Beta Than Nothing Episode 1: Rebuilding The Red Devils

 

Hello and welcome to my FM23 Beta save....is what I wish I could be saying right now but unfortunately due to some slight complications regarding my pre-order of the game, I'm currently frozen out of the beta bonanza!! 

Never mind though, I rolled my sleeves up and downloaded a 22/23 season database for FM22 to keep myself and you, the readers entertained so here's the first instalment of what I would have done in the beta, just on last year's game. 

So here we are again, it's time for yet another 'new era' at Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was removed from the driving seat, Ralf Rangnick came and went almost within the blink of an eye amid rumours of dressing room dissent and power struggles between the interim manager and some of the team's high profile players. In their infinite 'wisdom', the Glazer family have drafted me in to blast the winds of change through Stretford. 

Armed with a modest transfer budget, my aim is to bring hungry, younger players into the club and sweep out the deadwood and egos in order to refresh the club's DNA and restore some pride and passion in the famous red shirt. The first players to leave the new regime are Axel Tuanzebe and Brandon Williams who both move across the channel to Lyon while my main goal is to move Cristiano Ronaldo on to pastures new as any transfer fee he commands would prove beneficial to boosting the budget. 

Not wanting to be outdone by our cross-city rivals, our first dip into the transfer market is to secure the services of our own powerful Norwegian target man and we duly complete this task by signing Alexander Sorloth from RB Leipzig although he won't be coming through the Old Trafford door until the following summer due to the terms of his loan spell at Real Sociedad. 

Another of the Red Bull teams are raided as Austrian defensive midfielder Nicolas Siewald swaps Salzburg for the Stretford End as he joins the club on a four year deal. Feeling our striking options are slightly light (especially given my hope of moving Ronaldo on), Czech Republic international Patrik Schick joins United for £17.5million. 

After the transfer activity and a pre-season that consisted of wins over Crewe and Bayern Munich, it's time to get the serious business underway as we welcome Fulham to Old Trafford as we hope to kick off the new era in style. 

It turns out that the Fulham game is a dream debut for nearly all involved as we romp to a comprehensive 4-1 win over The Cottagers. Christian Eriksen opens the scoring with a fine curling effort to kick off his competitive United career and he's quickly joined on the scoresheet by Argentine central defender Lisandro Martinez who heads home to cap off a fine personal performance. New striker Schick kicked off his United career in style by slamming home the third goal from close range before Brazilian winger Antony made sure he also got off the mark in red with the fourth goal of the afternoon which was awarded thanks to assistance from VAR. The only downside is that we're unable to keep a clean sheet after former United midfielder Andreas Pereira pulled one back for the visitors between Schick and Antony's goals. 

The last time we visited Nottingham Forest, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came off the bench and scored an extraordinary four goals as United battered Forest 8-1 on their way to winning the treble in 1999. The City Ground side were determined to make sure this didn't happen again and set their stall out early when Taiwo Awoniyi thumped home a superb effort that thundered past David De Gea after just four minutes. Shellshocked, we struggled to find our feet in the game and toiled as we attempted to break the home side down in the first half, not even mustering a single shot on goal in our feeble effort. The half-time introduction of Anthony Martial to replace Marcus Rashford paid dividends and the Frenchman levels affairs early in the second period. The goal sparks us into life but unfortunately we can't find a way past a stern Forest defence, even despite the introduction of Ronaldo for the first time in my tenure. 

Our first real test of the season comes in the shape of Tottenham Hotspur who visit Old Trafford in front of the Sky cameras. We continue where we left off against Forest by going on the offensive immediately against Spurs, creating plenty of chances but converting none of them, Aaron Wan-Bissaka in particular has an enjoyable evening creating havoc on the right flank. Our inability to take our chances comes to bite us on the behind in the dying embers of the first half with Spurs taking the lead massively against the run of play as Emerson Royal's cross is met by Heung Min-Son who heads the ball straight at DDG only to see the loose ball fall at the feet of Harry Kane who taps home one of the easiest goals of his career. Buoyed by their unlikely lead, Spurs come out the strongest in the second half and could (probably should) have gone out of sight as Kane and Son are guilty of missing a number of chances. For the third game in a row, VAR is our friend as the video assistant helps our match referee award us a second half penalty following a foul by Cristian Romero on Patrik Schick. Bruno Fernandes steps up and confidently slams us level which eventually proves to be the final major act of the game as we end 1-1. 

We're unbeaten and there's plenty of positives to take, especially how quickly Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane have formed what looks to be a solid partnership. Join us again tomorrow when our assault on the Europa League gets underway! 

Ciao for now! 

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