Mega save update. Now getting towards the end of 2022/23 with Everton and am building a properly good team. Won the league for the first time in the save last season. It got tense near the end but a win in the Merseyside derby 3 games from the end of the season won us the league title, a very sweet way to get it done. This is how the table finished at the end:
We didn't do too much business in the summer - only marquee signing was Milan Skriniar to bolster the defence and his partnership with the tank Walter Kannemann has been very solid so far this season. We then added
Diade Samessekou who came in on a free and then bought in two promising regens - one of which,
Andres Vasquez looks absolutely insane.
Then this is how our strongest XI lines up:
https://i.ibb.co/4M8Xqxz/Screenshot-2019-02-02-at-21-23-28.png
And here is a breakdown of each starter + a screen of their attributes:
Matias Larsen - Regen signed from Kobenhavn for £7.75m and has everything. 6ft7, incredible shot stopper, great distribution, superb at one-on-ones, he's a beast.
Jonjoe Kenny - Has been playing in rotation with Seamus for a couple of seasons after developing nicely early in the save, more than solid PL defender but will likely be replaced by one of my regens in a season or two once Seamus retires.
Milan Skriniar - World class centre back, my favourite on the game this year. Cost me £68m from Inter but worth every penny.
Walter Kannemann - The Tank. This man is unreal. Picked him up 2nd season for £11.5m from Gremio. He's Brazilian but has a German 2nd nationality so getting a WP isn't an issue. He's got everything you want from a dominant central defender and I'ev seen him neutralise some of the best attackers in the world on this save. Highly recommended!
Lucas Digne - Been superb from the start of the save and has been one of the stand-out left-backs in the league. His contract is coming to and end at the end of the season and he's currently suggesting he wants to leave, but with Romanian regen
Laurentiu Stirbu ready to step up we're not too worried, although I would like Digne to stay.
Ruben Neves - Snapped up from Wolves at the end of the 1st season after they got relegated for £23m he has been the star signing of the save, he is absolutely unreal. Consistent season average ratings above 7 that are rising year on year. Last season he contributed 10 goals + 16 assists, he's superb.
Wellington Albertino - Idrissa Gueye moved on in Jan and Wellington has stepped up superbly. Perfect as a
Sergio Gomez - I've had this lad in two saves now and he might be my favourite advanced playmaker on the game. Cost me £40.5m at the beginning of the 2nd season and he has been brilliant.
Andrija Zivkovic - Signed at the beginning of the 21/22 season from PSG for £42m he was bought in to replace the departing Richarlison who left for Chelsea for £91m. He's quality, scores goals, puts in ridiculous crosses, works hard, he's been great.
Ademola Lookman - Our best player. His 2020/21 campaign was just ridiculous. Won every PL individual award going after scoring 20 league goals, adding 10 assists and an average rating of 7.69. He had a slightly quieter season last season but is back on form at the start of 22/23 with 5 goals and 2 assists in 7. He's so good.
Harry Kane - We were struggling for goals in 2020/21 - Maxi Gomez and DCL weren't doing the business and so I decided at the end of that season we were going big on a striker to get us to the next level and Kane was the man I wanted. I put all of our budget into signing him and secured a £95m deal which saw Jordan Pickford move to Spurs as part of the deal but boy was he worth it. His first season with the club he scored 22 league goals in 24 + 7 in 10 in Europe to get us to the CL Semis. Did exactly what we needed and won us our first league title of the save.
That's our strongest XI, but the squad is stacked, we've also got:
Mason Holgate - Superb centre half that has developed really nicely and rotates with the centre halves we already have. Been some big interest in him previously but decided after no-one made a bid in Jan that he's happy to stay, so with Skriniar, Retsos, Kannemann and Holgate we've got a serious defence. Might end up moving on if we get a £60m+ bid, but does serve a purpose as a HG option.
Andres Mora - Quality young Colombian DLP. Has already played a full season for Juve on loan, looks like he's going to do the business.
Francisco Trincao - If you don't load the Portuguese leagues, you should just so you can find TRINCAOO. The lad's a beast. Only cost me £3.2m but has been a consistently excellent performer. Happy to play as a rotation player, tiny wage demands, he's the perfect attacking squad player.
Isaac Armah - Another stud regen central midfielder (there are tons of them in this save). Signed him to place Gueye but after trying him in the BWM role it turns out he's better suited to a DLP role so will play in rotation with Neves.
Ryan Gravenberch - This kid is pure class. Signed for £9.25m from Ajax he has developed very, very quickly. He's consistently the best performing player in the squad in training, he always performs when he gets gametime. Well worth a look if you want a cheap, young advanced playmaker with massive potential.
Then in Jan of the current season I added the following:
Patrizio Carion - Italian regen from Brugge dubbed the new Buffon. Already looks insanely good, not far off my starting keeper Larsen and should develop into a beast. Reckon worst case I'll make a fortune on him after a few years of using him as back-up.
Barao - Already looks pretty good, just annoying I didn't overpay him by £5k a week (god damn Brexit's £8k minimum wage rule)
Hopefully he'll be happy as 3rd choice for a while.
Panagiotis Retsos - £37m signing from Leverkusen. Kannemann tore his hamstring at the WC so needed someone to step-up, and with Keane looking to move on in the summer it made sense to bring Retsos. Versatile centre back that can comfortably fill in at RB and LB, I've used him with great success in the past. At 24 it made perfect sense to bring him in, should be an excellent long-term replacement for Kannemann.
Huseyin Kaya - Beast looking winger, already PL ready at 19 with plenty of scope to develop, especially if he gets plenty of first-team football. Should be an excellent back-up to Zivkovic.
Absolutely loving this save. Last few FM's I've struggled to get into a save as Everton for some reason, but this year I've had more fun with this save than any other. Pleased I've managed to keep a solid core of original Everton players in the squad and glad that success didn't come too quickly, taking me 4 seasons to finally win the league. Next goal is CL success, currently have the Semi Finals ahead, taking on United who knocked us out last season with Barcelona taking on Liverpool in the 2nd Semi. Currently leading the league again as well, 2 points clear of City with 4 to play. Liverpool at Anfield penultimate game of the season could be the big one, and the one that wins it for us.
