Dubbed the Next

Dubbed the Next: Episode 11 - Javier Mascherano

Once you’ve picked a legend from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, Belgium, France, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands - the options become slightly more limited as we look to complete our XI of footballing legends and their modern day FM counterparts. Knowing we need a more defensive player to complete our squad, it was hard to settle on a player and country worthy of replication as part of this series; that is until one man popped up who in addition to being the most-capped player of all time for his country, was simultaneously one of the most influential Defenders and Defensive Midfielders in European and World football - as well as playing for West Ham…

The rules are simple - any modern-day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. Having won 2 Champions Leagues, 5 La Liga titles and been capped 147 times for Argentina including reaching the World Cup final in 2014 - who would covet the unenviable task of being dubbed the next Javier Mascherano in Football Manager 2021?

 
 

by MaddFM.

When Javier Mascherano arrived at West Ham as part of a somewhat controversial or shady deal which saw he and Carlos Tevez move to The Hammers amid rumours of third party involvement in terms of ownership of their registration as well as alleged interest in buying out West Ham. After an unsuccessful spell at the then Upton Park, Mascherano completed a £20m move to Liverpool and it was from here that his career began to flourish on the international stage - two seasons later he was a first team regular at Barcelona winning the League and Champions League double, and he became a key part of the Pep Guardiola reign at the Catalan giants initially playing as a Defensive Midfielder before moving back to partner Gerard Pique at Centre Half.

What made Javier Mascherano such an influential player was his unrivalled positional play and sheer ferociousness and excellence in the tackle. Tenacious, fierce, aggressive - Mascherano had that unique ability to cover large areas of ground, read the game perfectly and always put himself in the right place at the right time which was one of the catalysts in Barcelona’s period of dominance between 2011 and 2018. In Football Manager terms, Mascherano typified the Anchor Man role before reverting to Centre Back and based on this we will try to emulate Mascherano’s combined defensive and positional ability by winding back the clock to 2015 in order to see his key attributes and guide us towards finding his modern day counterpart.

Rewind ⏪

 
 

You’ve just lost a World Cup Final, but can take solace in the fact that you are about to win your third La Liga title in a double-winning season for Barcelona. Quite simply, FM15 Javier Mascherano was Defensive royalty. Aggression, Tackling, Determination, Positioning, Bravery, Work Rate, Stamina, Marking - too many to even mention, however these are what will form the basis of our search as we load up FM21 to try and replicate Mascherano’s key attributes and playing style to identify his modern day replica.

🔍 Tackling

🔍 Aggression

🔍 Anticipation

🔍 Bravery

🔍 Work Rate

🔍 Marking

🔍 Argentinian

       |

       |

       |

 
 

       |

       |

       |

 
 

You might be asking yourself - who? At the beginning of FM21 Nehuén Perez is a 20-year-old Central Defender on loan at high-flying Granada from Atletico Madrid, and although not yet capped for Argentina has been included in multiple friendly squads and is very much knocking on the door of the international fold as well as starting to show enough quality to be in with a shout of first team football at his home club next season. Other candidates included the likes of Marcos Senesi, Santiago Ascacibar, Ezequel Palacious and Cristian Romero however when we look at raw defensive ability and potential it’s Perez that is the most exciting option to fill Mascherano’s shoes for both club and country. With Stefan Savic reaching the latter years of his prime, Perez has the opportunity to stake a claim for a full-time position at the heart of Diego Simeone’s defence and when looking at his attributes in FM21 one can clearly see the likeness with Mascherano particularly looking at his Mental attributes as well as is Physical and Defensive ability - with a bit of retraining he would be a quality option in Defence or Defensive Midfield, and for this reason he receives the #WeStreamFM seal of approval as the next Javier Mascherano in FM21. Watch this space!

Thanks for reading especially those who have been following and enjoying this segment all along, that’s our series complete for now however next week we will do a full recap on our Legends XI and how they compare to their “Dubbed the Next” cohort of modern-day replicas.

Cheers,

MaddFM.

Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to MaddFM directly.

Dubbed the Next: Episode 10 - Dennis Bergkamp

We are almost there. 9 legends from 9 different countries analysed in the peak of their prime and subsequently recreated in Football Manager 2021 to find their modern day counterparts. Pirlo, Raul, Kaka, Keane, Barthez, Kompany, Beckham, Figo and Matthaus - all legends of their position, club and country and we are well on the way to replicating a Legends XI as we embark on yet another journey today.


The rules are simple - any modern-day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. This time we head to the Netherlands for another football icon. Known for his outstanding touch and for scoring arguably not one but two of the best technical goals ever witnessed (one for Arsenal against Newcastle and the other for Netherlands against Argentina) - Dennis Bergkamp simply oozed class and was a vital member of Arsenal’s “Invincibles” of the 2003-2004 season, even if not everyone agrees on the quality and level of the goals he scored 😄.

 
 

The main question is - what was it about Bergkamp that made him such a unique entity which leads many football commentators and former players alike to name him as one of the most talented footballers ever to grace the Premier League? And of course secondly - can we find a modern day player with the same grace, talent and technical excellence with the ability and potential to replicate his success? There’s only one way to find out.


 
 

“We just stood there looking at each other, amazed. He’s probably the only player who could have pulled it off.” Shay Given after conceding the goal voted the best ever scored in the Premier League.

For a player who was named after Denis Law by his father, it’s little wonder Bergkamp turned out to be one of the best strikers of his generation. After scoring 103 goals in 185 appearances for Ajax, Bergkamp made the move to Inter in Serie A citing the club culture, philosophy and playing style as his reasons for joining. Unfortunately back-to-back manager changes and a poor spell for Inter meant that Bergkamp struggled to find form and was ridiculed by the media for not living up to his (at the time) high transfer fee of £7 million. As the saying goes, one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure and it was Arsenal who saw through the malaise to sign one of the bargains of the century, paying £2.5m for a player who would go on to play over 400 games, score 110 goals, bag 89 assists and spend 11 seasons at the club before retiring an Arsenal and Premier League legend.

Ian Wright. Patrick Kluivert. Nicholas Anelka. Thierry Henry. All former strike partners of Bergkamp who are quoted as naming him as one of the best they ever played with and the best striking partner they played alongside. It was John Hartson however who perhaps summed up Bergkamp’s ability in the best possible fashion:

“If Dennis Bergkamp played in the snow, he wouldn’t leave any footprints”

To dive deeper into what made Bergkamp such a special player and the true definition of a top “footballer” - we take a trip down memory lane to Championship Manager 97/98 and look at prime 28 year-old Bergkamp who at the time was completely unaware that he was about to win the league with Arsenal before going on to reach a World Cup Semi-Final.

Rewind ⏪

 
 

Creativity. Technique. Flair. Off the Ball. Passing. Technique. Baller. The CM97/98 researchers were spot on in recognising Bergkamp’s talents and very few players come close to that level of technical ability and pure class as a footballer. Will FM21 help us to try and emulate “The Iceman” so that we can stamp the #WeStreamFM stamp of approval on the next Dennis Bergkamp?

🔍 Technique

🔍 Off the Ball

🔍 Passing

🔍 Flair

🔍 First Touch

🔍 Vision

🔍 Dutch

       |

       |

       |

 
Processing.png
 

       |

       |

       |

 
 

Although he might be more mobile and technically a wide player rather than a ready-made Striker, Mohamed Ihattaren has all the attributes required to emulate Bergkamp’s ability and in particular his technical prowess and excellence. While not blessed with as good finishing and natural ability to play up front, some decent retraining and focusing on his positional development and player traits would make him a top quality Striker in FM21. Some of the more obvious candidates were the likes of Myron Boadu and Donyell Malen, while others such as Noa Lang and Joshua Zirkzee also gave us a difficult decision to make. In the end, Ihattaren was the stand-out candidate and as such is the one we are tipping to replicate Dennis Bergkamp’s ability and success for club and country in the very near future.

Thanks for reading, one more to go next week - let us know if you can guess the last country and/or football legend!

MaddFM.

Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to MaddFM directly.

Dubbed the Next: Episode 9 - Lothar Matthaus

The saga continues - we visit another country and another undisputed world footballing icon as we look to Football Manager to help us emulate and replicate a former World Cup, European Championship, Ballon d’Or, UEFA Cup and multiple domestic title winner. If you don’t know or respect the name already - you will.

The rules are simple - any modern-day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. Are we confident that we can somehow piece together the key attributes to find ourselves the next Lothar Matthaus? One man is..

 
 

by @FMDoop

"A Lothar Matthaus will not be defeated by his body, a Lothar Matthaus will decide his fate himself."

A quote from the man himself.

It’s very rare to see a player’s trophy cabinet house eight league titles from 2 different top-flight nations, a World Cup, a European championship and a Ballon d'Or. In today’s Dubbed the Next episode, we are taking a look at Germany’s most capped player who was once labelled by Diego Maradona as “The best rival I’ve ever had.” Can we find a player that can come close to being as good as one of the most complete defensive midfielders of all time?

Lothar had great vision paired with a great range of passing. He possessed amazing positional sense, a tendency to perform well-timed tackles, as well as a powerful shot in his armoury. During his career, he usually played as a box-to-box midfielder, although late in his career he dropped back and played as a sweeper. Oh, how I miss the FM14 game when you could last play a sweeper. All in all, you can see why he almost won everything the game has to offer. Apart from a Champions League; Matthaus was famously minutes away from collecting a winner’s medal until Teddy and Ole ended those hopes and dreams. Sorry, Lothar, as a Manchester United fan I had to mention it.

 

Matthaus clocked up 596 club senior apps in 21 years. During that time he had two stints at Bayern Munich and a great 4-year spell at Inter Milan. As much as his club career was a huge success, Matthaus was able to Captain his country to a World Cup win in 1990 as well as being part of the Euro 1980 win. Following the 1990 World cup win, Matthaus was awarded a Ballon d’Or. With the great catalogue of German defensive midfielders at the time, Matthaus had the capability to move between the roles of Sweeper and Holding Midfielder and this was key to the amount of games he played at the top level.

So now we have had an introduction to Lothar Matthaus. Let us have a look at what he was like in Football Manager/ Championship manager and therefore try to identify a player who can fill his very very big boots.

Rewind ⏪

 
 

We are heading back to the wonderful Championship Manager 2, where we find a 35-year-old Lothar Matthaus described as a Sweeper/Defensive Midfielder. To be honest at the age of 35 he isn’t in his prime, however with the attributes of Determination, Tackling, Positioning all at 19/20, his Aggression, Marking, Technique and Passing all around 15/16 - it is safe to say he is still one hell of a player and his quality is clearly illustrated. With that in mind, we take to Football Manager 2021 using Matthaus’ key strengths to find his modern-day replica and hopefully again stamp the #WeStreamFM seal of approval in our Dubbed the Next series.

🔍 Tackling

🔍 Positioning

🔍 Passing

🔍 Marking

🔍 Technique

🔍 German

       |

       |

       |

 
Processing.png
 

       |

       |

       |

 
 
 
 

Right, hear me out here. Yes, I have bigged up one hell of a midfielder. But Nnamdi Collins has the potential to be a world-class defensive midfielder. I have shown you two screenshots - one at Age 16 then one at Age 23 where he has since moved on to Tottenham in-game and is now valued at £61 million. At this age with a little bit of position retaining (if only someone had written a blog on how to do that - ah yes, footballmanager.com/the-byline/retraining-players-success-fm21), he is well on his way towards becoming the next Matthaus, a player that could hold that Sweeper/Defender role as well as a DM role for both club and country. He may lack the same aggression as Matthaus but of course he’s only a young lad and he excels in all the other areas we would require. Also, physically Collins is an absolute beast with a lovely turn of pace. With lower leadership and teamwork, he would need some work to become a good captain but that of course is down to a bit of good man management. Additionally, the fact he can play all across the back means he has Matthaus’ versatility also - highly valuable in Football Manager .  

There were others who came close. Werder Bremen’s Maximilian Eggstein looks like he has potential on paper but is slightly lacking in the more defensive areas in terms of attributes. PSG’s Thilo Kehrer is always a safe and solid bet for an all-round Defender/Defensive Midfielder however his Positioning and Leadership put him some way behind aspiring to Matthaus’ greatness. Suat Serdar gave us a very difficult decision, however his potential to be a World Class player is definitely more limited therefore we put all our eggs in the Nnamdi Collins basket in the hope that he will go on to do great things as did his legendary predecessor.

 

With an early pick up in-game and a bit of development by the manager, I can really see Collins making a huge impact in German football. He already has great defensive attributes alongside his good passing and technique and still has plenty of time to grow into a star. Therefore, he gets the #WeStreamFM seal of approval and is officially dubbed the “next” Lothar Matthaus.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Love Doop.

You can catch Doop live on Twitch most days where he is currently doing an Achievement Hunter challenge and doing bits at Red Star Paris, as well as every Monday on 5* Potential, your weekly Football Manager podcast.

Dubbed the Next: Episode 8 - Luis Figo

Italy, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, France, Belgium and England. 7 replicas of 7 legends from 7 countries already identified in this series so far, why stop now? We nearly have a full first XI assembled with one player from each nationality, and today we visit another footballing nation of excellence as we turn our focus to one of Portugal’s greatest ever exports and look to identify his modern day footballing counterpart.

The rules are simple - any modern day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. Before Cristiano Ronaldo there was one man above all that ruled Portuguese football. Are we confident that we can somehow piece together the key attributes to find ourselves the next Luis Figo? #HereWeGo.

 
 

by @DaveAzzopardi

You'll struggle to find a player who has played close to 800 competitive games consistently at the top level of world football. On top of that, Luis Figo grabbed 127 caps for Portugal including 32 goals for his nation. The pacey winger is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation and his 106 assists in La Liga are the second most in the competition's history, behind one Lionel Messi. Not many players would have braved a transfer directly from Barcelona to Real Madrid but when you're as decorated and talented as Luis Figo, you can probably do as you please and eventually things will work out. They certainly did - across his career Figo won eight league titles, a Champions League and countless individual awards including the Ballon d'Or award in 2000 at a time when nominees included the likes of Zidane, Shevchenko, Henry and David Beckham who we covered in last week’s episode of this series.

 

Figo had a solid 20+ year career and despite being known predominantly as a winger, the Portuguese wizard moved into more of a playmaker and attacking midfield role as he started to lose the mobility and pace which made him ferocious for club and country for so many years. It'll be tricky for a player to ever emulate the style and skill of Luis Figo, but we're going to take to Football Manager 2021 to try and unearth the next Luis Figo from the goldmine of up and coming talent Portugal has to offer, and in turn hopefully stamp the #WeStreamFM seal of approval on the next Luis Figo in world football.

 

Rewind ⏪

 
 

In 1996 a 23-year- old Figo had just recently made the move from Sporting Lisbon to Barcelona after supposed deals with both Juventus and Parma fell through resulting in him receiving a two-year transfer ban which prevented him joining any clubs in Italy. Already capped for Portugal, from here he would go on to achieve footballing greatness linking up with the likes of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert and eventually move on to Real Madrid for a World Record fee of €62m at the time where he would also pick up that famous Ballon d’Or in the year 2000.

Today we're going to be basing our search on a fairly raw Luis Figo during his early days at Barcelona. Championship Manager 2 gave Figo slightly less pace than you'd probably expect but at that time still he still boasted top level dribbling, flair, creativity and technique and this is what we are looking for in today’s generation of Portuguese talent. Let's see what Football Manager 2021 can come up with...

🔍 Dribbling

🔍 Flair

🔍 Technique

🔍 Passing

🔍 Vision

🔍 Portuguese

       |

       |

       |

 
Processing.png
 

       |

       |

       |

 
 

This was a tricky choice but based on the attributes you'd commonly associate with Figo, it had to be Barcelona's Francisco Trincão. The Portuguese youngster is only 20 years of age at the start of FM21 and by the time he is 23, I think his attributes could be extremely close to mirroring those of a CM2 Luis Figo. Trincão boasts strong dribbling, technique, passing and vision which fits the type of profile that we are looking for. With the young winger having years ahead of him, exposure to first team football could see him become one of the best wide players on FM21 and can already fit a number of attacking positions across the pitch. It wasn't completely straight forward making Trincão the final choice though. AC Milan forward Rafael Leão possesses a number of quality attributes to rival Trincão and could once again be another player to mirror Figo's attributes. However, with the 21-year-old playing a slightly different position and not excelling in certain attributes, he fell just short of the selection. I mean, I couldn't do this article and not include a Wolves player. Pedro Neto offers a number of top attributes to rival the choice of Francisco Trincão. Wolves' tricky winger has high attributes for dribbling and flair but his end product (including finishing, long shots and passing) is a little bit lower than desired. The final name that was under consideration was Sporting's Pedro Gonçalves. The former Wolves man has had a really impressive campaign for the team Figo started his career with. Although predominately a central attacking midfielder, Pote offers a strong ability on the ball with high technique and vision levels. However, I don't think his ability and potential is that higher level to be dubbed the next Luis Figo and therefore quite matches Francisco Trincão is the player we expect to replicate some of Figo’s success in the very near future.

Let us know if you agree!

Thanks for reading,

Dave.

You can catch Dave live on Twitch where he is currently managing a brand new save at Sporting, while you can also find all of his YouTube content here including his current FM21 Journeyman series.

Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM or have a football icon you would like to try and replicate? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to MaddFM directly.

Dubbed the Next: Episode 7 - David Beckham

There aren’t many players that can boast title winning medals from England, Spain, France and USA, over 100 caps for England having captained his national side for 6 years playing in three World Cups and two European Championships (as well as giving Diego Simeone a kicking and living to tell the tale), being a co-owner of not one but two professional football clubs (Salford City and Inter Miami), being the victim of Alex Ferguson’s right foot when he somehow kicked a spare boot right at Beckham’s face, and of course marrying a Spice Girl in-between just for good measure.

Yes, it’s safe to say there haven’t been many English players to make such an impact on world football as David Beckham did ever since he emerged from the famous Class of ‘92 and announced his greatness on a global scale following that infamous goal from the halfway line against Wimbledon and a poor misfortunate Neil Sullivan in goal - which makes the task of trying to emulate Beckham’s playing style and finding a modern day replica that bit more challenging but nevertheless, we take to Football Manager 2021 to find the next David Beckham among England’s future generation of talented midfielders.

The rules are simple - any modern day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. Are we confident that we can somehow piece together the key attributes to find ourselves the next “Goldenballs”? #WeGoAgain.

 
 

by MaddFM


“True winners are relentless. The very best players compete against themselves to become as good as they can be. They have to be dragged off the training ground.”

Sir Alex Ferguson on David Beckham’s training & work ethic.


Posh Spice. Adidas Predator. Sarongs. Number 7. Pepsi adverts. Red Cards. Free Kicks. Dodgy Haircuts. It’s safe to say that David Beckham was and still is an iconic football figure in world football, and although he was often more commonly known for his image and non-footballing exploits, you can’t get away from the fact that the man was quite simply a brilliant footballer with unrivalled technique and ball distribution, as well as an incredibly intelligent football brain and ingenious on-field football vision which one could easily argue was up there among the greatest of all time 🐐.


David Beckham scored 127 goals during his 21 seasons at Man Utd, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, Milan and PSG. Not bad for a winger right?


He assisted 202 goals in the same period.


It’s easy to think back to some of Man Utd’s great goalscorers during their golden era wherein the likes of Paul Scholes, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Teddy Sheringham and Ruud van Nistelrooy regularly topped the club/league scoring charts, however during this time one thing remained constant: Beckham, eternal provider, crosser extraordinaire, pinger of long balls and the best right foot the Premier League has ever seen - so much of those Strikers’ and Manchester United’s long term success resulted from Beckham’s consistent lethality both in terms of creating headed goals from crosses, executing pinpoint passes to ignite counter attacks, repeat perfection from set-pieces and popping up with the odd humdinger from time to time, which means whoever we identify as having the potential to be the next Becks carries a fairly heavy burden (let alone having to find a popstar to marry). Who will it be?


Rewind ⏪

 
 

The year 2000. Pulp are getting ready for a big meet up they’ve been planning since 1995. Millennium bug is in the mud. A 26 year old Beckham has no idea that Victoria wants him to move to Spain, or that he will soon score a free-kick for England against Greece that will echo down through the ages. Championship Manager 00/01 clearly emphasizes Beckham’s all round ability as a Right Midfielder and to find his modern day counterpart we will take his strongest attributes from that version and plug them into Football Manager 2021; now we wait..


🔍 Passing

🔍 Crossing

🔍 Flair

🔍 Vision

🔍 Free Kicks

🔍 English


       |

       |

       |


 
Processing.png
 

       |

       |

       |

 
 

Is this a surprise? If we are looking specifically at Position, Ability, Passing/Vision and most importantly his Set Piece ability in terms of Free Kicks and Corner taking - James Maddison is the standout candidate as having the tools and potential to emulate Beckham’s success for club and country both as a provider as well as a goalscorer. Already lighting up the Premier League and getting international recognition, the next 10 years will hopefully see Maddision become a household name domestically and internationally, and Leicester will need to continue to finish highly and almost overachieve if they hope to keep Maddision at the club and match his ability and ambition. Trent Alexander-Arnold was most certainly a close candidate especially with his Set Piece quality, however positionally there are definitely some differences and it’s unlikely we will ever see TAA move away from his position as a Wing-Back. On the blue side of Manchester Phil Foden gave us a difficult decision, however there was one main problem: he is left footed! Beckham’s right foot is a national treasure and therefore poor Phil cannot be in contention based on his stronger side. In terms of slightly more outside bets with definite potential to play the Beckham role - Ryan Kent is a definite shout albeit with room to improve in all areas, while Norwich’s Kieran Dowell is an excellent underdog if like me you fancy a challenge. For now though it’s James Maddision who is a ready-made replacement and therefore he gets the #WeStreamFM seal of approval as the next David Beckham.

Thanks for reading,

MaddFM.

Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM or have a football icon you would like to try and replicate? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to MaddFM directly.

Dubbed the Next: Episode 6 - Vincent Kompany

Six episodes in - let’s bring some Centre Backs into the equation shall we? So far we have had legends from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Ireland and France, and today we profile an iconic figure from yet another nation of footballing excellence as we head to Belgium in our quest to find notable footballing royalty and identify a candidate worthy of being dubbed as their modern day counterpart and one to watch for the near future.

The rules are simple - any modern day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. Considering Vincent Kompany was just 22 years old when he moved to Man City in 2008, these most certainly are not small boots to fill. Let’s do this.

 
Kompany.jpg
 

by @adam_otbfm

“He is one of a small number of players who are universally liked and respected. He transcends football rivalry.” Gary Lineker

Vincent Kompany is arguably the player most synonymous with the Sheikh Mansour era at Manchester City, despite the fact he actually preceded the current ownership by a full 10 days!  Kompany joined Manchester City in 2008 as a very talented, but injury prone youngster who saw himself as a budding midfielder; by the time he left the club in 2019 he was one of the greatest central defenders the Premier League has ever seen. He was Captain Fantastic.

Throughout his career, Vincent won 6 league titles (2 in Belgium, 4 in England), 2 FA Cups, 4 League Cups and 2 Community Shields, as well as a host of individual awards. He also captained Belgium at the 2014 World Cup, and helped them to a third place finish in 2018 on the way to winning 89 caps.

His most iconic individual moment came towards the end of his illustrious City career. On the 6th May 2019, Manchester City hosted Leicester City, knowing that they had to win to keep their advantage in the title race going into the final day of the season. After 70 nervous minutes the scores were still level, when Aymeric Laporte played a simple pass to his defensive colleague, who drifted forward, perusing his options, before unleashing a rocket from 25 yards that flew into the top corner. Kompany hadn’t hit a shot on target from outside the area in 6 years, but when his side needed a moment of magic, he stepped up and delivered - even if his team-mates and manager doubted him. 

 
 

Ironically it was left to a Manchester United legend, Gary Neville, to sum up the magnitude of the moment.


"Never in my life Vincent Kompany, he thought about hitting it the first time. He ignores it, he goes a bit further forward. Wow. Where do you want your statue Vincent Kompany?”

Kompany was an excellent example of the modern Ball-Playing Defender. Football Manager gives the following explanation to the role: ‘The main job of the Ball-Playing Defender is to stop the opposing attackers from playing and to clear the ball from danger when required. However, unlike standard central defenders, the Ball-Playing Defender is encouraged to launch defence splitting through balls from deep to generate counter-attacking opportunities.’ 

Before we can identify Kompany’s heir apparent, we need to take a step back in time, and find out exactly what made him so special in his prime.

Rewind ⏪

We’re back in 2014, where Vincent Kompany has just come back from captaining his nation at the World Cup, having been named in the latest Premier League Team of the Year after guiding Manchester City to their second title in three years. 

 
 

At 28 Kompany was not only in his prime years but also one of the finest central defenders on the planet. At 6’3” he was a physically imposing, aerially dominant defender; but was also quick, good with the ball at his feet and read the game excellently. Truly a great all-rounder. What really set Kompany apart though, was his bravery and determination to do whatever it took for his side to succeed, he led by example and that’s why he’s in the discussion whenever the Premier League’s greatest captains are discussed. With that in mind, we take to Football Manager 2021 using Kompany’s key strengths to find his modern day replica and hopefully again stamp the #WeStreamFM seal of approval in our Dubbed the Next series.

🔍 Heading

🔍 Tackling

🔍 Passing

🔍 Anticipation

🔍 Bravery

🔍 Determination

🔍 Leadership

🔍 Positioning

🔍 Strength 

🔍 Belgian

       |

       |

       |

 
 

       |

       |

       |

 
 

To anybody who has had a save in the top 5 leagues in the last couple of editions of Football Manager, seeing Zinho Vanheusden top this list may not come as a surprise. He is not only the closest Belgium have to a new Vincent Kompany, but he’s also one of the finest prospects across the entire nation. He lacks slightly in aggression, understandable at just 20, but excels in every other area with fantastic defensive ability; strong mentals in Positioning, Anticipation and Bravery; and is 6’2” with great strength. He actually exceeds Kompany’s ball playing ability, with 15s in Passing and Flair plus 12 for Vision, and although at 20 he may be a bit too young to captain a side right now, he is surely a future captain with 14 Leadership - maybe even for Belgium? 

There were some other strong options when it came to finding the new Vincent Kompany. Marco Kana is a great prospect at just 17 and already has many of the attributes that Vincent possessed, however, at just 5’10” and with an 8 for strength, he isn’t likely to dominate in the air and is potentially better suited to a defensive midfield role. Sébastiaan Bornauw is a player who most definitely will dominate in the air, and is an excellent prospect, but doesn’t quite use the ball as effectively as Kompany or Vanheusden. Beyond them, we have Wout Faes and Elias Cobbaut who offer a couple more interesting options. Faes is very good in the air and on the ball, but isn’t quite as brave and lacks a bit of recovery pace which sees him fall just short. Cobbaut is slightly weaker mentally than the others on the list, with his lower levels of anticipation a particular weakness. His main strengths come in a slightly different area to Kompany’s, with his exceptional fitness, stamina and work rate making him a potentially great full-back.

Zinho Vanheusden already has all the attributes of an excellent ball-playing defender and still has plenty of time to grow into a star. Therefore, he gets the #WeStreamFM seal of approval and is officially dubbed the “next” Vincent Kompany. Watch this space - he will surely close it down.

Thanks once again to MaddFM and WeStreamFM for having me back on to contribute to the series for a second time, and thank you for reading!

Adam. 

Enjoyed this? Make sure to check out Adam’s wide variety of quality FM content on his own blog here.

Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM or have a football icon you would like to try and replicate? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to @MaddFM directly.

Dubbed the Next: Episode 5 - Fabien Barthez

We are building quite a squad here right? So far we have been mainly focused on midfield or attacking players in our Dubbed the Next project wherein we have selected some pretty decent footballing legends (check out Pirlo, Raul, Kaka and Keane if you haven’t already) and identified a number of candidates who look set to replicate their success and playing style in modern day football. Today we turn our attention to the more defensive side of the pitch and look at yet another iconic player from a new nation of choice whom we hope to emulate in Football Manager 2021 - a player who amassed one World Cup, one European Championship, two Premier Leagues, one Champions League and three French league titles all while having never scored or assisted a single goal in his 16 years as a professional footballer but was a vital cog in every side in which he featured. You already know his name…

The rules are simple - any modern day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. Who wouldn’t want to be dubbed the next Fabien Barthez?

 
 

by MaddFM

As footballing icons go, they don’t make batshit crazy players like they used to. Maradona, Jones, Gazza, Cantona - the closest we have had in recent times would probably be Zlatan, Mario Balotelli or Joey Barton however one could argue they live in the shadow of their earlier predecessors in terms of full on barmyness. Fabien Barthez most certainly fits in this category - from urinating on-pitch during a UEFA cup game, a 6 month ban for smoking cannabis, spitting at referees, smoking before games, dating supermodels and even trying his hand at a career in motorsport after retiring from football - it’s safe to say the Frenchman was up there among the maddest of footballing hatters however look past the madness and you will find one of the best and most influential goalkeepers of the past 30 years whom football commentators often argue was one of the pioneers of the Sweeper Keeper role due to how comfortable he was with the ball at his feet - so much so that he even tried his hand as a left winger in a pre-season friendly for Man Utd during a tour of Singapore, where he calmly proceeded to nutmeg his opponent with his first touch of the ball. We might be asking a lot to replicate a man of Fabien’s stature but as mad hatters go, we are all a bit mad around here..

 
 

Rewind ⏪

 
 

Back in CM9798 there was no Eccentricity for goalkeepers - the lad probably could have had an attribute of about 35 if there was. What we do observe when looking at a 26 year old Barthez is outstanding Aggression, Determination, Positioning, Shot Stopping, Rushing Out, Aerial Ability and interestingly, Passing - clearly reflecting his unique technical ability as a Sweeper Keeper in addition to his powerful goalkeeping attributes. Nowadays the Sweeper Keeper has evolved into a much more technical and influential component, almost becoming an extra defender at times with excellent feet, passing and distribution (think Ederson or Manuel Neuer). With this in mind, our search will focus on finding a Barthez-esque keeper with similar levels of Agression and Determination, competent in terms of Shot Stopping (Handling) and Command of Area as well as emulating that Passing/Technical ability as a Sweeper Keeper. As always we don’t ask for much right?

🔎 Aggression

🔎 Determination

🔎 Passing

🔎 Handling

🔎 Command of Area

🔎 First Touch

🔎 French

       |

       |

       |

 
Processing.png
 

       |

       |

       |

 
 

If you follow the Premier League then you won’t be surprised to see Illan Meslier’s name pop in our results especially when looking for a quality French goalkeeper under the age of 23. Following Kiko Casilla’s suspension, Meslier became the youngest goalkeeper in the Premier League and the first millennium-born #1 in the division, and he has continued to keep Casilla out of the Leeds starting XI ever since. Operating as a Sweeper Keeper, he plays a vital role often acting as an extra defender rushing out to intercept or break-up play and initiating subsequent counter-attacks as part of Leeds’ high-energy high-tempo playing style under Marcelo Bielsa. Strong on his feet, quality distribution and of course solid when it comes to shot-stopping, aerial command and reflexes, Meslier looks set to challenge for and succeed in taking the honour of becoming Hugo Lloris’s replacement in the France set up and whether his long-term future lies at Leeds will be an interesting development as his performances continue to catch the eye of media and scouting teams alike. I was tempted to lean towards my own current FM21 goalkeeper at Angers in Paul Bernardoni (he is even bald enough) however he lacks that passing and touch/technique which made Barthez such an impactful keeper, while the likes of Gautier Larsonneur and Alban Lafont came close but lacked that Aggression and Determination which gave Barthez that extra edge/mad streak that made him the legend he is today. Meslier doesn’t look to be at that same madness level but as Sweeper Keepers go, he looks set to elevate to the top tier in the coming years and it surely won’t be long before France and some elite European clubs come calling. Might be time to shave the head Illan 😄.

 
 

Thanks for reading,

MaddFM.

Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM or have a football icon you would like to try and replicate? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to MaddFM directly.

Dubbed the Next: Episode 4 - Roy Keane

Pirlo. Raul. Kaka. We have high standards here at WeStreamFM and today is no different. While one is often inclined to be drawn towards more technical or creative players when looking at past icons of the game, let’s not forget that much of these players’ success was in part due to the heroic efforts of unsung heroes that did the dirty work behind them, which in turn enabled them to become the creative or more attacking threat that made them the household names they are today. For every Pirlo there was a Gattuso; for every Raul there was a Redondo or a Makelele, and for every Kaka you need a Xabi Alonso - great players are only as good as those around them and this has long been the case both historically and in modern day football.


Roy Keane epitomised this key function in the great Manchester United sides of the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Were it not for Keane, Paul Scholes would arguably never have become the outstanding attacking threat that he was which made him one of the most feared and effective attacking midfielders to ever grace the Premier League, and for this reason we will today be looking to identify the next Roy Keane in today’s generation of defensive midfielders, using Football Manager to guide us towards identifying the perfect candidate to be given the unenviable honour of being dubbed the “next" Roy Keane.

 
RK.gif
 

The rules are simple - any modern day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. With Ireland struggling at International level in recent times, will we be able to identify a suitable candidate from the Emerald Isle with the potential to emulate Keane’s success for club and country? There’s only one way to find out.

 
Dubbed_The_Next_RK.jpg
 

by @MaddFM_

“He’d rather die of exhaustion than lose” (Alex Ferguson, 1999)

Where to start with Roy Keane. While some of you may know him mainly for his direct and no-nonsense approach as a pundit on Sky Sports, it’s Keane’s on-field exploits that really defined him as a footballing legend at Manchester United where he captained the side for 8 of his 12 seasons at the club. Ferocious in the tackle, outstanding positioning and anticipation, unrivalled work rate and excellent with his feet, one could argue there hasn’t been a midfielder like him in the Premier League since, and it’s easy to understand why he amassed 3 Footballer of the Year awards, 7 Premier League medals, 1 Champions League, 4 FA Cups and earned 67 caps for Ireland the majority of which he also earned as Captain of the national side.

While Keane may look back on certain moments of his career and wonder (e.g. being suspended for the 1999 Champions League final, his 2002 exit from the Ireland World Cup camp in Saipan or that incident with Alf-Inge Håland) - what he brought to that famous Man United side in terms of leadership, skill, influence, determination and pure class was one of the pivotal drivers in their long term success. Living up to his name is no easy feat for whomever we identify as having potential to be the next Roy Keane as surely there aren’t many players so irreplicable as the man himself, however with the help of Championship Manager 97/98 we can look back on a 25 year old Roy in an attempt to identify the key attributes which made him one of the greatest midfielders of his generation in the hope that we can replicate something similar in the latest version of Sports Interactive’s masterpiece, Football Manager 2021.

Rewind ⏪

1997. Roy Keane has just been handed the Man Utd captain’s armband by Alex Ferguson following the retirement of one Eric Cantona, which also sees Teddy Sheringham arrive at Old Trafford from Spurs for a €3.5m fee and the Number 7 jersey handed to a 22 year old David Beckham.

 
 


Considering Keane got even better as the years went on, it’s easy to see what it was that made him such a formidable force in the middle of the park for club and country. Aggression, Determination, Influence, Positioning, Stamina, Strength, Tackling - not a single player comes close when filtering specifically for a minimum 16 rating across all 7 of those attributes in CM9798 (David Batty being the closest with 15 Influence). What chance have we of replicating this in FM21 looking for an Irish player under the age of 23 in the same position?


🔎 Aggression

🔎 Tackling

🔎 Determination

🔎 Leadership

🔎 Positioning

🔎 Work Rate

🔎 Irish


       |

       |

       |

 
Processing.png
 

       |

       |

       |

 
 

The red side of Manchester winces as 18-year-old Man City academy graduate Joe Hodge is the player that looks most likely to evolve into the next Roy Keane going by FM21 standards. Obviously we can’t set a threshold of 16 for these attributes nor can we expect a young player to already have built up a high level of Strength or Stamina at the beginning of FM21, however Hodge ticks all the right boxes in terms of attribute potential (Tackling, Work Rate, Aggression, Leadership, Bravery) and with a Determination level of 19 (higher than his age) he is primed and ready to be trained and moulded into a powerhouse of a Defensive Midfielder and future captain of club and country. The likes of Jayson Molumby (Brighton), Conor Masterson (QPR) and Conor Coventry (West Ham) all came close to contention however were just slightly lacking that star quality potential, and Hodge at just 18 is at a perfect age to be developed into a a key player for almost any side in your next Football Manager save (if you can convince Man City to let him go). Spoiler alert: I am in the year 2026 in my current save and the kid has managed to find his way over to Dortmund under the guise of the Football Manager A.I. - imagine how good he can become with a proper Football Manager at the helm 🔥.

 
 

Thanks for reading,

MaddFM.

Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM or have a football icon you would like to try and replicate? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to MaddFM directly.

Dubbed the Next: Episode 3 - Kaka

We go again! Episode 1 brought us the next Andrea Pirlo while Episode 2 touted the next Raul Gonzalez. We are in good company here and Episode 3 is no different - today @Adam_otbfm has pulled out all the stops to bring us another modern day replica of a past footballing icon, this time it’s Brazilian footballing royalty in the form of Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, who you may also know by a slightly different name: Kaka.

The rules are simple - any modern day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. Does today’s crop of modern day Brazilian youngsters have what it takes to produce the next Kaka? Let’s do this.

 
 

by @adam_otbfm

“There’s a young guy who plays for São Paulo called Kaká who plays just behind the front two. You don’t know anything about him in Europe, but watch him if he is chosen for the World Cup.”

“But kaka means ‘sh*t’ in Spanish.”

“I know, but he’s definitely not.”

Rivaldo was keen to stress the potential that Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (Kaká to you and I) had while he was still a prospect back in his native Brazil, and Rivaldo knows a thing or two about knocking a ball around, I’m sure you’ll agree. 

For a few years in the early 2000’s, Kaká was arguably the greatest footballer on the planet, culminating in a Ballon d’Or trophy in 2007 - the last time somebody not named Lionel or Cristiano would receive the honour for a decade. One of his most iconic moments came in the Champions League Semi-Finals, where he powered past Darren Fletcher, flicked the ball over Gabriel Heinze and then caused him to collide with Patrice Evra as he nodded the ball through and slotted past Edwin van der Sar, leaving the Manchester United backline humiliated.

Kaká’s role in his prime years would be best described in Football Manager as a Shadow Striker, which has the following description in-game:

 “The Shadow Striker operates as one of the team's main goal-scoring threats. Usually coupled with another forward in support, the shadow striker aggressively pushes up into goal-scoring positions as the ball moves into the final third and looks to close down opposing defenders when out of possession.” 

Kaká was very often the most potent threat in a side containing the likes of Shevchenko, Inzaghi, Rui Costa, and for a brief period even an admittedly not in his prime Ronaldo. This in itself says a lot about the quality and impact Kaká had, but what exactly did he have in his locker that made him so exceptional? Using Football Manager we can have a look! By finding his key attributes we can take a look at the current crop of Brazilian Attacking Midfielders and try to find ourselves the ‘next’ Kaká in Football Manager 2021.

Rewind ⏪

We’re going back to 2008, the year after Kaká’s Ballon d’Or win, and his last at Milan before his move to Real Madrid. Milan would only finish third this year, meaning he somehow left Italy with just one Serie A title, however considering he also won the Supercoppa Italia, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup with the Rossoneri, his trophy cabinet wasn’t too bare leaving Milan.

 
 

Kaká had it all. He was technically gifted and endlessly creative, but was also a threatening goalscorer in his own right, both from long-range and within the penalty area. His finishing and long shooting were at the same world-class level as his dribbling, touch, and passing, while his flair, vision and off the ball ability were only matched by his composure in front of goal. A perhaps under-rated quality was his physicality. At 6’1” he wasn’t the typical diminutive playmaker, and could use his exceptional pace, power and agility to breeze past opponents as if they weren’t even there. To find a worthy successor within FM21 is going to be a tough ask, but that’s what we’re here to do, so using Kaká’s key attributes let’s jump into the game to find a Brazilian talent under the age of 23 to whom we can give the official #WeStreamFM seal of approval.

🔎 Dribbling

🔎 Finishing

🔎 Passing

🔎 Flair

🔎 Off the Ball

🔎 Pace

🔎 Strength

🔎 Brazilian

       |

       |

       |

 
Processing.png
 

       |

       |

       |

 
 

Reinier is the man that I believe is the closest incarnation we could have to Kaká in the game currently, although he had competition. Lucas Paquetá looked a good option, although at the age of 22 he’s very much a creator rather than a goalscorer and unlikely to drastically change his game. Malcom is a very good player who has many of the attributes that Kaká himself had, most notably his pace, flair and off the ball, but lacks the frame and strength to power past players in the same way, and doesn’t have the finishing or composure to be a regular goal-scorer. Rodrygo offers the goal-scoring threat, but would have to work hard to learn to play centrally without drifting back out to the wings where he is more suitable, plus his vision is a clear deficiency that would hold him back. Antony is another winger who on the surface looks a decent option behind the striker, but much like Paquetá and Malcom he isn’t a natural finisher and his slender frame and lack of strength doesn’t really fit the Kaká mould.

Reinier himself isn’t the finished article yet, of course, and has work to do if he is to truly emulate Kaká, most notably on his Finishing (11) and Off the Ball (12). I do believe however that with the right training regime and the amount of potential he possesses, he could go on to become one of the great attacking midfielders, both scoring and creating goals for fun, just as the main man himself did for so many years in this position. Reinier is officially dubbed the next Kaká, and rightfully gets the WeStreamFM seal of approval ☑️.

Thanks for reading, and a huge thanks to WeStreamFM for the opportunity to contribute to the series! 

Adam.

Enjoyed this? Make sure to check out Adam’s wide variety of quality FM content on his own blog here.

Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM or have a football icon you would like to try and replicate? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to @MaddFM directly.

Dubbed the Next: Episode 2 - Raul

Welcome back for the second installment of this new #WeStreamFM blog series in which we are using Football Manager 2021 to recreate history by carefully selecting past legends of the beautiful game and identifying their modern day counterparts / replicas in the hope that they will become the next big thing in their respective club, league or country.

The rules are simple - any modern day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing.

Last week MaddFM kicked off this series by bringing us his version of the next Andrea Pirlo (click here to read Episode 1 if you haven’t already). This week, @MattyLewis11 (aka Steinkelsson) brings us our second installment as he attempts to recreate another absolute worldie of a footballer - former Real Madrid and Spain goal-scoring machine Raul Gonzalez.

 
 

by @MattyLewis11

Welcome to my guest piece for #WeStreamFM as I look to take you on another journey in this Dubbed the Next series in which notable football legends of footballing times gone by are explored and an attempt is made to find their modern day counterpart through the conduit of Football Manager 2021.

In this piece I will explore the individual playing style, traits and attributes of Raúl and identify a player aged 23 or under who we feel justifiably aligns with the all-time Spanish top goal scorer in European League football, a player who was so well renowned for his technical skills, elegance and goal-scoring he was nicknamed “El Ferrari”.

“He was not a 10 out of 10 in anything,” former Madrid defender Fernando Hierro once famously said of his old team-mate. “But he was an eight-and-a-half in everything.”

Many great players came and went during Raúl’s time in Madrid, several of whom were blessed with far greater natural talent than the former Los Blancos’ captain. The Spaniard donned the white shirt of Madrid no fewer than 741 times, spanning the course of three decades, during this period Raúl surpassed the long standing goal-scoring record held by the legendary Alfredo Di Stéfano which highlights the players consistent durability and pure goal-scoring natural instinct.

Rewind ⏪

 

Raul Gonzalez - FM09

 

A prolific goal scorer and a highly creative forward, Raúl is regarded as one of the greatest and most consistent strikers of his generation. Wearing the number 7 jersey for most of his club and international career, he was capable of playing anywhere along the front line, although he was primarily deployed as a centre-forward, or as a supporting striker.

In Football Manager terms, Raúl was tireless (Teamwork) and possessed a skill that is sometimes ridiculously discounted as a ‘knack’ of timing his runs (Off The Ball) opportunely and finishing with gluttonous abandon. The forward lacked explosive power with his shooting, but instead he mastered accuracy, dispatching the ball with crisp precision relentlessly (Finishing) as he scored over 20 goals in nine of his 16 seasons for Los Blancos.

Although primarily renowned for prolific goal scoring, Raúl was also a highly creative and hardworking player (Work Rate), he possessed excellent ball control (First Touch) and technical ability (Technique), and was effective in the air as well when needed.

In addition to these characteristics, Raúl is remembered for his leadership and discipline , captaining both club and country and  throughout his extensive career, he never received a red card and was rarely booked in his efforts.

🔎 Technique

🔎 First Touch

🔎 Finishing

🔎 Concentration

🔎 Off The Ball

🔎 Teamwork

🔎 Work Rate

🔎 Spanish

       |

       |

       |

 
Processing.png
 

       |

       |

       |

 

Well, well, well, can you believe that a winger has ended up top of the list!

I am sure many of you would have expected La Masia academy prospect Ansu Fati to have been the player of choice, especially given the fact that he became the second-youngest player to ever appear for the club and their youngest-ever scorer on his senior debut as a 16-year-old. However the young Spaniard fell significantly behind in both teamwork and work rate, two attributes which I felt were fundamental to Raúl’s game. 

To my surprise Spain don’t seem to have an abundance of out-and-out strikers in the pipeline and players which could potentially be dubbed the new Raúl certainly need a good few years to continue their development before an accurate estimation can be made. These players are Nico Williams of Athletic Club Bilbao, Borja Garces of Atletico Madrid and Jordi Escobar of Almeria.

At 23 years of age, Mikel Oyarzabal is not a perfect or ready-made replica but one very much still in development who could easily be groomed into a quality Striker given the right individual training and development. This statement alone could very well be one which leaves his opposition in fear of what could be to come.

If you haven’t watched Oyarzabal play, don’t let his labelling as a left-forward or midfielder fool you. By no means is he a just a conventional winger. The Spaniard is crafty with the ball at his feet, capable of delivering the killer pass and skilled enough to play centrally or on the wing - what I would call an unorthodox winger, but attributes-wise is certainly capable of adapting or being retrained for a Striker role.

One of the 23-year-old’s best qualities is his movement and space occupation, this may also be significant as to why he’s transitioning into the role of a false nine with his national team. Manager Luis Enrique has made it clear that he sees Oyarzabal’s attacking tendencies along with his movement, shots and touches in the box as unique qualities that would make for an excellent striker or second-striker, it is for this reason paired with his exceptional key attributes that for me make Mikel a player that we will see talked about for many years to come - #WeStreamFM stamp of approval confirmed ☑️.

Thanks for reading, be sure to let us know your thoughts on Twitter, Discord or in the comments below!

@MattyLewis11.

Make sure you check out Matty’s cracking content on his own blog here - if tableau or data analysis is your thing you’re in the right place.

Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM or have a football icon you would like to try and replicate? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to @MaddFM directly.

 
Cart (0)