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Football Manager 2009 Good Players (part 3)

2009-08-14T15:23:00.004+03:00

Last chapter of the list of players that I found useful at different level clubs(mostly Steaua and QPR). They're not necessarily wonderkids, but they did not fail me in any way, quite on the contrary. Often bought at bargain prices, these players are very very good. :)

SO @ last...FORWARDS

ALEX TEIXEIRA - MY.FAVORITE.PLAYER.EVER .

Even in real life, he is a very high regarded brazilian youngster from Vasco da Gama. Not very cheap, but I even bought him @ Steaua Bucharest in fm2009 930...after 10-15 rejected offers. He needs at least 1 million EURO per season and comes for about 8 million transfer fee. SOOO worth it! He plays at the same level on 7 positions(MRLC, AMRLC, FC). I often give him a free role, he is a match winner, very constant - goals, assists, man of match, you name it.

Marquinhos from Palmeiras - he is quite similar with Alex Teixeira, almost just as good, but for a heftier fee. He accepted playing in Premier League for QPR, but in the Steaua game it was impossible landing him. Real Madrid got him :)
Seleznyov - strong ST from Shakhtar - was transfer listed and easily signed before 930 patch. Very very good reliable striker. Non EU, though :(
Mauro Zarate - argentinian/italian AMRLC FC - very good
Robert Lewandowski - polish young striker - grows very much in a few years

Christian Benitez - he does not have good determination, but other than that, he is quite good. My actual Steaua captain.
Sebastian Pinto - strong, tall, a bit "fat" striker, got him free and for a low pay, he is a very good performer, even from the bench - scores a lot
Bogdan Stancu - ambitious romanian young striker from Steaua
Jean Jacques Mandrichi - not much fuss, but reliable
Tomas Necid - very good young czech striker
Nikola Kalinic - strong striker, got him free then sold him to avoid striker inflation :) , although he scored pretty much and had good grades
Johnatan Cristaldo - young very promising argentinian, got upset for staying too much on the bench and I had no time to raise him - but he gets very very good
Sebastian Fernandez
Gonzalo Bergessio - constant performer, a real threat to any adversary, accepts almost any league
Raul Bobadilla
Kevin Monnet Paquet - not much is you see his attributes, but he is a very good player, versatile too. a bit expensive though
Lamine Diarra
Tomas Micola - czech young AMRLC FC. good performer
Gheorghe Bucur - maybe the best romanian striker in the game, along with Florin Bratu

Zdenek Senkerik - cheap but very good solution if you don't have much money, scores a lot even from the bench. Not that good for Champions League level, though

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2010 official announcement

2009-08-12T15:34:00.003+03:00

Release date for both FOOTBALL MANAGER™ 2010 and FOOTBALL MANAGER™ HANDHELD 2010 is October 30th, 2009.
source: footballmanager.com

Announcement link

LONDON (August 12th, 2009) – Sports Interactive & SEGA Europe Ltd. can today announce that Football Manager™ 2010 for PC and Apple Macintosh, and Football Manager™ Handheld 2010 for Sony PSP will be released on October 30th. [...]

New Features :

Polish
Improved Match Engine
Match Analysis
New User Interface
Tactical Overhaul
News Center
New Data Editor

Football Manager 2009 Good Players (part 2)

2009-08-11T15:46:00.005+03:00

I continue the list of players,with the midfielders and attack players.

MIDFIELDERS

Franco Zuculini - very cheap young argentinian/italian DMC-MC RC, is one of the best I've seen so far, he evolves each year, in 1-3 years he becomes a world class player

Jiri Kladrubsky - versatile MC DMC RC, plays even DRLC, good physical attributes, very constant in EPL with QPR, one of the best I've seen. Kind of hard to get in a league lige Romania.
Tiago Gomes - Steaua loaned portuguese MC - cheap, very complete young central midfielder
Mirel Radoi - Sold by Steaua to the arabs, he is hard to get due to high salary, but plays equally well as DC or DMC/MC
Nikola Drincic - non - EU, but worth every penny
Rodrigo Mancha - brazilian mediocre reliable DMC MC
Ognjen Vukojevic
Lubos Husek
Mario Holek
Ovidiu Petre - romanian very tall DMC, good heading

Mascio(until 930) - best player, but not real - erased from database in FM 930
Valdimir Yurchenko
Gabriel Paraschiv - not cheap, experienced romanian AMC
Tiberiu Ghioane - complete midfielder
Lukas Magera - MC ST
Milos Pavlovic
Costin Lazar

WINGERS

Radek Sirl - best.left.winger.EVER - WBL/ML/AML, crossing 19, scores lots of goals, many assists, very consistent. Transfer listed by Zenith until FM930, not easily taken after.

Thiago Neves - very good brazilian, versatile
Sotiris Ninis - greek AMRC
Lubos Kalouda - czech international, plays in Russia, very very good AMR
Janosz Szekely - Steaua AMR, despite attributes of 13 mostly, he is fantastic, scores lots of goals
Barboianu - grows incredibly, a friend of mine sold him for 10 mil EUR after just one year of play
Samoel Cojoc - young versatile WBR MR, but I trained him as AMR
Ochirosii - romanian wonderkid, ambitious
Leandro Benitez - argentinian experienced AMLC, very good technique attributes, not so good physical, but sooo worth it
Diego Valeri - argentinian-italian AMRL, bought him very difficult at Steaua, now everyone wants him :)
Ricky van Haaren - young dutch winger
Dejan Skolnik
Alvaro Pereira
Artavadz Karamian

Football Manager 2010 leaked screenshot

2009-08-06T10:12:00.005+03:00

Miles Jacobson leaked on the SI Twitter account - www.twitter.com/SI_games - a few days ago a screenshot of soon to come FM 2010. This was deemed a mistake, but a good one for the hungry fans :)The game will be out as usual by october-november 2009.

Football Manager 2009 Good Players (part 1)

2009-07-18T19:07:00.004+03:00

I will compile a list of players that I found useful at different level clubs(mostly Steaua and QPR). They're not necessarily wonderkids, but they did not fail me in any way, quite on the contrary. Often bought at bargain prices, these players are very very good. I will specify the level I used them at, but most of them will perform well in any league.

First of all - GOALKEEPERS - (first 2 are my favorites):

Bogdan Lobont(The CAT from Dinamo Buc., comes free after 1-2 years of play) - had him @ QPR in the Premier League and he was very reliable. I finished 2 years in the row on the podium with him in goal.

Vincent Enyeama - better than Lobont, but with high hopes. He won't come to a low level club, and even at QPR in EPL he was desperate to go to Arsenal. VERY GOOD keeper
Pantilimon -young, very tall, Romania's high hopes keeper. Cheap(around 2-300k in 2009) and when he is young he accepts playing for lower quality clubs.
Tatarusanu - another young very tall player, but not likely to accept any deal before 2010, as he is already transferred to Steaua
Robinson Zapata from Steaua - also very reliable
Federico Agliardi - did very well replacing Lobont and Enyeama at QPR - he doesn't look like much, but he is very very good. In the Steaua game I play, Chelsea bought him in 2009.
Paulo Santos - FREE, 34-35 years but good for 1-2 years at a club of even Uefa Cup level
Bogdan Shust - young ukrainian rising star GK

DEFENDERS(side or central)

DORIN GOIAN - very tall and strong DC - underrated romanian(even in real life). PLays at Steaua but wants better. Will cost a few bucks but he is worth the price. Scores many many corner goals if played right.

Nenad Tomovic - serbian DRC, cheap but very good, even for Champions League matches. I play him DR in 442 tactic, and he has an average >7.10 per season
Tore Reginiussen - norwegian young international defender. Costs about 1-1.5 mil euro, very complete and constant DC
Nemanja Pejcinovic - still another young serbian - DRLC - but more expensive(about 3 mil euro). I love the fact that he is very versatile, plays very well on any position in the defensive line
Jan Lecjaks - young(19 y0) D/WB L - czech player. @ such young age he is very good for any level of play.
Yezerskyi from Shakhtar
Andriy Rusol - free in 1-2 years, very good in my first year in EPL with QPR
Andreas Granqvist - swedish national team DC
Emeghara D/WB RL ML nigerian from Steaua
Golanski DRC from Steaua
Guglielmo Stendardo - almost a copy of Goian - tall strong underrated italian DC

TUG's Training

2009-07-12T13:55:00.003+03:00

I use the classic, well known, TUG's training schedule. It's not original for me to say that, but I think it's the best out there. I tweak it just a bit, lowering the intensity of each schedule, but not much.
I don't even change settings in off-season periods.
It's very good, specially for the under 24 players, as they develop more and need dedicated training.

Two thumbs UP! :)

Football Manager 2009 Wallpapers

2009-07-11T19:11:00.003+03:00

3 weeks free trial of Football Manager Live

2009-07-11T16:34:00.003+03:00

Quote news from the fm official site

On July 6th 2009 Sports Interactive launched a brand new and exciting feature of Football Manager Live - the Football Manager Live Free Trial.

The Free Trial will give new managers the opportunity to test out Football Manager Live free for 21 days. That’s up to one in-game season free.

All you have to do to start playing is go to www.tryfml.com and fill in some basic details to start playing.

We will be updating our Twitter feed daily, with updates on spaces available, so make sure to follow us there for the latest info.

Best Football Manager Trailer

2009-07-11T16:28:00.003+03:00

Scoring from corners in football manager

2009-07-09T10:38:00.007+03:00

Well, most people that play FM leave the default options for set pieces and never concentrate on making more of it. SOOO WRONG!
Scoring from set pieces is a very very important part of modern football, so why not work on that a bit more?!
A friend of mine told me some advices that helps score more goals from corners, and since then, I managed to win a lot more matches. If you play against a weaker team that defends with 11 players, you can break them by scoring from a corner. Also, if you defend a lot against a mightier foe and don't have many options in attack, a corner or an indirect free kick will up your chances. And with ANY team, you can score more goals.

Enough chattering already :), here's what you need :

In the tactics screen, choose the corner takers. See which players in your team have good corner taking attributes(more than 14, 15 is a must, but lower league teams will do with less). If no player has the skill, BUY ONE! It would be best if you had at least two of them, one right-footed for the left side corner and one left-footed for the right side corner. This way, centered balls will be curved into the goal frame. It's ok to have only one taker from both sides, but chances will grow if you stick to the plan.
I will give examples at the end of the post for each type of player described here.
Enough with this, now who scores the goals? :D Well, a tall player(>1.85) with good heading(>16), jumping(>15) and maybe strength. He may have any position, as long as he is not the GK or the one assigned to take the corner :) . Usually, a DC or a FC or a ST, but I've seen also others with the right qualities. Two or three of these in a squad are better...
Set the taker(in team settings) to kick the corner in the 6 yard box.
The things to set(tactics->individual settings->attacking corners) for the players:

have at least 2 players with "stay back" and 2 others with "stay back if needed" - for defense purposes :)
have the tallest and with best heading player challenge the keeper
another tall player to attack the near post(or near post flick-on)
if you want, a player can attack the far post(I found this redundant, but not bad)
one player or two can attack from deep
a player with good long shots ability should lurk outside area

I have tried this in FM2009 with Steaua Bucharest and had defender Dorin Goian score 2 hattricks in a season :). As a DC, he had 10 goals in 30 matches. The other central defender also had 7 or 8. The fact is that many teams have a not so tall GK and bad defenders, even strong teams can be surprised. I scored 2 goals from corners in a match against Atletico Madrid and won 2-0.

Please feel free to comment with your results of this tactic or tweaks or even other opinions.

The players I used with success or others I know will fit - you can also find similar ones:

- Corner taker: Leandro Benitez(left foot 19@corners), RADEK SIRL - a special player for me, more about him in a different post, Beckham, Liverani, Vargas, Vukcevic, Srna, Riquelme, Alex, Gusev, juninho pernambucano, Xavi, Sneijder, Santana, Tony Stevenson

- Goal Scorer: DORIN GOIAN, Tore Reginiussen, Zigic, Crouch, van Buyten, Terry, Skrtel, Agger, Chiellini, Adebayor, Vidic, Huntelaar, Drogba, Albiol, Wasilewski, Martin Hudec, Rob Jones, Naldo, Mertesacker, Streller, Simunic, Nibombe, Metzelder ...

FM 2009 Hints(part two)

2009-07-06T21:17:00.002+03:00

again - credits: Miles Jacobson, Neil Dejyothin, Svein E Kvernoey, Kevin Turner, Nick Habershon, Alex Bell, David Milmine, Thomas Roddison, Andy Jones, Lee Smith-Bryan, Rashid D Abdullah, Andy Wilson and Glenn Wakeford

- You can manually balance the funds allotted to you between the transfer and wage budgets. To do this select 'Adjust wage and transfer budgets' from the list of board requests at the board room. This is particularly useful if your board are unwilling to give you any more transfer or wage funds.
- Players who are transfer-listed are generally available at a knock-down price and are easier to sign.
- If you offer an injured player to clubs, they are less likely to show interest until the player is over his injury.
- Praising another manager in the media and building friendships with other managers may help your chances of having a transfer bid accepted for one of their players.
- You can offer contracts to virtual 'greyed out' players from your own team. This is particularly useful if you're a low profile club and in need of players.
- Setting a player's squad status to 'Not needed by the club' will increase the chances of the player agreeing terms with another club.
- Players who are very versatile are more likely to successfully retrain to a new position.
- Your club's level of scouting knowledge can be increased by either signing scouts who already have a large knowledge base, acquiring an affiliate club or by sending your existing scouts out to investigate new territories.
- The more scouting knowledge your club has, the more players will appear on the player search screen.
- Constantly changing your tactic and making dramatic alterations to the style of play will not help your players settle or find their rhythm and is likely to have an adverse affect on the team's performances.
- Taking the time to set up player positions on set-pieces can be very rewarding. Taking advantage in these situations is often the difference between a draw and a win.
- Determination can be a key attribute. Players with low determination usually react badly to going a goal down.
- Too many new signings in a short space of time can upset the balance and rhythm of your team.
- Keep your players happy. Praising wins keeps morale up and provides greater impetus for the team to string good performances together.
- You can select more than one player and perform multiple actions on them by holding down the CONTROL key and clicking the arrows to the left of a player's name.

FM 2009 Hints(part one)

2009-07-06T20:43:00.003+03:00

First of all, this is not a list of hints coming from me. I've compiled a list of hints for beginners of FM2009, straight from the in-game screens. There are more, but I think these are the most important. You can see them as the data is "processing..." in the game, but maybe they somehow have escaped your eye :)

credits: Miles Jacobson, Neil Dejyothin, Svein E Kvernoey, Kevin Turner, Nick Habershon, Alex Bell, David Milmine, Thomas Roddison, Andy Jones, Lee Smith-Bryan, Rashid D Abdullah, Andy Wilson and Glenn Wakeford

- You can now see individual coach reports for each position a player can play in. To do this go to the player's 'Coach Reports' screen and select the position from the dropdown box to the left of the coach selection.
- Withdrawing a player from international duty with his national team may adversely affect his morale, or worse, cause the player to dislike you.
- Rejecting a job offer from another club will improve your popularity with your club's board and the fans.
- When a player has just returned from injury it's a good idea to build his match fitness up through reserve fixtures and then slowly reintroduce him back into the first-team.
- The better a physio the more able he is to accurately predict how long a player will take to recover from injury.
- Be wary when declaring an interest in another job. Your current employers may not take too kindly to you casting glances elsewhere.
- If your players are picking up lots of injuries in training, keep a close eye on the type of injury that has occurred and think about reducing the intensity of your strength or aerobic training.
- You can improve squad morale by winning football matches, DUH! :), or rewarding them with new contracts.
- Be careful when asking an injured player to take an injection and play through the pain barrier for a game. There is a risk that you may upset him so save these instances for really important matches.
- When managing a low profile club, arranging friendly games during the pre-season against high profile teams is a great way to boost your club's finances through additional gate receipts.
- Sometimes placing a left footed striker in the right attacking slot increases the chances that he will score goals. Swapping strikers also makes them hard to man-mark.
- If you are heavy favourites for an upcoming match, casting doubts on your team can sometimes make your side even more determined to prove you wrong.
- When joining a new club as Manager, staff who were at the club before you joined will always accept 'Mutual Termination' of their contract.
- Players aged 24 and above are less likely to see dramatic improvements to their attributes through training or natural progression.
- Players will naturally develop their mental attributes through experience as they get older.

Tips&tricks for a good game start(part two)

2009-07-03T17:16:00.005+03:00

[...]

Assess the squads and set each player status : Knowing ALL your players is essential. From day one, I take the time to look at each player(assistant manager's team assessment is OK sometimes, but never enough). Get a coach report also, but don't think much of it. If I dislike very much a player in real life, I always put him on the transfer list(even if he would have good qualities) - that's personal, but feelings are important :D. 2nd team and teen squads pass through the same process.
I plan to have a balanced lot, so - 3 GKs, 2 players on each position and 2-3 that can play more than 2 positions(jolly jokers). That makes 25-26 players in a squad. Maximum. Maybe less if you're in a lower league and money is scarce. One of the GKs will go to 2nd team after pre-season, but he still has to be 1st team material, ready to step up.

Transfer-list players you don't need from the beginning. Offer them to other clubs but not very cheap(only if months pass and no offers come). Some may go on loan if you need them to grow.
Renew contracts and promote youngsters or out-of-favor veterans(sent to 2nd team). Give everybody a chance in the upcoming friendlies(if the numbers allow it)
Assess outgoing loans - recall needed players and set transfer status for the other loaned players
Squad harmony is important. Don't lower squad status for many players if you plan to keep them, as you'll upset them. Do that later in the season when they'll know they're on the bench.
RELEASE junk players - I prefer a lower number of players than more of a lesser quality. A lot of players are very bad with low contracts and can be let go immediately at almost no cost(Release on a free :) )
Start making a shortlist - even if no scout reports are in, you can still make offers for players you need. As soon as you have a good scout, get scout reports for them and also set scouting assignments in some areas(all over if you can). You know from experience or from real life some bargains or good deals, so why waste time? If you press the CONTINUE button ONCE, someone may have stolen a player you needed from the market!
Arrange friendlies(optional, there usually are some already) - I sometimes cancel the default friendlies to make my own.
TRY TO WIN EVERY FRIENDLY - it's essential for the morale that you don't have many poor results in pre-season, so don't play teams you will heavily lose to. Build up morale by winning!
Demand stadium, pitch, training facilities and young facilities improvements - if necessary

Tips&tricks for a good game start(part one)

2009-07-03T12:02:00.006+03:00

When I take over a team I have already kind of a ritual. I always do the same things in order to have a good start.
No matter what team you are playing, and even if this first pre-season is sometimes boring, you have to get things done right.
So, exactly, what do I do in these first 1-2-3 days when installed as a manager? (the order is important, I guess)

Assess the staff and change if necessary : even the most powerful club has flaws in staff competency. If the club is small and has poor staff, I offer all of them a contract termination(they will always accept, it's a game rule) and start from scratch.
The assistant manager goes the next day, as I need him to filter results in search screen, so I don't make offers for staff that is unreachable to me. After all of this, with the search screen, I find capable staff(sometimes before firing the old ones I check to see if there is anyone better to hire - even regens). It may take some time, as usually there are more than ten people you have to search for, filtering results and offering contracts, but it's definitely a good move in a long term.
Coaches need to cover all areas(I choose them to complement each other). Physios are also very important, as the squad's health depends on them. Good scouts give good advices and find more players around the world. Also, the player search results depend on what scouts you have and their knowledge. That's why I always hire the maximum (board-)allowed number. The next day, I fire the assistant manager IF HE IS POOR, and find a better one :)

Define the tactics . I do this before defining the squad. This will determine my squad changes. In FM08 I used to play a 5-2-1-2 narrow attacking game with full backs and a DMC completing the defence, so I never really needed wingers, I needed more some very good WBR and WBL. If they could play as wingers also, just as well.
Now, in FM09, I came back to my "always score more" 4-4-2 wingers pressure tactics, in which good wingers are essential. So, whatever works for you, but have more than one tactic defined at start(I usually have 2), so you can test them in pre-season matches.

TO BE CONTINUED IN A NEW POST...

Football Manager 2009 QPR Game recap

2009-06-30T10:22:00.005+03:00

Well, 3 more seasons with QPR, I’m putting in a title challenge and UEFA Cup push as last season I missed the Champions League spot by a thread…

ALEX TEIXEIRA(more about him in another special post) is the revelation that put my captain Seleznyov on the bench. Now the starting attack duo is Lewandowski-Teixeira. And a deadly one too!

Here are a few stats from 3 seasons as my ascension to 1st place in English PL continues.
Transfers, tactics, statistics, league position history, starting 11, top goalscorers:

The league positions after 19 games(mid-through the season) :

Squad and tactics:

2-year transfers :

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QPR pre-EPL transfers and tactics

2009-06-29T14:48:00.000+03:00

From the QPR FM2009 game(910 database) - first season in English Championship League...
Here is my main squad and first team, also the tactics and the transfers made so far:

I will get back with details

QPR EPL 1st season transfers

2009-06-29T14:37:00.000+03:00

From the campaign in English Premier League with QPR(promoted in the first year).
A busy transfer period, trying to strengthen the squad for the PL.
I am very pleased to have covered all positions, but mostly for signing Robert Lewandowski and Andriy Rusol(this one came for free!!!).
To cut a long story short, here are the nominees