Football Manager 2014 New Features we'd like to see

June 8, 2013, 5:30 am

≪ Previous: A Basic Guide To Lower League Management (LLM)

As kids, all of us have had our favourite toys which we used to play with for days on end. Eventually we did get bored with them though. There was always something wrong with it or something that could have made it much better. Nothing was perfect. It’s been the same case with Football Manager 2013. No matter how frustrated we've felt with the match engine – especially when our goalkeeper scores the silliest own goal we've ever seen - we've all had our good saves and we've all seen the thrilling games where our team scored a stoppage time winner or where we went through a nail-biting penalty shootout in the Champions League final.

In a few months it will be time to say goodbye to FM13 and say hello to FM14. Sports Interactive will probably add a touch here and there, add a couple of new features, but if you think you have a really good idea that will improve the game, how do you make sure that it is heard? The answer is simple – post on our FM 2014 Facebook page! The best suggestions posted will be featured below, and in the likely event that someone from SI has a look, there’s a chance that your suggestion will end up on the next edition of Football Manager!

We'll be updating this article once a week to include fresh feature requests, so make sure to come back for more

Officially confirmed FM14 news and FAQ

Now, let’s get underway with your own feature requests!

Player Interaction

Having control over whether your players dive or not would by a cool addition.
Michael Miller

As manager we should have the possiblety for make "team-talk" to the players which is substituted off the field. Ex: You have a yellow card, dont want you to get sent off. ex: You played like crap! ex: need you fit for the next match also.
Håkon Kristiansen

I would like to be able to inform the players that Capital One Cup (as an example) is NOT a priority, so I can play youth or backup players without the main squad’s morale dropping.
Kjetil Thuen Tønnesen

When disciplining a player it would be nice to have more options to explain why they are being disciplined, and also if players are worried about lack of discipline asking them what specific issues they have.
Gary Foster

Would be interesting if two players in a team with different personalities clash with each other and get into a fight and/or have each other in their disliked personnel. Would certainly spice things up.
Jozef Ostrowski

Testimonials for retiring players would be awesome!
Stuart Bennett

Training

Bring back the old fashioned training schedules.
Jørgen Fjellstad Arnesen

It would be nice to have the choice between using the old and new training.
Kevin Wilson

Transfers

Prevent teams from buying the same players on every save. For example, PSG usually sign Schneiderlin, City usually buy Sandro etc.
Sean Lowrey

Would like to be able to be able to offer a certain club a player of mine in exchange of a player of theirs plus money. For example if I have a goalkeeper ‘A’, I could be able to offer it to a club for a player ‘B’ and a sum of 3m. The other club could haggle around with the fee if they are interested in ‘A’ or reject the deal completely.
Arvind Krishna

Have the ability to buy players and loan them back to their clubs like Stoke and Manchester United have done with Jack Butland and Wilfried Zaha respectively.
Tommy Stewart Colquhoun, Muzi 'Rafa' Nadal, Daniel Moore

Would like to have the option of sending a player on loan to a club as a part of a transfer deal of another player.
Alexander Rigby

Be able to have a conversation with a transfer target who has no intention of signing for your club to try and sell the club to the player.
Andy Wilson

Match Engine

When your team wins a trophy, there should be a celebration or a cut-scene showing your team lifting the trophy.
Several People

Concept of drop balls and foul throws implemented in the game.
Николай Николов

Goalkeepers should be booked when time wasting.
Håkon Kristiansen

Would love it if we could have a sort of a manager view from the dugout or touchlines.
Robert McPhee

What about having a commentator during the match, like in FIFA?
Sebastian Dabrowski
More atmosphere in stadiums, I just want to here the fans singing, that'll make the match experience more realistic.
Daan Vd Broek

Media

To be invited to attend shows like MOTD or to be on Sky Sports etc would be cool.
John Reynolds

More types of questions from the media and different answers available depending on the emotion chosen by us.
Several people

I'd like if the press actually noticed when you make a huge leap with a club in the lower divisions. As in if Perugia in Lega Pro manages to get to Serie A in a few seasons. Now the press is more like, "meh... Whatever." even though it's a huge achievement.
Felix Raisma

Tactics

Ability to get your team to play proper ‘Total Football’. Currently we’re able to swap only two players with each other and set the our team to play a very fluid style, but it would be cool if it was easier to play Total Football.
Arvind Krishna

I’d like to assign players to mark certain opponents during defensive set pieces and not just mark tall/short or man mark/go back.
Lars Madsen

It would be great if we can assign fix tactic's player instruction individually on the player itself that would replace team or position's player instruction. For example, I wouldnt want this specific (A) player to play long shot for his whole life so I set the Long shot bar to Rarely for this guy and whenever I sub him into the game I dont have to worry about changing it again in team tactic.
HaSkO*

Shouts to individual players should be added, not just ones to the entire team.
Kevin Raymond Marshall

'Undo last' button when making 'quick substitutions' during a game.
Anonymous

FM Handheld

I would think it would be fantastic if you could improve FM Handheld. Like put in more leagues and so.
Ludvig Karlsson

Regarding the handheld version, please put at least a 2D view on it. It would really entice me to buy an iPad or a Galaxy note just for this game.
Doni Teodorico Capuyan

Your Manager

Have a manager profile of your own and have the ability to increase your own stats.
Mihai Ene

Something needs to be done with the wages we earn over time or else it is just a redundant figure staring back at us. Perhaps the ability to buy shares of a club with the wages we have got?
Leon Tan, several others

I would like to apply for a job and have the club offer me an interview if they consider me for the job.
Mike Reid, Mikey Duckworth

Would like my manager to be able to speak languages other than the ones spoken in the country he hails from.
Freddy Chartier

An option to be real life managers or be able to become a staff member or player in game and turn them into a manager. For example, we could have the option of becoming Brendan Rodgers or becoming Ruud van Nistelrooy and turning him into a manager.
John Reynolds

Being given the option to start off as the manager of a reserve or under-18 side would be cool. We could build up our reputation and move to a club’s senior side or apply for the post of Senior Squad manager of the same club if the job is vacant.
Callum Stewart, Brett Goacher

Past Managing Experience?

It's become a little trendy to start promoting assistant managers up to the big seat once their seniors have moved on, Barcelona being the main reference. I don't think many people (anyone?) knew who Tito Vilanova was until he was appointed manager; it would be nice if some prior history with the club was offered where by the current clubs players see you as Jesus reincarnate but everyone else hasn't even heard your name.

I'm sick and tired of Rooney slagging me off for my lack of playing experience...
Come Clarity

Miscellaneous

A legends mode with all time legends like Maradona, Pele and Cruyff would be totally awesome.
Rune Andersen

I would add a value graph just like the attributes graph but it will show the player's value progress through the years just like the one that is in transfermarkt.
Dimitris Koutsogiannakis

Want to be able to host friendly in different countries at neutral venues. For example: Celtic vs Real Madrid in the USA. Both clubs could split the profits and have a boost in their fan base and merchandise sales.
Paul Kirkpatrick

Being able to change kits every season.
Николай Николов

With the influx of players getting into trouble for biting players, being racist etc it would be good for this to be introduced into the new football manager. I think it would be good if players on the game got a 10 game ban for example for an incident other than just a regular bad tackle.
Kieran Statham

Promises from your chairman to encourage you not to quit and join another club. EG, next seasons transfer budget, ground expansion
Andy Crawley

It's not a major thing but being able to add staff to a shortlist would be useful.
Chris Wild

While searching for staff, we should be able to filter based on scouting knowledge as well. For example, if I want a scout with knowledge about the players in French leagues, the only thing I can do to find one is filter based on nationality or where he is based. But sometimes there could be a Belgian, Dutch or African scout with the desired scouting knowledge as well.
Anonymous

The history of players should show all games, not only league games!
Tasos

Ability to upgrade medical facilities and not just hire physios( this to have bearing on injury times i.e a pulled muscle takes less time to heal with Arsenal than Watford) Also, please put Youth Coach search back into the Staff Search.
mike22122

Regens and Youth

A small one - make regens have favorite numbers.
Fancy Gaffot

One thing I would really love to see in the new FM which is regens that are actually related to current football players. It would be unrealistic for everyone to have a kid that plays football, but it would be cool to see a player with the surname Rooney, Messi or Ronaldo once in a while.
Rob Fitzpatrick

Fan-made logo and pack-shot

Below you can check out a fake, fan-made pack-shot of FM14 created for fun by Stam. Can you figure out who's the manager on the cover?

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4-1-3-2 Control Original

June 8, 2013, 9:29 am

≫ Next: Mario Balotelli: A Player Reborn

≪ Previous: Football Manager 2014 New Features we'd like to see

Overview

This has been my favourite tactic to use in football manager for a long time and I have used it in FM11 12 and 13 with huge success in all different types of leagues high to low. I have taken multiple teams from 2nd to 6th tier divisions in various countries and taken them to the top of Europe with this tactic. This tactic works best with fast players especially on the wings and brings plenty of goals.

This tactic is generally an attacking tactic with a control mentality, but there is excellent balance between defense and attack. Very rarely do I find myself being punished by a counter attack and theres always plenty of options going forward, the given roles create good angles between players and results in some very nice attacking football.

Key roles and player types

DMC - Deep-Lying Playmaker - Support - a key position in this formation and makes a big difference compared to having two players in the MC position, the deep lying playmaker controls the passing in the game and in the DMC position is always there to stop that opposition midfielder who roams forward. Key attributes: Passing, Tackling, Creativity, Positioning, Teamwork.
MC -Box-to-Box Midfielder - Support - supports in midfield and key in getting forward and supporting the strikers, scores plenty of goals for a midfielder. Key attributes: Acceleration, Passing, Anticipation, Decisions, Off the Ball, Work rate.
ST - Complete Forward - Support - In a support role often finds space between the defense and midfield and links well with everyone, gets lots of assists and goals. Ideal would be a very well rounded player with good attributes all over. Key attributes: All Physical attributes, Teamwork, Passing, Finishing.
ST - Advanced Forward - Attack - The spearhead of your attack, chases down defenders and puts pressure on them and as long as he has good speed will find himself in countless one on one situations. Key attributes: Acceleration, Pace, Anticipation, Off the Ball, Finishing.

Recent seasons with tactic

First season with Antwerp, expected to challenge for title and won the league by 12 points.

Third season with Antwerp, predicted 12th. Finished 2nd, competed and held my own against teams with far stronger squads than mine and qualified for the Champions League.

4-1-3-2 Control

Installation Instructions

Step 1

Download the file

Step 2

Place the file in this folder:
My Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2013 > tactics

I hope you find this tactic useful and please do post your results :).

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Mario Balotelli: A Player Reborn

June 8, 2013, 10:30 am

≫ Next: Macdab African Pack

≪ Previous: 4-1-3-2 Control Original

Mario Balotelli is now a name that is known to most football fans around the world. The AC Milan and Italy striker, formerly of Manchester City and AC’s city rivals Internazionale is known to not only be a player with fantastic potential to become one of the best players in the game, but also as a player famous for his crazy antics and indiscipline on the pitch.

Balotelli rose to fame at the San Siro with Internazionale, one of Italy’s biggest sides. He joined the 3-times European Cup/Champions League winners, and 18-times Serie A champions in 2006, from Lumezzane, who play in the Lega Pro Prima Divisione, who started to play Mario when he was just 15. The club actually got clearance from the league to play him at this level at that age because he was just too good for the youth levels, and had to be accelerated to the senior side to aid his development. He only made two appearances for Lume before being snapped up by Inter at just 16. In the next four years, he went on to make 86 appearances for the Nerzzuri, scoring 28 goals by age 20. A very impressive tally at that age, especially with some of the quality strikers that Inter possessed at the time. Remember, Inter were one of the very best teams in the world at the time, although they have declined in the last couple of years.

Mario Balotelli left Inter in 2010, after winning the UEFA Champions League in Madrid, at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Diego Milito netting a double in a 2-0 win for Inter. Balotelli was an unused substitute in that game, however with the front line for Inter consisting of Goran Pandev, Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito, that is hardly surprising. That summer, however, marked Balotelli’s exit from the San Siro, as he left to join Manchester City in a deal of around £18m, where he would play under Italian Roberto Mancini, who had been the manager of Inter Milan when Balotelli joined the club.
Manchester City had narrowly missed out on Champions League football in the previous season, with a loss at home to Spurs late on in the season denying them the chance to play in Europe’s premier competition in 2010-11. City responded by proceeding to buy several big players that summer alongside Balotelli to try to improve the side. Barcelona’s Yaya Toure, Valencia’s David Silva, and Aleksandar Kolarov of Lazio joining the club alongside others as City mounted a successful challenge for Champions League qualification, finishing 3rd.

After scoring 10 goals in 28 games in all competitions in 2010-11, 2011-12 was the season Balotelli really stepped up for the Blues. Thanks to the self-imposed exile of Carlos Tevez and the inconsistency of Edin Dzeko throughout the season, Mario was regularly given the chance to play upfront alongside Argentine Sergio Aguero, who was the club’s record signing from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011 as City looked to challenge for the league title. He formed an effective partnership from Aguero, scoring 13 league goals himself, as well as helping Aguero score 23 in the league, including setting up a dramatic late winner at home to QPR in the final game for Aguero to fire home and win City their first league title since 1968. No-one could argue that Mario hadn’t had an effective season, apart from when he nearly cost City the title by being sent off in a loss at Arsenal seven games from the end of the season. Thankfully, it didn’t cost City their title, and Mario remained a legend to many in Manchester. Not necessarily for his actions on the pitch, more for the ones on it.

That was always the lingering problem with Balotelli in his time in Manchester: his attitude. We could see he enjoyed the football and liked playing for the club, but off the pitch he didn’t seem happy to me, and this was reflected in his antics. The list goes on and on about what he’s supposed to have done. A large proportion of this will have been made up by newspapers to make him sound more interesting, to make them more money, but there is no denying he was involved in a lot of antics in his time in Manchester. I could mention the things he’s supposed to have done, but I’d be here all day, and the article would stretch over 3000 words.

I think for Balotelli to continue to develop as a player, and reach his huge potential, it was important for him to move back to Italy, the place he knows. He wasn’t really settled here, and had a reputation as a joker, not a player. It started to take his toll on Mario, who fell from glory, managing just one goal in the first half of the 2012-13 season. He wasn’t happy anymore, and the City fans weren’t happy with his performances. So, when AC Milan came in for Balotelli, to take him back to Italy in the January transfer window, after two and a half years in England for around £20m, both City and Mario leapt at the opportunity. Both parties were sad to see him leave, but it was necessary. He would never have fulfilled his potential whilst still at the Etihad.
So, after Balotelli left, he could be classed as damaged goods really. He needed to recover his reputation as a young starlet with huge reputation instead of a clown. Surrounded by very good players at Milan, such as Stephan El Shaarawy, and Kevin-Prince Boateng, it was going to be much easier than at a smaller club, like Palermo. In his first game, Balotelli netted twice, including an injury time penalty winner, against Udinese at the San Siro. After this, Balotelli went on to score another 10 goals in 12 league games, which is a very impressive return for any professional. In my opinion, Balotelli has already started to convince people that he really is the fantastic player that people thought he was going to be, and not the clown that many thought he was.
I’m writing this at the end of Balotelli’s first half a season back in Milan. It might be too early to draw any conclusions on how his career will turn out now, but if I was going to make a guess, I think it will turn out very well, and he will be a very important player for Milan over the next few years as they look to start to challenge Juventus for the title once again.

I also think Balotelli will thrive in Milan’s young side. They have some very good young players, with very good potential to boot. I already mentioned El Shaarawy earlier in this piece, and they also have players like young France striker Mbaye Niang and Italian defender Mattia De Sciglio. Once all these players develop to their full potential with i Rossonneri, they will have a side that is very difficult to beat, and Balotelli will be a big part of this.

I am glad to see that Balotelli’s career is recovering, as he deserves it, being the player with the potential that he has, but I am upset that he’s fulfilling this potential with Milan, and not my team. He would have turned into a very good player for us if we had nurtured him right, but there must have been some lingering problems that meant he would not succeed in England. These problems may have been with the manager, Roberto Mancini. It is rumoured that Mancini was unpopular with many of the staff and players at City, which may have been one of the reasons they failed to win a trophy in 2012-13. If he managed to upset a lot of the other staff at City, there is no reason he didn’t upset Balotelli as well, and this cost the club a very good, young talent.

There is always a lot of uncertainty around Balotelli. Whether he was happy at City or not. Which of his antics he actually did, and which he didn’t. None of this I will be able to answer. However, there is one thing I can say. Mario Balotelli is a player reborn.

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Macdab African Pack

June 9, 2013, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Macdab Asian Pack

≪ Previous: Mario Balotelli: A Player Reborn

I have created a set of packs from different Continents to help people with wider options of playing leagues in Football Manager 2013. In addition this could help them finish Pentagon / Hexagon challenges.

I managed to do 10 unplayable nations from Africa.

List of Nations

Algeria

Ivory Coast

Mali

Egypt

Tunisia

Nigeria

Cameroon

Morocco

Senegal

Ethiopia

Enjoy

More League Packs

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Macdab Asian Pack

June 9, 2013, 5:00 am

≫ Next: Macdab North American Pack

≪ Previous: Macdab African Pack

List of Nations

Vietnam

North Korea

Nepal

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

Saudi Arabia

U.A.E.

Qatar

Enjoy

More League Packs

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Macdab North American Pack

June 9, 2013, 5:30 am

≫ Next: Macdab Oceanic Megapack

≪ Previous: Macdab Asian Pack

List of Nations

Canada

Cuba

Guatemala

Honduras

Jamaica

Panama

Trinidad and Tobago

Enjoy

More League Packs

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Macdab Oceanic Megapack

June 9, 2013, 5:30 am

≫ Next: FM Coach Calculator 2013 for Android

≪ Previous: Macdab North American Pack

More League Packs

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FM Coach Calculator 2013 for Android

June 9, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Mechanizing the Play - Transitions

≪ Previous: Macdab Oceanic Megapack

The original FM Coach Calculator is very useful, however it seem changed a little bit off in 2013 for GK rating.

Released: June 6, 2013
Current Version: 1.01
Requires Android: 2.2 and up

So I try to re-write it and make it available in android, try it out here

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Mechanizing the Play - Transitions

June 10, 2013, 1:00 pm

≫ Next: Sad Day For Turkish Football

≪ Previous: FM Coach Calculator 2013 for Android

Football is a game of transitions, success or failure can often be attributed to whether your side was able to capitalize on mistakes made when your opponent surrenders possession unexpectedly. Creating a tactical system in which you give yourself the best chance of taking advantage of such mistakes is key to doing well in Football Manager 13. What though is a transition? A transition occurs when the ball passes from your oppositions control to yours, or of course vice versa. A lot of the time the AI is at its most vulnerable when they have just lost possession as in the attacking phase they have players moving forwards whom can take time to readjust to a more defensive mindset, this is the simple truth that led to the genesis of the high pressing style of Barcelona et al, indeed managing transitions an extremely important part of the tactical framework put together by Pep Guardiola.
That however is not to say that transitions are only key to tika taka possession football indeed the way that you manage transitions plays an integral part in deciding whether you play a short passing possession orientated style or whether you adopt a more direct approach. In this article I'll give examples of both slow and quick transitions, both of which occur largely within the same system but with a couple of small tweaks.

Quick Transitions

As I alluded to above the AI will be almost at its most vulnerable as soon as they lose possession. If you are able to cycle the ball quickly from the point that you win the ball to an area of space then you will quickly find yourself in an attacking overload situation with a route to goal.
I find that one of the keys to effective transitions is to use one, or even two, players as pivots within your side. These players are the ones that will make the decision whether to retain possession and rest or whether to go quickly for the jugular. In my current tactic I am using two players in different positions in this way, Holger Badstuber in defense and Bastian Schweinsteiger in midfield.
The key to deciding which form of transition will be more prevalent lies in the touchline shouts that I use. If I feel that the AI are pressing forwards looking to attack and open up the field then I will always tell my players to drop deeper, hassle opponents and get the ball forward. The aim is to draw the AI out to create spaces in their defensive schemes. How does it work though?

In the above screenshot we have won the ball just inside our own half through Jerome Boateng. Instead of taking the responsibility on himself to start the attack Boateng is tactically disciplined enough to feed Schweinstieger in space in the center of the field. He is then as the pivot able to immediately identify the area in which we have the greatest superiority in numbers and drop the ball in to space for out on rushing attackers.

Above our left back (De Sciglio) has actually effected the change in possession by winning a header and finding Sergio Busquets in space in the midfield. On this occasion the pivot is neither used nor needed as Busquets has the intelligence to immediately play the ball in to space along our left flank where our winger is able to collect the ball and square the ball for an easy goal-scoring opportunity. As you can clearly see the AI right back was concentrating on supporting the long ball along his side of the field and he all but abdicated any defensive duties.

This time we have the AI pinned back in their own area as Schweinsteiger is the player that takes possession away from the AI and instead of lifting a pass in to the box that is at best 50/50 he is able to identify the area in which we have space to exploit and find the man in space on the right hand side.

Slow Transitions

With slow transitions the configuration of shout that I use are slightly different. I'll instruct my defensive line to push up, in order to shrink the pitch and give my players plenty of passing options. I'll look to retain possession to ensure that we are not trying to force the ball through the AI too much. The trigger for my decision to adapt this strategy is that the AI are sitting deep trying to deny me space and not looking to get forward in numbers. Once again though a picture is really worth a thousand words.

Here for the first time you can see my deeper defensive pivot in action. As Busquets pounces upon a loose ball in midfield he doesn't look forward for the primary pass. Instead he moves the ball back to our free defender, Dante. The Brazilian immediately cycles the ball sideways to our more offensive minded defensive pivot. Badstuber is then free to make the choice to play the direct pass. The direct pass is the key to the entire move. Possession football as an end in itself is all but useless in truth and people have tended to overlook that even Barcelona at their best use the direct sharp pass to the third man run as a means to break down stubborn opposition defending. The combination of short passes to draw the AI out followed by a direct pass in to space is extremely difficult to defend against.

Here we can clearly see two occasions when there is an opportunity to play the direct pass. Instead we retain possession following the turnover and after moving the ball and pulling the AI out we are able to connect with our striker on the long pass. Sergio Busquets again is the catalyst as he wins possession and feeds Kroos centrally he then feeds the ball in to the feet of our midfield pivot and again the chance of the long pass is ignored as it is quickly moved to the right before finally being played through to the striker deep.

Finally we can see that the ball is turned over in midfield and Coutinho takes possession of the ball. His immediate attacking instinct would normally mean that he would play the ball out to the left flank. As you can see though the AI has retained an excellent defensive shape and this would not perhaps be the most sensible pass. Instead Coutinho cycles the ball back to the defensive pivot who is also the free man in defense.

So, there you have it. The importance of transitions within FM. For me this is without a doubt the key to breaking down various defensive schemes. Having the confidence to identify the trigger in the AI game-plan and change your strategy to counter will lead to a better tactical understanding of the game. As always, thanks for reading.

Further reading:
Mechanizing the Play series

Credits

Article written by Lee Scott. Visit his blog and follow him on Twitter.

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Sad Day For Turkish Football

June 10, 2013, 1:52 pm

≫ Next: Smart Shirt Designer 2

≪ Previous: Mechanizing the Play - Transitions

Truly shocking news broke from Turkey earlier today which claimed that Turkish giants Besiktas and Fenerbahce were to be charged with match fixing. Match fixing has been strive in Europe over the last few years and football powers such as UEFA have promised to crack down on any one found guilty on any forms of match fixing no matter how big or small the case may be. They may both face the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body later this month and there is a strong chance that both will be banned from all European competitions this year with other possible punishments.

This is not the first time that Fenerbahce have been accused of match fixing. With Fenerbahce’s chairmen arrested for six years, fined £460,000 and banned from watching matches and club management only last year. If Fenerbahce are to proven guilty yet again then it could have very severe repercussions on their football club. Besiktas however are a more surprising case with them having no previous proven case of match fixing in recent times however Besiktas and two club officials are being investigated over match-fixing alleged to have taken place around the 2011 Turkish Cup final.

Match fixing has become a huge issue in football in the last decade and has been thrusted into the public eye with many accusations of match fixing in leagues all over Europe but most notorious for match fixing is the Italian league Serie A. The most famous case of match fixing was the Italian match fixing scandal including. The scandal first came to light as a consequence of investigations of prosecutors on the Italian football agency GEA World. Transcripts of recorded telephone conversations published in Italian newspapers suggested that during the 2004–05 seasons, Juventus general managers Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo had conversations with several officials of Italian football to influence referee appointment. It resulted in Italian football giants being relegated to Seria B and stripped of two Serie A titles and were kicked out of the 2006-2007 Champions League which they were due to compete in. This hasn’t been the last time that Italian football was involved in match fixing. The 2011 Italian football scandal emerged on 1 June 2011 after a number of football-related figures were arrested, or made under official scrutiny, by Italian police for alleged match fixing. The list included also well-known figures as former Italian international footballer Giuseppe Signori, as well as former Serie A players Mauro Bressan, Stefano Bettarini and Atalanta veteran striker Cristiano Doni. The group was accused of having fixed a wide range of Serie B, Lega Pro Prima Divisione and Lega Pro Seconda Divisione games.

If found guilty of match fixing it will send shockwaves through Turkish football and even European football where Besiktas and Fenerbahce are regular competitors not only that, it will also prove to the general football fan that match fixing is still strive even in the biggest leagues in the world despite all of UEFA’s attempts to fix the issue. This will continue to throw an edge of conspiracy and accusations of match fixing every time a controversial call goes in favor of a big side. But after all the efforts of the FA, FIFA and UEFA to still not be able to rid the beautiful game from the horrors of match fixing causes some very disturbing thoughts. Firstly are higher powers such as FIFA and the FA involved? I myself do not think they are but the longer they fail to rid the game of match fixing will only mount to the believe that higher powers are involved and with these sort of accusations flying around the beautiful game will truly be in jeopardy. Secondly has football as we know it already been jeopardized? Has our favorite football moments been ruined by the horrors of match fixing. For all we know the most defining moments in football such as world cup finals, Champions League finals or Premier League titles. We will never know unless if it did happen it is uncovered by match fixing officials or the FA and FIFA. Thirdly and the most worrying of all, why can’t we stop them from match fixing? They have shown in the past that the people involved in match fixing have been able to slip under the radar and corrupt even the biggest of matches. Is there any realistic way to stop the corrupt officials and corrupt teams from match fixing their important matches?

I sadly do not think that there is any viable way to stop match fixing completely. We can control the majority of it but we will never be able to fully stop anyone who is willing enough to corrupt officials and we will never be able to stop every official who is willing to be bribed to fix a match.

The beautiful game is truly in a sad state of affairs.

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Smart Shirt Designer 2

June 11, 2013, 3:00 pm

≫ Next: Do United Need Ezequiel Garay and Kevin Strootman?

≪ Previous: Sad Day For Turkish Football

Looking to change how your kits look in game? This is your chance!

Smart Shirt Designer 2 is a tool which allows you to create kits with many different templates whilst allowing you complete freedom to modify them which ever way you like, including using multiple templates, using different colours and adding logos and sponsors.

How to use

Extra Features and Tips

Advanced Style Maker

Drawing Back of the Shirt

Credits

This tool was created by Mushriq (aka SmartCanuck1988) back in 2010.

Kit templates modified from the 'SS'09 Template Pack V5.0' by Hammer9.
RGB-HSL converter adapted from Bob Powell.
Text-on-Path class created by Alexander Seel.
Contains icons from the 'Silk Icons' set.
Free fonts obtained from dafont.com and from abfonts.freehostia.com.

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Do United Need Ezequiel Garay and Kevin Strootman?

June 12, 2013, 8:45 am

≫ Next: Nuu Skin for FM13

≪ Previous: Smart Shirt Designer 2

Earlier today it was reported that Manchester United had agreed a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with Benfica for a £17 million transfer to go through on the 1st of July. Bookies are now refusing to take any new bets on Garay joining United this summer as they are certain it is going to happen. A similar situation has occurred Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman. Bookies have stopped taking bets on Kevin Strootmen to United as of last week as they believe the transfer is imminent. David Moyes has defiantly come in to make an impact with two quick first team signings. But the question is do United really need these two players?

Many times last season Manchester United’s defence was called into question with many sloppy goals conceded throughout the majority of the season. United’s attack was needed to dig out the team many times especially the likes of Robin Van Persie who was needed to dig out his knew side many times this season. Ezequiel Garay is a centre back that has recently grasped the attention of the footballing world for his good performances for Benfica this season. Due to Vidic being on the decline it is vital that United find a centre back partner for Phil Jones who has shown himself to be a world-class centre back especially with Rio Ferdinand getting on in his career .

Ezequiel Garay is exactly the sort of centre back United need to partner Jones. In a bygone era, Garay's talents in intercepting and reading the game, as well as his calm, composed manner, would have had him marked out as a sweeper, but in this age of flat-back fours and indecipherable offside laws he is a center-back that is more comfortable on the ball than most. His success alongside fearless Luisao has not surprised, with the Brazilian only too happy to emerge from the defensive line to win aerial duels while Garay sweeps up any danger behind him. He has the potential to be a world-class choice for United. He was a vital part of Benfica’s side and he will be a huge addition for Moyes’s team this summer.

As for Kevin Strootman he has been a vital part of the Dutch under 21 side which is currently dominating there group in the Under 21 Championship. He also a vital part of the PSV side which came second in the Eredivisie this year. He scored seven times for PSV this year in all competitions. Standing at 6ft 1in, he cuts a languid figure which is reflected in his style of play; he brings a reassuring calm to proceedings even in the most stretched of games.

In the modern game, this role, of receiving the ball from the centre backs and dictating play from deep, has become vital. At Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso effortlessly pulls the strings from there for the La Liga champions while a great example of the position in the Premier League is Mikel Arteta whose maturity in midfield is a key factor for any good Arsenal performance. Strootman could offer this for United who are crying out for a more assertive midfielder who can also score, control the possession of the game and defend. I think he will be a vital part of the United team if he joins this summer and could possibly create a stunning partnership with Michael Carrick who became a star central midfielder last season.

I think if these two transfers do happen I think David Moyes has made a very good start to his Manchester United reign by signing two great players that will improve our team by a great deal. If these transfers go through I can see a very strong side for United next season.

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Nuu Skin for FM13

June 12, 2013, 10:07 am

≫ Next: Football Manager 2013 Wonderkids

≪ Previous: Do United Need Ezequiel Garay and Kevin Strootman?

An improved version of the default dark skin. A very clean and simple skin that just looks beautiful and easy on the eye.

Updated: 16 April 2013 - v1
Released: 18 May 2013 - v2

Preview

Click on the thumbnails for bigger size.

Installation instructions

Step 1

Download the skin and extract the file (using either 7-Zip for Windows or The Unarchiver for Mac).

Step 2

Move the folders you extracted into your skins folder:

Win Vista/7/8: C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2013\skins
Win XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2013\skins
Mac OS X: /Users/<username>/Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2013/skins

Create the folder "skins" if it doesn't exist.

Step 3

Start the game and go to Preferences screen and Interface tab.
You should see "Nuu" as option in the skin drop down of the Overview box.
Hit the Confirm button.

Please note this skin is provided as is. It has nothing to do with Sports Interactive or SEGA and won't be supported by them.

Credits

This skin is created by Freyyr from FM Graph.

To change TV logos in match mod, choose your new channel logo in the folder nuu/graphics/icons/logos and rename it "Canal +.png"
Thanks to Dazs8 for his mod.

↧

Football Manager 2013 Wonderkids

June 13, 2013, 6:45 am

≫ Next: Goal Line Technology: The Saviour Of Football

≪ Previous: Nuu Skin for FM13

Welcome to the best list of wonderkids in Football Manager 2013 by FMScout.com.

Like every year since 2010, I have dedicated many hours into producing this list to make sure this is really the greatest wonderkids list around the web.

I firmly believe it is easily the most in-depth and well-presented list of the best young players in Football Manager 2013. I'll be updating this list often to reflect all official data updates.

This is the successor of what has been the best list of FM 2012 wonderkids and FM 2011 wonderkids. Each of those lists have received around 2 million views or more and are considered the most popular single articles around the scene, by far.

This is the second edition, including roughly 500 players! The list is being updated in parts to reflect the changes in the last official data update (13.3.0).

So far I have updated GK, DC, DL and DR, and added recommendation stars to make it easier to find the best players. During the next days I'll be updating all remaining positions, perhaps 1 more position per day.

Released: 19 Oct 2012
Updated: 13 Jun 2013

What are wonderkids?

Remember that by wonderkids, we are referring to players with amazing potential ability and great or decent current ability up to the age of 20.

We cannot reveal CA/PA because it would be against the rules of SI.

This list features the best young players in the game, some of them will already be wonderkids, other should be pretty close and there will also be the ones that should have the potential but it's not certain they will make it before they turn 21!
I have expanded the list to include more young talents who might not always have great potential (e.g. -8 PA), but recommendation stars will guide you through.

What do the Stars mean?

It's a recommendation system for your convenience. I'm using 1-5 stars (no halves) and I'll explain now how I've chosen these ratings based on English divisions.
★★★★★ world-class player
★★★★ top player for 1st division teams
★★★ solid backup for 1st division teams
★★ top player for 2nd division teams
★ top player for 3rd division teams and below

Click on the table headers (name, age, etc) for easy sorting.
You can also sort by multiple columns if you press and hold Shift while clicking the headers.

Goalkeepers (66)

Stars	Name	Nation	Position	Age	Club	Wage	Value	Release
★★★★★	ter Stegen, Marc-Andre	GER	GK	20	Gladbach	£39 K	£8 M	-
★★★★	Courtois, Thibaut	BEL	GK	20	Chelsea	£20.5 K	£6.75 M	-
★★★★	Leno, Bernd	GER	GK	20	Leverkusen	£39 K	£5.5 M	-
★★★	Koval, Maxym	UKR	GK	19	Dynamo Kyiv	£3.05 K	£2.6 M	-
★★★	Ahamada, Ali	FRA	GK	20	Toulouse	£7.17 K	£1.5 M	-
★★	Perin, Mattia	ITA	GK	19	Genoa	£11.73 K	£0.4 M
★★★	Oblak, Jan	SLO	GK	19	Benfica	£2.61 K	£0.34 M	-
★★★	Bardi, Francesco	ITA	GK	20	Inter	£11.66 K	£0.85 M	-
★★★	Horn, Timo	GER	GK	19	1.FC Köln	£13.8 K	£1.4 M	-
★★	Delac, Matej	CRO	GK	19	Chelsea	£10.62 K	£0.06 M	-
★★★	Victor, Brasil	BRA	GK	19	Coritiba FC	£1.08 K	£0.12 M	£5.25 M
★★★	Areola, Alphonse	FRA	GK	19	PSG	£1.6 K	£0.08 M	-
★★★★	Leali, Nicola	ITA	GK	19	Juventus	£2.54 K	£0.3 M	-
★★★	Butland, Jack	ENG	GK	19	Stoke	£13.75 K	£2.6 M	-
★★	Boucher, Zacharie	FRA	GK	20	Havre AC	£1.36 K	£0.22 M	-
★★★	Bonilla, Cristian	COL	GK	19	Atletico Nacional	£0.36 K	£0.07 M	-
★★★	Badia, Edgar	ESP	GK	20	Espanyol	£1.83 K	£0.275 M	£14.75 M
★★	Lazar, David	ROU	GK	20	Pandurii Târgu Jiu	£0.76 K	£0.09 M	-
★★	Cubero, Mathias	URY	GK	18	Cerro	£0.21 K	£0.725 M	-
★★	Kapino, Stefanos	GRE	GK	18	Panathinaikos	£3.63 K	£0.1 M	-
★★	Tiago Machowski	BRA	GK	19	Gremio	£0.92 K	£0.1 M	£4.4 M
★	Beunardeau, Quentin	FRA	GK	18	Lemans FC	£0.41 K	£0.05 M	-
★★	Sotres, Daniel	ESP	GK	19	Racing Club	£1.25 K	£0.14 M	£13 M
★★★	Siegrist, Benjamin	SUI	GK	20	Aston Villa	£5.5 K	£0.175 M	-
★	Gauther	BRA	GK	20	Corinthians	£0.92 K	£0.04 M	£4.4 M
★★	MacMath, Zac	USA	GK	20	Philadelphia Union	£1.62 K	£0.3 M	-
★★★★	Branescu, Laurentiu	ROU	GK	18	Juventus	£1.21 K	£0.25 M	-
★★	Martinez, Damian	ARG	GK	19	Arsenal	£2 K	£0.25 M	-
★★★	Vlachodimos, Odisseas	GER	GK	18	Stuttgart	£1.74 K	£0.17 M	-
★★★	Kadu	AGO	GK	17	Porto	£1.74 K	£0.04 M	-
★	van der Hart, Mickey	NED	GK	18	Ajax	£0.82 K	£0.04 M	-
★	Andrey	BRA	GK	19	Botafogo	£0.92 K	£0.1 M	£4.4 M
★★	Alnwick, Jak	ENG	GK	19	Newcastle	£0.35 K	£0.14 M	-
★★	Johnstone, Sam	ENG	GK	19	Man Utd	£0.5 K	£0.3 M	-
★★	Fabri, Julien	FRA	GK	18	OM	£0.46 K	£0.04 M	-
★	Sanchez, Richard	MEX	GK	18	FC Dallas	£0.54 K	£0.3 M	-
★★	Pawlowski, Wojciech	POL	GK	19	Udinese	£0.63 K	£0.2 M	-
★★★	Sy, Ibrahima	SEN	GK	16	OM	£0.65 K	£0.05 M	-
★	Rico, Sergio	ESP	GK	18	Sevilla	£0.06 K	£0.14 M	-
★	Gabriel	BRA	GK	19	AC Milan	£0.88 K	£0.29 M	-
★	Guido	BRA	GK	18	Santos	£0.35 K	£0.02 M	£1.7 M
★	Kempin, Jon	USA	GK	19	Kansas City	£0.64 K	£0.2 M	-
★	Balleste, Pol	ESP	GK	16	Atletico Malagueno	£0.3 K	£0.01 M	£3.75 M
★★	Urwin, Matthew	ENG	GK	18	Blackburn	£0.3 K	£0.1 M	-
★	Wellington	BRA	GK	17	Internacional	£0.92 K	£0.01 M	£4.4 M
★★	Veloso, Rafael	POR	GK	18	Sporting	£0.43 K	£0 M	-
★★	Zima, Lukas	CZE	GK	18	Genoa	£0.83 K	£0.05 M	-
★	Marques Semeao, Carlos	ARG	GK	19	Boca	£0.02 K	£0.13 M	-
★	Maignan, Mike	FRA	GK	17	PSG	£0.24 K	£0.02 M	-
★★	Lezzerini, Luca	ITA	GK	17	Fiorentina	£0.48 K	£0.14 M	-
★★	Ortola, Adrian	ESP	GK	18	Villarreal	£0.25 K	£0.1 M	£6.25 M
★★	Savelloni, Luca	ITA	GK	17	Pescara	£0.48 K	£0.06 M	-
★★	Havekotte, Mike	NED	GK	16	FC Utrecht	£0.29 K	£0.005 M	-
★	Cantero, Ander	ESP	GK	19	Osasuna	£0.3 K	£0.02 M	£5.25 M
★★★	Kitanov, Georgi	BGR	GK	17	Cherno more	£0.2 K	£0.07 M	-
★★	King, Tom	ENG	GK	17	Crystal Palace	£0.5 K	£0.03 M	-
★	Bulasio, Ariel	ARG	GK	18	Aldosivi	£0.06 K	£0.03 M	-
★★★	Gazzaniga, Paulo	ARG	GK	20	Southampton	£14 K	£0.65 M	-
★★	Rodriguez, Jose Antonio	MEX	GK	20	Chivas Rayadas	£4.14 K	£0.3 M	-
★★	Cesar	BRA	GK	20	Flamengo	£1.54 K	£0.1 M	£7.5 M
★★	Paulinho	BRA	GK	18	Goias	£0.05 K	£0.02 M	£0.25 M
★★	Luiz Gustavo	BRA	GK	19	Vitoria	£0.92 K	£0.08 M	£4.4 M
★	Hojbjerg, Jeppe	DNK	GK	17	Esbjerg	£0.22 K	£0.002 M	-
★	Ronnow, Frederik	DNK	GK	19	AC Horsens	£1.08 K	£0.12 M	-
★	Stritzel, Florian	GER	GK	17	HSV	£0.3 K	£0.04 M	-
★	Olij, Nick	NED	GK	16	AZ	£0.29 K	£0.007 M	-

Defenders Central (138)

Stars	Name	Nation	Position	Age	Club	Wage	Value	Release
★★★★★	Jones, Phil	ENG	D RC, DM	20	Man Utd	£40 K	£8 M	-
★★★★★	Varane, Raphael	FRA	D C, DM	19	R. Madrid	£25 K	£5.75 M	-
★★★★★	Papadopoulos, Kyriakos	GRE	D C, DM	20	Schalke	£39 K	£6.75 M	£21.75 M
★★★	Matip, Joel	CMR	D C	20	Schalke	£39 K	£5.5 M	-
★★★★	Caulker, Steven	ENG	D C	20	Tottenham	£15 K	£4.75 M	-
★★★	Amat, Jordi	ESP	D C	20	Espanyol	£12 K	£3.3 M	£96 M
★★★	de Vrij, Stefan	NED	D RC	20	Feyenoord	£4.3 K	£3 M	-
★★★★	Zouma, Kurt	FRA	D C	17	Saint-Etienne	£8.6 K	£2.5 M	-
★★★	Aurtenetxe, Jon	ESP	D LC	20	Athletic Club	£8.3 K	£2 M	£30.5 M
★★★★	Martins Indi, Bruno	NED	D LC	20	Feyenoord	£5 K	£3.7 M	-
★★★★	Capuano, Marco	ITA	D C	20	Pescara	£4.1 K	£1.9 M	-
★★★	Isimat-Mirin, Nicolas	FRA	D RC	20	Valenciennes	£2 K	£1.9 M	-
★★★★	Nastasic, Matija	SRB	D C	19	Man City	£75 K	£6 M	-
★★	Galeano, Leonel	ARG	D C	20	Independiente	£3.7 K	£1.5 M	-
★★	Muniesa, Marc	ESP	D LC	20	Barcelona	£10.5 K	£1.3 M	£26 M
★★	Arias, Ramon	URY	D RC	20	Defensor Sporting	£0.44 K	£1 M	-
★★★	Xulu, Siyanda	RSA	D C	20	Rostov	£6.5 K	£1.8 M	-
★★	Masi, Alberto	ITA	D C	19	Juventus	£9.5 K	£0.45 M	-
★★	Kalas, Tomas	CZE	D RC, DM	19	Vitesse	£20 K	£2.2 M	-
★★★	Bruma, Jeffrey	NED	D C	20	HSV	£20 K	£2.3 M	-
★★★	Hanley, Grant	SCO	D C	20	Blackburn	£1 K	£3 M	-
★★★	Doria	BRA	D C	17	Botafogo	£3.7 K	£1.75 M	£17.75 M
★★★	Wilson, Danny	SCO	D C	20	Liverpool	£21 K	£0.375 M	-
★★	Sorensen, Frederik	DNK	D RC	20	Bologna	£8 K	£0.75 M	-
★★	Milosevic, Alexander	SWE	D C	20	AIK	£2.2 K	£0.35 M	-
★★★	Cosic, Uros	SRB	D C, DM	19	CSKA Moscow	£7 K	£0.5 M	-
★★	Marquinhos	BRA	D C	18	Roma	£6 K	£0.7 M	-
★★★	Sergi Gomez	ESP	SW, D C	20	Barcelona	£2.5 K	£0.5 M	£20 M
★★★	Camporese, Michele	ITA	D C	20	Fiorentina	£5.25 K	£1.1 M	-
★★	Duffy, Shane	IRL	D C	20	Everton	£8 K	£0.85 M	-
★★	Polenta, Diego	URY	D C, WB L	20	Genoa	£5 K	£0.75 M	-
★★	Lichnovsky, Igor	CHI	D C	18	Universidad de Chile	£0.33 K	£0.6 M	-
★★★	Ramalho, Jonas	ESP	D RC	19	Athletic Club	£3.1 K	£0.75 M	£21.75 M
★★	Calvo, Carlos Andres	MEX	D C	19	Atlante	£1.9 K	£0.21 M	-
★★	Dunk, Lewis	ENG	D C	20	Brighton	£2.5 K	£0.85 M	-
★★★	Umtiti, Samuel	FRA	D LC, WB L	18	Lyon	£9.75 K	£3.5 M	-
★★	Dankler	BRA	D C	20	Vitoria	£0.925 K	£0.12 M	£4.4 M
★★	Gonzalez Pirez, Leandro	ARG	D RLC	20	River Plate	£1.8 K	£0.65 M	-
★★	Gyomber, Norbert	SVK	D C	20	Banska Bystrica	£0.375 K	£0.24 M	-
★★★	Ascues, Carlos	PER	D RC, DM	20	Benfica	£2.1 K	£0.15 M	-
★	Romario	BRA	D LC	20	Internacional	£0.3 K	£0.11 M	£1.5 M
★★	O'Brien, Mark	IRL	D RC	19	Derby	£4.5 K	£0.725 M	-
★	Garcia, Jose Antonio	MEX	D C	20	Pumas	£0.475 K	£0.035 M	-
★★	Kongolo, Terence	NED	D C	18	Feyenoord	£1.6 K	£0.525 M	-
★★	Magallan, Lisandro	ARG	D C	18	Boca Juniors	£1.6 K	£0.425 M	-
★★	Luiz Eduardo	BRA	D C	19	Sao Paulo	£3.6 K	£0.45 M	£14.75 M
★	Mbaye, Ibrahima	SEN	D RLC	Inter	17	£0.325 K	£0.045 M	-
★★	Benedetti, Simone	ITA	D C	20	Inter	£03.3 K	£0.5 M	-
★★★	Denswil, Stefano	NED	D LC	19	Ajax	£3.3 K	£0.19 M	-
★★	Bougaidis, Mavroudis	GRE	D C	19	AEK	£0.17 K	£0.07 M	-
★★	Eastman, Tom	ENG	D C	20	Colchester	£0.8 K	£0.5 M	-
★★	Rekik, Karim	NED	D LC	17	Man City	£7.5 K	£0.45 M	-
★	Jomar	BRA	D C	19	Vasco da Gama	£1.5 K	£0.065 M	£7.5 M
★★★	Prestia, Giuseppe	ITA	D C	18	Palermo	£1.1 K	£0.525 M	-
★★	Lascelles, Jamaal	ENG	D C	18	Nottm Forest	£2.3 K	£0.45 M	-
★	Jubal	BRA	D C	18	Vila Nova	£0.925 K	£0.13 M	£4.4 M
★	Agbossoumonde, Gale	USA	D C	20	Toronto FC	£0.725 K	£0.425 M	-
★	Wanduka, Cachito	FRA	D C, DM	20	Nancy	-	-	-
★	Ayala, Sergio	ESP	D LC	19	Barcelona	£1.27 K	£0.22 M	£6.25 M
★	Briseno, Antonio	MEX	D C	18	Atlas	£0.01 K	£0.075 M	-
★★	Romagnoli, Alessio	ITA	D C	17	Roma	£0.16 K	£0.035 M	-
★	Sampirisi, Mario	ITA	D RC	19	Genoa	£5.85 K	£0.26 M	-
★	Heintz, Dominique	GER	D LC	18	Kaiserslautern	£4.35 K	£1.3 M	-
★	Iniguez, Pablo	ESP	D C, DM	18	Villarreal	£0.06 K	£0.2 M	-
★★	Chalobah, Nathaniel	ENG	D C, DM	17	Watford	£22.5 K	£2 M	-
★★	Calvet, Raphael	FRA	D C	18	Auxerre	£0.39 K	£0.06 M	-
★	Pedro da Silva Ferreira	AGO	D C	20	Groningen	£0.69 K	£0.008 M	-
★	Hall, Grant	ENG	D RC	20	Tottenham	£2 K	£0.3 M	-
★	Tiago Ferriera	POR	D RC	19	Porto	£1.3 K	£0.055 M	-
★	Luiz Gustavo	BRA	D C	18	Palmeiras	£0.54 K	£0.04 M	£2.6 M
★★	Sule, Niklas	GER	D C	16	Hoffenheim	£0.06 K	£0.11 M	-
★★	Rugani, Daniele	ITA	D C	18	Empoli	£0.38 K	£0.18 M	-
★★	Garcia, Carlos	SWE	D C	19	Juventus	£1.66 K	£0.28 M	-
★	Egan, John	IRL	D C	19	Sunderland	£0.8 K	£0.22 M	-
★	Arrondel, Alvin	FRA	D C	18	PSG	£0.57 K	£0.05 M	-
★	Di Lorenzo, Giovanni	ITA	D RC	18	Regina	£1.17 K	£0.31 M	-
★	Luan Teixeira	BRA	D RC	19	Vasco da Gama	£0.92 K	£0.12 M	£4.4 M
★	Casasola, Thiago	ARG	D C	16	Boca Juniors	£0.02 K	£0.17 M	-
★★	Gunter, Koray	GER	D C	17	Dortmund	£1.74 K	£0.3 M	-
★	Krajnc, Luka	SVN	D C	17	Genoa	£0.22 K	£0.26 M	-
★	Gugu, Costinel	ROU	D C	20	Targu Mures	£0.37 K	£0.04 M	-
★	Chiosa, Marco	ITA	D C	18	Torino	£0.61 K	£0.04 M	-
★	Wisdom, Andre	ENG	D C	19	Liverpool	£10 K	£0.3 M	-
★	Piana, Luca	ITA	D C	18	Sampdoria	£0.22 K	£0.265 M	-
★	Rodrigo Ely	BRA	D C	18	Vitoria	£1.37 K	£0.26 M	-
★	Stephens, Jack	ENG	D C	18	Southampton	£0.2 K	£0.085 M	-
★	Sarr, Marian	GER	D C	17	Leverkusen	£0.87 K	£0.1 M	-
★	Malinovskyi, Ruslan	UKR	D C	19	Shakhtar	£0.23 K	£0.17 M	-
★	Ilori, Tiago	POR	D C	19	Sporting	£2.17 K	£0.04 M	£13 M
★	Figueiredo, Tobias	POR	D C	19	Sporting	£1.74 K	£0.04 M	£8.7 M
★	Hendrix, Jorrit	NED	D C	17	PSV	£0.29 K	£0.02 M	-
★★	Ake, Nathan	NED	D C, DM	17	Chelsea	£12 K	£0.7 M	-
★	Gimpel, Monty	GER	D C	18	Leeds	£0.6 K	£0.04 M	-
★★	Williams, Derrick	IRL	D LC	19	Aston Villa	£1.5 K	£0.85 M	-
★	El Mouden, Abdellah	DZA	D C, DM	18	Paradou	£0 K	£0 M	-
★	Dametto, Paolo	ITA	D C	19	Cagliari	£2.93 K	£0.4 M	-
★★	Laporte, Aymeric	FRA	D C	18	Athletic	£5.27 K	£1.475 M	£24 M
★	Andonian, Gael	FRA	D C	17	OM	£0.24 K	£0.0035 M	-
★	Disveld, Daan	NED	D C	18	NEC	£0.28 K	£0.01 M	-
★	Toure, Almamy	MLI	D C, DM	16	Monaco	£0.24 K	£0.035 M	-
★	Marchiori, Alberto	ITA	D C	19	Cagliari	£1.76 K	£0.13 M	-
★	N'Gouma, Romaric	FRA	SW, D C	17	Lyon	£0.24 K	£0.03 M	-
★	Domej, David	AUT	D C	16	Rapid Wien	£0.06 K	£0.03 M
★★	Del Fabro, Dario	ITA	D C	17	Cagliari	£0.88 K	£0.425 M	-
★	Saez, Ivan	ESP	D C	17	R. Madrid	£0.06 K	£0.035 M	-
★	Alberto, Suently	NED	D C	16	PSV	£0.29 K	£0.06 M	-
★	Lincoln	BRA	D C	16	Flamengo	£0.92 K	£0.015 M	£4.4 M
★	Tah, Jonathan	GER	D C	16	PSV	£0.06 K	£0.055 M	-
★	Chambers, Michael	ENG	D C	18	Crystal Palace	£0.5 K	£0.04 M	-
★	Kecskes, Akos	HUN	D C	16	Atalanta	£0.22 K	£0.04 M	-
★	Veljkovic, Milos	SRB	D C	16	Tottenham	£0.06 K	£0.02 M	-
★	Christensen, Andreas	DNK	D C, DM	16	Chelsea	£0.06 K	£0.035 M	-
★★★	Bell, Stefan	GER	D C	20	Mainz	£7.39 K	£1.2 M	-
★★	Granchov, Angel	BGR	D C	19	CSKA (Sofia)	£0.3 K	£0.1 M	-
★★	Soumaoro, Adama	FRA	D C, DM	20	Lille	£1 K	£0.07 M	-
★★	Andia, Enzo	CHI	SW, D C	19	Universidad Catolica	£0.37 K	£0.6 M	-
★★	Ozmen, Sezer	TUR	D C	20	Caykur Rizespor	£1.28 K	£0.15 M	-
★★	Leca, Mihai	ROU	D C	20	Chiajna	£0.69 K	£0.07 M	-
★★	van der Hoorn, Mike	NED	D C	19	FC Utrecht	£2.49 K	£0.88 M	-
★★	Wootton, Scott	ENG	D C, DM	20	Peterborough	£1.5 K	£0.85 M	-
★★	Maguire, Harry	ENG	D C	19	Sheff Utd	£2.5 K	£2.5 M	-
★	Kempf, Marc-Oliver	GER	D C, DM	17	Frankfurt	£1 K	£0.07 M	-
★★	Stones, John	ENG	D C	18	Everton	£10 K	£2.2 M	-
★	Schar, Fabian	SUI	D C	20	Basel	£2.63 K	£0.65 M	-
★	Dehn, Jacob	DNK	SW, D C, DM	16	Randers FC	£0.7 K	£0.01 M	-
★★	Ginter, Matthias	GER	D C, DM	18	Freiburg	£3.9 K	£1.3 M	-
★	Terziev, Georgi	BGR	D RC	20	Chernomorets	£0.82 K	£0.21 M	-
★	Kim Won-Sik	KOR	D C, DM	20	Seoul	£0.92 K	£0.05 M	-
★	Murillo, Jeison	COL	D C	20	Granada	£4.63 K	£0.37 M	£40 M
★	Pereira, Danilo	POR	D C, DM	20	Parma	£6.97 K	£1.9 M	-
★	Bubnjic, Igor	CRO	D C	20	Slaven Belupo	£2.6 K	£0.185 M	-
★	Sviatchenko, Erik	DNK	D C	20	FC Midtjylland	£1.08 K	£0.45 M	-
★	Stromsborg, Ole	NOR	D C	18	Fredrikstad	£0.4 K	£0.02 M	-
★	Maksimovic, Nikola	SRB	D C	20	Red Star	£1 K	£1.2 M	-
★	van de Pavert, Ted	NED	D LC	20	De Graafschap	£1.06 K	£0.19 M	-
★★	Okore, Jores	DNK	D C	19	FC Nordsjaelland	£1.62 K	£0.9 M	-
★★	Veltman, Joel	NED	D RC	20	Ajax	£3.67 K	£0.4 M	-
★★	Kolasinac, Sead	GER	D LC, DM	19	Schalke	£3.91 K	£1.3 M	-

Defenders Left (53)

Stars	Name	Nation	Position	Age	Club	Wage	Value	Release
★★★★★	Alaba, David	AUT	D/WB L, M LC	20	Bayern	£39 K	£8 M
★★★	Willems, Jetro	NED	D/WB L	18	PSV	£4.4 K	£3.1 M	-
★★	Rodriguez, Ricardo	SUI	D/WB L	19	Wolfsburg	£17.39 K	£4 M	-
★★	Digne, Lucas	FRA	D/WB L	18	Lille	£1.6 K	£1.7 M	-
★	Boilesen, Nicolai	DNK	D LC	20	Ajax	£3.48 K	£2.2 M	-
★★	Haidara, Massadio	FRA	D/WB L	19	Newcastle	£5 K	£0.85 M	-
★★	Hartherz, Florian	GER	D/WB L	19	Werder Bremen	£3.91 K	£0.625 M	-
★	Roussillon, Jerome	FRA	D/WB/AM L	19	Sochaux	£5.4 K	£1 M	-
★★★★	Tagliafico, Nicolas	ARG	D L	19	Banfield	£8.3 K	£0.55 M	-
★	Barvinko, Denys	UKR	D L	18	Metalist	£2.63 K	£1.4 M	-
★★	Emerson	BRA	D/WB L	18	Metalist	£0.92 K	£0.015 M	£4.4 M
★★	Mendy, Benjamin	FRA	D/WB L	18	Havre AC	£1.23 K	£0.35 M	-
★	Guerreiro, Raphael	POR	D/WB/AM L	18	Caen	£1.43 K	£0.35 M	-
★★	Robinson, Jack	ENG	D L	18	Liverpool	£10 K	£1.7 M	-
★★★	Dijks, Mitchell	NED	D/WB L	19	Ajax	£1.86 K	£0.1 M	-
★	Denner	BRA	D/WB L	18	Corinthians	£1.23 K	£0.4 M	£6 M
★	Saborit, Enric	ESP	D/WB/AM L	18	Corinthians	£2.74 K	£0.375 M	£21.75 M
★★★	Stafylidis, Kostas	GRE	D/WB L	18	Leverkusen	£8.8 K	£0.13 M	-
★★	Liviero, Matteo	ITA	D/WB/M L	19	Juventus	£1.24 K	£0.37 M	-
★	Schulz, Nico	GER	D/WB/M L	19	Hertha BSC	£2.92 K	£0.15 M	-
★	Paizo	AGO	D L	16	Primeiro	£0.01 K	£0.575 M	-
★	Joao Cancelo	POR	D/WB RL	18	Benfica	£0.61 K	£0.08 M	£26 M
★★	Shaw, Luke	ENG	D L	17	Southampton	£18 K	£1.7 M	-
★★	Dinda, Muller	GAB	D L	16	CMS	£0.01 K	£0.03 M	-
★	Murru, Nicola	ITA	D RL	17	Cagliari	£0.88 K	£0.55 M	-
★	Blackett, Tyler	ENG	D L	18	Man Utd	£0.5 K	£0.13 M	-
★★	Kouadio, Joel	CIV	D/WB L	17	AFAD Djekanou	£0.1 K	£0.325 M	-
★	Caballero, Jorge Luis	MEX	D/WB L	18	Monterrey	£0.01 K	£0.01 M	-
★	Garbutt, Luke	ENG	D/WB/M L	19	Everton	£3 K	£0.13 M	-
★	Osman, Olexandr	UKR	D L	16	Metalist	£0.03 K	£0.065 M	-
★★	Kruspzky, Lucas	ARG	D L	20	Arsenal de Sarandi	£0.94 K	£0.425 M	-
★	Empereur, Alan Pereira	BRA	D LC	18	Fiorentina	£0.22 K	£0.25 M	-
★★	Grimaldo, Alex	ESP	D/WB/M L	16	Barcelona	£0.06 K	£0.14 M	-
★	Kike	ESP	D/WB L	16	Sevilla	£0.06 K	£0.125 M	-
★	Cortinovis, Michele	ITA	D/WB/AM L	17	AlbinoLeffe	£0.3 K	£0.16 M	-
★	Barlocco, Luca	ITA	D/WB L	17	Atalanta	£0.48 K	£0.15 M	-
★	Ruiz, Salva	ESP	D/WB L	17	Valencia	£0.3 K	£0.03 M	£5 M
★	Rafa	POR	D/M L	17	Porto	£0.04 K	£0 M	-
★	Saporetti, Lorenzo	ITA	D L	16	AC Milan	£0.19 K	£0.05 M	-
★★★	Benedetti, Amedeo	ITA	D/WB L	20	Chievo	£0.8 K	£0.675 M	-
★★	Janza, Erik	SVN	D/WB/M L	19	Domzale	£0.22 K	£0.18 M	-
★★	De Bock, Laurens	BEL	D LC, AM L	19	Club Brugge	£13.48 K	£1.2 M	-
★	Zarate, Nauel	ARG	D/WB L	18	Boca Juniors	£0.02 K	£0.17 M	-
★★	Tuatkha, Taleb	ISR	D/WB L	20	M. Haifa	£1 K	£0.21 M	-
★	Plattenhardt, Marvin	GER	D/WB L	20	Nurnberg	£5.33 K	£0.775 M	-
★	Mladenovic, Filip	SRB	D/WB L	20	Red Star	£0.87 K	£1.2 M	-
★★	Heracles	BRA	D/WB L	19	At. Paranaense	£2.31 K	£0.26 M	£11 M
★	Khalid Muftah	QAT	D/WB L	20	Red Star	£1.5 K	£0.14 M	-
★	Kirkeskov, Mikkel	DNK	D RL	20	AGF	£0.86 K	£0.45 M	-
★	White, Aidan	ENG	D/WB/AM L	20	Leeds	£6.5 K	£0.85 M	-
★	Wijnaldum, Giliano	NED	D LC, M L	19	AZ	£2.23 K	£0.3 M	-
★	Raguso, Nicolas	URY	D L	20	Penarol	£0.44 K	£1 M	-
★★★	Davies, Ben	WAL	D L	19	Swansea	£7.5 K	£3.2 M	-

Defenders Right (63)

Stars	Name	Nation	Position	Age	Club	Wage	Value	Release
★★★★	De Sciglio, Mattia	ITA	D/WB RL, M R	19	Milan	£8.77 K	£2.2 M	-
★★★	Wallace	BRA	D/WB R	18	Fluminense	£4.63 K	£1.1 M	£22 M
★★★★	Carvajal, Dani	ESP	D/WB R	20	Leverkusen	£7.39 K	£4 M	-
★★★★	Peruzzi, Gino	ARG	D/WB/M R	20	Velez	£5.31 K	£1.9 M	-
★★★	Crescenzi, Alessandro	ITA	D/WB RL	20	Pescara	£7.04 K	£0.825 M	-
★★★	Vrsaljko, Sime	CRO	D/WB R	20	Dinamo	£2.67 K	£2.5 M	-
★★★	Aurier, Serge	CIV	D/WB RL	19	Toulouse	£7.21 K	£1.3 M	-
★★★	Galhardo	BRA	D/WB/AM R	20	Santos	£2.31 K	£0.4 M	£11 M
★★★	Velasco, Pedro	ECU	D/WB R	19	Barcelona (ECU)	£0.35 K	£0.475 M	-
★★★	Djibril, Sidibe	FRA	D/WB R	19	Lille	£2 K	£0.4 M	-
★★★★	Johansson, Mattias	SWE	D/WB R	20	AZ	£3.87 K	£0.9 M	-
★★★★	Logashov, Arseny	RUS	D RLC	20	Anji	£5.55 K	£1.8 M	-
★★	Hodson, Lee	NIR	D R	20	Watford	£3.75 K	£0.6 M	-
★	Kvekveskiri, Nika	GEO	D RC, DM, M R	20	Dinamo Tbilisi	£0.4 K	£0.08 M	-
★★★	Zimmermann, Matthias	GER	D/WB R, DM	20	Gladbach	£5.83 K	£0.6 M	-
★★	Pauschek, Lukas	SVK	D RL	19	Slovan Bratislava	£0.52 K	£0.4 M	-
★★	Ibanez, Cesar	MEX	D/WB RL	20	Santos Laguna	£5.44 K	£0.7 M	-
★★★	Fabinho	BRA	D/WB R	18	Rio Ave	£2.61 K	£0.35 M	-
★★★	da Costa, Danny	GER	D RC	19	Leverkusen	£3.91 K	£0.975 M	-
★★★	Fofana, Diacko	FRA	D/WB R	17	OGC Nice	£1.89 K	£0.675 M	-
★★	Mbarki, Iheb	TUN	D/WB R	20	Evian TG	£5.26 K	£1.1 M	-
★	Sabelli, Stefano	ITA	D R	19	Roma	£8.96 K	£0.6 M	-
★★	Edgar Ie	POR	D RC	18	Barcelona	£1.46 K	£0.25 M	£5 M
★★	Ivan	ESP	D/WB R	18	Levante	£1.27 K	£0.25 M	£11.25 M
★	Arias, Santiago	COL	D/WB R	20	Sporting	£4.35 K	£0.125 M	£17.5 M
★★★	Flores, Francisco	MEX	D/WB R	18	Cruz Azul	£0.01 K	£0.01 M	-
★★★★	Romario	BRA	D/WB R	18	Vitoria	£3.09 K	£0.04 M	£14.75 M
★★★	Almici, Alberto	ITA	D/WB R	19	Atalanta	£1.08 K	£0.275 M	-
★	Joao Cancelo	POR	D/WB RL	18	Benfica	£0.61 K	£0.08 M	£26 M
★★	Claudio Winck	BRA	D/WB R	18	Vitoria	£0.92 K	£0.06 M	£4.4 M
★★	Etxeberria, Markel	ESP	D R	17	Athletic	£0.3 K	£0.125 M	£2.5 M
★	Diogo	BRA	D/WB R	19	Internacional	£1.35 K	£0.07 M	£3.2 M
★	Jean	BRA	D/WB R	18	At. Paranaense	£0.92 K	£0.03 M	£4.4 M
★★	Popadiyn, Hristo	BGR	D RC, DM, AM RC	18	Levski (Sofia)	£0.29 K	£0.29 M	-
★★	Ferreyra, Leonard	ARG	D/WB R	20	Gimnasia	£0.22 K	£0.1 M	-
★★	Tufan, Ozan	TUR	D R	17	Bursaspor	£0.08 K	£0.04 M	-
★	Habanek, Michal	SVK	D/WB R	18	Trnava	£0.22 K	£0.01 M	-
★	Tete, Kenny	NED	D/WB R	16	Ajax	£0.29 K	£0.01 M	-
★★★★	McLaughlin, Ryan	NIR	D R	17	Liverpool	£0.75 K	£0.085 M	-
★	Lucas Farias	BRA	D/WB R	17	Sao Paulo	£1.54 K	£0.03 M	£7.5 M
★★	Webb, Joshua	ENG	D RC	16	Aston Villa	£0.06 K	£0.04 M	-
★	Carlos, Bernardo	POR	D R	16	Sporting	£0.04 K	£0.01 M	-
★	Smith-Brown, Ashley	ENG	D/WB/M RL	16	Man City	£0.06 K	£0.02 M	-
★★★	Soares, Cedric	POR	D R	20	Sporting	£2.61 K	£0.45 M	£26 M
★★★	Coronel, Ramon	PAR	D R	20	Sporting	£0.13 K	£0.01 M	-
★	Gorupec, Toni	CRO	D/WB R	19	Dinamo	£0 K	£0.04 M	-
★★	Magnasco, Stefano	CHI	D/WB/M R	19	Groningen	£2.97 K	£1.4 M	-
★	Schilk, Tobias	GER	D/WB/M R	20	Mainz	£0.56 K	£0.13 M	-
★	Farkas, Patrick	AUT	D/WB R, DM	19	SV Mattersburg	£1.04 K	£0.325 M	-
★	Remmer, Christoffer	DNK	D/WB R	19	FC Kobenhavn	£0.81 K	£0.19 M	-
★	Fradj, Patrick	FRA	D/WB R	20	RC Lens	£1.36 K	£0.25 M	-
★	Petkovic, Marko	SRB	D/WB R	19	OFK Beograd	£0.17 K	£0.45 M	-
★★	Jenkinson, Carl	ENG	D RC	20	Arsenal	£25 K	£3.6 M	-
★	Cuba, Rodrigo	PER	D/WB/M R	20	Alianza	£0.33 K	£0.04 M	-
★★	Najar, Andy	HND	D/AM R	19	Anderlecht	£2.04 K	£0.325 M	-
★	Danilo	BRA	D/WB/M R	20	Sao Paulo	£0.15 K	£0.1 M	£0.75 M
★	Oueslati, Kader	TUN	D/WB R	20	At. Madrid	£2.09 K	£0.35 M	£11.25 M
★	Rai	BRA	D/WB R	18	Bahia	£0.05 K	£0.02 M	£0.25 M
★★★	Henley, Adam	WAL	D RL	18	Bahia	£2.25 K	£2.7 M	-
★★★	Aguirre, Alan	ARG	D/WB R	18	Boca Juniors	£0.93 K	£0.225 M	-
★★	Flanagan, John	ENG	D R	19	Liverpool	£15 K	£1.7 M	-
★★	Valle, Jonatan	ARG	D R	19	Newell's	£0.24 K	£0.21 M	-
★★	Aksentijevic, Nikola	SRB	D/WB R, DM, M R	19	Vitesse	£2.64 K	£0.15 M	-

Defensive Midfielders

Name	Nation	Position	Club	Age	Wage	Value
Romeu, Oriol	ESP	D C, DM	Chelsea	20	£15 K	£2.6 M
Koke	ESP	DM	Atletico Madrid	20	£11.5 K	£3.5 M
Cirigliano, Ezequiel	ARG / ITA	DM	River	20	£4.5 K	£1.4 M
Crisetig, Lorenzo	ITA	DM	Spezia	19	£1.5 K	£0.6 M
Pogba, Paul	FRA / GUI	DM	Juventus	19	£17.5 K	£1.1 M
Casemiro	BRA	DM	Sao Paulo	20	£5.5 K	£3 M
Fernando	BRA	DM	Gremio	20	£1.5 K	£4.5 M
Hoffmann, Andre	GER	D RC, DM	Duisburg	19	£13 K	£0.65 M
Mijailovic, Srdjan	SRB	D C, DM	Red Star	18	£1 K	£1.5 M
Viviani, Federico	ITA	DM	Padova	20	£6.5 K	£0.85 M
Pryndeta, Vitaliy	UKR	D C, DM	Volyn	19	£0.5 K	£0.85 K
Can, Emre	GER / TUR	D C, DM	Bayern	18	£4 K	£1 M
Rodrigo Caio	BRA	D C, DM	Sao Paulo	18	£2 K	£0.2 M
Frimpong, Emmanuel	GHA / ENG	DM	Arsenal	20	£5 K	£2.7 M
Laba, Matias	ARG	DM	Argentinos	20	£1.5 K	£0.65 M
Sturaro, Stefano	ITA	DM	Modena	19	£1 K	£0.075 M
Goretzka, Leon	GER	DM	Bochum	17	£1.5 K	£0.15 M
Pannewitz, Kevin	GER	D C, DM	Wolfsburg	20	£4 K	£0.8 M
Ascues, Carlos	PER / VEN	D C, DM	Benfica	20	£2 K	£0.15 M
Kohr, Dominik	GER	DM	Leverkusen	18	£4.75 K	£0.475 M
Guilherme Batata	BRA	D/WB L, DM	Atletico Paranaense	20	£0.5 K	£0.2 M
Meite, Soualiho	FRA / CIV	DM	Auxerre	18	£1.5 K	£1.8 M
Pasa, Simone	ITA	DM	Inter	18	£0.25 K	£0.1 M
Alvarez, Cristian	ARG	DM	Boca	19	£1 K	£0.25 M
Giandonato, Manuel	ITA	DM	Vicenza	20	£1.75 K	£0.75 M
Agyei, Daniel Kofi	GHA	DM	Fiorentina	20	£0.75 K	£0.7 M
Trybull, Tom	GER	DM	Werder Bremen	19	£1.75 K	£1.25 M
Rodriguez, Sebastian	URU	DM	Almeria	19	£0.5 K	£0.1 M
Zuculini, Bruno	ARG / ITA	DM	Racing Club	19	£2.5 K	£0.9 M

Midfielders Center

Name	Nation	Position	Club	Age	Wage	Value
Labyad, Zakaria	MAR / NED	AM RC	Sporting	19	£6.5 K	£0.5 M
Verre, Valerio	ITA	DM, AM C	Siena	18	£2 K	£0.55 M
Pedro	ESP / GEQ	M C	Sampdoria	20	£17.5 K	£1.7 M
Xhaka, Granit	SUI / ALB	DM, AM C	Gladbach	19	£39 K	£4.5 M
Leitner, Moritz	GER / AUT	AM RLC	Dortmund	19	£16.5 K	£4.5 M
Pardo, Ruben	ESP / BAQ	M C	R. Sociedad	19	£5 K	£1.4 M
Verratti, Marco	ITA	M C	PSG	19	£16.5 K	£6.5 M
Ozdoev, Magomed	RUS	DM, AM C	Lokomotiv Moscow	19	£5.5 K	£0.975 M
Daehli, Mats	NOR	AM RLC	Man Utd	17	£1 K	£0.875 M
Calvano, Simone	ITA	M RC	Verona	19	£0.5 K	£0.5 M
Benassi, Marco	ITA	M C	Inter	17	£0.25 K	£0.25 M
Lucas Otavio	BRA	DM, AM C	Santos	17	£0.5 K	£0.025 M
Razak, Abdul	CIV / ENG	M C	Man City	19	£5 K	£0.9 M
Powell, Nick	ENG	AM RLC, F C	Man Utd	18	£5 K	£1.8 M
Holzhauser, Raphael	AUT	DM, AM C	Stuttgart	19	£2 K	£0.3 M
McEachran, Josh	ENG / SCO	M C	Middlesbrough	19	£20 K	£4.4 M

Wingers Right

Name	Nation	Position	Club	Age	Wage	Value
Shaqiri, Xherdan	SUI / ALB	AM RL	Bayern	20	£39 K	£10.5 M
Younes, Amin	GER / LIB	AM RC	Gladbach	18	£1.5 K	£0.75 M
Tore, Gokhan	TUR / GER	AM RLC	Rubin	20	£33.5 K	£8.5 M
Deulofeu, Gerard	ESP	AM RL	Barcelona	18	£11 K	£3.9 M
Stanciu, Nicusor	ROU	AM RLC, F C	Vaslui	19	£1 K	£0.6 M
Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alex	ENG / JAM	AM RLC	Arsenal	18	£20 K	£6 M
El Shaarawy, Stephan	ITA / EGY	AM RLC	Milan	19	£23.5 K	£3.5 M
Sissoko, Ibrahim	CIV	AM RLC	Wolfsburg	20	£1 K	£1.5 M
Bruma	GBS / POR	AM RL	Sporting	17	£3.5 K	£0.15 M
Chanturia, Giorgi	GEO	AM RL	Vitesse	19	£2.5 K	£0.4 M
Vadillo, Alvaro	ESP	AM RL	Betis	17	£2 K	£0.375 M
Murray, Sean	IRL / ENG	AM RC	Watford	18	£4 K	£2 M
Faraoni, Marco Davide	ITA	D/WB/M R	Udinese	20	£20 K	£1.8 M
Sterling, Raheem	ENG / JAM	AM RL	Liverpool	17	£5 K	£4.4 M
Allione, Agustin	ARG	AM R	Velez	17	£0.5 K	£0.2 M
Hoyos, Michael	ARG / USA	AM RC	Estudiantes	20	£2.5 K	£0.9 M
Iturbe, Juan	ARG / PAR	AM RLC	Porto	19	£17.5 K	£0.125 M
Lopez, Nicolas	URU	AM RL, ST	Roma	18	£9 K	£0.7 M
Markovic, Lazar	SRB	AM R, ST	Partizan	18	£0.5 K	£1.6 M
Salli, Edgar	CMR	AM RL	Monaco	19	£6.5 K	£3 M
Cavaleiro, Ivan	POR	AM RL	Benfica	18	£3.5 K	£0.09 M

Wingers Left

Name	Nation	Position	Club	Age	Wage	Value
Sarabia, Pablo	ESP	AM LC	Getafe	20	£6 K	£1.75 M
Muniain, Iker	ESP / BAQ	AM LC, F C	Athletic	19	£5.25 K	£10.5 M
Draxler, Julian	GER	AM RLC	Schalke	18	£17.5 K	£8.75 M
Gil, Carles	ESP	AM L	Elche	19	£2 K	£0.425 M
Dudu	BRA	AM RLC	Dynamo Kyiv	20	£7 K	£4.75 M
Ljajic, Adem	SRB	AM LC	Fiorentina	20	£20.5 K	£2.4 M
Ince, Thomas	ENG	AM RL	Blackpool	20	£1.5 K	£3.6 M
Fischer, Viktor	DEN	AM LC, F C	Ajax	18	£4.5 K	£0.4 M
Garritano, Luca	ITA	AM LC	Inter	18	£0.25 K	£0.35 M
Nangis, Lenny	FRA / GLP	AM RL	Caen	18	£0.75 K	£0.5 M
Chevalier, Evan	FRA / ESP	AM L	Ajaccio	20	£5 K	£2.1 M
Lucas Piazon	BRA / ITA	AM RLC	Chelsea	18	£20 K	£0.3 M
Kishna, Ricardo	NED	AM RLC	Ajax	17	£0.5 K	£0.02 M
Schepers, Bob	NED	AM L, ST	Utrecht	20	£2.5 K	0.2 M
Bayram, Omer	TUR / NED	AM L	Kayserispor	20	£2.5 K	£1.6 M
De Silvestro, Elio	ITA	AM RL	Pro Vercelli	19	£1 K	£0.4 M
Sacko, Hadi	FRA / MLI	AM L, ST	Bordeaux	18	£0.75 K	£0.4 M

Attacking Midfielders Center

Name	Nation	Position	Club	Age	Wage	Value
Gotze, Mario	GER	AM RLC	Dortmund	20	£77 K	£15.25 M
Oscar	BRA	AM RC	Chelsea	20	£40 K	£13.5 M
Wilshere, Jack	ENG	AM RLC	Arsenal	20	£49.5 K	£12 M
Lamela, Erik	ARG	AM LC	Roma	20	£35 K	£4.25 M
Eriksen, Christian	DEN	AM C	Ajax	20	£2.5 K	£12.75 M
Isco	ESP	AM RLC	Malaga	20	£11.5 K	£8.75 M
Bernard	BRA	AM LC, F C	Atletico Mineiro	19	£7.5 K	£3.6 M
Coutinho	BRA	AM LC	Inter	20	£17.5 K	£4 M
Roberto Firmino	BRA	AM C	Hoffenheim	20	£7.5 K	£4 M
Rafinha	BRA / ESP	AM/F C	Barcelona	19	£4.5 K	£0.875 M
Bittencourt, Leonardo	GER / BRA	AM RLC	Dortmund	18	£8.5 K	£2 M
Lucas Moura	BRA	AM RLC, F C	Sao Paulo	19	£12 K	£9.75 M
Jese	ESP	AM LC, F C	Castilla	19	£4.5 K	£1.7 M
Wellington Nem	BRA	AM RLC, F C	Fluminense	20	£0.75 K	£8 M
Morrison, Ravel	ENG / JAM	AM RLC	Birmingham	19	£15 K	£0.8 M
Jano	GEO	AM RLC	Spartak Moscow	19	£5 K	£2 M
Kovacic, Mateo	CRO / AUT	AM C	Dinamo	18	£1.5 K	£3.7 M
Henriksen, Markus	NOR	AM C	AZ	19	£4 K	£2.8 M
Maher, Adam	NED / MAR	AM C	AZ	18	£3.5 K	£3.5 M
Milanov, Georgi	BUL	AM RLC	Litex	20	£1 K	£1.1 M
Adryan	BRA	AM C	Flamengo	17	£0.5 K	£1.4 M
Moi Gomez	ESP	AM C	Villarreal	17	£3 K	£0.5 M
Takagi, Yoshiaki	JPN	AM LC	Utrecht	19	£2.5 K	£0.4 M
Demirci, Muhammed	TUR	AM RC	Besiktas	17	£2 K	£0.025 M
Cigerci, Tolga	GER / TUR	AM C	Gladbach	20	£4 K	£2.3 M
Paredes, Leandro	ARG	AM C	Boca	18	£2 K	£0.5 M
Andersen, Lucas	DEN	AM RLC, F C	Ajax	17	£4 K	£2 M
Golasa, Eyal	ISR	AM RLC	M. Haifa	20	£1.5 K	£0.6 M
Otavio	BRA	AM/F C	Internacional	17	£3 K	£0.65 M
Shelvey, Jonjo	ENG / IRL	AM C	Liverpool	20	£18 K	£3.9 M
Martinez, Gonzalo	ARG	AM LC	Huracan	19	£0.5 K	£0.25 M
Frei, Kerim	TUR / SUI / MAR	AM LC	Fulham	18	£2 K	£2 M
Januzaj, Adnan	ALB / BEL	AM RLC	Man Utd	17	£2.5 K	£0.15 M
Torres, Erick	MEX	AM/F C	Chivas	19	£5.5 K	£0.45 M
Vuckic, Haris	SLO	AM/F C	Newcastle	19	£8 K	£2.2 M
Rabello, Bryan	CHI	AM RLC	Sevilla	18	£6.75 K	£0.85 M
Barkley, Ross	ENG / NGR	AM RC	Everton	18	£7 K	£2 M
Ferreira, Brian	ARG	AM LC, F C	Velez	18	£0.5 K	£0.25 M
Eysseric, Valentin	FRA	AM LC	OGC Nice	20	£7.5 K	£3.1 M
Felipe Anderson	BRA	AM C	Santos	19	£1 K	£0.725 M
Valencia, Joel	ECU / ESP	AM RLC	Zaragoza	17	£0.05 K	£0.25 M
Deretti	BRA	AM C	Figueirense	19	£0.5 K	£0.04 M
Djuricic, Filip	SRB	AM LC	sc Heerenveen	20	£3 K	£2.6 M
Kebano, Neeskens	FRA / CGO	AM RC	Caen	20	£1.5 K	£2.4 M
Ucan, Salih	TUR	AM C	Fenerbahce	18	£2.5 K	£0.15 M
Ciciretti, Amato	ITA	AM/F C	Carrarese	18	£0.25 K	£0.5 M
Berisha, Valon	NOR	AM LC	Salzburg	19	£2 K	£0.3 M
Roberto, Sergi	ESP	AM C	Barcelona	20	£5 K	£2.1 M
Hazard, Thorgan	BEL	AM C	Zulte Waregem	19	£10 K	£0.15 M
Jhon Cley	BRA	AM RLC	Vasco	18	£0.5 K	£0.1 M
Petrucci, Davide	ITA	AM C	Man Utd	20	£3.5 K	£0.6 M
Gnabry, Serge	GER / CIV	AM RC	Arsenal	17	£2 K	£0.1 M
Meyer, Maximilian	GER	AM RLC	Schalke	16	0.05 K	£0.08 M
Williams, Jon	WAL / ENG	AM C	Crystal Palace	18	£5 K	£1.6 M
Trindade de Vilhena, Tony	NED	AM C	Feyenoord	17	£0.5 K	£0.08 M
Tassi, Lorenzo	ITA	AM C	Inter	17	£0.5 K	£0.08 M
Yaisien, Abdallah	FRA / EGY / ALG	AM RC	PSG	18	£1.5 K	£0.275 M
Oliver	ESP	AM C	Atletico Madrid	17	£1.75 K	£0.325 M
Allan, Scott	SCO	AM C	West Brom	20	£5 K	£0.7 M
Green, George	ENG	AM/F C	Everton	16	£0.05 K	£0.04 M
Araai, Michel	FRA / MAR	AM/F C	OM	16	£.25 K	£0.15 M
Fred	BRA	AM/F C	Internacional	19	£0.25 K	£0.275 M
Yokuslu, Okay	TUR	AM C	Kayserispor	18	£4 K	£0.6 M
Driussi, Sebastian	ARG	AM C	River	15	£0.025 K	£0.05 M
Luis Alberto	ESP	AM RLC, F C	Barcelona	19	£7 K	£1.2 M

Strikers

Name	Nation	Position	Club	Age	Wage	Value
Neymar	BRA	AM LC, F C	Santos	20	£23 K	£20.75 M
Lukaku, Romelu	BEL / CGO	ST	West Brom	19	£40 K	£5 M
Henriquez, Angelo	CHI	ST	Man Utd	18	£20 K	£3 M
Alcacer, Paco	ESP	ST	Getafe	18	£2.5 K	£0.75 M
Benzia, Yassine	FRA / ALG	ST	Olympique Lyonnais	17	£6 K	£3.1 M
Son, Heung-Min	KOR	AM/F C	HSV	20	£15 K	£2.9 M
Cornelius, Andreas	DEN	ST	Kobenhavn	19	£2.5 K	£0.725 M
Caprari, Gianluca	ITA	AM RL, ST	Pescara	18	£4.5 K	£1.9 M
Ademilson	BRA	ST	Sao Paulo	18	£1 K	£1.1 M
Niang, Mbaye	FRA / SEN	ST	Milan	17	£5.5 K	£0.7 M
Belfodil, Ishak	FRA / ALG	ST	Parma	20	£10 K	£1.8 M
Ocampos, Lucas	ARG	AM RL, ST	Monaco	18	£35 K	£8.75 M
Castaignos, Luc	NED / FRA / CPV	ST	Twente	19	£4.5 K	£2.5 M
Gabbiadini, Manolo	ITA	AM L, ST	Bologna	20	£7.5 K	£1.8 M
Dybala, Paulo	ARG / ITA / POL	ST	Palermo	18	£4 K	£0.7 M
Depay, Memphis	NED	ST	PSV	18	£3 K	£0.375 M
Haller, Sebastien	FRA / CIV	ST	Auxerre	18	£0.5 K	£0.35 K
Fierro, Carlos	MEX	ST	Chivas	17	£1.5 K	£0.08 M
Demir, Muhammet	TUR	ST	Gaziantepspor	20	£3 K	£2.6 M
Caballero, Mauro	PAR	ST	Libertad	17	£0.5 K	£0.03 M
Juanmi	ESP	ST	At. Malagueno	19	£4 K	£0.8 M
Kozlov, Alexandr	RUS	ST	Spartak Moscow	19	£2.5 K	£0.2 M
Yesil, Samed	GER / TUR	ST	Liverpool	18	£10 K	£0.5 M
Victor Andrade	BRA	ST	Santos	16	£1.25 K	£0.325 M
Campbell, Adam	ENG	ST	Newcastle	17	£0.5 K	£0.1 M
Longo, Samuele	ITA	ST	Espanyol	20	£6 K	£0.35 M
Ongenda, Hervin	FRA / CGO	AM/F C	PSG	17	£0.25 K	£0.25 M
Campbell, Joel	CRC	ST	Betis	20	£5 K	£0.875 M
Comi, Gianmario	ITA	ST	Reggina	20	£3 K	£0.5 M
Olinga, Fabrice	CMR	ST	Malaga	16	£0.25 K	£0.08 M
Bosetti, Alexy	FRA	ST	OGC Nice	19	£3.5 K	£1.7 M
Locadia, Jurgen	NED	ST	PSV	18	£1.75 K	£0.07 M
Dongou, Jean-Marie	CMR / ESP	ST	Barcelona	17	£2.5 K	£0.3 M
Leo Bonatini	BRA	ST	Juventus	18	£6 K	£0.085 M
Ayew, Jordan	GHA / FRA	ST	OM	20	£16 K	£5.25 M
Knockaert, Anthony	FRA	AM R, ST	Leicester	20	£5 K	£0.1 M
Bakkali, Zakaria	BEL / MAR	ST	PSV	16	0.5 K	£0.02 M
Diego Biro-Biro	BRA	ST	Fluminense	17	£0.05 K	£0.025 M
Konate, Moussa	SEN	AM RL, ST	Krasnodar	19	£1 K	£2 M
Parker, Shawn	GER	ST	Mainz	19	£1.75 K	£0.7 M
Boakye, Richmond	GHA	ST	Sassuolo	19	£1 K	£1.5 M
Krieger, Santiago	ARG	ST	Boca	17	£0.025 K	£0.2 M
Rubio, Diego	CHI	ST	Sporting	19	£6.5 K	£0.5 M
Ragatzu, Daniele	ITA	AM LC, F C	Cagliari	20	£1,5 K	£0.8 M
Serderov, Serder	RUS	ST	Anji	18	£1.5 K	£0.15 M
Trajkovski, Aleksandar	MKD	AM RL, ST	Zulte Waregem	19	£2 K	£0.325 M

Please post your suggestions for the ones we might have missed or the ones that shouldn't be here. Any questions regarding those players feel free to ask.

Enjoy!

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↧

Goal Line Technology: The Saviour Of Football

June 13, 2013, 7:45 am

≫ Next: Luke Shaw: The Future Is Bright

≪ Previous: Football Manager 2013 Wonderkids

One of the biggest footballing debates over the recent years is the involvement on goal line technology. We've seen it work in ice hockey, we've seen video replays in rugby, and hawk-eye in tennis and cricket. But would it work in football? If you asked the question 'Should goal line technology be used in football?' you can guarantee most England fans would have said 'yes' immediately after the decision which denied Lampard a clear goal against Germany. However, it could be argued that there after other alternatives, that would be better to use, or that goal line technology could ruin the game.

Take the incident that occured between England and Germany at the 2010 World Cup. After the ball clearly passed the line, the goal was still not given. The goal couldn't have affected the game directly, but could have made the nation push to get the win, or another goal, which would make all the difference. It could be argued that a world class referee should have recognised that the ball had crossed the line or that his assistant should have done even though he was not in line with the goal but had a clear enough vantage point. But it seems now in the modern game that linesmen rarely give any assistance to the referee, perhaps that is because the refere has told them 'look ater the offsides and leave the rest to me.' They even give way to being overruled dubiously by referees on throw ins. Refeeres often that an attitude of superiority into the game now, which would probably rule of placing officials behind the goals for big games, even if tried in some games now.

FIFA now defend it's views regularly on the use of goal line technology, and their objection to it. One of the main arguments is universality, the need for the technology everywhere. In theory, the technology could only be afforded at the top level of football, but they feel it should be available even at the park football level if it is to be used at all. On the other hand, this issue doesn't have to go as far as goal line technology. At top matches the fourth official is in radio contact with the referee and could easily have access to television replays, so ruling could still occur throughout the match.

Others agree with FIFA but for different reasons. An argument, which I do agree with to some extent, is that television already controls the game too much, changing match times just to be televised and similar occurances. With goal line technology in place, television would entrench itself even more into the beautiful game. If players had to keep going to a video replay to see penalty, free-kick, and even corner decisions, which would be pushed even more than currently, then we may see exciting end to end football as a thing of the past.

To many fans though, this wouldn't matter. Sure, the games may last a bit longer, but the video replays could be crucial for all teams. As a Manchester United fan, I remember many of the incorrect calls given. Some for us, unfairly affecting the opposing team. This may be bad for them, but discussions after can be issues as a result of this. If a referee gets a call wrong, it is not the referee that takes wrath of the opposing team, but the fans. Take a look at Howard Webb. Due to one or two previous mistakes, other fans mock him as a Manchester United twelth player, being unbias. However, Nani's red card against Real Madrid was a game changer, and was shown to be incorrect. With video replays, the referee would have realised the sending off shouldn't have occured. It's not just goal line technology now, but technology in general.

FIFA like to emphasis the use of quality referees, something we have heard for years. Nevertheless, there is nothing they can do. Provide excellent training, but they can't three hundred and sixty degree vision, make them call everything correctly. Just like local sunday team referees, they are only human. And humans make mistakes, that can't be stopped. So as long as decisions are totally down to referee's, mistakes will be made. Goal line technology has been proven to work. It would make the game fairer, and more enjoyable for the players to be involved in. Simulation, or diving, has become a massive problem now, and could be stopped with technology. Goal line technology is the important though, and is needed soon in football, for the game to survive.

Recently FIFA have seen to take the idea that the incidents were referees are unsure in fun for the fans, getting them discussing the incidents, becoming part of the game. The Lampard incident will be discussed for years to come, but won't include fond memories. Technological changes in football are sure to be slow, but soon, surely, the use of technology in big games has to be introduced, to save the game.

We have seen technology used successfully in other sports, and more incidents like the Frank Lampard goal have occured since. Without action taken, it will be only be a matter of time until a vital goal is allowed or disallowed, say the winning goal of the World Cup Final. Imagine the drama that would cause, becoming a big issue for football. Sepp Blatter may have decided to re-open the issue of goal line technology, but that's not the same thing as accepting it. The use at the Confederations cup could be brilliant for football, being the breakthrough needed for technology.

I feel Sepp Blatter needs to take serious action in looking into the matter, as goal line technology could well be, the savior of football.

↧

Luke Shaw: The Future Is Bright

June 13, 2013, 9:35 am

≫ Next: Why United Need A Top Central Midfielder

≪ Previous: Goal Line Technology: The Saviour Of Football

Luke Shaw may only be 17 years old, but he has already become a regular to the Premier League, one of the greatest leagues in the world, and been called a future England great. Shaw recently completed his first season in the Southampton first team at a professional level, but has already secured his place under both Nigel Adkins and Mauricio Pochettino. He has also received call ups to the England youth sides, with a possibility of a senior call up coming soon very likely.

Shaw began his career with Molesey Juniors, his local side, and was soon signed up by Southampton, at just eight years old. He has become an attacking left-back from a young age, and progressed through the Club’s youth ranks to become a regular for the First Team. Luke made rapid progress as a schoolboy, and was a regular for Jason Dodd’s Under-18 side from the age of 15. Luke was then called up to play for the England Under-16s at the Montaigu Tournament, where he also scored his first international goal.

Shaw was named for the first team at the age of just 16, in a Carling Cup game against Preston North End. Luke, alongside James Ward-Prowse, Callum Chambers and Jack Stephens, and played numerous times throughout the season, becoming a regular. Throughout the season, Luke managed to play for Southampton 28 times, including 25 league appearances. Over the season he received more and more praise for his performances, even at such a young age. His performances have made him become linked to the likes of Gareth Bale, who also started as an attacking left-back.

The youngster has been linked with multiple moves to big sides, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all linked with the star. Arsenal have expressed their interest for a while, currently having England flop Kieran Gibbs, troubled Brazilian Andre Santos and new signing Monreal, lacking that young talent they will need in a few years. Shaw is a Chelsea fan, and links to the London side have flattered him, as a possible replacement for Ashley Cole. Ryan Bertrand would compete for the spot, but many feel Shaw would have the advantage. David Moyes also recently stated his views on Luke, saying that if Leighton Baines couldn’t be signed, he would immediately approach the Southampton star.

Many clubs have realised not only his current ability, but also his potential ability, and his key strengths. Shaw has become known as one of the fastest left-backs in the Premier League, often causing right wingers all types of terror throughout the game. At the start of the season, when Shaw was relatively unknown, many pundits and players bought him Shaw in interviews and discussions, as a great player with a bright future ahead of him, even seen when he had little experience on the big stage. As well as his tackling being seen as a strength, his crossing has also helped him get into and stay in the starting eleven for his club, with his dribbling also being above average even for a Premier League player of his age, meaning Shaw could be open to make the switch that changed the career of Gareth Bale, when moved to left-midfield rather than a left-back under the reign of Harry Redknapp.

He recently signed a new 5 year deal, early into his first season, after impressing Adkins, and keeping Southampton regular Danny Fox out of the side. Many Southampton fans were also impressed, and demanded Shaw started regularly, even complaining when Fox got the occasional start leaving Luke on the bench. He has become a fan favourite already, and if he wants to, could easily become a club legend. However, Southampton are known for their youth development, bringing through the likes of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wayne Bridge, Matt Le Tissier and even Alan Shearer.

Luke has been called one of the best English players on his generation, and has shone on the international stage, playing and scoring for both the England Under-16 and Under-17 sides. Shaw is hotly tipped to replace both Ashley Cole and Leighton Baines as the England left-back in the future, but with players only getting older. He is already valued at £10 million, but Southampton want to do everything possible to retain the services of Shaw for years to come. With the transfer rumours about Shaw flowing, it is likely many offers will be received for Shaw, but wherever he does end up to start next season, it is highly likely Shaw will be both stopping and tearing up the left-wing defensively and attacking throughout the year.

For Luke Shaw the future is certainly bright, and you can expect to see him playing for the top four in a few years time, unless his love for Southampton gets the better of him. Whatever happens though, Shaw is destined for success.

↧

Why United Need A Top Central Midfielder

June 13, 2013, 11:30 am

≫ Next: Woking FC: A Season To Remember

≪ Previous: Luke Shaw: The Future Is Bright

David Moyes has yet to officially start as Manchester United’s manager but he already has one major issue to try and solve. Manchester United’s increasingly documented midfield problems.

Manchester United stormed to the league title this season. They finished the league in a canter breezing towards a 20th league title with an 11 point lead over second place rivals Manchester City. But despite winning the league so comfortably United are crying out for a top quality central midfielder that can pass and can score. United have a great ‘deep-lying’ playmaker in Michael Carrick but the one thing he does not bring to the field is goal scoring. United are severely missing a goal scoring midfielder which all other top quality sides that compete for the Champions League have. Barcelona have Fabregas, Bayern Munich have Muller, Real Madrid have Ozil and Modric and Dortmund had Gotze this season Manchester United do not have a goal scoring midfielder so our strikers in Van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Hernandez and Welbeck have been under huge pressure to score nearly all of our goals this season in all competitions. As it showed in the league without a goal scoring midfielder it is possible to win the league but for the last two seasons United have struggled evidently in the Champions League with us not even qualifying in for the knockout stages last season. But who does United really need in their central midfield that can improve their side enough to give them a chance to win the Champions League? It all depends on whether we as fans demand instant Champions League success or whether we want to give it a few years so we can really attempt to dominate Europe. Depending on what fans want depend on what player we should buy this summer.

When it comes to short term there is only really one realistic option and even then he is still never likely to come to Manchester United. This player is Fabregas. There have been persistent rumours that he is not happy at Barcelona despite him pushing so hard just two seasons ago to leave Arsenal to go to Barcelona. But his short stint at the club he has many times stated to love has not been the honeymoon he expected. His first season with Barcelona ended with no silverware and he was not a vital first teamer like he wanted to be. In his second season he finally won a trophy with Barcelona but still was not a vital part of the team with him being subbed on many occasions which has reportedly left him unhappy with his role. I myself do not see this transfer happening but he is exactly what we need in a midfielder. He can pass, score and dribble with the ball everything we need. But I cannot see this happening this summer of any other summer because even if he does want to leave Barcelona the only team he would like to join is Arsenal and he is the sort of player that would not go to his old teams rivals. So this deal is a no go in my view.

Now the more realistic and longer term options. United have been linked with Kevin Strootman, Fellaini, and Thiago another Barcelona player. All these players are solid choiced but can any of them help us towards a Champions League title? In my opinion two can one can’t.

Kevin Strootman has had a good year for PSV this season and has been a vital part of Netherlands under 21 side that is dominating so far in the Under 21 Championship. He has shown that he can create calm in any game no matter how fast paced the game is. He can help a team retain possession in any situation regardless of pressure from opposition players. He is also a very good passer of the ball I was watching the Netherlands vs. Germany match in the Under 21 Championship the amount of top quality passes he was able to pick out was superb. But I like the most about Strootman is how he can also score. We are in desperate need for a midfielder who can score and Strootman has proven he is a good finisher as midfielders go. I would really like us to get Strootman and he could help us go a long way in the Champions League in a few seasons.

Another one of our targets is Thiago Alcântara. A very talented central attacking midfielder who currently plays for Barcelona. Supposedly Thiago is unhappy with not playing much after being put behind Xavi, Fabregas, Busquets and occasionally Iniesta who usually plays on the left wing but can go back to his original position of central midfield. The current rumors are that United have bid £15 million for Thiago. He would be a sensational signing for United. A young, pacey central midfielder who is very good at passing and also as central midfielders go he is a very good finisher. United need a goal scoring midfielder more than anything else for one major reason. The old style midfielders that many United fans think we need such as Keane no longer exist. The closest we have to that style of midfielder is Yaya Toure but even he is a lot more attacking than he is defending. So the old fashioned hard hitting central midfielders are no longer around today. So a goal scoring midfielder is a must. Thiago can offer that for United. He would be a very good buy but like the Fabregas rumor it is not very likely.

Marouane Fellaini is a midfielder that many teams have been linked with over the last three seasons. Marouane Fellaini is a very tall central midfielder who is next to unstoppable in the air. He is very good at using what type of player he is to his and his team’s advantage. He is big, strong, good in the air and a very hard worker. But he is not the sort of midfielder United need to help them towards a potential Champions League and more domestic titles. He is a very good midfielder but he is more suited to a team like Chelsea who escpecially now Mourinho is back who likes to play with two midfielders playing deeper to allow three midfielders and a striker free reign up front. He would be a perfect fit for Chelsea but not what United need what so ever.

Out of these three players I think Strootman and Thiago would both be great signings. With only one of them likely to happen I would honestly like to see United sign Strootman instead due to his all-round ability.

But whatever route Moyes decides to take he needs to make sure he improves our central midfield.

↧

Woking FC: A Season To Remember

June 13, 2013, 4:30 pm

≫ Next: Sir Alex Ferguson: The World's Greatest

≪ Previous: Why United Need A Top Central Midfielder

Another footballing year comes to an end, and another season in the Blue Square Premier League finishes. Woking FC finished a respectable 12th, after a season of pain and misery, but also a season filled with joy and delight, proving many wrong after their recent promotion from the Blue Square South League after a very successful campaign. As the new boys to the league, no one thought much of Woking FC, picturing them as relegation candidates, a team no one had to worry about. Nevertheless, the Cards made sure that picture wasn’t painted.

Recently promoted, and filled with eagerness to get the season underway, Woking went into the pre-season friendlies unsure what to expect. Fans wouldn’t be familiar with the Blue Square Premier League, and some of the friendlies were against strong sides. Putting the first loss against Windsor FC aside, Woking went into the friendly against Crawley Town as the underdogs, a team not even worth considering. Crawley Town had shown their strengths the previous seasons through repeated FA Cup success, as well as promotions up to League One. The Cards put on an extremely encouraging display to overcome Crawley though, defining all odds, thanks to a goal from Kieron St Aimie. The future looked bright following the win, which led to more draws and wins against some top sides. Fans were buzzing, players were pumped, and now was the opportunity to shock off all the Blue Square Premier League.

August became a month of mixed reactions, picking up nine vital points. A few games were lost, but to teams who have competed at this level for much longer. It became a successful month for the club, and was followed for the next few months, picking up more wins and the occasional draw. Woking were solidifying their position within the league, showing who they were, and what they could do. Finally, the Cards had hit the big league, the Blue Square Premier. Woking FC became a name everyone knew, and they grabbed some almighty wins to prove it. Saturday 8th September. A date many fans would remember. The day the club really made their mark in the league. Woking were playing Nuneaton, a game that should be fairly close. However, the Cards had a different plan; they didn’t want a close game. The boys decided to go out and trounce the struggling side. Bradley Bubb decided to put in the performance of a life-time, grabbing a quartet, with all four goals coming in the second half within 25 minutes! McCallum and Sawyer decided they too both wanted a goal, making Woking the name on everyone’s lips that week.

Nevertheless, that didn’t become the most memorable game for the fans of Woking when approaching Christmas. When drawn against local rivals Farnborough in the FA Trophy, fans were ecstatic. A great game was on the cards, and a great game it was. Woking went into the game on poor form, yet to win throughout the month. Woking welcomed back Kingfield favourites Inns and Hammond, but then proved why leaving wasn’t such a great idea. Hammond and Inns would both start for Farnborough, only to find Betsy scoring after six minutes. The goals kept rocketing in, until the teams went in for the half-time break with the score 4-0. The game look settled, Woking had been victorious on the day, a day that needed a win more than ever. Even so, Gary Hill and co. decided four wasn’t enough, so decided to celebrate the final whistle with the score at 7-0. Woking had beaten their local rivals, and were through to the next round. It looked like things could be getting better for the club following the poor form they had previously through October and November.

Woking FC decided to continue with the form in 2013, winning six games in a row from New Year’s Day until mid-February, with the run halted as a result of a 3-1 loss to Newport County at the beloved Kingfield Stadium. The club went into a very busy March with a good league position thanks to the recent success, an improving squad harmony, and the hope of settling with a good league position at the end of the campaign. Although the team only managed one win throughout March, a win 5-2 demolishing of AFC Telford United, they still managed to pick up another six points through draws, only losing three games throughout March. April would be kicked off with an away to Dartford, a team well respected sitting high in the league. It would be a tough fixture, especially with the players taking to the field for the fourth time in less than a week, and it would end as a fixture that was just too tough for the side, eventually losing 4-1, although a score line unfair in the eyes of many Woking fans. A Jayden Stockley goal would give Woking some hope, but unfortunately not enough. Four games would remain, and it was safe to say Woking FC had made its mark on the Blue Square Premier League. One of these games would be the game most Woking fans will remember for a long time.

Following a brilliant 2-0 win against Wrexham, who were fighting for a spot in the play-offs, Woking had to face their Macclesfield Town, a team in a similar position to Woking, both fighting for that extra place in the league. The Cards had been ending the season with a very attractive run of home games, while old rivals Macclesfield, who had recently been relegated after a long stint in the Football League, while still having a very talented squad. Woking started the game brilliantly, with Billy Knott scoring in just 3 minutes, succeeded by a goal just four minutes later by Kevin Betsy. Stockley then aspired to getting a goal, which was achieved with a penalty in the 23rd minute. Stockley decided to grab a second in the 28th minute too. Knott then scored his second to make the score 5-0 at half time, and the game already won for Woking, surely. Macclesfield pulled one back on the hour mark, and ending up scoring another. With 16 minutes left, Woking were 5-2 up, so Macclesfield were still seen to have a minimal chance of a comeback. They decided to play with their hearts on their sleeves though, and pulled one back. 7 minutes remaining and Woking tried everything to stop Macclesfield rampaging on the attack to try and saviour a valuable point. Macclesfield finally etched another goal on the score line, but it was still not enough. In one of the tensest matches of the season, Woking had come out victorious. Sadly, the form could not continue, with Woking losing their final two league matches. That didn’t matter now though, as Woking had proved a point in league, and showed that they were here to stay! Woking FC. 12th place in their first season in the Blue Square Premier League.

Nonetheless, it was not only the results and league position that pleased many, both player and fan, in the 2012/2013 campaign. Bradley Bubb had a very successful loan spell from local team Aldershot Town, managing to become the club’s top scorer in the league, with 18 goals, the 5th highest in the league. Although missing the last few games of the season, Bubb managed to gain a very adequate ratio of 1 goal to 2 games for the Cards. Kevin Betsy also decided to make his mark on the club, following his return to Woking, after 15 long years away from the club, by scoring 13 league goals, as well as a cup goal. Jayden Stockley and Billy Knott also managed to hit double figures for the club, with Gavin McCallum closely behind scoring 9 goals, which including a magnificent four in the cup. Aaron Howe continued in goal for the club with some brilliant performances, becoming a starting XI regular and a fan favourite. Putnins managed to play some top games too, suggesting he could be a definite star in the future for many Blue Square teams.

Despite the success, and the glory many players got throughout the teams, times weren’t always so positive for the club. At the end of March, many Woking fans had to face the very sad, moving news that long term servant, and club legend, Ron Rawlings had passed away. Ron gave so much to the club, and became known to many for his help. When Mr Rawlings died, a part of the club was lost, a part of the club that cannot be replaced. The sadness was felt by many, and became a big moment in the season of Woking. Respects were paid to Ron at games, and his funeral, which brought the club together even more, helping spur them on for the rest of the season.

Pulling through the thick and thin, Woking showed their true colours, showed who they truly are, and most importantly, showed they are a powerful force. Woking had a very successful first season in the Blue Square Premier, which fans will hope can be improved again in the next season, under the reign of the powerful Garry Hill, once again proving wrong people all across the country. Woking FC, a season to remember.

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Sir Alex Ferguson: The World's Greatest

June 13, 2013, 4:30 pm

≫ Next: Robin van Persie: The Devil In Red

≪ Previous: Woking FC: A Season To Remember

Sir Alex Ferguson. A member of the English Hall of Fame. Winner of 13 League Titles, 5 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, 2 Champions League Titles and numerous other trophies. Sir Alex has changed Manchester United Football Club, and has a place in the heart of many, all around the world - including myself.

Ferguson achieved so much for the club, making some brilliant signings, such as Cristiano Ronaldo for just £12.5 million, Edwin Van Der Sar for just £2 million, and current captain Nemanja Vidic for only £7 million. However, transfers haven't been his only success. 1999 was a season everyone will remember. The year United did the treble. The Scot has been everywhere with the club, and achieved almost everything possible, most recently helping United reach 20 Premier League titles, and overtaking Liverpool's record the previous season.

Even at 71, Sir Alex seemed to have still been going strong. He has bought in a lot of young players who are able to develop, Wilfried Zaha, Alexandr Buttner, Nick Powell. He has developed club legends such as David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and even Ryan Giggs. I believe Ferguson still has enough in him to make more.

Following the recent success of winning the 20th Premier League title with Manchester United, Fergie decided to make the inevitable decision. With the team on a high, Ferguson felt this was the right time to call it a day - leaving Manchester United with a world-class side, numerous honours, and history. This may be the end of the Fergie Era, but certainly isn't the end of the Manchester Era, and that's the red side of Manchester.

Ferguson has been up there at the club with the likes of Matt Busby, becoming one of the greatest managers ever at Manchester United, and even in football. He has created history, and has also created 'Squeaky Bum Time'. What happens next though?

He is taking up the role of the directors he previously spoke about, saying he wants to still be part of the club, but who takes over next? David Moyes? Jose Mourinho? Jurgen Klopp? Ole Gunnar Solskjaer? Who knows at the moment. But I, and all Manchester United fans, know that Ferguson is a genius. A tactical mastermind, topped off with the managerial brilliance and the endless supply of chewing gum, who will never be forgotten.

Personally, I'm truly gutted he's going, he's a legend and has done so much for the club. I never wanted to see him go, and felt he couldn't have stayed longer, maybe become champions of Europe one more time. Nevertheless, Fergie has done more than enough for the team, and deserves everything he gets.

I feel Ferguson can never be replaced, and football managing has now lost a football father. For a long time now, Manchester United will be like a James Bond film, but without James Bond.

On behalf of all Manchester United fans, and fans worldwide - Thank you Sir Alex.

This article was written soon after the announcement made by Sir Alex, before the announcement of the new manager, David Moyes, was made.

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Robin van Persie: The Devil In Red

June 13, 2013, 4:30 pm

≫ Next: Liverpool 1977-1985 - The Famous 'Boot Room'

≪ Previous: Sir Alex Ferguson: The World's Greatest

May 2004. Arsene Wenger agreed a fee of just £2,750,000, half of the initial asking price for Feyenoord’s next big star. The Dutch winger Robin van Persie. Wenger has converted London legend Thierry Henry from a winger to a striker, and planned to do the same again. It worked. Robin van Persie became a leading star for the Gunners for the eight years. He would score goals, he would assist goals, he would lead the team. He managed to be part of the side that won the FA Cup, but there was one thing Robin couldn’t do with Arsenal – win the Premier League. Eight long years and no league title… But that was all about to change.

August 2012 was the month that shocked many, disgusted Arsenal fans and delighted Manchester fans. Robin van Persie had agreed to move. £22,500,000. Arsene Wenger had made a big profit, but for him, and for the fans that didn’t matter. They had lost their key player. He had signed a four year contract, and would take the number 20 shirt, in honour of the possible 20th league title that could be going to Manchester, going home again.

RVP made his debut against Everton, but couldn’t stop Everton getting all three points. The next game however was different. Manchester United were to play Fulham, and would beat them 3-2. With his first ever shot for United, he scored. Things were looking up for United, for Robin van Persie. He didn’t stop there though. In September, he grabbed all three goals against Southampton to saviour the win for the Red Devils, also scoring his 100th Premier League goal in the process. He also secured the win against Liverpool later on, scoring a late penalty to get the win in Merseyside.

The fans fell in love with their new Dutch dynamo, and he fell in love with the club. It was a match made to be, and his brace against CFR Cluj to set off his European account proved this. Robin didn’t stop, scoring against Chelsea, his former club Arsenal, and most importantly, scored the last minute winner from a free kick in a 3-2 victory over rivals Manchester City, in his first Manchester derby. That vital goal ended City’s unbeaten Premier League record. The goal also meant he had scored against all 20 Premier League teams.

Not only did he score for fun, he seemed to get injured for fun, managing to pick up a bizarre injury in a match against Queens Park Rangers after crashing into a television camera in the build up to their first goal.

However, the best was yet to come from the striker. Manchester United were sailing above second place city, and could feel the trophy almost in their grasp for the 20th time. Then Tottenham Hotspur managed to overcome Manchester City with the score 3-1, meaning a win on Monday night against Aston Villa, a club fighting for survival, would result in United taking their beloved trophy back to Manchester – covered in the blood red of United, showing their determination, and success.

Robin van Persie started for United, and also ended it all. Just two minutes in, he managed to grab the first goal. A nice lead, making Manchester United fans around the world tingle inside a bit. Soon after, a Wayne Rooney pass fell perfectly to the left foot of Robin van Persie. Only one outcome – Robin’s, and United’s second of the night. Every fan felt that bit closer to getting back what was rightfully theirs. Finally, Robin decided to go one better, and completed his hattrick in the first half.

Manchester United had won the 20th league title, and Robin van Persie stole the show. His outstanding performance summed up his season, with his number 20 shirt leading the club to the all-important success they wanted over City. Manchester United had done it. Robin van Persie had done it. His lack of a Premier League medal. was no more. After eight long, hard years, RVP had done it in just one year.

He became a hero, a legend. He was Robin van Persie, and he was a Premier League winner. Victory was sweet for him, and a title was even sweeter. Nevertheless, the season was not over. United had stormed ahead and won the league with five games remaining. van Persie still had to fight for the golden boot. Luis Suarez was his main contender, but after drama in the Liverpool – Chelsea game, found out it would be his last game of the season, and maybe his Liverpool career. Robin was clear to run away with the golden boot, and still is. United are also trying to beat the record for most points in a match.

In just his first season, Robin van Persie had made history. But could he make more?

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