Football Manager

My FM20 Player of the Year

by @_JDFM

 
 

You might know @_JDFM as the founder of the FM Creator’s Championship, or as the Official Virtual Football Manager of Margate FC for FM21. More recently, he has completed an FM Journeyman save for FM20 as well as his “Call of the Dragon” save in Wales, so we asked him to name his Player of the Year from this year’s version of the game.

Football Manager has really got me in a pickle over the last decade. Amassing well in excess of 10,000 hours of gameplay from FM10, it’s had a grip on me stronger than Peter Crouch’s dancefloor repertoire. It’s been a love affair that has brought joy and despair across leagues, nations and continents. And with FM21 looking so good, it looks like the draw is here to stay.

I only jumped into content creation for FM20 and the art of putting your content in the public eye certainly adds an added realism to the save, strangers commenting on fictional characters is something that takes getting used to.

In all of my time playing FM, my tendency has been towards building youth, developing my own world away from the usual suspects, favouring unknown wonderkids rather than the big names. Considering my usual style of play within Football Manager is to assemble an arsenal of overpowered newgens that make Barcelona look like Bradford (sorry lads), naming a real player is huge. But that’s the effect that Ilaix Moriba has had on me..

 
 

The world of Moriba was an FM20 Journeyman save, starting with nothing and climbing to the top. My Journey started with an obvious move; the Romanian Second league and the legends that are Daco-Getica. After taking a team of part-time farmers and bootleggers up a division, Astra Giurgiu came calling like I knew they always would. My first season was successful but brought no rewards or silverware. I needed a bigger challenge.

That’s when Bordeaux came calling, let’s be honest moving from Romanian football to the dizzy heights of the PSG league is a bigger step than Crouch’s dance routine. But they clearly liked my penchant for swanky Romanian designer clothing and baguettes. So in 22/23 I became the Manager of Bordeaux, coming in during the middle of a season is never easy but I dragged them up to 3rd position in my first season.

The next season is when things pushed on a gear, coincidentally when Moriba arrived on loan from Barcelona. His first season was good if not glamorous, but it was enough for me to spend £35million on the guy which in reality was a steal!

My love affair with Moriba came from my preferred tactical role of a Mezzala, admittedly a little OP this year but it just offered everything that I loved from a player, and Moriba was a worldie in this position. He’d constantly pick the ball up from deep, charge forward and score screamers for fun.

In total Moriba played 182 games for Bordeaux scoring 65 goals and chipping in with 42 assists

 
 

It was so much more than the numbers alongside Moriba’s name, he was the big game player we always needed.  Popping up with huge goals in cup games, pushing us to Champions League glory and even completing FM by toppling the mighty PSG and winning the Ligue 1 title.

Our relationship wasn’t always perfect; not only did I break Moriba’s heart whilst in charge of the French national team..

 
 

..but there were also times when he wanted bigger and better things, in reality he had outgrown the club.  And to be honest, I think I had too. I told him with confidence that we’d one day leave together and take over the world..and that’s exactly what we did:

 
 

Liverpool came calling, and I ran there quicker than Peter Crouch down that right wing for a goal and a robot celebration. Moriba was already on speed-dial and he along with a couple of other Bordeaux favourites came in the door for a measly £60million. That season we lifted the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.

That save will always stay with me as my favourite FM20 save and the legend that is Moriba is one of the main reasons for that. Maybe we’ll continue our love affair in FM21…

Thanks for reading,

@_JDFM

If you would like to catch up with more of @_JDFM’s Football Manager content including his Welsh-only FM20 save with Hiraeth then get on over to his Youtube channel, drop a sub and brace yourself for some great content to come with the arrival of FM21.

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

My FM20 Player of the Year

 
 

If you have ever read @AFMOldTimer’s Football Manager blog, you will know that there are few who delve into the world of metrics analysis and statistical detail better than he when it comes to breaking down a quality FM save - picking his FM20 Player of the Year must surely have been an easy task, right?

This year I had avoided playing as Liverpool in the beta as I considered it too easy, much like Liverpool found it themselves in the Premier League last season. However, when looking for a save to pass the time, I decided to look at how Liverpool could go about recruiting players that fit their model of picking up undervalued players and that fit into their system/style of playing. With an ageing midfield including James Milner (33), Henderson (29) and Wijnaldum (28), and not a massive amount of back up to them in terms of potential younger/youth prospect (Curtis Jones wasn’t top six Premier League quality in my save), I looked for signings that I thought could be a good fit for the club.

Step forward Lorenzo Pellegrini.

 
 

Pellegrini, 23, had a £26m release clause in his contract at Roma at the start of the save, and with a reasonable transfer budget to begin with, I leapt at picking him up for such a figure given his mental and technical attributes. His player traits of “tries killer balls often” combined with his vision, passing and technical ability make him an incredible playmaker in the central midfield strata.

Given his age and his work rate, teamwork and reasonable natural fitness and anticipation, I thought he would be a good replacement for Milner after his contract expired at the end of the first season. Since I didn’t foresee him being given many minutes in the first season, I loaned him straight back to Roma, confident that he’d play regular minutes for them.

He can engage in the press and help to win the ball back high up the pitch, and then progress the ball forward quickly with precise through balls to the forwards who are breaking at speed beyond the defence.

 
 

Yet, despite his natural playmaking abilities, he does not play in either the deep-lying nor advanced playmaker role within the tactic I’ve set up for Liverpool. Instead, he plays in the carrielo role on the left-hand side of a central midfield pairing, alongside a ball winning midfielder on support and a defensive midfield player set to defend. He has no specific player instructions beyond those assigned to the role, but the team play in an attacking mentality, pressing high and hard.

What really sets him apart from others in this magnificent Liverpool squad though is his set piece taking. His capability to whip in corners and wide set pieces onto the head of either Virgil van Dijk, Ben Godfrey, Joe Gomez or Nikola Milenkovic is remarkable. He has so far contributed 111 assists and 44 goals across all competitions – 155 goal contributions in 273 appearances (including substitute appearances).

Those goal contributions include these screamers in a hattrick against Atletico Madrid in the First Round Knockout of the Champions League in the 2020-21 season. This hattrick, along with a goal from fellow countryman and Roma import, Nicolò Zaniolo, turned around a 3-1 loss in the first leg at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano.

His first goal in the rematch at Anfield was an absolute net buster from the edge of the 18-yard box after a knock down from Firmino inside the first thirty seconds, to set Anfield believing, hoping and absolutely rocking – at least in my mind!

 
 

The second goal was no less impressive – an incredible strike from even further out than the first on the 53rd minute following a first-half goal in injury time by Morata, to bring the score back to 4-4 on aggregate and the scores level on away goals.

 
 

With the scores tied, cometh the hour, cometh the man. An 87th minute free kick from all of 30 plus yards out and Pellegrini sealed his hattrick and place in my FM heart for FM20.

 
 

His professional mentality makes him a good tutor, if not spectacular with only 15 determination, but he has developed his attributes over the duration of the save and become one of the first names on the team sheet over his natural successor, Jude Bellingham, who he has held back from some considerable minutes.

He has been the mainstay in the transition from Henderson, Milner, Fabinho and Wijnaldum to a midfield of Kana, Camavinga and the aforementioned Bellingham, changing from the young upstart to the elder statesman in the side. He has been wanted by both PSG and Real Madrid but offers have been rejected given his level of import to the side. The world-class midfielder has won four Premier Leagues and four Champions League titles so far in his six years at Liverpool and is fighting to retain the Premier League half-way through his seventh.

In terms of personal honours, he’s won the Ballon d’Or, The Best FIFA Men’s Player and World Player of the Year honours twice across both 2023 and 2024, alongside the Adidas™️  Golden Ball award in 2022 following Italy’s second place finish at the World Cup.

 
 
 
 

Now aged 30, he’s starting to kick up a bit of a fuss about not playing as much as he believes that he should – but I’m trying to think long-term and want to provide Bellingham with the chance to shine and reduce Pellegrini’s playing time as result. Time will tell if he decides to move on, but I won’t begrudge him the chance given his output for the side.

Thanks for reading,

@AFMOldTimer.

Enjoyed this? You ain’t seen nothing yet - be sure to check out @AFMOldTimer’s excellent Football Manager blog for a vast selection of save series, metrics analysis, top quality graphics and tactical tips/insights.

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

My FM20 Player of the Year

 
 

We asked our resident American Football Manager superfan Brian Cook aka @SoccerwithBrian to bring us his Player of the Year from Football Manager 2020 - and what a player it is 🔥🔥.

In my nine years of playing the world’s best football/soccer management game (we’ll allow it), I’ve rarely found myself drawn towards specific individual players. You have some “favoured” players or players who have magical moments (like Jay Dasilva driving the length of the pitch to send my Philly Union side into extra time of the MLS Cup on FM18) but I rarely, until FM20, found myself emotionally attached to a player…that is until a scout suggested a player from Japan who would change the very existence of my 1860 Munich save.

I play Football Manager on an 8 year old laptop. It still runs the game, sure, but it does show it’s age. Normally it’s age is shown when I do silly things like a maximum player database which is what I chose to do for my “career” save bringing 1860 back from 3. Liga to Bundesliga glory. We didn’t win any continental trophies but I had a blast building a culture and mindset with a club who simply were looking for a strong leader.

As I rode in on my horse waving my American flag, my goal in the beginning of the save was to, as much as possible, save my youth players for as long as I could. If you haven’t looked into them, 1860 have a stupidly strong youth set-up for their level and easily produce some quality youth players who could be both financiers for your promotion push or keys for silverware winning sides when they come of age.

I produced a few here and there, and I attempted to hold onto as many as I could while selling those who wouldn’t fit into my tactical plans long term and investing into facilities, new players etc…the stuff you should when you are trying to do the casual “starting from the bottom to world class club” type of stuff.

After securing promotion in our first season, we spent a season in Bundesliga 2. I had begun to remove the responsibilities of certain things from staff to have more control over the directions we were headed

 
 
 
 

Screens like this became common sights for the club and as we hit the beginning of our second season I knew that I wanted more and wanted to find the coveted “hidden gem” that we all dig deep for in each save we play.

Enter, Kang Chung-Guk - The greatest player to come out of Japan:

 
 

There were two reasons this signing excited me. One - this was not a player that I found myself. With a large database, I went out and threw my scouts at any and all hot prospects out there. Guk came to Germany for 625K USD flat from an amateur side in Tokyo (Tokyo Metro Feliz). That money likely kept that club afloat for years and in exchange, we got what would turn out to be the key to a promotion.

 
 

Physically, Guk lacked what I would want from him in terms of attributes. Rarely have I found success with a striker that can outpace everyone but weighs a fraction of any other players even if they are soaking wet with two bricks in their pockets…however Guk was different. Despite being a natural False Nine, we threw him up top as a pressing forward and let him stress defenders out. The shocking aspect of his abilities were the fact that he was a set piece specialist… specifically with throw ins.

 
 

Guk was a mystery. I didn’t understand how the smallest player in size and height could be such a goal scoring machine but he was Mister 1860, taking the team on his back as we rode into promotion into the Bundesliga. The problem? As he got better… the teams that wanted him got better…

 
 

I don’t have any kids yet. But as the save progressed, I kept watching this young man grow confident in his new team and take such a massive step from the amateur depths of Japan to the massive waters of Germany. It was amazing to watch as I’ve rarely had this level of development but as time grew on, I got the feeling that I wouldn’t have him for his entire career. Despite hitting our goals and starting stupidly strong in the Bundesliga - Guk wanted more. He wanted things we weren’t ready to provide… yet. We had some solid players around him, we were building something special, but as he hit his 20s, he was hungry for Champions League football, which was, unfortunately, something we could hit yet.

 
 

We fought off most of the suitors for a season but it was painfully clear, I couldn’t stand in the way of a player’s desire to what is best for his career. By the time he was 21, Guk had hit “elite” status in game. Hertha Berlin had came in around 150 million and I stupidly called their bluff to see if I could get more from them. I couldn’t. Guk got upset as he was ready to go and was tired of me trying to squeeze value you out of him. I fought off many in-league buyers, namely Bayern Munich who were our fierce rivals. After much consideration, I realize the best decision was to ship him off to a “small” team in Spain called “Real Madrid.” Maybe Madrid had finally found their new Ronaldo, who knows, but it hurt to watch him leave. He was Mr. Reliable, the promotion hero, and the man responsibility for sending 1860 back to the top flight of German football but, all good things had to come to an end, and that included us not standing in the way of a player destined for greatness. With his funds and the profits from it, Guk’s sale actually pushed us to a point of challenging for the Bundesliga title as well as finally returning 1860 to their own stadium.

 
 

The post Guk era saw us come within a point of the Bundesliga title and challenge in Europe quite frequently but, as we reach the end of the FM20 life cycle, I will always look back at this save and this player and wonder what would have happened had we kept Kang and whether he would have led me to my first European title in my (going on) 10 years of playing Football Manager.

Thanks for reading!

Brian.

If somehow you haven’t been entertained by Brian’s consistently epic FM community support as well as his equally epic in-car hype videos, be sure to drop him a follow on Twitter - you won’t regret it.

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

My FM20 Player of the Year

 
 

Not many creators can say that they blog, stream and make video content about Football Manager - @MikaelinhoFM can, and following save stints at Man Utd, Santos and most recently at Hansa Rostock in Germany, we asked him to tell us his Player of the Year from Football Manager 2020.

I’m not one to fall in love easily. Especially not when it comes to Football Manager. Most of my saves revolve around the building of a club in general and their youth setup in particular. I can fall in love with the project, sure, but it’s very rare for me to get attached to individual players. They are more or less considered means to an end for me. They are the tools needed to help me achieve success for the club.

But what if the entire save is focused in individuals and their development? Would that change anything? Before starting the Santástico save with Santos FC, my answer would have been ”no”. A save solely focused on trying to create the next generational Brazilian superstar. The next Neymar or even Pelé. That wouldn’t change a thing. The individual players would simply be means to reach that aim. I stayed true to this for the first few seasons of the series as well. Kaio Jorge scored a lot of goals for me, but it didn’t wake any particular feelings for him. Marcos Leonardo improved massively on the training pitch, but that only made me eager to move him on to Europe. Renyer secured a record breaking move to Real Madrid and that made me happy. Happy, but not ecstatic. Simply another player leaving the conveyor belt. I was starting to reconcile with the notion of me playing the game, not without feelings, I still get pissed off when my winger hits the side netting for the 11th time in a row or when PSG steal my wonderkid, but without the ability to feel love for individual players. And then it hit me. Like a steam train on the loose. They say that you need to experience love to know what it actually is. Now I know.

I’m going to tell you about my first proper love on Football Manager. I’m gonna tell you about Willian. Willian 2.0.

Let’s start with the 2027 youth intake.

The youth intake preview looked quite promising:

 
 

An excellent group coming through!? Well, thank you! With an attacking mid, a winger and at least one striker coming through as the best prospects in what appeared to be a good intake I felt confident as we reached mid-September.

 
 

At first glance (this is actually the second glance, I’ll explain that soon) this seemed like a good intake with the top four players of the right positions. One five star potential player and two more with 3.5-4 star potential. Not bad. I was a bit surprised to see the name Luan Jefferson at the top of the list though, and before you ask why, I’ll explain!

I’ve been trying a bit of streaming for a while and I was over the moon when I got Willian through the 2027 youth intake live on stream as the best youth intake player ever! I went to bed with a big grin on my face and spent the night dreaming of Brazilians (stop that, you know what I mean!) but when I went to start the game up the next day the latest save file wasn’t there. I’m not sure what actually happened, if the file went corrupt during the saving process or something else, but the save file (and Willian) was nowhere to be found. I had no other option but to load the backup file which sent me to a point roughly one month before the above mentioned intake had happened and my disappointment was endless. I was about to kill this save and throw my desktop out the window, when several community members told me that I’d get the same intake again since they don’t actually generate on intake day on FM20. Apparently they generate at the time of the intake preview, which got my hopes up that I was going to be reunited with Willian when the intake day arrived again. That’s why I was a bit surprised when I saw the name Luan Jefferson as the “best” prospect. The name “Willian” was there in the list as well, but considering how good he was in the original intake and the assertions that we were getting “the same” intake again, why wasn’t he top of the list? Perhaps Luan Jefferson was even better? Let’s find out!

 
 

When I clicked his name I was actually a bit disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, Luan Jefferson was a decent player, but he was nowhere near the levels of Willian from the previous intake. When I clicked the name of 4 star potential new Willian my disappointment turned into pure joy though.

 
 

There he was! Not exactly the same, but still an absolutely amazing player! I think that this Willian 2.0 was actually slightly better than the previous one. With a Model Citizen personality this might actually be the player that gets closest to the Ginga Rating and career of Neymar! I had not had these levels of expectations for any player in the previous eight seasons of this save. This might actually be the guy!

 
 

He became an instant success for the club, scoring goals for fun and improving in training. At age 18 he had already scored more than 60 goals for Santos and made four appearances for the Brazilian national team. This player was really unique!

 
 

At the age of 21, the boy had turned into a young man and by now he had scored 170 goals in the process. In this stage of a player’s career I usually move him on to Europe, but this wasn’t the case for Willian. It wasn’t down to the fact that the interest had been lacking. No, I accepted a £108M bid from Juventus for him, but he simply didn’t want to leave. He became upset and made me promise not to sell him and who was I to say no to that face!? My aim was instead to make him a Santos legend. My plan was to play the Santástico save all the way to the launch of FM21, but I fell out of love. Not with Willian, but with the Santos project. After 13 seasons I had won everything humanly possible with Santos FC. Over and over again. Things had grown stale and I felt like I was playing the same season over and over again. I made the decision to end the save and do something else. Therefore, this is where my journey with Santos ended, which meant that I only got a few years together with Willian 2.0. That was probably the only thing I regretted with ending the Santástico series, not getting to experience his prime as a player. When I was approached to write about my favourite FM20 player I had an idea though. I decided to load up my Santos save file and simulate the game for 5 years, just to see what happened to Willian.

 
 

When I ended the series in 2032/33 Willian was already the best player at the club and well on his way to become a living legend. In my simulation he spent a few more seasons with Santos and didn’t make anyone disappointed. After scoring almost 300 goals for the club, he finally left for Europe and Inter Milan. His average ratings have continued to be great for his new club even though he hasn’t managed to replicate his Brazilian goal tally. Quite the career though, and he still has a few good years left in him!

 
 

During his time with Santos he won the Brazilian league eight times and the Copa Libertadores six times, which can be compared to Pelé’s two Copa Lib titles and five league titles with the same club. Pelé on the other hand scored over 600 goals for the club, with Willian ”only” scoring a little less than 300. Willian hasn’t reached Pelé’s levels of importance for the Brazilian national team either. With 19 goals in 60 caps he’s nowhere near Pelé’s record of 77 goals in 92 games.

 
 

As I stated above, Willian 2.0 still has a few good years left in him though. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’ll remain on the top international level for at least another five years. He sure has the technical and mental skills, and with a Natural Fitness of 17 his physical attributes won’t see such a rapid decline, allowing him to shine well into his 30s.

Hell, this actually makes me keen on loading up the Santos save file again. Maybe I can apply for the Inter job, so that me and the love of my life can grow old together!?

Thanks for reading,

MikaelinhoFM.

If you want to see more of MikaelinhoFM’s awesome FM content as well as occasionally seeing a Swedish guy donning a mullet wig, you can find him on Twitch, on YouTube and on his own blog where he is currently instigating the Swedish Mafia at German side Hansa Rostock.

Interested in sharing your own FM Player of the Year? Drop us a message or reach out to MaddFM for more info.

My FM20 Player of the Year

by Oliver Jensen aka @fmFutbolManager

 
 

Following his French revolution at Stade Rennais, we asked @fmFutbolManager to give us his Player of the Year for Football Manager 2020.

When I was approached by MaddFM to write a player of the year piece for @WeStreamFM I thought it would be quite an easy thing to do. But often that first thought that enters your head is the emotive one.

When I sat down and actually started to give it some thought various players came to my mind. The obvious choice for me was Gilles Schmitt.

 
 

The boy was a machine. We had an on-off relationship. He left for Manchester United in the summer of '26 for €150M, the asking price I had set him.

For those who don't know, I do not handle my incoming offers for players. I set an asking price and clubs who bid face my Director of Football. If the bid meets the asking price the player is sold, if not, he stays.

Read more » Dealing with incoming transfer bids

I had set Schmitt's asking price at €150M thinking it was a safe value and no one would offer this. I was wrong. Manchester United made the offer, and the rest was almost history.

Schmitt returned on loan in January 2028, scored three goals against Manchester United en route to our first Champions League final against AC Milan. Unfortunately, he choked, and we lost on penalties.

His return saw him break the Stade Rennais all-time league goalscorer record, which he still holds with 108 goals; one of many records he has. He also came through the academy in the same year as my eventual player of the year. 

Jacky Rault

 
 

To look at him, you wouldn't think he was much of a player. He has an average first touch, he isn't particularly good at tackling, and his concentration and composure attributes aren't the best. 

However, what he doesn't lack is fantastic passing (his technique and vision attributes are brilliant) and an engine that keeps him going for the full 90-minutes (stamina and work rate). The perfect mix for the job I needed him to do.

When Jacky came through the academy as a promising midfielder, he was part of a crop of youngsters who I had very high hopes for. A golden generation. I never dreamed that he would be with me ten seasons later lifting the Champions League.

 
 

Of the squad which finished the 2019/20 season, only Rault and the retiring Jérémy Gélin remain. It is for this reason, the loyalty to me, that he is my choice.

Astonishingly, Rault has never played for France. Something that I would love to change should the France position come available. 

Despite playing a part in 304 matches for Stade Rennais at the top level, contributing 68 goals and 50 assists, he has been overlooked all this time in favour of older players, such as the 36-year-old Paul Pogba.

As a box-to-box midfielder, he is usually arriving on the edge of the box, waiting for a cut-back from one of the wide players. This affords him the chance of getting plenty of shots at goal.

Talking of shots on goal, rarely does he score the simple tap in. 

 

I could have chosen from the plethora of pacey wingers or the powerful strikers I've had at my time in charge of Rennes, but that would be the easy choice.

As I hand over the reins to a new manager, my only hope is that Rault can get enough games under the new leadership and retire a club legend. Moving into the 11th season, I've resigned as manager and become the Director of Football at Stade Rennais.

Read more » Oliver Jensen steps down as Stade Rennais manager 

It’s out of my hands

Writing this piece has allowed me to look back over the seasons and look at the development of a player who, while not spectacular, is certainly one of the best I’ve had the luck of managing.

It has allowed me to appreciate that what separates the human manager from the AI is our ability to look beyond the numbers. We become attached to these players. We build a narrative. The AI will often refuse to rotate, they'll play their strongest players based on current ability, and this is where I worry for Rault's future.

When I filter the squad by those who can play centrally as a midfielder, we have eight players available. Rault is second from the bottom in terms of current ability.

The story of Jacky Rault and Stade Rennais could become one of legend. However, with the AI in charge, it could also be a story of what could have been.

Thanks for reading.

Oliver Jensen.

If for some inexplicable reason you haven’t read any of Oliver Jensen’s FM content by now, drop what you are doing and get on over to www.theresonlyoneball.com where you can find a host of outstanding FM tips and guides, tactical pieces as well as save updates from his epic Les Rouge et Noir save at Stade Rennais.

Interested in sharing your own FM Player of the Year? Drop us a message or reach out to MaddFM for more info.

My FM20 Player of the Year

by CurtyFM

 
 

Fresh from his Dutch adventures with AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie, we asked WeStreamFM OG CurtyFM for his FM20 Player of the Year from this year’s version of the game…considering one of his players even had a song dedicated to him, will there be any surprises? 👀

With Football Manager 2020 in the winter of it’s lifespan, I often start to think about who would make my FM20 starting XI. I’ve had quite a collection of saves this year, probably two or three more than I would normally have during one single version of FM. I started as usual with my beloved Aldershot, but I’ve also had brief stints at Lille, Hertha BSC, Rangers, Rosario Central & Man City. However, my favourite save of this cycle, and it’s not even close, was with AZ Alkmaar. Myself and Herb began a network save based in Holland with the idea that we didn’t want to start as the ‘big boys’ of Dutch football, namely Ajax & PSV, so Herb took over at Feyenoord and I plumped for AZ. Little did I know I would be blessed with an abundance of talent within the starting squad. I enjoyed the save so much that when the network part of the journey ended after season 3, I continued with the save solo and at the time of writing have completed 6 seasons in Holland, winning 4 Eredivisie titles and I’m well on the way to my 5th.

 
 
 
 

It’s safe to say that the majority of my FM20 starting XI would come from this AZ side, but the thought of narrowing it down and picking my FM20 Player of the Year will take some serious consideration. Let’s look at the top 3 contenders:

Teun Koopmeiners

 
 

Koopmeiners, or ‘Koop’ was the beating heart of my AZ midfield for 4 and a half seasons. Deployed from central midfield as a DLP, his vision and long passing were a joy to behold. The player trait combination of ‘Tries Long Range Passing’ and ‘Likes To Switch Ball To Other Flank’ were key to starting counter attacks, especially coupled with a striker who operates on the shoulder of the last defender. Koop was my club captain before his departure to Barcelona for £80m, and he’s established himself as a key player in Catalonia as well. A phenomenal midfielder who scored important goals and was an ambassador for the club.

 
 

Sebastiano Esposito

 
 

Oh, Sebastiano. I know this guy will be a popular pick amongst FM players this year. He’s relatively easy to sign if you have a few quid and rarely offers a less-than-great return on investment. Esposito left Inter to join us after Man City triggered Myron Boadu’s release clause. I actually brought in Fabio Silva alongside him, paying less for both wonderkids combined than the transfer fee I received for Boadu. Esposito started life in Alkmaar playing from left and scored some very important goals along the way. Since Silva’s departure to Man Utd he has taken up the mantle of being the premier striker in the Dutch league and is loving the new responsibility. At the time of writing this, he’s still only 23 years old and is attracting the attention of all the usual European giants. It’s unclear how long I’ll be able to hang on to him, but hopefully we can win a European trophy before he departs to pastures new.

 
 

Benoit Badiashile

 
 

Badiashile might just be one of my favourite FM defensive signings since the days of Eder Alvarez Balanta. He has been an absolute behemoth at the heart of my AZ defence since signing for a bargain £7.5m from Monaco at the end of season one. Badiashile has notched up double digits for goals scored in the last two seasons in all competitions and gives me a great amount of comfort when defending set-pieces at the other end. After each season, I have a deep dive into player statistics to try and spot any weaknesses that need to be addressed, and every season Badiashile dominates almost every key defensive area. He is the first player on the team sheet for every important game and has become a club icon during his time in Holland.

 
 

I have to give a few shout-outs to some that didn’t quite make the final three. Esteban Andrada has comfortably been the best goalkeeper I’ve managed this year, Calvin Stengs was awesome in his time at AZ and has become one of the greatest in the world since moving to Chelsea, and Kenzo Goudmijn is basically Paul Gascoigne reincarnated.  

Now to announce my FM20 Player of the Year. It’s such a tough call, but if you held a gun to my head and made me choose, I’d have to plump for Benoit Badiashile. After taking into account the fact that he cost a fraction of what I paid for Esposito, plus he hasn’t deserted me, unlike Koopmeiners, the big Frenchman deserves the crown.

Up the AZ!

Thanks for reading,

Chris aka CurtyFM.

If you somehow aren’t already following, you can catch CurtyFM live on Twitch where he is currently knee deep in a homegrown save at Man City - Twitch.tv/Curty.

Interested in sharing your own FM Player of the Year? Drop us a message or reach out to MaddFM for more info.

My FM20 Player of the Year

 
 

Who better to ask about his FM20 Player of the Year than a blogger who has surpassed 40 years in one Journeyman save alone? Surely an easy task for @Lutterworth_Fox…😉

When having a save that has gone on for nearly 40 seasons it is very hard to pick a player that has stood out. This is even harder as when you look at the teams you have played at and most of the players are now Newgens!

 

One of my main aims in this save was to get an intake player that I had faith could play 300 career appearances for me and also chip in with 100 goals. For season after season I received shocking youth intakes and never found THAT man, that was until the year 2039 when we welcomed Oleg Wagner to the Magdeburg ranks!

 
 

When he first arrived I hoped he could develop, but I never ever expected him to go on to be one of the greats! He had most of the attributes to become a decent Right Winger, his pace and acceleration needed to improve but his flair was there, alongside his natural fitness, passing, etc.

Whilst other intake players were shipped out on loan, Wagner was given the rest of the season to play in the reserves and in the 2039/40 season he was moved into the Magdeburg first team to ply his trade, get mentored by the older boys and see how he improved.

5 years later and Oleg was a staple in the Magdeburg side, he had played 106 games scoring 20 goals. Not the best goalscoring record but he was playing at a side flitting between the Bundesliga and Bundesliga-2. Then came his big chance…

I decided to leave Magdeburg to return to England with Newcastle. My first task? Bring Oleg with me. He only cost me £12.5m, a decent fee and he immediately was my first choice Right Winger.

The lad that seemed to kick on at a rapid rate, his goalscoring record jumped as well. From a goal every 5 games he was now scoring 1 in every 3!

Wind forward 7 years, Oleg Wagner now 28, 12 years since his debut at Magdeburg Oleg became a legend at Newcastle, he has helped us to 4 straight Premier League titles and our first Champions League success. But bigger than anything he reached the goal I had aimed for him way back in 2039.

At Newcastle he played 263 games scoring 88 goals, he tailed off towards the end but as I was so close to the 300 appearances/100 goals achievements I had to keep playing him.

An absolute legend of my save, the player of my series, one of the best intake players I’ve ever helped produce, here he is now.. In 2051!

 

What a ridiculous improvement!

 

From the humble beginnings at Magdeburg to becoming a Newcastle great, I’m sure you can see why I love him so much. He ended his career at Leicester, leaving Newcastle in 2052 for £30m. His career stalled there but he will never ever be forgotten at St James’ Park (or the new ground The Steve Robbins Arena!).

He will go down as my favourite ever player on an FM save!

Thanks for reading,

Steve aka @Lutterworth_Fox.

Like what you just read? Make sure to check out Steve’s excellent blog here where you can find a full narration of his Achievement Hunter adventures, “A-Z of FM” series and guest posts from other members of the FM community from this year’s version of FM and previous versions also.

Interested in sharing your own FM Player of the Year? Drop us a message or reach out to MaddFM for more info.

My FM20 Player of the Year

 
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We put out a call to hear some of your favourite players from this year’s version of Football Manager. @FM_Stag duly answered 👇👇.

People could say that I bought Claudio Álvarez for Boca Juniors from domestic rivals Newell’s Old Boys for £4.5million on 8 December 2020, aged 17.

Others could say that in my current game era (I am in February 2026), 22-year old Claudio Álvarez is the greatest footballer on the planet.

The problem with these two statements is that you are trying to normalise Claudio Álvarez, like he is just a footballer, just a man.

 
 

When Paul (aka MaddFM) asked me to write about my favourite player from FM20, my mind shot in a few directions. Could it be José Luis Garavano (dubbed #JLG9 by ‘the internet’) from my European Journeyman adventure? He was the incredible player who followed me from Lille to Bayern Munich and on to UEFA Champions League success? I should’ve said spoiler alert ahead of that. I also considered Rolando Blackburn, the Panama international currently smashing in the goals for my Bolivian powerhouses The Strongest in The Lever of La Paz.

It could only really have been Álvarez, however.

 
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In short, the intentions of my Boca save is to propel my fictional manager to the top of the global Hall of Fame. Get out of the way Pep, Zizou, José and Sir Alex, I’m coming through.

Signing Álvarez from a domestic rival seemed a no-brainer. In a league like the Argentinian Superliga, if you are one of the big boys; it pays to take a leaf out of Bayern Munich’s book, and buy the best players from your rivals. Strengthen your own side with primarily home-grown players, while weakening the competition.

When I signed Claudio, it was admittedly a bit of a risk. Unfortunately I don’t have an original screenshot, as I had no idea just how incredibly he would develop, but he’s definitely gone far beyond my initial expectations.

Álvarez is currently gunning for Martin Palermo’s Boca Juniors record of having scored 190 league goals for the Xeneizes. The legendary Palermo played for Boca for some 11 years. His second spell ending when he was almost 38 years of age. I am confident Álvarez is going to pass his record before his 25th birthday.

Let’s have a look at his biography so far.

 
 

27 trophies lifted and 25 awards achieved by 22 years of age. Have a look at those last two paragraphs, Claudio Álvarez is an absolute once-in-a-generation phenom.

139 league goals in 159 league games. 217 goals in 254 appearances across all competitions. And this is only the beginning.

Here is where I’d normally break down his attributes. His major strengths and potentially his weaknesses. It’s hard though when leadership and long throws are the only glaring gaps in his skillset.

Tactically, Álvarez sits on the right side of a three man attack, partnering a Poacher (usually the Mexican Emmanuel Sol) with the incredible Matías Palacios (the San Lorenzo wonderkid) taking up the responsibility of the Juan Román Riquelme number 10 shirt and role, just behind the front two.

 
 

My tactical strategy involves patient short passing but with the odd defence-unlocking quick through ball on the counter. If Álvarez is either the provider (this season he has 23 assists on top of his 44 goals in 44 games because of course he does) or on the end of these moves, he has the ability to be the difference maker. He regularly is.

Diego Maradona once famously said that Lionel Messi is “the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football.” He meant at the very, very top.

This time round, I wonder what Lionel Messi would say about heir apparent Claudio Álvarez? Luckily for the Boca Juniors legend, he can just turn round in training and ask him!

 

“La Bombonera no tiembla, late.”

 

This translates as saying that the famous Boca Juniors stadium does not tremble, it beats. Like the hearts of la doce, passionately supporting their team. Those hearts certainly skip a beat when Claudio Álvarez steps onto the pitch.

Thanks for reading.

FM Stag.

If you enjoyed this then you can check out FMStag’s excellent content via his blog - whether it’s classic CM stories, FM Guides & Tips or his adventures around South America, you won’t be disappointed.

Interested in sharing your own FM Player of the Year? Drop us a message or reach out to MaddFM for more info.

My FM20 Player of the Year

 
 

We asked Sports Interactive’s Andrew Sinclair take a break from producing all of the top quality online FM content we have seen released lately to tell us his favourite player/players (#spoilers!) from this year’s edition of the game. He answered 👇.

I had very high hopes for Football Manager 2020. After a couple of years of consciously not purchasing the game to focus on my degree, I was back and back with a vengeance – it was the first I’d get to play since joining Sports Interactive.

First up, without a question, were Partick Thistle, the surrogate team I’d picked up while studying in Scotland. An electric start, with a Betfred Cup semi-final and 12 wins from my first 14 games, had me flying high. I still thought I was the living embodiment of Johan Cruyff’s tactical vision. 

And then, as you can guess, it all went a bit Pete Tong. I crashed out of the Scottish Cup away at Peterhead. There followed a flurry of defeats and draws - I only won another five games before the season’s end. I crashed out of the play-offs at the first hurdle, humbled home and away by Dunfermline Athletic. I was, in fact, a fraud. 

There followed a stint with Valour FC in Canada that showed I’d mastered how to defend but had somewhere along the way forgotten how to attack. I’d also forgotten all the rules I spent a fair amount of time explaining on the FM website…

After my laptop packed up, I started afresh. One cup final and two third-place league finishes were my reward for two years with Argentinos Juniors. Two seasons with Hertha Berlin produced league finishes of 10th and… 10th. I thought I was Cruyff, but I was basically Zdenek Zeman with a transfer budget.

Then came the lockdown. I worked on the basis that being a football nerd had been my undoing thus far, and that my best football had come from managing a side I knew nothing about. 

Step up KA, based in northern Iceland. The start was disastrous. Taking inspiration from managerial heroes Sean Dyche and Steve Bruce, I adopted a structured 4-4-2. It didn’t work. I had no idea how to operate a 4-4-2 in the game and everyone else in the league did. We were bottom after seven games, with two draws and five defeats. 

With a call to the dreaded board meeting in sight, I completely switched my approach and went with a Vertical Tiki-Taka. It paid dividends immediately – a convincing 3-1 win over Stjarnan. I then shot up the table and was somehow in with a shout of winning the title on the final day. We only managed a 0-0 draw but it restored the faith. 

Building for the 2020 season began with the addition of two strikers – youth international Mani Austmann and Bradley Wright-Phillips on free transfers. BWP basically broke the budget but I thought he’d take to the Icelandic game, and my approach, like a duck to water. He didn’t and scored just eight in 41 across two seasons before calling it a day and joining my coaching team. 

Austmann stole the show and he’s one of two my players from that save that are my favourites in FM20.

Mani Austmann

Austmann was an Advanced Forward, so perfect for the high-pressing system being implemented and he took to the league like a duck to water. His attribute scores aren’t the most impressive, as you can see below, but they didn’t tell the story of what a natural finisher he was. 

 
 

His complete one-footedness threatened to distort the system but he formed a tremendous link with my Deep-Lying Playmaker in midfield, running the channels, getting in behind the opposing centre-backs and getting at least two clear chances in most games. As things stand he’s got 68 in 95 league games, and 137 in 227 overall for the club. He’s won 15 trophies with KA and been an essential part of our journey to becoming the dominant force in Scandinavian football. 

Without doubt the best real striker I’ve managed in a long time, Mani is the absolute boy. He also got a delightful brace on our famous night at home (it was a neutral ground, as our old stadium was too small for European competitions, sad) against Real.

 
 

Tobi Omole

Another addition during the 2020 season, albeit midway through, was Nigerian centre-half Tobi Omole. Initially partnered alongside fellow new arrival Alan Lithgow (the classic combo of one older centre-back playing on Stopper, and a younger, more spritely colleague on Cover), Omole developed into both an authoritative centre-back, a leader in the dressing room and a potent goal threat from set-pieces (the Dyche influence remained, despite the fancy tippy-tappy passing).

 
 

Omole had been released out of the Arsenal academy when I signed him and was hugely inexperienced. He was mobile though and a great passer (his Passing was 15 when I signed him), so he fitted perfectly into a system that was focused on building out from the back and knocking the ball around with panache. That game time allowed him to develop naturally and become the player he is for me now.

It’s in the Mental attributes that he’s made the most progress. It’s made him a dressing room leader and saw him get called up to the Nigeria squad. At this point in the save he’s just about peaking and already has 236 appearances and 16 goals for the club across seven seasons.

 
 

Looking at his attribute progress brings a smile to my face – it’s probably the most improvement I’ve extracted from a real player ever. I’ve signed him in my current save with Scunthorpe, hoping I can repeat the magic. 

Tobi Omole, captain, leader, legend. Much love my brother.

Big thanks to Andrew for sharing his favourite FM players from this year’s version of the game - you can find more of his excellent written content on The Byline, Sports Interactive’s official platform for online Football Manager content.

Interested in sharing your own FM Player of the Year? Drop us a message or reach out to MaddFM for more info.

Pledge Your Allegiance

 
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Name a player that has gained Senior International Caps for Argentina, Colombia and Spain. I’ll wait.

Impossible I hear you say, how could anyone play for three different countries? Well, wind back to the 1950’s and you would have been able to watch one of the greatest players of all time do exactly that. Alfredo Di Stefano, more commonly known for scoring 216 goals in 282 appearances for Real Madrid, initially made his debut for his home country Argentina back in 1947 and scored 6 goals in 6 appearances to help them win the Copa America the same year. Unfortunately they were to be his first and last caps for his home nation - player strikes and a dispute with the Brazilian FA led Argentina to withdraw from qualification for the 1950 World Cup as well as the following two Copa America tournaments, and shortly afterwards Di Stefano moved to Colombia where he went on to to score 92 goals in 101 appearances for Bogota based side Millionarios. It was at this point that Di Stefano made 4 appearances in a Colombia shirt, selected to play a group of friendly games that were not recognised by FIFA as official international games - not sure if that would fly in the modern era, but hey at this stage 2020 is capable of anything.

Fast forward to 1956 and Di Stefano has lived and played for 3 years at Real Madrid, absolutely smashing La Liga helping them win back to back league titles and dominating the goalscoring charts year-on-year. After becoming a naturalised citizen, Di Stefano scores a hat-trick on his debut for Spain and goes on to score 23 goals in 31 appearances - the third international jersey Di Stefano has now worn in his career; imagine if Cristiano Ronaldo somehow managed to play for Portugal, Spain and Italy?!

 
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One of the original GOATs 🐐

Nowadays of course, players tend to have to “pledge their allegiance” and somewhat officially declare which nation they will play for - often causing controversy as we have seen when the likes of Declan Rice, Jack Grealish and Diego Costa all caused much debate on the subject when changing/declaring their allegiance. According to FIFA, an uncapped player is eligible to play for a nation if he/she meets the following criteria:

  • Born on the territory of the relevant association

  • Biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant association

  • Grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant association

  • He/she has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant association

Many nations have strategically taken advantage of this in order to bolster their ranks; Ireland’s successful World Cup teams of 1990 and 1994 contained a host of British-born players with Irish heritage including the likes of Andy Townsend, Tony Cascarino, Ray Houghton and Jason McAteer. This has continued all the way to present times and in the past few years young players such as Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Tim Cahill were all approached to play for Ireland due to their Irish connections.

These days when a young player with dual nationality/eligibility arrives on the scene, an instant battle almost ensues - when Adnan Januzaj burst onto the scene at Old Trafford back in 2013, a three way contest for his allegiance appeared to take place between England, Kosovo and Belgium before he eventually declared for the latter in 2014. More recently a similar situation occurred with 17 year old Dortmund Midfielder Giovanni Reyna, son of ex-USA international Claudio Reyna; born in England, holding a Portuguese passport from his mother’s side and eligible for both Argentina and USA on his father’s side, much debate was held about which nation he would declare for before he seemingly quashed all rumours by stating he intended to play for his “home” nation, the USA. (Interestingly he is listed as “English” in FM20 but not fully declared 👀).

How is all this connected to Football Manager? Why not try the same - taking over an International side and attempting to convince a World Class player to declare for that nation based on their heritage/bloodline. Reckon you have what it takes to convince them to change allegiance and help you lead their new nation to glory?

 
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5 Undeclared Players with Dual Nationality / Eligibility in FM20

1. Gabriel Martinelli (Brazil → Italy)

Born in Brazil but eligible to play for Italy through his father - could one of the hottest prospects to come through the ranks at Arsenal in years be the catalyst in bringing international success to the Azurri for the first time since 2006? More importantly - can you be the one to lure him away from playing for Brazil?

 
 

2. Harvey Barnes (England → Scotland)

The highly rated Leicester star is already 21 at the start of FM20 - if he doesn’t get capped for England soon, could he have his head turned North and help lead Scotland to success on the international stage?

 
 

3. Josha Vagnoman (Germany → Ivory Coast)

Competition at right-back for Germany is fierce with the likes of Joshua Kimmich and Lukas Klostermann playing for the top clubs in the Bundesliga. Vagnoman is eligible for the Ivory Coast through his father and should he not get capped for the German side, perhaps he can be swayed to bolster an already talented Ivory Coast side? Potential future team-mate Wilfried Zaha is no stranger to this debate.

 
 

4. Houssem Aouar (France → Algeria)

Granted - the chances of this kid not getting capped for France are pretty slim but seeing as he is still uncapped and undeclared in FM20, adding Aouar to an Algeria squad that also boasts the likes of Mahrez, Slimani, Ghoulam and Bennacer is a mouth-watering prospect..

 
 

5. Eddie Nketiah (England → Ghana)

Ghana boast a strong side with the likes of Thomas Partey, Kwadwo Asamoah and Baba Rahman among their ranks but not since Tony Yeboah (#thunderbastard) have they had a top quality centre-forward lead the line at international level…could the man the man loved by FMDoop like no other be tempted to change allegiance should he fail to break into the England side?

 
 


Make no mistake - convincing one of these guys to switch allegiance is no easy feat even in FM; you could try some of the tips suggested by FridayNightFM in his piece for The Byline about Signing Uninterested Players in FM e.g. watching their games, having them scouted etc however your best hope is that they remain uncapped long enough to become impatient at not earning an international cap as yet. Either way, giving this a try as a new save challenge or side-project to your existing save could make for an interesting international #narrative - let’s not even begin to discuss Brexit. There are plenty of other players of a similar nature who are yet to be capped or declare for a nation - adding the “Second Nationality” filter/column in the player search is a great way to identify these, otherwise stay tuned for Part II where we will look at some of the other dual nationality players that we hope are waiting for your call.

 
 

Thanks for reading - feel free to share your thoughts below or on Twitter and let us know if you succeed!


Cheers,

MaddFM.

Enjoyed this? Check out more of MaddFM’s WeStreamFM posts here where you can also find a host of great content from the WeStreamFM team and our guest authors. You can also find his own blog here where he is currently attempting to bring Greuther Fürth to the bright lights of the Bundesliga.

FM Game of Thrones

 
 

5 Teams to Overthrow in Football Manager

We're well used to certain teams dominating their domestic kingdoms in modern-day football. The likes of Celtic (8 in a row), PSG (6 of last 7), Bayern Munich (7 in a row) and Juventus (8 in a row) have all been annihilating their enemies for many years now to the point where it has become almost guaranteed that they will win their domestic league each year, thus ensuring their dominance ever increases due to the repeat annual financial reward that comes with silverware and European qualification.


The only thing that can stand in their way? Football Manager. Here are 5 "Fight for the Throne" challenges where the objective is simple - overthrow the King, dethrone the supreme ruler from their ivory tower by knocking them off their perch and putting an end to their spell of dominance once and for all so that a new ruler can rise from the ashes and reign supreme over their footballing dynasty.



 
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1. AUSTRIA - RED BULL SALZBURG (6 years flying)


Though not one of the most prolonged spells of dominance reigning supreme for 6 seasons straight in the Austrian Bundesliga, Red Bull Salzburg are arguably one of the most difficult teams to overthrow in a single nation primarily based on the fact that they are by far the richest and most exclusive club in the country. The sponsorship of Red Bull combined with the recent success of former players such as Erling Braut Håland, Sadio Mané and Takumi Minamino combined with current stars like Domenik Szoboszlai and Maximilian Wöber mean that Salzburg are now the Austrian club of choice for most players domestically and abroad. David Alaba's former club Austria Vienna were the last team to win the league in 2013 while teams such as Sturm Graz and Rapid Vienna have had a taste of Champions League football in the past before the Red Bull revolution. Do you have what it takes to clip the wings of Red Bull Salzburg?

 
 

Writer's suggestion: LASK Linz are a relatively unknown entity outside of Austria and haven't win the league since 1963, but after finishing second last season they were actually top of the Austrian Bundesliga prior to the Covid-19 pandemic in addition to playing Europa League football. With one of the best young goalkeepers in the league in Alexander Schlager there may just be a foundation on which to build a new empire in Austria (energy drinks optional).

 
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2. Bulgaria - Ludogorets (8 years straight = LUDOcris)

Hristo Stoichkov, Dimitar Berbatov, Nina Dobrev - we love Bulgaria. Defying all odds at World Cup 1994 to finish 4th after defeating World Champions Germany in the Quarter Final only to lost 2-1 at the hands of Roberto Baggio in the Semi-Final, Bulgaria have a proud and proven football reputation on the International stage. Unfortunately the same cannot be said at club level - despite the fact that Ludogorets have won the league for the past 8 consecutive seasons and are clearly the dominant force in Bulgarian football, they have only reached the group stages of the Champions League twice in their history and became the first Bulgarian side to pick up points at this stage back in 2015 in a 1-1 draw with Basel. Perhaps it's time someone else had a turn?

 
 

Writer's suggestion: While the two Sofia teams (Levski and CSKA) offer attractive competitive options, Botev Plovdiv provide a really interesting challenge in that they have (1) excellent youth facilities and (2) one of the best players in the Parva Liga in Todor Nedelev. Having not won the Bulgarian league since England last won a World Cup and having never qualified for Europe in their history, what are you waiting for?

 
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3. Wales - The New Saints (8 years saintly)

Who? You may remember The New Saints from such famed occasions as Liverpool vs Total Network Solutions in 2005 after the reigning Champions League winners played against the Welsh side for a place in the 2006 Champions League Group Stages due to the fact that Liverpool failed to qualify via the Premier League (needless to say TNS have changed their name since). While the top two superpowers of Welsh football play in the English league (yes I just called Cardiff and Swansea superpowers), let's not forget there is a ferociously competitive league in Wales that has been conquered 8 times in a row by TNS to date. Considering TNS have never reached the Champions League group stages, perhaps it's time to knock them off the Welsh mantle and come up with your own solutions to Welsh domestic football?

 
 

Writer's suggestion: the other more well known Welsh teams are Connah's Quay or Bala Town who also have flirted with European qualification at one point, however it's hard not to look past Barry Town if only for the Gavin & Stacey references alone (putting on a Welsh accent is also mandatory).

 
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4. Belarus - BATE Borisov (lucky 13)

That's right - BATE Borisov have reigned supreme in the Belarusian league for 13 seasons straight. The last time another team were victorious in the Vyšejšaja Liha, the iPhone didn't even exist yet and Twitter was only known as the sound a bird makes. Notable events for the club in recent history have been Aleksandr Hleb and victories over Bayern and Roma in the Champions League - doth this club hath no equal?

 
 

Writer's suggestion: if you are a true CM/FM fan, one cannot look past Dinamo Minsk purely due to the fact that they are the club who produced none other than CM0102 legend Maxim Tsigalko (or Maksim Tsyhalka as he is known in the motherland). If that's not #narrative enough...

 
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5. Cyprus - APOEL (7th heaven)

You may need to use a custom database to activate the Cypriot league in FM20 (see Steam Community or well known FM fan-sites), however in doing so you can take on the unique challenge of battling APOEL for control of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, who have been bulldozing the Cypriot First Division for seven years straight without interruption. As if being able to name your save "The Battle of Cyprus Hill" isn't inspiration enough! #InsaneInTheMembrane

 
 

Writer's suggestion: in taking over Anorthosi, you would be following in the footsteps of one of the maddest footballers to ever grace the Premier League. Former Newcastle and Wolves forward Temuri Ketsbaia sits in the Manager’s hot-seat in real life currently (younger viewers - just google it); dare you start the save by overthrowing Ketsbaia from the Anorthosi throne before proceeding to overthrow APOEL and conquer Cyprus?

 
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There you have it! If you are looking for a new save or are in need of a serious challenge in which your mission is to perform a coup d'etat and dethrone the champions of that league, then hopefully this will give you some inspiration to continue your quest for power and glory in Football Manager. Be sure to tweet @WeStreamFM if you choose to follow this path and let us know your progress! Remember:

 
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Challenge Accepted?

Thanks for reading,

MaddFM.

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

Streamer Showdown - S2

 
 

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, IT IS BACK, the Football Manager Streamer Showdown Season Two is coming to your screens this weekend with a twist.

If you missed Season One you can read the round up here or watch the highlights video here.

This weekend sees the return of Bundesliga football so we thought we’d challenge the original 8 creators to draft their five hundred million pound teams using a minimum of 15 Bundesliga players with only 5 Wildcard picks from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A & Ligue 1 to bolster their teams.

So let’s have a look at how it played out and what we expect to see this weekend:

SecondYellowCard - SYC’s pulled out his slippers again in this draft, Hradecky’s back between the posts & Mane’s his big money man again and this time he’s linked up with former Liverpool teammate Phil Coutinho. SYC was the streamer favourite in Season One but he didn’t make it past the first knockout round.

 
 

HerbTheNerd - Herb hit the draft big and hard, his first four picks were Haaland, Alaba, Gnabry & Milinkovic-Savic! Herb’s Saturday performance in Season One showed that there’s some potential here but he’s really going to have to nail those tactics when Sunday comes.

 
 

UnarmingPine - Harry Kane & Timo Werner upfront? Yes please! We’re looking forward to seeing the Pine ‘n’ Munich tactic in action with plenty of chances being created for his excellent front pairing. We like his defence but can Goretzka & Alberto hold the middle of the park?

 
 

Curty - The Champ comes in to Season Two licking his wounds and he’s certainly put in the planning to regain his title. His first eleven is the highest value in the tournament which means he has a great chance on the Saturday but with a weakened squad he’ll have to hope there’s no injuries on the Sunday. We’re expecting to see Trent on set-pieces aiming for Cristiano Ronaldo’s head… can that be stopped?

 
 

Lollujo - The reigning champions from Season One went big in round one securing Virgil van Dijk who was instrumental for him in Season One, he’s also picked up Ben Chilwell who was the highest assist maker from the first season. We’re looking forward to seeing what the pace of Depay, Aubameyang and Coman can do to the opposition and whether the big money signing of Manuel Neuer will pay off. You can’t discount the champ as a contender but his squad isn’t as strong as Season One and it might prove a little more difficult this time around. We love to be proved wrong!

 
 

DoctorBenjy - He was armed with a spreadsheet and chose Lucas Hernandez in the first round… I know, we asked him the same thing and it turns out he was a player that he really wanted and didn’t want to risk missing out on, let’s hope he doesn’t do a Zouma… Ben has picked a solid eleven and with his assistant WorkTheSpace plotting in the background he’s our favourite for the win in Season Two.

 
 

FoxInTheBox - Foxy managed to navigate the draft brilliantly, Lewandowski, Pogba, Oblak, Bailey and Sancho were inspired picks and he’s certainly got a score to settle when it comes to Saturday football. He’s been talking up playing a Brexit 4-4-2 but we all know Foxy, he’ll have 4,423 versions of every system locked and loaded, let’s just hope the tinker man doesn’t over complicate things.

 
 

Zealand - Nothing to see here other than a front three of Neymar, Immobile & the goat Lionel Messi. WOW he went big in the early rounds to secure some big players. Zealand has one of the most recognisable squads on show and we’ve got him down as one of the favourites for the tournament as he has a score to settle with DoctorBenjy.

 
 

The Football Manager Streamer Showdown will be broadcast live from all 8 streamers channels at 7pm on Saturday & Sunday with a new Streamer Showdown companion channel running on VikingDan’s Twitch channel where he’ll be covering all 8 streamers with alternative commentary from some of the other WeStreamFM team.

 
 

Football Manager for Grown-Ups

 
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10 Tips for getting more FM time when you grow older

Written by Now&ThenFM

The carefree days of staying up all night (literally) playing Football Manager for hours on end, pausing only to have a toilet break or consume some food purely just to keep your energy levels up and not having to answer to anyone (except your mum asking "are you ok up there"), just to then proudly go into school the next day with your printed off squad or jotter full of players to discuss with your mates - ahhh those were the days but sadly they are days that are now gone as quickly as your best wonderkid after having his release clause met.


 
21st Century Jotting

21st Century Jotting

 

Fast forward several years and you now have to hold down a full-time job plus you have a kid plus a dog (multiplied by three) and then add a better half who you have almost certainly punched above your weight to tie down to a long term contract, all of which equate to dramatically less Football Manager time.

If you are anything like me, a grown man in his 30's who thinks about Football Manager every single day but has several key responsibilities to attend to in daily life, then you might need some tips on how to get more time in playing the game that we all love. Look no further - below I have listed 10 tips on how I manage to get my FM fix in when I can amongst the duties and responsibilities that my real life role currently requires:

1. Newgens

If you have children, depending on their age it can be very difficult to get some game time in. At the start of their careers (life), they come into your youth academy (home) and all they do is sleep most of the time but normally your partner does too so there is sufficient time then to fire up the laptop and get your FM fix in. However, children grow and develop rapidly which requires more time to coach the youngster if they are ever going to fulfill their potential and this therefore demands more of your focus. My son is 2 going on 3 so, my first tip is to get them on an individual training plan (bedtime routine) with some new traits added (places bowl in the sink after use, mark parent tightly when crossing the road) as soon as possible. Not the easiest thing to do admittedly but with a bit of determination and repetition then this will result in you having a few hours each night to play the game. DO NOT however, bring your laptop out in front of them as they may see this as some form of surfboard, seriously, my son once decided to stand on my laptop. This was a valuable lesson learned and serves me right as I should have been giving my full attention to him anyway (plus no one wants to be told off by their missus.) The hope is that one day we can play Football Manager together, reminiscent of the old times going to my mates to play CM 00/01.

 
This actually happened

This actually happened

 

2. Preferred Role

This largely depends on your job - I am office based so this tip is based on what I do (I'm not expecting you to take your laptop to the building site). In my current role some ‘work FM’ isn't possible but in previous jobs I was often told to "keep myself busy" as my job was very reactive so I had periods of inactivity. Sure, my boss was wanting me to maintain spreadsheets or something that would benefit the business but naturally I saw it as an ideal opportunity to hook my laptop up to the dual screens to make my FM time feel so much more professional with my shirt and tie on (not that one needs to be at work to wear a tie for FM eh?). Now, there are certain things that must be done before this can be achieved successfully in the office environment like pre-empting your FM work session the day before to save time and be more efficient, leaving much less admin to do the next day (half an hour at night saves an hour in the morning). Other things like setting up your laptop so that you can close it without going to sleep means you will be able to hide it quickly if needed without risking any loss of progress! I would also have a spreadsheet open to switch to if someone dared enter my office (though it usually contained lists of wonderkids and transfer targets).

3. Stamina = 20

Maybe giving myself 20 for stamina is unrealistic given that I can no longer stay up all night and play FM without passing out on the keyboard, however late nights are key in the struggle for more FM time. The simple truth is that there is no way it is possible to stay up all night and then responsibly care for a 2 year old, so late nights mainly happen for me at weekends and the latest will be approx. 2am. Stopping at this time gives me adequate sleep so I encourage you to know your limits and don't partake in lots of sugary drinks otherwise you will be up all night (beer is acceptable). Leading up to your late night, plant the seed with the misses (mind out the gutter) and make her aware of what your plans are. You certainly don't want her suggesting a movie night when all you really want to do is focus solely on your save, play a product of your youth academy for the first time and feel a real sense of pride and satisfaction.

 
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4. Go on Holiday

My laptop has been to some wonderful places and I have 'FM'd' in some magnificent cities and resorts. On city breaks the key to this is just do what your other half wants (even if that means spending hours in a multi-floor Primark). Just do it - go sightseeing, enjoy a movie, a meal, do whatever your other half wants because at the end of the night you know you will be getting some.....quality FM time. You can stay up late also, you’re off on holiday so enjoy the late night and lie in because you’ve earned it by going on a 10 game unbeaten run so damn right you deserve it! Going abroad can be slightly different as I can’t always take my laptop along with all the other things you need to pack travelling with a child. To get my fix in, I bring my iPad, fully installed with Football Manager Touch. The iPad would come under the disguise of “it’s so we can watch something at night” or “I have downloaded a few things for our son to watch”. This diet version of Football Manager is ideal for a save to last you the duration of your holiday and you can really fly through the seasons along with being able to try out new teams and/or tactics to implement on the full fat version when you get home. It fills a hole, just like the 3* all-inclusive food you’re consuming.

 
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5. Decision Making

Being drunk and playing FM is not always recommended but I suppose it depends on the level of intoxication. I, like many others enjoy a beer or a case whilst playing Football Manager at the weekends and I find if I start my FM session sober and then end up drunk, my decision making is around the same level when I started although my celebrations become a bit more animated and louder. The downfall is coming in from a night out and deciding to play FM. This can lead to you ruining a full save which I have done on many occasions. It is not recommended to argue with the board over transfer funds to the point of an ultimatum from which you do not back down, which a less drunk me would have done (4 seasons of hard work down the drain). So, the tip here is not to play FM after a night out as it will feel worse than a case of the fear the next day - find a local beer for the club you’re managing instead!

 
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6. Media Handling

Ahhh Netflix & FM, it's your classic target man and poacher combination. Most people will have something on in the background whilst they play FM, be it music, a film or some other form of entertainment but I am not talking about when you are on your own. No, I am talking about when the other half asks you if you would like to watch something on Netflix but really you were hoping for some game time. Anyway, the tip here is to combine them all and naturally you let the other half pick what to watch. This means that you are not really interested in it so it won’t divert your attention therefore you can bring the laptop out. If they moan, respond with  “well you’ve always got your face in your phone, there’s no difference” and that should be that in my experience. You will have achieved three things; 1- spending time with the other half. 2- confirmed that what they had chosen to watch was rubbish and 3 - you will have played some FM which was the whole idea in the first place.

7. Favoured Personnel?

Is there anything worse than hearing “Can you come round for dinner at my mum and dads on Sunday?” You just know you are going to be there for hours and whilst there is nothing wrong with spending time with the in-laws (said no-one ever), my being there is eating into my valuable Sunday FM time. Lucky for me (unlucky for her), I’ve been in my relationship nearly a decade so I don’t need to go to her parents house and impress because quite rightly they have already been blown away by me (Man Management: 20). So, I have on occasions taken my laptop and whilst they pander over her and my son, I can play a few games. This might seem very rude but I at least wait until I’ve had dinner and anyway, I always pass it as being work related - “oh I’m just trying to save myself some time tomorrow, you know what Mondays are like”. This method is transferable to dinner at my own parents house as my son and partner will be the centre of attention as I know my parents were secretly happy to release me of my contract by mutual termination. They do however, wonder what sort of scouting ability my missus had in place when she recruited me.  

8. Community Outreach

By this I simply mean some coffee shop FM and this can’t be achieved by just saying that you are going to Costa or wherever you purchase your coffees from. No, this (in my case) has to be coupled up with something else like popping into town for a haircut and some shopping or some DIY essentials to complete some of the household jobs. Reward yourself with a coffee and take your laptop for some FM time. Don’t worry about the “what kept you?” question, just tell the truth which is you went in for a sit in coffee. There is something good about sitting with a latte, playing FM and watching the world go past. Try it, it's amazing how long you can stay in a coffee shop. You may also try engaging with the press by liaising with the barista when they ask if you will be making any tactical changes in your coffee (recommend the dark roast on this occasion).

 
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9. Journeyman

Sure, you can take the car to your city break for quickness but who uses their car whilst in that city? Not me! I’m the designated driver and if we are going on a ‘break’ it is just that, a break so why would I want to drive 300+ miles into a place I have never been before? And that's exactly what I say when it is suggested that I drive. My suggestion is take the train. You can take your laptop with you and gone are the days where you need to rely on a decent battery life. The trains have followed your training schedule and have implemented your additional focus request of installing plug sockets. This means you can sit back and play some FM whilst your other half reads that book that you bought them (book = less chit chat). You will have several hours to master your tactic and crack open your beer that you've brought with you for the journey, you deserve it. The same can be said for flying these days - if you don't need to pack for a human child then take your other baby (laptop) - most long-haul flights also provide a power outlet, what better way to lock in for a 6 hour flight than a session of uninterrupted FM?

10. Presenting Data

Get more invested in your save, I mean, who doesn’t do some Wikipedia research on the club they are about to manage, choose them because of their kits or current situation, maybe convince your partner to fly there for a "“holiday”? We’ve all been there right? Well why not tweet regular updates from your save, write down your thoughts on players/tactics or even start a blog. Creating a record of your save for yourself makes a save extra enjoyable and if you want to it can be for others to read also. The latter creates engagement and even if just from one person then it will help you feel more invested in it (trust me, I know). I get new save ideas and inspiration for my saves by listening to podcasts, watching Youtube videos, checking out other people’s blogs and reading books. Taking a break to do these things can help stop the FM burnout and reignite the desire to keep your push for promotion alive.

There you have it, a look into my life as a grown adult with a slight addiction (they don’t like that word do they?) to Football Manager but has real life to contend with first. I know there will be many others like me (I hope) that have limited game time but hopefully the above has given you some ideas on how you can fit some more FM into your life schedules and always ensure you can get that one more game in. I have always said that the only problem with Football Manager is that real life gets in the way, rightly so but it’s always nice to be able to balance both.

Cheers,

Now & Then FM.

Enjoyed this blog? Be sure to like and leave some comments below and let us know your thoughts on Twitter (@WeStreamFM). You can find more of Now & Then FM’s Football Manager content in his blog and be sure to check him out on Twitter also (@NowandThenFM).

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


CM9798 Tackles FM20 - Part Five

 
 

Well hello there! Here we are back in the Midlands where a middle aged man is trying to recapture his youth. My name’s Dave, CM9798 is my comfort zone and FM20 scares me. However, we’re 9th, so it could be worse. We’re actually in decent form, having just won consecutive away games against Portsmouth and Rotherham. Here’s the table as we re-join the action:

It’s another away game next, though I must remind you every game we play is technically away. I can’t complain, I knew that when I signed up. MK Dons aren’t good though, so if we approach this with the vim and vigour we have found recently, we should get this done.

For once, my prediction is correct. Both centre halves scores from set pieces and Westbrooke adds a trademark edge of the box strike. Tasty.

That puts us right in the playoff mix and a home game with Fleetwood – who are going well themselves, will be a further chance to consolidate our new found lofty heights. It’s not for lack of trying. We make plenty of chances but take so few of them and it ends 0-0. We are missing a goal scorer for certain and it’s something I might have to address with a January loan.

Peterborough aren’t quite as good as their real life counterparts so although it’s still a tough away trip on paper, we’ve got every chance of leaving with all three points. It’s basically the Fleetwood game but a lot filthier, which is ironic when you think Joey Barton manages Fleetwood. 21 shots later we still haven’t scored and it ends 0-0. Our fans must be loving it.

The board aren’t exactly delighted but B’s and C’s are a reasonable report card. I’m a beginner (with 24 years of management game experience). They need to get over that Burton game. Everybody has a bad day.

I tell the lads I expect them to beat Accrington. I don’t think that’s unreasonable but we go behind early on anyway. ‘sakes. Like our previous games we bang on the door for 90 minutes but in a rare turn of good fortune Jamie Allen equalises in injury time. He’s back from the long term injury he starts the game with and making cameos in the number 10 role. At this rate he’ll be a regular starter.

Time for change of pace now and a pair of cup games, one more important than the other. The FA Cup could be a vital source of money and as we all know, money can be exchanged for goods and services. For all Tranmere are in our division, we’re in a league of our own here and prove we are up for the cup. Bakayoko heads in a corner, Kastaneer actually finishes a chance and  young Dexter Walters adds the icing and a cherry in stoppage time. Out of the way Tranmere, we’re in Round 2.

We’ve also got Wycombe in the sponsored trophy. We’ve already got two ins on the board and it would be mega unfortunate to be eliminated from this position but it is technically possible. A point is enough and winning on penalties means I think we get an extra one. Woo and yay.

Yet another home draw, this time with Rochdale. We dominate the game but can’t add a second goal which obviously leads to us paying the ultimate price 10 minutes from time. Didn’t want to be in the top 6 anyway.

That favourable run of games has bought us minimal success so an away game with table toppers Sunderland fills me with dread. However, it turns out we were just waiting for the right team to surprise with our rope a dope football. Jobello is incredible and Bakayoko even scores. Grigg gets a late consolation but we run out 3-2 winners, having dominated possession and broken Mackem hearts. Here we come, playoffs!

Despite this indifferent run, the keen eyed amongst you will notice we haven’t lost for a fair while. That damn Burton game in fact. Our last game in November is at home to Tranmere, who we trounced away from home and will surely put to the sword here and confirm our ascent up the table.

Nope. Injury time drama sees us fall to our first defeat in a few months and we remain 8th in the table. Potter has put a curse on us.

All in all, a tale of missed opportunities. The change to 4-2-3-1 has seen us play on the front foot and really dominate games but without a lethal striker, we’re going to struggle to put teams to bed.

Join me next time as we head in to December and the always tricky festive fixture pile up. Toodles for now.

Written by the excellent Dave Black, you can find him on Twitter @CM9798, his website https://cm9798.wordpress.com/ and his ‘The World According to Championship Manager’ books on Amazon.

Episode I - What if Thierry Henry never handballed?

 
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2009 is known in history for many landmark events - Global Recession, the release of Avatar, the death of Michael Jackson, Obama becomes the first ever African-American President of the United States, Somali Pirates attempt to hijack a cargo ship commanded by Captain Richard Phillips, Swine Flu, Miracle on the Hudson - suffice to say a lot happened in a world where Instagram didn't exist yet and a 17 year old Neymar was was getting ready to make his debut for Santos in Brazil.

If you are Irish (or just an advocate of justice) - then you will also remember 2009 as the year that one of the greatest sporting travesties in history occurred which has gone down in infamy as one of the biggest sporting miscarriages of justice the world has ever seen.

 
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18th November 2009 - World Cup Playoff Leg 2 - Paris, France

After winning the game 1-0 on the night courtesy of a goal from #WeStreamFM Wonderkid Hall of Fame inductee Robbie Keane, Ireland went up against France in extra-time at Stade de France with the World Cup 2010 playoff tie all square at 1-1 on aggregate. Having lost the first leg in Dublin to a Nicolas Anelka finish, Ireland had exceeded all expectations in the second leg by not only holding the French scoreless on their own turf, but also by winning the game and bringing Les Bleus to extra-time as both teams fought for a place at World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Ireland more than held their own until the 12th minute of extra-time when a free-kick whipped in by Florent Malouda was controversially controlled and handled by Thierry Henry at the back post, resulting in William Gallas heading home a winner to put the French through to the World Cup finals, sending Ireland home both empty handed and outraged at the official's decision to allow the goal to stand. To this day, Irish fans are still incensed by the decision, unaided by the fact that Henry admitted to handling the ball after the game had finished and needless to say he probably hasn't shown his face in an Irish pub since the infamous incident occurred.

 
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"Born on a wave of tears, righteous indignation and flat Guinness, thousands of dejected Irish football fans were arriving home from Paris today to a country united in fury and mourning over its controversial ejection from the World Cup finals next summer." The Guardian, November 2009.

 
Even by Euro 2016 this writer (left) wasn't over it

Even by Euro 2016 this writer (left) wasn't over it

 

But what if it never happened? What if Henry wasn't in that exact place at that exact time, if William Gallas had stayed back like he should have or if Darren Gibson hadn't committed the foul which resulted in Florent Malouda's free-kick in the first place? What if none of it ever happened? There's only one way to find out:

 
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World Cup 2010, South Africa

 
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It's June 2010 and the Irish team have just landed in Cape Town after qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 2002, immediately hit by a wave of humidity and strange horn type noises that Damien Duff misinterprets as some kind of wild animal unleashed by the local football contingent. "Vuvuzelas lads" says John O'Shea, although his Waterford (South of Ireland) accent makes it sound like he's had one too many Gin & Tonics on the 14 hour flight over. Understandable considering he watched Shakira's "Waka Waka" World Cup song on repeat for the entire duration of the flight, regretting that it was his former Man United team mate Gerard Pique who got in there before him.

 
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The Irish have (fictionally) qualified for the World Cup for only the fourth time in their history, heroics of Italia 90, USA 94 and heartbreak of Japan & Korea 2002 firmly behind them. Hopes are high in the camp, particularly with France missing out on qualification. "Pity" thinks Richard Dunne, lovely bunch of lads they are especially your man up front.

 
“C’etait un accident!”

“C’etait un accident!”

 

Ireland have been drawn in a challenging but equally qualifiable group alongside the Netherlands, Nigeria and Australia who are spearheaded by a man the Irish FA once attempted to change allegiances due to his Irish heritage, Tim Cahill. Having said that they have also tried the same with Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Kevin Nolan in the past but to no avail (let's not even mention the Declan Rice saga), however English Goalkeeper Andrew Lonergan finds himself in the final 23 man squad as 3rd choice keeper - I wonder should someone tell him he will pushing for the title with Liverpool in 10 years?

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The Dutch are natural favourites to top the group, boasting the likes of Van Persie, Robben, Sneijder and Van Der Vaart in their ranks who in real life led them all the way to the final back in 2010. Nigeria will be no rollover especially with the power and pace of Obafemi Martins and Chinedu Obasi up front, not to mention the steel of Joseph Yobo and Jon Obi Mikel in their Central Defence/Midfield area. Can this mixed bag of Irish Premier League regulars and Championship misfits help Ireland exceed their best ever quarter final finish 20 years ago at Italia '90? (#OleOle).

Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Man City), Colin Doyle (Birmingham), Andrew Lonergan (Preston)

Defenders: John O'Shea (Man Utd), Andy O'Brien (Newcastle), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), Stephen Ward (Wolves), Stephen Kelly (Fulham), Seamus Coleman (Everton), Chris McCann (Burnley)

Midfielders: Glenn Whelan (Stoke), Keith Andrews (Birmingham), Steven Reid (Blackburn Rovers), Aiden McGeady (Celtic), Damien Duff (Fulham), Stephen Hunt (Hull City), Liam Lawrence (Stoke), Darren Gibson (Man Utd)

Forwards: Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Leon Best (Newcastle), Shane Long (Reading)

Now this is 10 years ago...Seamus Coleman has just turned 21 years old and no-one knows he is the best right back in the world yet (yes I just said that); Shay Given is 34 and wishes he never left the bright lights of Newcastle, while James McCarthy isn't even old enough to drink in South Africa. Ireland's hopes will lie with Robbie Keane and Damien Duff again just as they did 8 years ago in Japan and South Korea.

 
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Tuesday 15th June 2010 - Greenpoint Stadium, Cape Town.

Ireland vs Nigeria - World Cup 2010 Group G

 
 

Was FM10 font always that small?

It was Nigeria who started strongest, with early chances falling for both Obafemi Martins and Chinedu Obasi. The latter has actually signed for Barcelona within this FM universe so take from that what you will. After being previously caught in a tug of war between Man Utd and Chelsea Jon Obi Mikel is pulling the strings in midfield, but his Irish counterpart Glenn Whelan looks more than capable of handling him in the Ireland engine room.

Nigeria are starting to get their groove on when the unthinkable happens - a throw-in in the Ireland half leads so some quick passing from the Ireland team, before Keith Andrews threads a ball through to Robbie Keane whose finishing as always is unquestionable...GOAL FOR IRELAND!!!!!

 
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Irish fans don't know how to react - elation, apprehension, excitement and fear all come in a wave at once and even the vuvuzelas can't drown out the celebrations despite the fact that we are only 9 minutes into this epic encounter. Fully not used to being ahead so early on and having to defend a lead (see Ireland vs France, Euro 2016 Quarter Final for further info) - can the boys in green hang on to claim a precious win against the Nigerians?

 
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A never-doubted rock-solid performance from Richard Dunne and Andy O'Brien lead to Ireland picking up all 3 points in Cape Town, while over in Durban there has been late drama as Arjen Robben's 95th minute goal puts Holland 2-1 up against Australia before ex-Newcastle and Rangers defender Craig Moore heads home a 97th minute equaliser for the Socceroos, causing absolute scenes with the Aussie fans who jump higher than a kangaroo on a trampoline with joy. Ireland are top of Group G after Game 1 of the World Cup!

 
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Sunday 20th June 2010 - Free State Stadium, Bloemfontain

Holland vs Ireland - World Cup 2010 Group G

Needless to say a much tougher encounter is on the cards in our next game as we face Holland who as we know went on to the final of this tournament only to narrowly lose to Spain in extra time. Luckily for us, Wesley Sneijder is out injured for the rest of the tournament, his place taken by Nigel De Jong who has less fond memories of that final due to the red card earned which gave Spain the upper hand. Unfortunately Damien Duff is also out through injury as Ireland make two changes, Stephen Hunt replacing him and Steven Reid taking the place of Keith Andrews in midfield.

 
 

Seriously how small is that font?!

Is the word deja-vu French or Dutch?? De Jong almosts lasts the full game without getting sent off until he is given his marching orders on 93 minutes, clearly frustrated by another given which was Shay in the Irish goals who managed to produce a string of saves to earn Ireland a clean sheet and a valuable point against one of the tournament favourites. Over in Pretoria, Nigeria have beaten the Aussies 2-1 and somehow we've managed to stay top of the group despite only scoring one one goal in two games - it's an absolute tactical masterclass (writer's note: pffftt).

 
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Friday 25th June 2010 - Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg.

Ireland vs Australia - World Cup 2010 Group G

You'd have to be confident against Australia. Aside from a 31 year old Harry Kewell who is currently plying his trade at Galatasaray along with our brother from another mother Tim Cahill, they haven't got a lot to offer and never has an Ireland team had such an opportunity to progress to the last 16 of a major tournament. Fosters anyone?

 
 

With Duff still out injured and Whelan suspended, Hunt keeps his place and Darren Gibson makes his first appearance of the tournament. No silly tackles Darren yeah? (thankfully he's not driving over here either). We assign him to look after Cahill, while hopefully Harry Kewell can be kept quiet so we can send him packing to the bright lights of the Turkish Super Lig.

 
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It almost went perfectly, Ireland defending admirably although the same could be said for Australia right up until Kevin Doyle opened the scoring on 64 mins. We brought on James McCarthy and Stephen Ward to try and see out the game however Mark Bresciano equalised on 77 minutes to earn a point for the Australians - we can get over that though, WE'VE QUALIFIED FOR THE LAST 16!! Our 5 points mean we have a chance of finishing top of the group depending on how things ended over in Ellis Park just 15 mins down the road..

 
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It's a shock result for the Dutch as Nigeria romp home to a 3-1 victory, meaning Holland fail to win a game and actually finish bottom of the group on goal difference! Unfortunately Taye Taiwo's 79th minute penalty means we finish second on goal difference and therefore get a potentially harder draw in the next round.

 
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Tuesday 29th June 2010 - Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane.

Ireland vs Cameroon - World Cup 2010 Last 16

The shock results didn't stop at Nigeria beating Holland as over in Port Elizabeth, World Cup favourites Brazil have been beaten 1-0 by Cameroon and this coupled with a 0-0 draw against Honduras in their second game means they are knocked out of Group H. Had they qualified they would be our Last 16 opponents and we would surely be on the next flight home; instead we now face an in-form Cameroon who topped their group led by that man Samuel Eto'o - he will absolutely be the danger man in our next fixture. It's a mixed bag in the Last 16, with contenders such as Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal and England all avoiding eachother meaning if we do manage to get through we will most likely end up against one of them. England topped their group with the likes of Rooney and Lampard picking up a couple of braces during the group stages, while Serbia are not to be snuffed at after they beat Ecuador 8-0 (!) in their last group game. I've also just noticed Argentina didn't even qualify which explains why Honduras are flying high...this is definitely where things get serious.

 
Last 16

Last 16

 

The surprises just keep on coming as Bosnia knock out England in extra-time, needless to say Eden Dzeko was the man who did the damage and unfortunately there'll be no clash of history between our two rival nations. Uruguay have literally silenced an entire nation as they batter defending champions Italy 3-0 - a brace from Diego Forlan is topped off by a goal from young Ajax Striker Luis Suarez, he looks hungry for success in this writer's opinion. Cristiano Ronaldo scores a hat-trick to knock out the hosts South Africa, while Spain need penalties to get past Serbia who fought honorably in this tournament. My favourite FM defender of all time Raul Albiol scores the winning penalty, he was my hero in FM13 and became a club icon at Newcastle - why wouldn’t he? With our game scheduled last out of all the Last 16 ties, we also get to watch Algeria knock out Switzerland (they don't even have Mahrez yet) followed by a heartbreaking exit of Ivory Coast who lose 3-2 in the 120th minute at the hands of a Germany side who unfortunately due to licensing reasons aren't even recognisable in the game - if we qualify and draw them I may have to get creative..

 
 

This game won't be easy - in addition to Samuel Eto'o Cameroon boast a number of players all playing in the top tier of European football; Makoun, N'Koulou, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto - they've even got Geremi on the bench for good measure. Do Ireland have enough to go toe-to-toe with the conquerors of Brazil?

 
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You can't beat the World Cup..in almost every tournament, there is usually one player that emerges as either a national hero and saviour, or returns home in ignominy as public enemy number one. Packie Bonner in Italia 1990, Ray Houghton in 1994, David Beckham in 1998, Zinedine Zidane in 2006 - here we are in the World Cup last 16 and it's a penalty shoot-out that will determine our fate. Will a national hero emerge?

 
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Despite Glenn Whelan's best attempt at becoming a persona non grata in the Emerald Isle, Shay Given was having none of it saving not one but two penalties including one taken by one of the best Strikers in the world. Having initially gone 2 goals down either side of half-time, Kevin Doyle bagged a 3 minute brace in the second half to bring the clash to extra-time and penalties, and it was Ireland who held their nerve winning 5-3 on penalties. For only the second time, Ireland are in the Quarter Finals of the World Cup!

 
Not a single f*ck was Given :D

Not a single f*ck was Given :D

 
 
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Quarter Final Draw

Quarter Final Draw

 
 
 
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Saturday 3rd July 2010 - Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban.

Germany vs Ireland - World Cup 2010 Quarter Final

One of the biggest sporting events in Ireland's history. It's just over 20 years to the day since Salvatore Schillaci broke Irish hearts in the Quarter Final of Italia '90, and now today Ireland have the opportunity to go one better and create sporting history. Only one thing stands in their way: Germany.

Licence restrictions mean that FM10 doesn't show us the quality of this German side however we know better - Neuer, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Muller, Klose - Ireland certainly have their work cut out for them.

 
 

Moses himself could walk in and the Moses Mabhida Stadium wouldn't bat an eyelid with the Irish contingent in full swing - South Africans will have "Shoes off for the Boys in Green" in their heads for years to come while the Germans are naturally cool and composed lining up for kick-off. This German confidence that has been ever-present throughout world football is clearly tangible, that is until Stephen Reid pops up out of nowhere and smashes home to give Ireland an early lead just 20 minutes in....IRELAND TAKE THE LEAD!!

Back into unchartered territory, the minnows of Ireland leading against one of the best teams in the world. Is this really going to happen?

 
 
 
 

Ireland's dreams lasted 10 minutes before Frank Kiefer aka Lukas Podoski equalises for the Germans on 30 mins, before they then took the lead 11 minutes later after a Richard Dunne foul allowed Bastien Schweinsteiger to convert a penalty on the brink of half time. If that wasn't unfortunate enough (luck of the Irish?), Andy O'Brien then got himself sent off for a two-footed tackle on Miroslav Klose's alter ego resulting in both of them leaving the field. Irish fans can't believe how quickly their luck has changed...2-1 down with 10 men and 45 minutes to play, can Ireland produce a miracle to come back from this?

 
GERIRE.png
 
 
Ball burst

Ball burst

 

Irish fans can hold their heads up high as can the players who performed admirably throughout this campaign - some outstanding individual performances from the likes of Shay Given, Stephen Reid and Kevin Doyle who finishes top scorer for the Irish with 3 goals. Continuing in this FM10 World Cup universe, the Germans go on to the semi-final only to lose on penalties to Spain who easily defeated Bosnia in the Quarter Final. They go on to face Portugal in all Iberian World Cup final, after the Portuguese beat Uruguay and Algeria en-route to the grand finale - we know that Spain were the eventual real life winners back in 2010, is Football Manager 2010 being played in the year 2020 about to predict and recreate history simultaneously?

 
It had to be Nani

It had to be Nani

 

So..that's how it should have ended! Were it not for Thierry Henry, this Ireland team could have (writer's note: let me dream) exceeded all expectations and come close to putting themselves in the history books for years to come - instead, we were forced to watch from the couch that summer and every Irish pub in South Africa will forever rue the day that the French literally and metaphorically put their hand out and snatched World Cup qualification from under us...John O'Shea still hears chants of vuvuzelas at night and dreams of Shakira's hips not lying. At least someone tells the truth eh Thierry?

Thanks for reading,

MaddFM.

Interested in writing for WeStreamFM or have an idea for this series? Drop us a DM on Twitter or feel free to reach out to @MaddFM_ directly.

The First FM Streamer Showdown

 
 

This weekend saw the first FM Streamer Showdown take place over two nights on Twitch. The premise was simple, 8 players draft a 500 million pound team, they all play against each other in a single game league format which decided the seeding for Sunday’s knockout competition where the first winner would be crowned.

If you didn’t read last week’s blog about how the draft went down and our predictions, you can find it here.

We rolled in to the weekend with many of the streamers predicting SecondYellowCard to be the tournament favourite whilst at the same time hoping that their draft picks and prepared tactics would see them come out on top. As we reached 7pm on Saturday, every streamer was live on Twitch and the first round of games kicked off.

All four of the first games ended in a draw which nobody would have predicted before the start but it showed that the teams were balanced and it would be a battle of the best tactician that would be successful. As we progressed to the second round of matches we started to see the impact of the tactical tweaks. HerbTheNerd vs UnarmingPine was the shock result of GW2 which saw Herb run out 5-1 winners, a result that saw the emergence of Tammy Abraham as a potential for draft of the tournament.

GW3 picked up where GW2 finished, with some amazing results. FoxInTheBoxFM beat DoctorBenjy in his sole victory of the league format but the round of the tie had to go to Curty vs UnarmingPine. Curty’s side were 3-0 up within 15 minutes, only for Pine’s side to salvage 2 goals in 10 minutes to make the tie tasty in the second half and just two minutes in to the second half Football Manager Wonderkid, Erling Haaland, bagged a goal to bring the tie level. Curty then took the lead again with a goal from Timo Werner only for Kasper Dolberg to tie the game in what would finish as a 4-4 draw.

GW4 brought us a match-up between Lollujo & DoctorBenjy, Ben had referenced the tie as a bye, but the 1-0 victory showed that it was probably tighter than he had expected. Herb & Zealand played out a tremendous 3-3 draw but it was UnarmingPine that took the spoils in GW4 with a 5-0 victory over out tournament favourite, FoxInTheBoxFM. £90m signing Eden Hazard came up with the goods scoring a 24 minute hat-trick piling the misery on to a devastated Foxy.

GW5 ended with four teams tied on 8 points meaning it would be all to play for, Lollujo had beaten Curty 2-0, HerbTheNerd dispatched SecondYellowCard with another Abraham brace & Zealand pilled more heartache on to Foxy with a 3-0 victory. The penultimate games of the league saw WeStreamFM nemesis’ Curty & Herb face off against each other with Herb winning the game 2-0 with a brace from Bruno Fernandes, once again proving that he is the superior Football Manager (note. he paid for this sentence.). DoctorBenjy & his tip for victory, SecondYellowCard, played out a 0-0 draw. Lollujo kicked Foxy while he was down handing him a 5-1 thumping but there were calls for set-piece hackz throughout… FMBase or Zealand as we’ve come to know him took advantage of Joel Matip’s red card in his game against Pine, Julian Brandt scoring the winner in the 60th minute securing 3 points for the American.

We went in to the final round of games with Herb & Lollujo joint top of the league on 11 points, it was all to play for. Lollujo won his game against UnarmingPine 2-0 and had wrapped his tie up faster than the game between Herb & Ben which saw Herb leading Ben 2-0. Ben, seeing that Lollujo had won and already 2-0 down, decided to go all out attack, some say it was to try and get himself back in the game, others would tell you that putting Luis Suarez in goal and playing defenders was probably a ploy to help Herb finish top of the league and destroy Kev’s morale but we’ll let you make your own minds up on that.

 
 

So with all 7 games played HerbTheNerd was crowned league champion and the seeding was set for Sunday’s knockout tournament.

 
 

Player Stats:

Goals - Tammy Abraham 10, Sadio Mane 5, Robert Lewondowski 5

Assists - Ben Chilwell 6, Son Heung-Min 4, Antony Martial 3

Average Rating - Tammy Abraham 8.37, Hector Bellerin 7.72, Fabinho 7.65

Clean Sheets - Lucas Hradecky 4, David de Gea 3, Samir Handanovic 2

Player of the Match - Sadio Mane 3, Fabinho 2, Renan Lodi 2

Sunday & Knock Out Football Manager

We rolled in to Sunday with Saturday’s league standings dictating the draw for the first round of the Streamer Showdown Knock Out. A lot of noise had been made overnight, some had been testing tactics until 2am, some were calling for a match fixing investigation and then there was Herb, the league winner, just turning up with no prep to face Foxy who was fresh from licking his wounds and desperate to change his fortunes.

It wasn’t a great start from the WeStreamFM boys, Herb lost to Foxy with a last minute winner and Curty, well when your centre half does this you know the game is out to get you:

In the other games, UnarmingPine clearly done some work overnight and destroyed SecondYellowCard 7-1 over two legs and DoctorBenjy progressed with a 3-1 victory over Zealand.

The semi-final matched UnarmingPine with DoctorBenjy in the top half of the draw with FoxInTheBoxFM playing Lollujo in the bottom half. It’s fair to say that Lollujo made it very clear that the person he didn’t want to play was Foxy, even after Saturday’s performance, yet his performances over 2 legs saw him run out a 6-2 winner with set pieces proving to be a powerful weapon in his arsenal. In the other semi-final we had a tight first leg with Pine taking a single Erling Haaland goal through in to the second leg. Ben wasn’t worried before the game and his players sensed his confidence and started the game on fire scoring after 2 minutes with a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic wondergoal, picking up the ball in his own half running through the spine of Pine’s team finishing with a powerful effort. Game on. Ben continued to dominate the game and in the 34th minute David Brooks popped up with a left footed curling effort from just inside the box. Milinkovic-Savic completed the scoring with a screamer from the edge of the box seeing DoctorBenjy progress to the final where he would meet Lollujo.

The two legged final couldn’t have been tighter, we had seen Lollujo score big against everyone, other than DoctorBenjy and these two games continued in the same fashion. Lollujo took the lead from a set-piece, but it was actually DoctorBenjy’s Trent Alexander Arnold that put the ball in to his own net. As we approached halftime, Ben-Yedder found his shooting boots and popped up with a goal to bring the tie level. The second half was tight and a draw was probably deserved. The second leg started like the first, Lollujo’s Varane scored from set-piece after 19 minutes. DoctorBenjy clawed one back when Nacho picked the ball up on the edge of the box and rifled one in to the top corner. The game was end to end in the second half but neither side could take the advantage and the game went to extra time. With both sides tired Luis Suarez had a brilliant chance to win the game for DoctorBenjy but he fired it straight at David de Gea. The game went to penalties.

Lollujo - Vardy ❌, Fabinho ✔, Mbappe ✔, Barkley ✔, Chilwell ✔

DoctorBenjy - Felix ✔, Suarez ❌, Depay ❌, De Jong ✔

Lollujo is crowned the winner of the inaugural #FMStreamerShowdown 🏆

 
 

What a fantastic weekend of Football Manager action, there were twists and turns everywhere you looked and we can’t wait for Season 2.

The event was organised & implemented brilliantly by everyone involved, thanks to Ben & Foxy for putting it together, the streamers for taking part, Steve, TheFMEditor85, for building the database & Dave Azzopardi for hosting a 9 man network save… that didn’t crash! Most importantly, thank you to everyone that watched the streams over the two days, we hope you enjoyed them.

Dave is compiling a highlights package of the tournament so keep your eyes out for that.

Until next time… get your nuts out.

#FMStreamerShowdown

 
 

So guys, the inaugural Football Manager Streamer Showdown is upon us and I for one am excited for it. We have eight of your favourite creators coming together to provide you with, what we hope, will be brilliant live stream action taking place on Twitch on Saturday & Sunday evening from 7pm.

The draft was carried out on Wednesday evening with all eight creators live at the same time, all battling out to secure their player picks and build a 23 man squad for under £500m.

So who are the creators and what do we know about their teams?

FoxInTheBoxFM - The reigning Football Manager Creators Cup Champion comes in to this showdown as the favourite. His meticulous planning arguably won him the Creators Cup and it was obvious by yesterday’s draft that he had been planning again. The standout signing for Foxy was Roberto Firmino who he splashed £73m & will likely partner exciting Argentine, Lautaro Martinez, who we’ve marked out as great value at just £46m. Foxy could have been bluffing on yesterday’s stream, he lined up in a 3-4-1-2 system but his recent streams with Reading suggest this may slip in to a 4-3-1-2.

DoctorBenjyFM - He’s the doctor they told you to go see, so listen up closely, he’s firing on all cylinders with his first eleven which includes a number of familiar players from his time with Inter Milan… but we don’t see Danny Graham. Ben has a lot to prove in the showdown, defeats to lesser opposition suggest that complacency may be in this manager’s arsenal, yesterday’s stream however, proved that he’d been planning and his draft spreadsheet gave us a peek behind the curtain at his preparation. Ben’s high value player was Uruguayan hitman, Luis Suarez with our value for money markers being placed on Joao Felix and Wissam Ben-Yedder both of whom were picked up for £15m each. We’re expecting Ben to start with a 4-2-3-1 system moving to his now-famed 3 ball-winning midfielder system when he’s looking to hold on to a lead… we suspect that’s why he has Dendoncker & Gueye sitting on his bench.

 
 

Lollujo - No respect was given to Kev as the guys started this draft but his starting lineup is one not to be messed with, in fact, it’s up there as a contender for best XI of the draft! His backup players, not so good, in typical Lollujo fashion ex-players or Posh legends were selected as the fodder for his bench with the exception of Jamie Vardy & Wilfried Ndidi… I told you, he’s been a sneaky one here! We’ve marked Marcus Rashford and Varane as his great value players at £36m & £27m respectively with his star player and joint highest signing of the draft, Kylian Mbappe leading the line. We expect Lollujo to start in a 4-2-3-1 system with inevitable tinkering when he let’s his chat take over the decision making.

Zealand - Billy big balls! Zealand has the highest valued first XI in the draft, a £140m front pair of Robert Lewandowski & Antoine Griezmann are supported by the likes of Koulibaly (£58m), Rakitic (£49.5m) & de Ligt, who we highlighted as his great value signing, at £36m. His star players are undoubtedly the aces in his pack and as we’re suggesting that he’ll start with a 4-4-2 we only hope that nobody gets injured as there are slim pickings in reserve. It’s a ballsy move, but it could be risk that serves him well.

 
 

SecondYellowCard - I really don’t know what to think about SYC’s draft, on one hand there’s not a player I don’t like, but on the other hand there’s only one that really stands out which is Sadio Mane at £83m who is obviously his star player & with his regular moves to Real Madrid in FM20 he’s highly rated there as well so there’s an argument that he represents great value in the draft as well. The other player we’ve marked as great value is Alain Saint Maximin at £21m. Really?, I hear you ask, well there is a reason for that. SYC has a sneaky weapon up his sleeve and that’s his impressive 4-2-3-1 tactic that he’s been using with Uniao Da Madeira… and it’s very attacking suggesting that Saint Maximin’s pace could exploit those tired defenders.

UnarmingPine - No Paqueta, no Partey, except he has both and there will be! In what had the potential to be Milan 2.0 in Pine’s draft he has selected well and we’d expect his Milan tactic to be the base of his attack come the weekend. His star buy was Eden Hazard at £90m with his great value players being marked as Neves and Paqueta who both cost less than £20m. Pine has a lot of game changers in his side and I’m expecting an upset or two to come from FM Wonderkid Erling Haaland.. yes, he signed him.

Curty - I spoke to Curty earlier about his squad and he told me he had a plan, I’m sure he has, but it felt more like the plan a chef would come up with on Ready, Steady, Cook when he’s been revealed the items in the secret bag. I really want to Curty to succeed in this competition but I don’t share his confidence in that squad. We couldn’t pick a star player as I don’t think there is one, but there was some value, Adama Traore at £12m can cause havoc, whilst Barella & Vinicius Junior, who we think might be on the bench came in at good prices. Curty’s a WeStreamFM boy so I want him to do well, but I fear the Champ might become the Chump after the weekend’s results are in.

HerbTheNerd - The Creators Cup Runner Up wants to go one step further this time round by winning the competition and to do so…. he signed mainly Premier League players. Alas, all is not lost as he’s signed some brilliant players, we’ve marked Callum Wilson as his star player, not because of his value, but how highly he’s rated in Football Manager, I know he’s scored bucket loads against me! His great value players came in the form of Manchester United players, Maguire, Shaw & Martial, all three’s values in comparison to other Premier League players was staggeringly low so let’s hope The Homeless One becomes The Special Brew One when it’s all said and done on Sunday evening.

Predictions - So how do we think they’ll do? Well we’ll let the image do the talking as it’s not looking good for our WeStreamFM’ers but we’re confident that they’ll want to prove us wrong! Who do you think will be victorious?

 

#WeStreamFM Predictions

 

You can catch all of the events happening live on Twitch from 7pm Saturday & Sunday (BST). We’ve created a multilink for you to enjoy all 8 streamers at the same time https://bit.ly/FMStreamerShowdown (note. Mute all streamers and then unmute who you want to listen to or it’ll echo all over the show!)

CM9798 Tackles FM20 - Part Four

 
 

Welcome back to Coventry, where my FM20 journey got off to a thoroughly average start last time out. We re-join the action in early September, where excitement is building on which way my perfectly symmetrical league record will flop.

Before that particular excitement, it’s time for the Leasing Windscreen Paint Shield Trophy or whatever it’s called. The sponsored trophy. The media are predicting a record low crowd for the visit of Crystal Palace Under 23s which I struggle to argue with. Here’s the scenario. We don’t play in our own stadium, we ground share with Birmingham. It’s a tournament nobody cares about, certainly at this stage of it, and we’re hosting a Premier League Under 23 side. Not a good one either, this is Crystal Palace Under 23s. It’s a wonder they sold any tickets at all.

Those who do turn up are treated to Hiwula missing a penalty (that’s 1 from 4 as a team this season) and Westbrooke scoring a canny goal from distance. A lovely 1-0 win.

If you thought that was bad, a home game with Blackpool finishes 0-0. Our hopes are briefly raised when the visitors go down to 10 just before half time but we’re inept and can’t score. Forgive me for not taking any positives from the fact my left back ran 12km.

We go to Burton Albion and after a tight first half I’m relatively satisfied with our away day showing. A disaster of a second half follows though and we lose 2-0, deservedly so too

Our away form is non-existent. Mind you, our home form isn’t exactly Chelsea under Mourinho. After some feedback, it seems an attacking midfielder would help and one-on-ones are broken. Something like this maybe?

A couple of tweaks, such as Jobello as an inside forward and Hiwula as a winger and we are ready to host struggling Wimbledon. They really must be struggling as Idah scores to put us 2-0 up after a calamitous own goal. It’s all in the bag but we get dispossessed at the back and Folivi puts us under pressure for the remaining 8 minutes. Still, 69% possession and a narrow win is better than the Blackpool game.

Wimbledon have just two points so I won’t hail our new formation just yet. Doncaster though are a playoff contender so if we can play well here, I’ll be more convinced.

All hail 4-2-3-1. We’re outstanding from start to finish, poor old Doncaster don’t know what’s hit them. Westbrooke pings one in from 25 yards, fast becoming his speciality. McFadz heads in from a corner and Hiwula adds a third. We’re dominating the ball, we’re dominating the goals, we’re unstoppable.

A trip to Rotherham is the first test of the formation away from home. They’ve just come down from the Championship so they should be well placed to go back up but they’ve made an indifferent start. As it’s an away game, I’ve dropped our mentality to cautious, something Rotherham wish they had done as they rashly concede a penalty after 13 minutes. Hiwula does what we all do after missing a few pens and smashes it down the middle. I expect Rotherham to come at us but they barely muster a clear chance. Again, we have all the ball and deserve our win. An away win. Have we turned a corner?

It’s back to the Sponsored Trophy and an away game with Portsmouth. That’s an awful long way to go for a meaningless game but the media are in a frenzy. If we win, we’re through. They’re talking like it’s a World Cup group game not the southern section of this waste of time. Nevertheless, they buggered us mercilessly in this same fixture in the league and I’m keen to show how far we’ve come, even if the stakes are not so much low as non-existent. 

I tell you what though, we are bloody good here. Hiwula takes his goal well, Idah heads in from a corner and Walshy curls in a free kick. Everyone seems chuffed we’ve made it through to the next round of…I’ll stop it. 

It’s an International break now, something we are able to opt into on account of several of our players being away in various corners of the world. With that in mind and despite having just played a cup game, here’s the league table:

Not too shabby and for those who have been hanging in since the opening paragraph, I’m pleased to say the symmetrical record changed for the better. The flop was good. If this formation is as good as these last handful of games suggests it will be, things might turn out to be ok after all. Enjoy this whilst it lasts. See you next time.

 

Written by the excellent Dave Black, you can find him on Twitter @CM9798, his website https://cm9798.wordpress.com/ and his ‘The World According to Championship Manager’ books on Amazon.

 

FM20: Sunderland 'til I Die

 
 

🎵 On a river where they used to build the boats, by the harbour wall the place you loved the most, I can see you there but all you know, I’ll be there - SKIP INTRO

If you haven’t seen the Netflix series, Sunderland ‘til I Die, then I’m surprised you’ve found your way here as the series was the only inspiration behind me starting this save.

Having played 2 seasons in game and achieving back to back promotions I felt I’d done what Simon Grayson, Chris Coleman & Jack Ross had failed to do and took Sunderland back to the Premier League and with it, my mission is complete… for now.

 
 

It’s time for someone new to take charge of the Mackem’s and secure their position in the top division armed with a war chest of £30m and a hefty wage budget to play with, do you fancy the challenge?

The club was taken over in October 2020 by Lee Harding, formerly of Braintree Town, and to date I’ve had no real issues with the owners getting involved with anything to do with the club.

As I stated above, the Premier League transfer budget is £35m and a wage budget of £515,700 per week (currently spending £309,627 and £80,000 of that is on loan players due to expire). One transfer has been completed at the end of the season and that was for Championship starlet, Ebere Eze, from QPR.

Although a lot of the success has come through playing the loan system, there are a couple of assets for you to build on:

Benoit Badiashile & Jimmy Dunne

At 20 & 23 respectively this duo have been fantastic at the back all year in the Championship. Badiashile’s a well known name in the Football Manager community and he’s locked in until 2024 with a release clause of £32m which is likely to attract a number of clubs in a season or two. Dunne was a bargain pickup from Burnley, he’s got all the Dyche characteristics you would want and he picks up a few goals from set-pieces as well.

 
 
 
 

Eric Court

Court is a newgen that I picked up from Hibs last year and I ever since I’ve signed him I’ve had Bergkamp vibes about him. He’s spent a season playing reserve team football scoring 28 and assisting 15 in 40 games. He’s been capped at U21 level alongside his teammate Billy Gilmour and I really think that if you played a system that suited his style he could be deadly in the hole in a few seasons time.

 
 

Ebere Eze

Eze was another investment opportunity, he was transfer listed at QPR for £12.5m and seemed a bargain at that price for someone home grown and with bags of potential. If you haven’t seen him in real life, just have a little Google, he’s great fun.

 
 

So, do you fancy it?

If you do, here are a few notes from the outgoing manager:

  • I’ve played 2 seasons with an attacking 4-2-4.

  • In the second season I set up with a pacy attack, the loan signings of Nketiah, Obafemi, and Hudson-Odoi allowed us to be lethal on the counter and with Billy Gilmour’s fantastic passing we were set up perfectly.

  • You’ll be a bit light at full back and you’ll need to replace the spaces left when the loanees return to their parent clubs.

So all that’s left is for me to add the download link for the save below, I’ve also added a link for the tactic as well, just in case you fancied tinkering with it.

Good luck and make sure you keep me updated by tweeting me @FridayNightFM.

 
 








The Underutilised Utility Man

 
 
 
Utility Man Definition.png
 

Versatility; Adaptability; Flexibility – not always the first words or attributes we look for when scouting in Football Manager, however over the years we have seen a number of successful teams benefit hugely from having an effective Utility Man in their squad who can play in multiple positions and cover a number of roles when called upon. Any names come to mind?

 
Utility Men Pic2.png
 

More and more games to play each season combined with squad registrations and injuries mean that the Utility Man has become an extremely important addition to the squad, and in the modern game we see an increased need for players to be far more versatile and adaptable than in previous years where player positions were more structured and defined. This is not only the case in real life, but also in Football Manager where it is vital to have players that can suit multiple positions especially when budgets are tight and FM can at times take pleasure in inflicting various levels of injury crises at crucial points in a season.

In this article we will look at the role of the Utility Man and look back on the more successful advocates of the position in recent years; we will analyse how to approach scouting for a utility man as well as on implementing them successfully in the game – we will then use this to look at who are the most effective utility men in the modern era and identify the best Utility Players & prospects in FM20 at both elite and lower league level.

Old School

“There was a period in the late-’80s when Ruud Gullit rivalled Diego Maradona as the world’s best player, and in virtually any position – centre half, winger, centre-midfield or up front. But for injuries, Ruud would’ve achieved even more than he did” - Ronald Koeman, Holland Manager.

 
Maradona & Gullit

Maradona & Gullit

 

Younger readers might recall Ruud Gullit as a Sky Sports pundit, or that guy with the dreadlocks who used to manage Chelsea and Newcastle for a while. As a Newcastle fan I still remember the notion of "sexy football" that Ruud brought to the North East for a brief period, While this couldn't quite be maintained as a Manager, Ruud Gullit was an absolute gem of a football player and although different from the traditional Utility Man in that he was often the first name on the teamsheet at the majority of his ex-clubs (Milan, PSV, Sampdoria and Chelsea among his ex employers), he was outstanding in almost every area of the pitch short of being a goalkeeper and this earns him first honorable mention in our Utility Man story.

Slightly older readers will remember that Ruud Gullit was known to play almost anyhere through the middle of the pitch, often switching from Centre Half to Centre Forward during the same 90 minute period while regularly playing as a Sweeper, Defensive Midfielder, Attacking Midfielder and Powerhouse Striker from one week to the next. He featured mostly as a Striker or Attacking Midfielder during his best years having started out as a Central Defender, and again reverted back towards being a Sweeper / Centre Half towards the end of his career when he joined Chelsea and kickstarted the club towards becoming the team it is today. After becoming the most expensive player in the world when he joined Milan from PSV for close to €7 million in 1987 (replacing the late Ray Wilkins who had left for PSG), he picked up back to back European Cups and won the Ballon d'Or for his efforts - widely accepted as the best player in the world at the time; not bad for a Utility Man.

 
Ruud Gullit Ballon d’Or 1987

Ruud Gullit Ballon d’Or 1987

 

And now for the important question…how good was he in FM? Back when it was Championship Manager - well, see for yourself…

 
Gullit.png
 

This is not the first time we have observed Strikers moonlighting as Centre Halves in the past, both in real life and again reflected in CM/FM. Before Chris Sutton was partnered with Alan Shearer which led to Blackburn famously winning the Premier League in 1995, he was signed by Norwich as a Centre Half which thankfully didn't take long to correct from the perspective of Blackburn fans. He was swiftly converted to Centre Forward at Norwich and scored 25 goals in the 94/95 season which lead to him being signed by Blackburn - the rest as we know is history, he went on to form the prolific SAS partership with Alan Shearer and later found success at both Chelsea and Celtic. Another ex-Norwich Defender/Striker also emerged in the 1990's by the name of Irishman Gary Doherty, who although not blessed with pace or skill was powerful and strong in the air making him equally effective at either Centre Back or Centre Forward. His career never flourished, but he was a perfect example of a reliable Utility Player that could come on and cover multiple positions when needed.

 
 

It's hard to talk about hybrid defenders/strikers without mentioning one of CM9798's finest. When one first loaded up this legendary game, you would normally see Manchester United re-signing Dion Dublin from Coventry for at least 5 or 6 million pounds and it rarely took long before he was featuring in the England squad both at Centre Half and at Centre Forward. Though known and remembered by most as a Striker during his time at Man United, Coventry and Aston Villa, Dion Dublin was frequently deployed successfully as a Central Defender, so much so that according to Dublin himself: “I remember when I was marking Wayne Rooney, playing centre-back for Villa, and he told me I was the best centre-back he’d played against." Whether this is true or not we will never know, however there is no doubt that the likes of Ron Atkinson, Alex Ferguson and Gordon Strachan all rated Dublin highly both for his versatility as well as his strength and goal-scoring ability - there are still those that feel Dublin should have been included in England's 1998 World Cup squad after finishing joint top scorer in the Premier League alongside Michael Owen and the aforementioned Chris Sutton. If you are one of those, I highly recommend reading "The World According to Championship Manager 97/98" by Dave Black (@CM9798 on Twitter) which brings absolute justice for Dion Dublin on the international stage.

 
Dublin.png
 

Sticking with CM97/98 - this version of the greatest football game series ever played brought arguably the most versatile and adaptable Utility Man of them all….seriously, this guy was the ultimate all rounder and could literally play anywhere outfield on the park...why would you not sign him?!

 
 
 
 

Utility Man Royalty

Brace yourselves for (in this writer's opinion) the best Utility Man of all time both in terms of versatility, skill, technique, leadership and all round footballing pedigree. Luis Enrique was everything you would want from a footballer - he could defend, tackle, pass, dribble, score, assist - it's little wonder that Barcelona moved quickly to sign him after his contract wasn't renewed at Real Madrid in 1996, making him part of an exclusive list of players to play for both Spanish giants that also includes Ronaldo, Figo, Hagi and Eto'o to name a few. He went on to become part of title winning sides alongside the likes of Figo, Guardiola, Rivaldo, and Kluivert and eventually captained the Catalan giants from 2001 to 2004 - during his time he went from scoring 18 goals a season to being utilised at full-back, right wing, left wing and in central midfield and so much was his influence and footballing ability that he was named by Pele in his list of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers.

 
Louis Van Gaal’s “favourite player to manage”

Louis Van Gaal’s “favourite player to manage”

 

Modern Day

It's fair to say that Sir Alex Ferguson was a clear advocate of the Utility Player and left a legacy in place at Man United whereby players have frequently been deployed in multiple areas outside of their natural position. The likes of Phil Neville, John O'Shea, Quinton Fortune, Alan Smith and even Wayne Rooney all found themselves playing in multiple positions under SAF, while even recently we have seen players such as Daley Blind, Ashley Young and Phil Jones all deployed at multiple positions throughout the season. Other clubs appear to have followed suit where we have seen the likes of Fabian Delph (Man City), James Milner (Liverpool), Victor Moses (Chelsea), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Man CIty), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal) and Matt Ritchie (Newcastle) all evolving into more versatile Utility Players initially to cover injuries but subsequently continuing to operate in multiple positions depending on needs must for their managers. It's fair to say that this benefits the club in that they are able to maximise their squad usage and ensure they have cover for all positions, however would you say that the "positionless" names above have all had successful international careers? One might argue that being a Utility Man is detrimental to one's international ambitions as these players don't often get to prove themselves in specific positions when under the spotlight from International Managers. Would you agree?

 
Utility Man? Completed it mate.

Utility Man? Completed it mate.

 

Football Manager

What good is all of this in FM? As mentioned above - if you are managing on a tight budget, have to operate under certain constraints / squad restrictions or are going through the common FM affliction that is the annual injury crisis, then having a decent Utility Man in your squad offers a number of useful avenues. Not only do you ensure sufficient cover for multiple positions, it also enables you to maximise how you use your bench for games, facilitates squad rotation during a long season, enables you to bring versatility, adaptability and experience to the squad which is important for squad balance, development and mentoring - and finally it usually means you can be smart and efficient from a transfer market perspective as often these kinds of players can command a slightly lower transfer fee than a player specific to one position.

Scouting a Utility Man in Football Manager

Using the Player Search function, it's pretty easy to identify the more versatile utility type players by searching for those who are competent in multiple areas of the pitch. There are many variations of this and by tweaking these between the various playing positions, you can quickly get a gauge on the best Utility Players in the game regardless of what level you are managing at.

 
scouting.png
 

Below are my Top 5 Utility Players at the start of Football Manager 2020.

1. Saul Niguez

World-class player who can play at Centre Half or Right Wing, what more could you want?

 
Saul.png
 

2. Daniel Wass

Even more versatile in FM19, this lad can basically play anywhere across the defence or midfield line, solid as a rock.

 
Wass.png
 

3. Christian Kabasele

Ever been losing on 89 mins and thrown a Centre Back up top in a desperate attempt to score? Now you can as this man can do both..

 
Kabasele.png
 

4. Kristoffer Ajer

A natural at Centre Back, Defensive Midfielder and Central Midfield - he basically is worth three players in any squad. Echoes of Paul McGrath, Lothar Mattheus, Javier Mascherano and Fernandinho all rolled in to one 💪💪💪💪.

 
ajer.png
 

5. David Alaba

Another player who was even more versatile in earlier versions of FM, David Alaba is the ultimate utility man in that he can do a job almost anywhere on the pitch. His outrageous attributes combined with his ability to play either in central or wide roles mean we can't not include him in this list.

 
alaba.png
 

Top 5 Youth Prospects

Konrad Laimer (RBL)

Dwight McNeil (Burnley)

Pedro Porro (Man City)

Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus)

Jacob Bruun Larsen (Hoffenheim)

Top 5 Lower League

Joe Rankin Costello (Blackburn)

Marcus McGuane (Barcelona B)

Henry Lawrence (Chelsea U18)

Wolke Janssens (Sint Truidense)

Dujan Sterling (Chelsea U18)

Effectiveness?

It it worthwhile splashing out on one of the above? Does a Utility Player really contribute positively in Football Manager? (Writer’s note: “I wouldn’t expect him to turn games around single-handedly” comes to mind). The simplest way to find out is to look at some live examples after a season in FM 20 which is exactly what we have done - let’s look at three Utility Players in FM20 after one season completed to see how they contributed in their roles as Utility Men for their teams:

1. James Milner (Liverpool)

Played in 5 different positions during Liverpool’s title winning campaign albeit not regularly starting, however with Liverpool playing close to 50 games in the season he was a highly effective member of their squad in all competitions.

Utility Man Verdict: 8/10

 
Milner 1 Season.png
 

2. Daniel Wass (Valencia)

Deployed mostly as a midfielder, Wass covered 4 different positions in a season which saw Valencia finish 4th in La Liga - probably would have featured more had Valencia not completed the signing of Right-Back Alessandro Florenzi on loan from Roma.

Utility Man Verdict: 7/10

 
Wass 1 Season.png
 

3. Matt Ritchie (Newcastle)

Equally utilised at both Left Wing Back and Left Winger, Ritchie operated in 4 different roles in a season which saw Steve Bruce miraculously lead Newcastle to 17th position, narrowly avoiding the drop on the last day of the season.

Utility Man Verdict: 6/10

 
Ritchie 1 Season.png
 

Convinced? Whatever way you look at it, we can see that certain clubs and players have reaped the fruits of the Utility Player function, and depending on your club and save in FM then it might be worth putting a small portion of your transfer budget aside with which to pick up the perfect Utility Man to add to and compliment your squad. Honorable mentions also go out to the likes of Joshua Kimmich (DR/MC), Hasan Salihamidzic (DRL/MRL/SC), Paul Warhurst (DC/SC)...have we missed anyone?

Thanks for reading,

MaddFM.

For more random FM reading check out my blog or drop me a line on Twitter 👌.

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