FM 14 - Manchester United

Where do I start? This was probably my most frustrating season in any career on any Football Manager I've ever played. We started off well and won the Community Shield, an early debut goal from Marouane Fellaini enough to see off Wigan Athletic.



To be honest it was quite a successful season, if you break it down bit by bit, especially after the departure of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson. However it's always disappointing to lose the Premier League title by a single point and had our away form not be so disastrous we'd have beaten Chelsea over the finish line.







I mean just look at that screenshot above, I mean fuck Crystal Palace were relegated and performed better away from home than we did, it's quite depressing. The main thing I guess was the fact we were unstoppable at Old Trafford only dropping two points all season, Sunderland the unlikely side who managed to escape unbeaten, that screenshot below.



We crashed out of the FA Cup in the third round, a shock upset at Turf Moor ending our FA Cup hopes as Burnley recorded a famous 1-0 victory in front of their own fans. Our Capital One Cup campaign took us all the way to Wembley. Unfortunately however we couldn't produce a winning performance on the day and Chelsea were victorious.





Our UEFA Champions League campaign was exciting and thrilling, but again it ultimately ended in disappointment and tears. We cruised through our group that contained AC Milan, BATE and Olympiacos. We were then paired with Lyon in the last 16 and we triumphed 5-2 over the course of the two legs to set up a mouthwatering clash with Real Madrid in the quarter finals.







The quarter final against Real Madrid was always going to be a blockbuster and it didn't disappoint. We managed to knick a crucial away goal at the Bernabéu, substitute Shinji Kagawa coming off the bench to give us a real chance in the return leg at Old Trafford. The second leg proved a tense affair, but I always felt we had the ability to beat the La Liga giants and a Tom Cleverley goal was enough to see us progress to the semi finals to face Arsenal.





With a chance of playing either Chelsea or Napoli in the UEFA Champions League final on the line the tie was in our hands heading to the Emirates Stadium after we'd beaten the Gunners at Old Trafford courtesy of an early Wayne Rooney strike, although I had a feeling we may pay the price after Robin van Persie had missed a second half penalty. In the end we did as Aaron Ramsey scored the winner six minutes from time to send the Gunners into the UEFA Champions League final.





Two results I just had to share with you were the 5-0 hammering's of Manchester City and Liverpool at Old Trafford. These two performances were the most complete 90 minute performances we produced throughout the 2013/2014 campaign.





Below you'll find the transfer activity for the 2013/2014 season and as you'll notice we didn't sign anybody in the first transfer window. I did however bring in Fábio Coentrão and Jordy Reyna in January, the former a proven talent at the highest level and the latter a real prospect for the future who I thought could do the legendary number seven proud. After last season I've decided to bring in Jack Butland and paid a big enough fee for the lad as well. Strangely he only wanted a one year contract so I'll need to make sure I keep him happy and come November or December try tie him down to a long term deal.

Did Arsenal win the CL? \o/

Negative, Chelsea battered them in the final.

If it's any consolation the Gunners beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final though.

No it isn't, you cunt.

How do you think I feel? Lost in the Capital One Cup final to Chelsea and then lost the Premier League title by a point. Glad Arsenal beat them in the FA Cup final so Mourinho didn't win every single fucking trophy.

Man Utd are pretty good on mine, though they did sack Moyes after the first season for finishing 2nd which seemed a little harsh

Before we hammered Manchester City at Old Trafford I had a meeting with the board because we'd lost 2-1 against Arsenal at the Emirates. The board can be a bit ridiculous at times to be honest in FM 14, but I guess that's kind of realistic when you see what Vincent Tan has done at Cardiff City this season.

After narrowly missing out on the Premier League title in my first season at Old Trafford it was fantastic to see the team perform so well over the course of the season and we saw off the challenge of fierce rivals Manchester City. Our home form wasn't as good this season, but their was only a 5 point change there that was never going to be a massive issue once we sorted out our away form and we did just that. Last season we picked up just 20 points away from Old Trafford in the Premier League, winning just 4 times. This season we recorded the best away record of all the Premier League teams and this away form no doubt was crucial for us as we won our third Premier League title in the last 5 years.







The FA Cup continues to be my nightmare competition for me. Last season we were knocked out in the third round by Burnley and although we went one round better this time around it's extremely disappointing that we couldn't beat Sheffield United at Old Trafford or in the replay. The draw continues to be kind to us yet we unfortunately don't turn for these games which is extremely frustrating. The Capital One Cup however is a different kettle of fish as we made the final for a second year running and this time we were victorious as we beat Spurs.









So our Champions League group was again straightforward and we topped our group. Our form in Europe, especially the group stages has been extremely pleasing and I go into every game very confident. It seems we enjoy the spectacle of the big stage in Europe and I feel we may be getting closer to lifting our next European crown. For the second year running we were paired with French side Lyon in the next round and this time around we beat them 1-0 away which was enough to see us advance to the quarter finals.







We were paired with Barcelona in the quarter finals and just like our tie with Real Madrid last season we would play away in Spain in the first leg. I set the team up for damage limitation at the Nou Camp and we grabbed an early away goal which was crucial. In the end Neymar bagged a brace and although we trailed heading into the second leg I felt we had the advantage. Unfortunately we drew a blank at home for the second consecutive European game and crashed out of the Champions League at the quarter finals stage, the result a tough pill to swallow.





Our transfer activity for the season is below. We sold Rafael to PSG for a whooping sum of money, something I didn't want to do, but he wanted to leave so once they matched our valuation the deal was always going to happen. In the end it allowed me to sign Kyle Walker and Callum Chambers, two right backs with very bright futures in football. We also brought Norwegian midfielder Mats Daehli back to the club and whilst he could become a key player in the future the move was more brought on by the fact other clubs were looking to snap him up so we had to act and act fast. Our final signing Jurgen Heidel has the potential to go to the very top of football and we were able to seal a deal for him for practically nothing. There was a sad moment when Darren Fletcher left for Celtic, but the midfielder wanted first team football and with younger players like Nick Powell and Adnan Januzaj coming through I felt it was right to allow the Scottish international to leave.

Poor Everton, guessing Chelsea won the CL again?

Dortmund won it.

They beat Barca in the semi final and surprisingly met Celtic in the final.