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.
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
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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!
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.