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[Karl Deighton]

Hello everybody!

Welcome to my first FM 2013 story! I’ve decided to start with an international team as my computer is slowly dying but I am getting one around Christmas time. I felt patriotic and decided go for the (not so) brilliant England! I will most probably update this story every couple of days with a few matches each update, I hope you enjoy it.

On the first day on the job I got my expectations from the FA:

Relatively easy I guess, qualifying for the World Cup in two years time should be quite easy as the group isn’t that difficult. It’s the same group as in real life, with the toughest two teams being the hosts from Euro 2012, Poland and Ukraine. The other teams are: San Marino!, Montenegro and Moldova.

The first meaningful act I did was to make a tactic; I perused the national pool and came up with standard rigid 4-4-2 which I think will suit my players best. The general idea is to have two banks of four when defending and several lines of attack when on the offense. Rooney (the DLF) will drop back spraying balls around and bursting into the box when the ball is wide. The defending CM will be my ball winner, playing simple balls and not roaming from his position too much.

I also brought in some new staff, I decided to bring in Mike Phelan as my assistant and Peter Beardsley, Gordon Cowans and David Platt as coaches. I decided to allow Gary Neville, Ray Clemence and Gary Lewin to keep their roles with the team.

So it was time for me to pick my first squad as England manager for the match against Ivory Coast, I decided to get rid of some of the older players, Lampard, Terry, Ferdinand. They will probably not play for their national team again. I decided to go for a quick attack and a quicker defence. If everyone was fit Scott Parker, Wilshere and Gareth Barry would probably be the only changes for Huddlestone, Milner and Carrick.

It was time for me to pick my first starting XI, unfortunately Rooney pulled out of Injury so I couldn’t choose him. The rest of the team is same as you saw in my tactic.



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Match report

 
Quality of possession provides victory

England 4-2 Ivory Coast (Friendly)

An efficient performance from England saw them run out 4-2 winners over Ivory Coast at Wembley. A brace from Theo Walcott helped England to victory.

Explosive striker Theo Walcott got England off to a flyer by scoring and effort from 19 metres which hit the inside of the post before crossing the line on 9 minutes. Walcott was able to double his tally soon after with another strike on 12 minutes.

Gerrard scored with a close range header in the 34^th minute to extend the lead further. Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross then added to the lead on the 38^th minute with a well timed close range finish.

Midfielder Abdul Razak pulled one back for Ivory Coast after 45 minutes with an incisive finish from 10 metres. Ivory Coast were nearly gifted a goal on 78 minutes through Joe Hart’s lapse in concentration but they failed to capitalise on the opportunity presented to them.

Winger Didier Ya Konan pulled one back for Ivory Coast after 80 minutes with a lovely chipped shot from 24 metres.

Man of the Match: Theo Walcott (England)
Attendance: 73, 964

 
So that concludes my first post of this story. I have a question: Who do you think I should call up to my squad?

Thanks for reading everyone

[GChaddah98]

A nice challenge you have picked here Karl, like the layout too and good luck with bringing the glory to England again, I am not a fan of tactics like that but hopefully will pay divends for you, good luck!

[Karl Deighton]

A nice challenge you have picked here Karl, like the layout too and good luck with bringing the glory to England again, I am not a fan of tactics like that but hopefully will pay divends for you, good luck!

Thanks mate, glad you like the layout, although the tactic is rigid it is still quite creative and attacking, but decent in defence too. I seems to have worked in the one game so far. Any players you want to see in my squad?

[saltwater]

Nice looking story, looking forward to Rio. I hope you don't get bored with the friendlies and easy qualifying games, but come 2014 it'll be all worth it.
I think you should give Defoe a shout cos he wasn't in the squad, Jack Butland, Gary Hooper and Ross Barkley would also be interesting acquisitions

[saltwater]

Nice looking story, looking forward to Rio. I hope you don't get bored with the friendlies and easy qualifying games, but come 2014 it'll be all worth it.
I think you should give Defoe a shout cos he wasn't in the squad, Jack Butland, Gary Hooper and Ross Barkley would also be interesting acquisitions

Oh and Bertrand! When Baines and Cole are washed up he should fit in nicely.

[Karl Deighton]

Nice looking story, looking forward to Rio. I hope you don't get bored with the friendlies and easy qualifying games, but come 2014 it'll be all worth it.
I think you should give Defoe a shout cos he wasn't in the squad, Jack Butland, Gary Hooper and Ross Barkley would also be interesting acquisitions

Oh and Bertrand! When Baines and Cole are washed up he should fit in nicely.

Thanks mate, I actually quite like playing the friendlies! Butland and Barkley will definately be introduced into the squad, I'm not a massive fan of Hooper, I don't think he is good enough for the squad. Defoe was tough to leave out, for some reason I put Welbeck infront of him, even though I don't like him so I may give him a try And Bertrand will surely be introduced if he progresses well at club level.

[vaibhavc]

Good luck with them, and good result. Are you actually playing Sturridge? Is he rated good in the game?

[Karl Deighton]

Good luck with them, and good result. Are you actually playing Sturridge? Is he rated good in the game?

Yes I played him in the first game vs Ivory Coast. He is pretty good, he is behind Rooney and Walcott and probably on par with Defoe and Welbeck.

[NUFCdan]

good luck with England! a good first win

[Karl Deighton]

Hey everyone and welcome to the second update of my England career. This update will consist of two World Cup Qualifiers against Moldova (A) and Poland (H). Two games we should really win and should give us a great start and six points in our group. After these two games we have three more to finish 2011, which will feature in another episode of this story.

So the first thing I did was pick my squad, there was a few players returning from injury so they went into the squad, I also listened to Saltwater and put a couple of his suggestions in the squad:

Goalkeepers (3):

Joe Hart (Man City), Jack Butland (Birmingham), John Ruddy (Norwich)

Defenders (8):

Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke), Kyle Walker (Tottenham)

Midfielders (8):

Gareth Barry (Man City), Tom Cleverley (Man Utd), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Sunderland), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Man City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Jack Rodwell (Man City)

Forwards (4):

Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)


On game day I decided my tactic, I have downloaded Johnny's solid defence tactic and I will use it occasionally, mainly when away. I used it against Moldova, it seems my players fit into it nicely.



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Match report

England stroll to success

Moldova 0-7 England (World Cup Quals (EUR) Group 8)

It was a memorable day for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and England fans alike as Oxlade-Chamberlain became the youngest playerin the history of the World Cup Quaifiers (EUR).

Wonderkid Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got England off to a flyer by scoring a close range header after 2 minutes. Midfielder Aaron Lennon then doubled England's lead with a fluke goal on 6 minutes.

Defoe scored with a close range finish which was timed impeccably in the 16th minute to extend the lead further. Midfielder Valerii Alexeev compounded the misery for Moldova on 44 minutes with an embarrasing own-goal. Defoe added to his tally with a powerful effort which blasted against the inside of the post before hitting the back of the net after 62 minutes.

Defoe added his third of the game with a well struck effort on 64 minutes. Centre-back Evghenie Georgiev then summed up his teams performance by nearly gifting England another goal on 68 minutes.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain completed the rout in the 69th minute with an accurate finish.

Man of the Match: Jermain Defoe (England)
Attendance: 10,500

 
So a good thrashing in my second game in charge, but next up is a much sterner test, Poland. Despite the good result I decided to revert back to my 4-4-2 tactic and changed the starting XI around a bit.



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Match report

England hammer Poland

England 3-0 Poland (World Cup Quals (EUR) Group 8)

England enjoyed near total domination over a distinctly average Poland side at Wembley this evening. A brace from Wayne Rooney helped his side to victory.

Striker Jermain Defoe gave England the lead with a lucky strike in the 15th minute. Striker Wayne Rooney doubled England's lead with an accurate finish from inside the penalty area on 38 minutes.

Rooney completed the rout on 48 minutes with a well timed close range finish.

Man of the Match: Wayne Rooney (England)
Attendance: 90,000

 
It's nice to play in a full stadium, and give them a good performance. And this means we are top of the group after two games, with a whopping +10 goal difference. Next time we play two more qualifers and a friendly, which will finish 2011. Again if you have any player reccomedations I will listen to them and if any of you have any questions I will surely answer them.

Thanks for reading

[GChaddah98]

2 Good wins Karl, 7-0 is brilliant and you have some brilliant players coming through. As for a player I would like to see maybes Raheem Sterling given some game time or it might be a little early, also players like Martin Kelly are very good this year, also Carroll and Henderson?

[Karl Deighton]

2 Good wins Karl, 7-0 is brilliant and you have some brilliant players coming through. As for a player I would like to see maybes Raheem Sterling given some game time or it might be a little early, also players like Martin Kelly are very good this year, also Carroll and Henderson?

Thanks mate. Liverpool players youve mentioned I was thinking of calling up Sterling and play him against San Marino, Henderson is also close to a call up but his position is full of competition. Kelly is in the same situationa as Henderson and Carroll doesn't really fit into my style of play.

[NUFCdan]

few good wins their karl, would love to see Raheem Sterling get a run out.

[saltwater]

Nicely done, tidy and emphatic wins to start the qualifying campaign. It's a shame Carrol doesn't fit in with your style of play. How is Milner playing for you? I don't mean to be arrogant but I just don't see why Hodgson picks him week in, week out. He's a hard worker but not for me, it'll be interesting to see if he compares to real life. Thanks for using my suggestions

[Karl Deighton]

few good wins their karl, would love to see Raheem Sterling get a run out.

Thanks mate, I'll be sure to give Raheem a game against San Marino

[Karl Deighton]

Nicely done, tidy and emphatic wins to start the qualifying campaign. It's a shame Carrol doesn't fit in with your style of play. How is Milner playing for you? I don't mean to be arrogant but I just don't see why Hodgson picks him week in, week out. He's a hard worker but not for me, it'll be interesting to see if he compares to real life. Thanks for using my suggestions

Thanks Saltwater, I like Carroll as a player in real life and I might make a direct tactic where he can fit in. Milner has only played one game I think, against Moldova, and he did really well. I will probably replace him when Wilshere is back. And I think he is rubbish in real life

[jonathancarver]

A good start to your qualifying campaign there mate should be an easy group!!

[vaibhavc]

Good start to your group mate!

[Archie]

Hey man, nice going so far. I've been playing with England in the BETA also and you seem to calling up roughly the same team that I have. Darren Bent is an excellent choice if you still have a poacher in your tactic. Also Nathaniel Clyne has done very well for me at right back because Johnson has completely diminished in my save (he's sitting in the Man City reserves).

You wont have any trouble making the world cup, so I would just keep testing different players out to see who works well and who doesn't. Good luck.

[Karl Deighton]

Hey man, nice going so far. I've been playing with England in the BETA also and you seem to calling up roughly the same team that I have. Darren Bent is an excellent choice if you still have a poacher in your tactic. Also Nathaniel Clyne has done very well for me at right back because Johnson has completely diminished in my save (he's sitting in the Man City reserves).

You wont have any trouble making the world cup, so I would just keep testing different players out to see who works well and who doesn't. Good luck.

Thanks mate, I've been thinking about Bent but my strikers seem to be doing pretty good so far, and Clyne is one for the future in my eyes. Cheers