Player of the Year

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

 
 

If you can’t trust the opinion of a Czech blogger who has been managing in Mexico for the majority of Football Manager 2020, who can you trust? We asked Ondrej aka @FMRensie to bring us his Player of the Year from this year’s version of the game...strap yourselves in as we go on a trip to South America.

It's not uncommon that one, but usually more than one player spends his career in line with my Football Manager save(s) in one (my) club. And in the last edition, FM20, was no different.

I spent ten seasons as the Celaya FC manager starting in the Mexican 2nd tier with a not too big ambition to become some domestic or continental power. We changed it as we progressed during the save, but that's a different story. The main point of this post is to share my favourite FM20 player with you all.

Among all the newgens produced during the save, there still were some real players at the end of the 10th season, and one of them will always remind me of this FM20 save.#

Emiliano Ozuna from Argentina.

This Argentinian winger was already the key player of the squad when the save started. And he kept his role for the whole of the time of the save. Emiliano was 23 years old in 2019 when we started our journey, and it's clear to say he was already too good for the Mexican second tier at the start of the save.

 
 
 
 

He was able to play as the winger in ML or AML position, but he also moved to WBL position when I decided to switch to 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 formation. 

Ozuna was also able to play as a striker, so his variability was perfect. He was not good enough to play as Pressing Forward or Deep Lying Forward as he was always limited slightly by some of his attributes. And it was clear at the first sight.  I used him as the Advanced Forward when he played upfront. Just to take advantage of his Acceleration and the solid Pace. 

There were times when I thought he will not play too much and I will sell or release him. Because of too many good newgens. But the romanticism in me always decided against it. 

Some of his attributes increased during the first five years. But he also lost, for example, one Acceleration "point". 

It didn't affect his performances too much. He made it to the double digits in all three 2022/23, 2023/24 & 2024/25 seasons. 

At the end of the 2024/2025 season, he already has 280 matches in all competitions for the club. He was also added between the club icons as the first player after Emilio Butragueno. 

 
 

The seasons 2026/27 and 2027/28 were not too good for him in comparison with previous ones and I thought it might be his end. 

But it was great to follow his "refreshment" in our last season together. He was our main wing back on the left side of the pitch within 3-5-2/3-4-3 and he scored 15 goals and made 14 assists in 42 appearances. I think that's a good outcome from a 33 year old player. 

There was a logical physical decline within these ten years as he moved over the thirties. But it was not something drastic. On the other hand, his mental attributes slightly increased during the years. 

 
 
 
 

I resigned from the Celaya FC managerial position at the end of the 2028/2029 season as I decided to take over the Mexican national team. 

Emiliano Ozuna made 445 appearances in all competitions during the 10 seasons I managed the club, scored 137 goals and made 100 assists.

He spent one more season with the club after my departure and retired from professional football in 2030 at the age of 34. 

 
 

Ozuna is not a player about whom you will read in the books. He won't be among the best rated and the most famous players around the world. In real life, but also probably not even in FM. 

For me, he will always be the best connection with FM20. Maybe because of his versatility. Maybe because he turned down a lot of foreign offers (China and the USA mainly) and rather stayed with Celaya. For sure because he was the best North American Champions League goal-scorer as a wing back!

Ozuna was simply THAT one player I will never forget thanks to FM20.

 
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Thanks for reading,

Ondrej.

If you haven’t already explored Ondrej’s extensive Football Manager blog and back catalogue, get on over to FMRensie.net where you can find a host of save careers, tactical tips & guidelines, FM general interest articles as well as his selection of custom Football Manager skins, kits and set-pieces all available to download.

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

 
MaddFM PoY.png
 


It’s time for MaddFM to give us his FM20 Player of the Year following save stints at Southend, Newcastle and currently at Greuther Fürth in Germany #MayTheFürthBeWithYou.


Being the guy who has typed up and read in detail all of the nominations published so far on site here, I have naturally had plenty of time and inspiration to deliberate my own FM20 Player of the Year. If you were to ask me who the best player in the game is at the start of an FM20 save I’d probably lean towards the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Sergej Milinkovic Savic or Bernardo Silva (outrageous he is). If I’m asked who I think is the best wonderkid in the game, I’d point you in the direction of Sebastiano Esposito or Adam Hlozek who turn out to be absolute worldies in the game after a couple of seasons.

But that’s not what this is. FM20 Player of the Year is reserved for special players..that one player who has had a huge impact on your save, that digs you out of games when you need him most, that you knew about before anyone else, signed when no-one else wanted him, or that you have developed and brought along with you on your journey to managerial greatness - forever associating them with this year’s edition of FM for years to come. For me, that player is none other than Alex Blesa, who despite having relatively mediocre attributes, average potential and a low value/asking price has been absolutely immense for me in my current Greuther Fürth save - helping to bring us from the dregs of Bundesliga 2 all the way to the higher echelons of the Bundesliga and (at the time of writing), Europa League football for the lowly Bavarian side.

 

Blesa in action for Levante UD

 

In real life Alex Blesa is an 18 year old Spanish Attacking Midfileder who has just recently made his debut for La Liga side Levante. At the start of FM20, Blesa is a 17 year old unknown entity with 4 star potential sitting in the Levante U19 squad just waiting to be snapped up for what is usually a bargain €1m - €1.5m transfer fee; you might think this is expensive for a 17 year old valued at €275K but trust me, it’s a steal if you are bringing him to a mid-table or lower league club.

 

Blesa at the start of FM20

 

I’ve long been a fan of the Shadow Striker role, having enjoyed much success with it previously through the likes of Xadas at Newcastle in FM17, Bradley Dack at Blackburn in FM18 and Mickael Cuisance at Tenerife in FM19. I find that they get into fantastic goal-scoring positions along the edge of the box, link up play between Midfield and Attack without dropping too deep and put great pressure on opposition defenders forcing them to clear the ball rather than play from the back. Football Manager defines the Shadow Striker as:

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

We signed Blesa to play this role and he does exactly that - as time has progressed so too have his attributes particularly in terms of Flair, Off the Ball, Technique and Decisions and even though not a superstar on paper, he has consistently performed even after moving up a division - regularly getting into goal-scoring positions, consistently finding the net and most importantly he is a big game player often scoring against some of the top opposition sides in the league.

 

6 seasons later

 
 

Career Stats 🔥

 


The icing on the cake? Despite only having 11 in the Long Shots attribute, the lad packs an absolute humdinger from outside the box and regularly pops up to smash home from 30 yards - see for yourself:

 
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All in all - for €1.4m we brought in a player who at the time of writing has racked up 39 goals and 22 assists in 175 appearances to date, not bad considering the lad is still only 23 years old. Interestingly he has just been given German citizenship in game and having not been capped for Spain as yet, perhaps a battle for his allegiance will ensue if his form continues to improve - will he be known as Señor or Herr Blesa in years to come? Only time will tell.

 
 

Thanks for reading,

MaddFM aka Paul.

You can find more of MaddFM’s Football Manager content on his blog here where you can catch up on his latest save exploits, FM General Interest posts and pieces written exclusively for The Byline, Sports Interactive’s official platform for Football Manager content and Wednesday Wisdom articles.

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

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