2024/25: INEOS, Sir Jim, and a New Era for Manchester United

[sonofthepitch]

[sonofthepitch]

final odds and ends to wrap up september. october sees united take on toulouse and union sg in the europa league group stage, with three league fixtures mixed in, as well. 

(i figured out the screen capture thing, too, so there will be more photos). bruno fernandes' performances in september saw him win a consecutive player of the month award. and i've also included the current league table after month of fixtures. 

[CO88LER5]

@sonofthepitch
Good start from United, with decent wins and a healthy goal difference.

Interesting info regarding the academy, too. It'll be good to see some of them graduate at some point.

[JustinCase0110]

Rare to see such consistency in United colours. It's a nice change of pace though.

However, I do have a slight concern (on your behalf) that things could quickly become too easy for you. Especially now that you've already placed yourself firmly in the title race. Usually it takes me some time to string up these kinds of win streaks and get into the same position you find yourself in.

What difficulty are you playing, if you don't mind me asking?

[sonofthepitch]

@JustinCase0110 i have it set to world class, but i don't play each match myself, as i think it would make the scorelines a bit unrealistic. when i do actually play a match, i usually lock to a player and change which player i choose for that with each match i play.

in my opinion, the most difficult part of manager career is navigating the combination of ea's horrible fixture congestion and a ridiculously poor fitness mechanic. player's become fatigued easily and recover slowly, meaning i get emails from them about being forced to play when not 100% or the opposite--they're unfit, can't recover and can't play, and then send an email about wanting a transfer. smh

[JustinCase0110]

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@sonofthepitch wrote:
i have it set to world class, but i don't play each match myself, as i think it would make the scorelines a bit unrealistic. when i do actually play a match, i usually lock to a player and change which player i choose for that with each match i play.

in my opinion, the most difficult part of manager career is navigating the combination of ea's horrible fixture congestion and a ridiculously poor fitness mechanic. player's become fatigued easily and recover slowly, meaning i get emails from them about being forced to play when not 100% or the opposite--they're unfit, can't recover and can't play, and then send an email about wanting a transfer. smh

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I wonder if these things are connected somehow? I play all games myself and have no problems keeping players fit. With 5 substitutions per game, I usually spend all 5 around 55-60 mins, and the subbed players are usually at 100% or at least close, when the next game begins. The 5 outfield players, I did not substitute, will probably need a break for the next game, but then I'll make some changes in the lineup to accomodate that. So my main rotation is keeping 5 outfield players in the lineup and switching 5, subbing off those whom I need to be fit for the next match. Workes fine for me.

I never really skip playing a match, but I recall doing so at some point, and players were hit by fatigue differently than when I actually played the game. So I wonder if your fatigue issues would be less, if you played the games in stead.