THE SCENARIO: It is July 2016. Manchester United have stunned the football world by naming Derek Lee as their new manager, instead of former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. The appointment of The Special One had been so widely expected that superstars Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba had already agreed to sign for the club. Instead, they will now be playing for the unknown Lee, as he tries to take them back to the top of English football. Will his reign be full of trophies like the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson? Or will he prove to be out of his depth like the hapless David Moyes?

Previous episodes: Episode 1, Episode 2

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1 September 2016

September begins with a massive game as we host City in the Manchester derby. We then visit Watford before kicking off our Europa League campaign at home to Dutch side Feyenoord. An EFL Cup tie at Hull follows that game, before champions Leicester visit Old Trafford in the league. Our last game of the month will take us to Poland where we’ll play Zaglebie Lubin (nope, never heard of them either).

10 September 2016

Manchester United vs Manchester City

It’s still early in the season, but the derby is a great chance to lay down a marker for the rest of the season. Both sides are undefeated in the league, although City have drawn two of their first three games as they adjust to life under Pep Guardiola. Pogba’s injury gives me a dilemma as his strength and ability on the ball will be missed. To compensate for his absence I switch to a midfield three of Carrick, Rooney, and Herrera.

Phew. What. A. Game. If you’re a neutral anyway. We took the lead through Griezmann in the first half but a mistake by Valencia led to Nolito equalising. Some slack defending allowed Gundogan to break through just minutes later to give them the lead. Down 1-2 at halftime, I hook Carrick who was shockingly off the pace and replace him with Fellaini (don’t laugh). Rooney equalises for us, but then City reclaim the lead thanks to David Silva. Man-Of-The-Match Herrera equalised for us, and unfortunately no one could repeat Michael Owen’s heroics by netting a late winner. Looking at the stats, it couldn’t have been more even so in the end a draw is a fair result.

FIFA 17 Manchester United Opponent Lineup

FIFA 17 Manchester United Player Ratings

13 September 2016

Watford vs Manchester United

You wouldn’t think a match against Watford would be a top-of-the-table clash, but that is exactly what this is. The Hornets have won three of their four matches which has them in second place, just a point behind us. With a Europa League match on the horizon, I make a few changes to the team. Shaw, Carrick, Herrera, and Martial are replaced by Blind, Fellaini, Mkhitaryan, and Mata.

Ibrahimovic gives us an early lead in the 7th minute with a precise curled effort. He goes close with a header, before doubling our lead from the spot after a foul on Mata by Miguel Britos just before half-time. We control the game without much fuss in the second half to see out the win. The result extends our lead at the top to four points over Watford and Chelsea, although the latter have a game in hand.

15 September 2016

Manchester United vs Feyenoord

Matchday 1 in the Europa League. Dutch side Feyenoord are the visitors to Old Trafford, and we’ll hope to get off to a winning start in the competition. Fenerbahce and Zaglebie Lubin are the other teams in our group, and while we have no reason to fear any of them, we need to make sure we don’t underestimate them either. I make sweeping changes to the team, with Romero, Darmian, Lingard, and Young among those starting.

Young gives us the lead in the 20th minute, and we go on to dominate the match quite convincingly. Rashford makes it 2-0 after half an hour, and Rooney wraps up the scoring in the second half. The straight forward win has us top of the group after the other match between Fenerbahce and Lubin ends in a draw.

20 September 2016

Hull City vs Manchester United

Next up, it’s Hull in the next round of the EFL Cup. Joel Pereira and Axel Tuanzebe make their debuts, while Rashford keeps his place up front after his man-of-the-match display in the Europa League.

A strong start by Hull sees Markus Henriksen give them the lead from a corner, and David Marshall does what we he did the last time we played them by making some fine saves. He can do nothing about our equaliser though, as Rashford’s shot comes back off the post and the teenager gleefully taps home his own rebound. Mata and Griezmann waste great chances to win the match, and so it goes into extra-time. With 10 minutes to go until a penalty shootout is required, Darmian (of all people) appears in the box to fire in a winner that takes us into the next round.

24 September 2016

Manchester United vs Leicester City

Back to league action as we host Leicester. The champions haven’t quite matched the heights of last season (understandably) but have a decent eight points from five matches so far. On their day they can beat anyone though, so I won’t be taking any chances and go with a strong lineup. Ibrahimovic, Martial, and Mkhitaryan return to the side, while Rooney is deployed in midfield again in Pogba’s absence. There is a Pogba on the pitch though, as Paul’s brother Florentin lines up for Leicester having joined them in the summer.

We end up dominating this one, and it’s only the heroics of ex-United keeper Ron-Robert Zieler that keep the scoreline down. After a rare goal from Darmian in our last game, this time it’s Shaw who’s the unlikely scorer as he gives us the lead in the 27th minute. Despite creating a glut of chances, we don’t get a second goal until injury time as Zlatan scores to atone for missing a penalty earlier in the match.

29 September 2016

Zaglebie Lubin vs Manchester United

Another Europa League match, this time against unknown quantities Zaglebie Lubin. We’ll need to be wary, as teams like this will always relish the challenge of playing Man United and will raise their game. With the underdogs likely to defend deep to make it difficult for us, I opt for two up front as Zlatan and Rashford both start together for the first time.

As it turns out, we don’t have to wait long for a goal as we are awarded an early penalty. Despite missing one in our last match, Zlatan steps up and makes no mistake this time. Fellaini then somehow heads against both the bar and post from two yards out in a matter of seconds. Zlatan finally scores his and our second with a driven left foot shot after a neat backheel by… FELLAINI(??!). Martial and Griezmann add gloss to the scoreline in the second half, while Lubin grab a consolation goal in injury time. Two wins from two is great, and a win in our next group match against Fenerbahce will all but seal our place in the knockout stage.