have works on FM but in real life, Gallagher and Willock would be overun - besides Willock seems like a daisy player - some days he does, some days he doesn't - he's also much better in the game. This is one of the most successful tactics in FM22: https://beta.fm-base.co.uk/tactics/22.2.0/modeerf-2220-573719-5963. I've managed many invincible seasons but as you can see, you can have literally have no midfield and overpower teams because of how the game engine works. Milenkovic is one the best defenders in the game but isn't as good in real life for Fiorentina. Kounde is more likely to go to Chelsea and would be £60m+ so not sure if its the best way to spend. Antony might be a cheaper option than Raphinha but most people in the EPL rate Raphinha very highly - actually many CL clubs want him.

Abacus explains it well but to put it in lay terms, if you want to buy something on Amazon you could use a credit card or debit card. The former you don't have the money but will pay it back with interest later, the latter, you have the money in your bank account. Newcastle's owners basically used a debit card and need to put some money in the account (as abacus said, probably for transfers). You might wonder aren't the owners losing money? Technically no because they convert the cash they put into equity but in reality they are in the short term. In contrast, Man Utd's owners, the Glazers, use a credit card for everything and saddle the debt onto Man Utd account and because of Man Utd commercial success, use that to pay off the interest. This is what annoys a lot of Man Utd fans. I've over simplified it but that's the general gist.

Just thought you both might be interested in this article: https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/newcastle-uniteds-owners-make-ps40m-move-following-transfer-deadline-3555562 The owners are injecting cash for equity. They can injected unlimited amounts but for FFP only a certain amount can be used/ shown on the books.

Ward-Prowse is a cheap 5-10 goals a season (free kicks and corners) and a decent passer. I think Guimaraes outfield play is better but for a team outside the top 3, he'd be really useful. Does he fit with Guimaraes, I'm not sure. They overlap a bit, Romeu does the defensive work in Southampton's midfield but as Prophet has said, they could be a double pivot ala Kroos and Modric. He wouldn't be a priority for me this summer, I'd go after Forwards and Defenders and a Left back/ midfielder. Basically everyone but Guimaraes and Trippier to be replaced :P. Realistically I think we'll have £200m to spend (as long as we stay up), if we add on player sales, it might be £250-300m (that includes sponsorship and other revenue gains). If we get Dean Ashworth, I think he's fantastic at finding us gems that I'd trust who he brings in - he'd also have a much bigger budget than at Brighton so could scour higher prized targets, just hope we get him.

100% agree. I would love Rice and Ward-Prowse but I bet Rice moves closer to Grealish's number ending up at Chelsea or Man Utd and Southampton aren't going to sell their most important player/ captain with a new billionaire owner. I only had Raphinha in my list because I rate him highly but did even say he might be pricey. If we want good and English, we need to look to the Championship and Brennan Johnson is my pick. Carvalho (Portuguese born but plays for England U19) is another good one but we can't beat Liverpool right now so he'll probably go to Klopp. And I know this might be a little disrespectful (I don't intend it to), but a lot of players on the continent come from poorer regions (South America and Africa) so will be high moved by money which gives us a better chance to land them against bigger clubs than us.

I just realised, if Liverpool sign Fabio Carvalho (19) from Fulham - class player btw, they could have one of the shortest front three attacks in the future. Jota/ Luis Diaz = 5ft 8 Harvey Elliot = 5ft 6 Carvalho = 5ft 5 I know if you google Fabio Carvalho some sites say his height is 1.8m, it's clearly not. You can see a photo on the BBC where Harry Wilson looks taller than Carvalho - Wilson is just 5ft 7. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60256930 To be fair, Mane and Salah are both well under 6ft too so shouldn't make too much a difference but I just had a funny vision in my head of three Ryan Fraser (5ft 4) sized forwards leading the Liverpool line.

Agree, he would be on my list but forgot to say I have not included players who would not come to us (either stated or by stating they want another club) e.g. Kessie won't come whilst Sule and Ginter have rejected apparently (all available on a FREE). For Adyemi he has stated he wants to go back to Germany (his homeland) and Dortmund have already identified him as Haaland's replacement - they are just haggling over the 40m euro fee. But if Adyemi was available he'd be a good alternative to Nunez, similar player. Pacey and natural goal scorer.

My Wishlist (Realistic) - I avoid any "big" club i.e. clubs which can/would spend £50m+ on a player except one from A.Madrid but think they would sell this one as he's not one of their stars Goalkeeper Not sure - wanted Onana but he went to Inter, Navas is a bit old whilst the others are gambles e.g. Simon Unai (Bilbao) and Bijlow (Feyenoord) - latter is injury prone. Not fan of Henderson because he failed when given opportunity at Man Utd but might be worth a loan with option to buy so we can test him. Center Backs Sven Botman (Lille) - solid 22yo with CL experience and wants to come. Left footed. Most people know about him now but quality passer. Just lacks a bit of pace. Diego Carlos (Seville) - 28 but with plenty of experience and wants to come. Older but best to mix old with young. Has the pace to compliment Botman well. Jurrien Timber (Ajax) - 20 versatile CB (can play anywhere at the back and even midfield). Breakout season with Ajax last year, nullified Haaland in the CL. Van Dijk like - just a little small (5ft 9) but very solid. Would be perfect as right of back 3 as he is a good dribbler and can bring ball out of defence. Ajax trained so good passer. James Tarkwoski (Burnley) - 29 EPL experience, simply because he's a FREE, would be a good squad player (replace outgoing Schar and Dummett whose contracts expire at end of season and Clark who will be sold) Maxence Lacroix (Wolfsburg) - 21 This guy was a world beater 2 seasons ago, R.Madrid wanted him. Slight dip this season with Wolfsburg going from CL to relegation candidates. Could be available at a good price. Very similar to Saliba at Arsenal who is seen as one of the best CB in France at the moment. High skill ceiling. Edmond Tapsoba (Leverkusen) - 23 CB. One of the best CB stats wise, wins ball and reads the game well. Very similar to Salisu (Southampton) but a better passer. He shined for Burkina Faso's semi final run at AFCON. Leverkusen highly value him so he won't be cheap. Only Wirtz is more valuable to them and that includes a team which has Schick and Diaby (see below). Wing Backs Borna Sosa (Stuttgart) - 24 attacking Left WB. One of the best crossers, likened to Beckham but is slightly weaker on defensive aspect. Would work well in a 3-4-3 as LM/WB Liberato Cace (Sint Truiden) - 21 best left full back in the A league (Australia). The kiwi reminds me a lot of Kieran Tierney, would be relatively cheap and has a high skill ceiling. Think he would cope well in the EPL and is good going forward and back. Being a kiwi he would adapt to English lifestyle much easier than Europeans and we have Wood here. Would be an excellent squad player/ punt and could even become first choice. Renan Lodi (A. Madrid) - 23, LB played with Guimaraes in Brazil. Fast and good crosser. Classical attacking Brazilian but a little suspect defensively. Noussair Mazraoui (Ajax) - 24 RB who is competent going back and forth. Scores and assists. Refusing to sign contract so available on a FREE. The Moroccan is described to be the next Hakimi so potentially world class. Expect some tops clubs to be after him in the Summer. Midfielder Boubacar Kamara (Marseille) - 22 DM/CB Can play in midfield or the back. Technically astute, good passer and reads the game well. FREE in the summer and wanted by CL clubs. His utility would be really useful. Aurelien Tchouameni (Monaco) - 22 DM, best ball winner in any of the top 5 leagues. Already a France international and brilliant ball carrier. Described as new Kante but much bigger (6ft 2) and stronger. Wanted by Chelsea among others as replacement for Kante. Maxene Caqueret (Lyon) - 21 DM, Guimaraes partner in crime at Lyon. This guy sits slightly deeper and did the covering work. Very good passer and highly regarded. There are some other quality midfielders but I'll just list them as they don't fit with the 3-4-3 I want but they are equally excellent and here they are: Yves Bissouma (Brighton) - more an anchorman, Amadou Haidara (RB Leipzig) more box-box. I also might have Fabian in this list but his defensive numnbers aren't great and he's quite slim so I worry about EPL physicality. Quality whilst we're in possession, he could be like David Silva. Wingers Raphinha (Leeds) - 25 RW/LW. Skilful dribbler with an end product. Creates a lot and decent finisher. Brazil international and just genuine quality. Might be pricey though. Antony (Ajax) - 21 RW/LW. Another left footer, similar to Raphinha, loves to play as an inside forward and cut in. Good crosser and reminds me a lot of Mahrez and Ziyech. Probably a cheaper and younger option than Raphinha but the latter has EPL experience. Brennan Johnson (Forest) - 20 RW/LW/ACM/CM/LM/RM/CF/DM Yes, he can/ has played in ALL those roles. Wonderful utility player with genuine pace. Tore it up in League 1, excelling in the championship. Confident he can make the step up. Question is he just EPL quality or a worldy like Bellingham? Definitely worth the £20m punt. Would be our attacking version of James Milner. Lucas Paqueta (Lyon) - 24. ACM/RW. BBF with Guimaraes. Never hit the heights at AC Milan but excelling again at Lyon. Scores and assists in double figures. May be a bit pricey, Lyon rejected a £50m bid apparently in January. Moussa Diaby (Leverkusen) - 22 LW Pacy winger who was a PSG reject. 8 goals and 6 assists so far, expect both to reach double figures. Formidable front three with Schick and Wirtz, we were interested in him in Jan. Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig) - 24 RW/AM/CF Another PSG reject who is more of a natural goal scorer (inside and outside the box). 9 goals and 9 assists. Pace, strength he has it all. Reminds me a lot of Gnabry. There are actually a ton of attacking wingers I rate, but again think the above work best in a 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 OR am not sure they would cut it in the EPL. Some other names include Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig), Mikel Oyarzabal (Sociedad), Rafael Leao (AC Milan). Center Forwards Patrik Schick (Leverkusen) - 26 CF. Genuine number 9. Left and Right footed as well as excellent in the air. Had trouble at Roma but coming good again after an amazing Euros. 18 goals in 17 games shows he can be prolific. Only prolific striker on this list and that's why he gets a slot - only shame is he is slightly on the older side and only been prolific this season. Can lead the line though. Darwin Nunez (Benfica) - 22 CF/RW/LW. Highly technical, a mix of Cavani and Suarez but not as strong or skillful as those two. Fox in the box with a good finishing touch. Does not lead the line for a Benfica in a 4-3-3, normally plays wing or part of a front two. Could be a worldy but I'd buy him for a wing role in a 3 man attack and used as a striker depending on his progress. Jonathan David (Lille) - 22 CF. Big strong CF that can lead the line. Starting to add more goals to his game. Could he become prolific? Maybe, like Nunez he's a fox in the box. Excellent in 1v1. I'm a bit skeptical about the other Strikers. Isak doesn't score enough, Vlahovic (my number 1) is gone, Haaland is out of reach while Dominic Calvert Lewin had a bad injury and has yet to show consistency over a few seasons. There are actually quite a few good young astern European prospects like Adam Hlozek and Benjamin Sesko (FM favourite) but who knows if they will work. This site has tonnes of fascinating reads for anyone interested. Young Eastern European Future Stars: https://firsttimefinish.co.uk/2021/07/19/five-eastern-europeans-stars-2021-22-season/ The website in general with lots of interesting articles: https://firsttimefinish.co.uk/ Any of the above signings would be excellent additions to our team, but we need to get out of the mire first!

On what's available I'd say 4-3-3 is best with Shelvey in the hole and Guimaraes and Joelinton in midfield. If we got Carlos/ Botman and a LM like Gosens, 3-4-3 would be best. We could still do 3-4-3 as Burn can play LCB. Will be tough between now and the end of the season, just hope we can string some results together to build momentum.

I'm not sure, but there was a deal struck by 18 of the other 19 EPL clubs when we got the new owners, which blocked any sponsorship above £1m. It was lifted after 1 month under the proviso we would not get any sponsors beyond market rate. Who dictates market rate? No idea, but I recon we can get an extra £100m a yr from sponsorship. If we get CL, could be more. If owners are serious, we could easily spend a few hundred mil before FFP becomes an issue but just need to avoid wasting money like Everton who had £0 to spend this summer after squandering £500m (net £280m). That's why Alli was a Free - they'll pay money from next window (20m if he plays 20 games, 20m in performance related). Just hope we spend wisely.

First, who would want to sponsor us? It's not like we'll have Google jumping to be on our kit. And even if they did, they'd probably only pay around what we already get. This is where the Saudi's will use their contacts to get above market deals but they can only stretch it so far - the new sponsors are doing favours to the Saudis, not because we're worth it (right now). As for sponsorships, every extra one devalues the first. Many sponsors ask for exclusivity e.g. Nike will not allow Adidas as well etc. I don't know if there's a limit but from observational evidence we can see the sweet spot is around 3-4 sponsors. We make around £28m/year from commercial deals while Man Utd make £280m/year so we can realistically get to half Man Utd's value without them complaining. Only if/when we get CL football and are title contenders can we start to get to Man Utd's numbers. I believe it was Everton's owner (might be wrong) got a friend of his to invest £30m for first refusal for the right to rename Goodison Park. That's right, just for first refusal, not actually renaming! Obviously they weren't going to rename Goodison Park and it was a sneaky way to inject a bit more money in. And by clever accounting, I don't mean cook the books, just adding nonsensical things like this to allow for more funds - it's all totally legal. Anyways, most of the money, directly or indirectly, comes from the new owners (specifically PIF), and they have a huge amount of it which is why other clubs want to restrict it as much as possible.

Not sure about this, we've scored the 4th lowest goals this season, two of the three are relegation candidates (Norwich, Burnley) and the other has the second best defence (Wolves). We've drawn a blank 4 times and never won a game which we scored 2 or more in. Under Howe, I believe only against Brentford have we managed 2 or more goals. Our last two goals (vs Watford and Leeds) relied on ASM magic and a keeping error. It's not like we're creating chances left, right and centre. It's actually the opposite, Wood has little delivery and we don't create enough. Yes we've let quite a few goals in but 24/43 were against the top 7 teams. You can also argue we draw blanks against the top teams too. Not saying it's doom and gloom but it would have been nice to have a bit of extra firepower. Hopefully with the new arrivals we'll create more and if Wilson gets back and stays fit I think we have enough ?.