Scottish blogger @NowAndThenFM takes us on a trip to Argentina as he brings us his Player of the Year for Football Manager 2020.
Normally, a player of the year award will go to the person who has been a stand-out throughout the season, consistently being your team's best performer. In Football Manager terms however, this is a player who has most likely been doing that throughout a few seasons in your save. If you are like me though, a bit of a serial save starter (I haven’t managed past 5 seasons in any one save yet in this FM) then there may not be an obvious choice as you churn through the saves. However, deciding my FM20 Player of the Year became an easy choice and it was on my first save of FM20 with Club Atlético Belgrano. The player I am about to introduce wasn’t necessarily my most consistent player or even my best player throughout this 4 season (nearly) save but he is the player who has brought me my most enjoyable moments in this year's edition and the player who has made me involuntarily shout out loud or ferociously shake my arms in celebration.
Step forward - Cristian Ferreira.
Who is Cristian Ferreira? A newgen/regen (wherever your allegiance lies) that came through my youth intake, you may wonder? Well no, Cristian is a real life player and unless you are a River Plate die hard or a consistent connoisseur of the Argentinian game, then you probably won’t know who he is. I didn’t and I partake in some Superliga action now and then (FM) so I googled him (no shame in that, is there?) and according to Wiki, he has made around 16 first team appearances for the first team in the Superliga since 2017 and scored 4 goals. This led me to a Youtube compilation of young Cristian and from what I can see, his in game trait of ‘shoots from distance’ is accurate so well done Football Manager (unless of course you literally just watched the same video as me).
Enough of the real life stuff…...mainly because I am struggling to give you any more information. Let's get into the wonderful world of Football Manager and the universe that I had entered full of confidence and managerial prowess. Cristian, starts life in the River Plate reserves and is one of many talented players in the Buenos Aires giants squads who isn’t quite at their first team level. 19 years young, desperate for some first team action but can’t get into the team due to the wonderfully talented Quintero and his backup, Carrasco. 6 months into my save and I decided to rescue the boy and give him his chance after scouring ‘the big five’ of Argentina and trying to tease one of their youngsters to Córdoba for first team action.
Picked up for £300k during the mid -season transfer window, he was more than willing to drop a division with a reputable club in Belgrano to sample some of the sweet first team flavour that El Pirata had to offer. I felt I needed a bit more flair in my team in the attacking third and Cristian can play in the Attacking Midfield position or out on the left as an Inside Forward.
Cristian at the start of the game.
Not the most physically gifted player in terms of his attributes but he has technical attributes that stand out and ones which sparked my attention right away in conjunction with his player traits are his set piece skills and the fact he likes a worldy from distance with his 15 for long shots. I wasn’t even put off by his low determination that many FM players might be, I just thought of this young ‘pibe’ from the Nunéz barrio who could come into my Belgrano team and make an immediate impact and help get us back into the Superliga with his shooting qualities and set piece wizardry. After all it's all about your own narrative isn't it?
Originally a slow start for the club but he soon got used to the rigours of the Primera B and 5 games into his career at the club he wrestled the ball off the more experienced Gonzaléz and told him that he was hitting this free-kick (he didn't, he was already set as the taker but play along). He sat the ball down and told Gonzaléz that he was curling this ball into the top left pocket as Gonzaléz muttered unsavoury words and turned away shaking his head. Cristian stepped up and executed it emphatically into the top left corner. Golazo!
Fast forward four seasons and you find Belgrano fighting at the top end of the Superliga with 6 trophies in the cabinet including the holy grail of South American football, the Copa Libertadores. Cristian was integral to this achievement and our good form throughout the save. He really was a big game player and more often that not, stepped up and showed some ‘cojones’ when the pressure was on.
Cristian in 2023 with added player traits - I love a ‘winds up opponents’ trait and he has developed this due to how his confidence has grown with his performances (obviously).
Below was his performance in what was the biggest game of the save and the biggest in recent FM’s for myself personally. It was against heavy favourites and Brazilian giants, Palmeiras. Obviously, after such a performance in a stand out game, he was instantly an FM hero but he was already a player that I had a connection with.
He loved scoring against his old club, which is always great isn’t it? Because normally it happens the other way around with a player we have sold (instant rage). He would run away celebrating with his shirt off, spinning it above his head and showing no respect to his former club where he had grown up, shades of Giggsy against Arsenal (well at least that's what I was imagining he was doing as I watched in 2D). We played River 6 times in the save and Cristian Ferreira scored 4 goals which were made up of 2 freekicks, 1 rocket from outside the box and 1 Tesco trolley (volley) from inside the box. The 93rd minute winner against his old club to make it 5 goals in 3 games was the one where I imagined this celebration (or was it me doing this celebration in the living room?) It always meant a lot to myself beating the historically bigger clubs and Cristian would regularly score in the games against Boca, San Lorenzo, Racing, Independiente and River.
Just the 5 goals in 3 games for the main man along with a couple against River in back to back games.
A hattrick against our neighbouring rivals (Talleres de Córdoba) in the ‘el clásico cordobés’ made him a fans favourite, even more so than scoring against the likes of Boca and River. A brace against Sao Paulo in the Recopa Final to help secure the trophy after a 2-1 defeat in the first leg all but cemented a highly coveted mention in the clubs tab under ‘favoured personnel’ . It just seemed in big games he would score or set up a goal. These are just some of the moments that made him become my favourite player of this year's game.
Overall in the save over nearly four seasons, he scored 30 goals and managed 18 assists. These stats are in the league only and he scored a good few goals in cup competitions. I found him to be more prolific as an Inside Forward but played a lot of games as an Attacking Mid on Support, where he would find space and more often have a pop from distance (“shoot more often” instruction added). He is a player who will live long in the memory along with his fellow Argentinians from many CM/FM’s ago - Pablo Vitti, Fernando Cavenaghi, Franco Costanzo and Andrés D’Alessandro to name but a few. I imagine Cristian to be an aesthetically pleasing player in terms of the way he plays the beautiful game and especially in the Argentinian leagues which require a bit of ’dig’ in you due to the fierce tackles that occur in this at times, frantic league.
Like many Football Manager players, we develop affinities and connections with clubs due to our experiences in the game and look out for the results but not as often will we have this with a player that isn’t normally a newgen/regen (allegiance not selected). I will now be looking out to see how Cristians career pans out and if he does well then you know I will feel a sense of pride and also like I had a hand in his push to stardom (most likely mediocrity). I don’t know about everyone else (I hope I’m not alone) but having a player that inspires your imagination and makes you think about how they would celebrate and how you envision them playing football, well, that's gotta mean something right?
Gracias, Cristian!
If you enjoyed this be sure to check out @NowAndThenFM’s thoroughly entertaining “Football Manager for Grown-Ups” which he recently wrote exclusively for WeStreamFM - you can also find all of his Football Manager saves and FM content on his blog.
Interested in sharing your own FM Player of the Year? Drop us a message or reach out to MaddFM for more info.
