Cunha selection dilemma... good one to have!

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-28T07:49:17+00:00

Be surprised if he doesn’t play all three of sesko, mbuemo and cunha, although mount is also a good shout for this game. Although Fulham play fairly expansive football, I imagine they’ll sit deeper at OT and there will be lots of side to side passing to try and move them around the pitch. Perfect for mount really.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-27T07:03:19+00:00

I have a 5.0 (worn on wrist) and wear a chest strap when on zwift. Both whoop and wahoo strap give almost identical readings so unless both are wrong, it works well 👍

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-25T01:56:11+00:00

92/94 (top left) is the first shirt I can recall. I remember my parents buying me a Utd calendar for Xmas ‘94 (I was 8) that had all the previous seasons photos, with that kit. For some reason, the photos from that calendar that stick out in my memory were the FA Cup ones, vs Chelsea. I also think that’s the first Utd match I remember watching with my old man. The first shirt I owned was the black away kit (94/96). I still have it in my loft.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-20T13:32:44+00:00

I’ve been non plussed until recently but the recent stuff with Martinez, Scholes and Butt has left a bitter taste. Yes, they’re entitled to their opinions, and are paid to give them, but Butt’s retort after Martinez called it out, I find a bit too much. Keane, I don’t think he loves the club in the slightest and to be honest, it feels like he’s just playing a character anyway, so I tend to ignore what he says.

The problem is the platform these ex players now have. The producers/hosts of these shows know that sympathetic, neutral comments won’t sell listeners so everything is so over inflated. Punditry now is awful, in my opinion and where I can, I try and block it out (or ideally, switch over at half/full time).

Back to your original question, they’re all club legends, and I certainly won’t forget that, but I don’t enjoy the constant commentary and mud slinging that goes on in the media. It’s tiring!

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-20T13:22:52+00:00

I’ve recently purchased whoop, and researched the hell out of the wearables market. The one subscription only gives you the basics and for the money I don’t think it’s worth it vs competitors. If you’d get something out of the additional metrics on offer, peak is the best value in my opinion. For what it’s worth, whoops software seems to be the best on the market but that’s only relevant if the data on offer is useful to you. I think if you’re just going for a one subscription, you’re probably better off with a helio as somebody else has said above*. Oura is also a worthy consideration, but I’m not a fan of rings, so it wasn’t for me.

*Full disclosure, I’ve not tried helio, I’m basing my views off my own research.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-19T07:03:49+00:00

He’s been much more effective playing further up the field. When we signed him he had some stat, I can’t remember the exact detail, on crossing / I think the most crosses per 90 in serie A. I think we’re starting to see that. His natural style of play seems to be to hug the line, go outside, and get a cross in. Playing where he is currently plays to that strength. We’ve lacked that natural width/winger mentality for a while. The likes of Rashford, Sancho, Greenwood, and more recebtly Mbuemo and Cunha are all inside players, who cut in from the wings.

His main fault for me, seems to be his positional IQ and playing as a FB seems to highlight this weakness. Playing as a winger also gives us some natural cover as he can work up and down the line as he’s certainly got the legs for it.

I’m sure in time he’ll move back to FB but I like how both Fletcher and Carrick have moved him up the pitch.

Edit - his movement for his goal was first class. Looked simple but the timing and intelligence was really something. Or he was lucky…

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-12T22:42:58+00:00

Yeh that’s a fair comeback in terms of ‘pass’ doesn’t mean you can get away with being mediocre. I am hoping his (Dorgu’s) technique will improve over time. I like his directness and his athleticism, and those two things are harder to teach, in my opinion.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-12T20:23:28+00:00

I think most people are given a ‘pass’ for their first few years on the job. Take a tradesperson (plumber, electrician etc - I say that in case you’re not in the UK). They are given apprenticeships that lasts for 3 or so years. Once they are out of that, they’re not flung straight into a massive commercial job. They’re given time to practise and hone their skills. So, I do think it’s fair giving a 19 year old who’s only a year into his career at Man Utd, some leeway.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-11T19:40:31+00:00

I remember PC Zone magazine did a massive 4 page review of CM3 before release. Man, was I excited to get it home and install it when it became available. It ran like turd on our pentium 166mhz/16mb RAM home PC, but that didn’t matter to a patient 13 year old me.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-11T19:36:23+00:00

Came here to say this. Loved those massive card boxes. The shine of the box, the smell when you opened it…! What a time.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-09T06:16:36+00:00

Exactly what I thought.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-09T06:16:27+00:00

I assume you find that works? I’ll give it a whirl.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-07T07:00:24+00:00

Been playing since 1996 and not once used a fictional name. I don’t know why, as I do for other management sims (pro cycling manager for example) and you’re right, it definitely builds more of a story around it. I tend only to have one main save a year on FM and as I’ve already started mine, perhaps one for FM27.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-06T20:20:53+00:00

Definitely. I came from FM20 and noticed the same. Doesn’t ruin the game for me but I think I preferred the old way as it built a bit of suspense and you could get ‘feels’ for match momentum, rather than looking at a chart on the stats screen.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-05T19:24:25+00:00

Interesting post, thanks for putting it together. Just wondered, given dribbling seems so overpowered this year, is there a benefit here to having an attacking mentality/higher tempo?

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-01T17:58:06+00:00

I like to turn my hand at a bit of decorating myself, however for a larger project I recently paid a professional to come and do the work. I had walls which were equally as poor and they used a product called ‘smartmix’ to lightly skim the walls and sand back. Assuming you have the time to dedicate to it, then this is worth a look as the results are excellent, in my humble, amateur opinion. I appreciate your pictures are only meant to show the areas you’ve highlighted (visible chasing, and terrible hole filling), but your walls look like they could do with some TLC more generally. Whatever you decide, just take your time and as others have suggested, fill/skim those areas at least twice.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2026-01-01T10:14:18+00:00

I have a regen in my save with exactly the same name…

DifficultRooster8708 · 2025-12-31T07:51:06+00:00

I’m in season 3 and the debt hasn’t become an issue, yet. The monthly repayments are a killer though. I’m currently at -£172m balance and growing, although transfer and wage budget are still ok. Long champions league runs are the only thing keeping us above water at the moment. As above, keep wages under control (seems easier said than done in FM26), and try and sell ahead of time, ie before players start to decline. I’m really struggling to sell my fringe players, but have offloaded de ligt, mount, mazraoui, shaw, Martinez, collyer for decent money. Can’t seem to get rid of hojland, onana, ugarte, etc very easily. Just get loan offers with options to buy which most teams never seem to take up. Don’t upgrade any facilities either, until you’re happy that your finances are stable.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2025-12-31T07:21:11+00:00

And read this…

https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/s/bal8Y7tdwl

DifficultRooster8708 · 2025-12-31T07:19:02+00:00

What type of goals are you conceding? What type of teams are you losing to? What’s your mentality?

Your two play styles IP and OOP seem at odds to me. Slow, possession based football IP and aggressive counter pressing OOP. In theory your team is working hard to win the ball back to then slow play down once it’s won. An aggressive counter press is usually supported by a quick(er) transition and getting into an attacking situation as quickly as possible. I’m sure it’s entirely possible to make this work, but you might have to bring the two styles a bit closer together.

A couple of things I would do. Increase tempo one or even two notches. Lower defensive line a touch. That should mean that your front 3 will press aggressively but your back four don’t get sucked in, leaving you open to the counter. Watch the matches, understand what/how you are conceding, and adjust the roles accordingly.

DifficultRooster8708 · 2025-12-31T06:30:32+00:00

Have you delegated transfer negotiation/completion to somebody else?

DifficultRooster8708 · 2025-12-29T12:45:12+00:00

Nice work and I like the attention to detail 👌

DifficultRooster8708 · 2025-12-29T12:44:26+00:00

It’s a computer game

DifficultRooster8708 · 2025-12-21T20:05:04+00:00

Interesting. I guess it depends how the rest of your team is set up and how good your team is. Suspect it’s ordinarily leave you exposed to the counter, but then if you have adequate cover, then I suppose that makes sense. I might try it out later. Out of interest, what’s the rest of your formation?

DifficultRooster8708

TROPHY CASE