Dan: Who to Choose on FM12?

Hi there!

I’ve noticed a lot of people on a lot of blogs putting their faith in the readers to choose a team for them in the next FM game, and I’ve decided to do the same. Now I’m not as technically gifted as some other bloggers so this will not involve a poll, I’ll be using good old pen and paper to jot down the votes which you guys leave in comments. :)

I’ve chosen 6 teams, 3 native, and 3 foreign and I’ll go through them one at a time with a small description of why I think they would be a good idea. So without further ado…

Team 1 — Newcastle United (England)

In case you didn’t already know, I’m a Geordie and so Newcastle are hear for obvious reasons. First of all I’d like to say that the odds on me emulating Darren’s success with this great club are almost none existent and I understand if people aren’t interested in seeing another Newcastle save. Other than them being my favourite team NUFC also have firm foundations and there’s always the hope that Mike Ashley will flog us to a billionaire who would rather buy a striker than the controlling shares in a woman’s laundry firm. I’ll definitely be NUFC in the demo though, it’s easier to familiarise yourself with the game when you’re a team you know inside out.

Team 2 — Arsenal (England)

A ‘Big 4’ team but for how much longer? Man City and Spurs are barring down on Arsenal and at the moment they’re in turmoil.  I can understand some people may see this as an ‘easy’ option, but believe me, it always takes a while for things to happen when I’m playing FM. I feel as though the loss of Fabregas and Nasri, as well as Clichy has severely weakened the squad, but with Walcott, Gervinho and Van Persie you have solid attacking foundations as well as  the typical strength in youth with Gibbs, Ramsey, Szceszny (if that’s how you spell it?) and others coming through the ranks. I feel as though with a bit of money spent on good defenders Arsenal could be turned back into an amazing team.

Team 3 — Blackburn Rovers (England)

Proved popular when I mentioned them in my last post and to be honest, can I really do any worse than Steve Kean? I think Blackburn have a bit of cash, and a decent squad which just needs bit of European class added to it for that next step into the Europa League. The club also has controversial owners which as a Newcastle fan I know all about!

Team 4 — SSC Napoli (Italy)

Personally I love this team, amazing attacking quality but the challenge comes with keeping that quality at the club. Napoli could become amazing should the club have a good Champions League run as they could only benefit from the rise in funds and reputation. There are a lot of Napoli stories out there but I’m sure I could make mine unique in some way. Another positive is that with such attacking quality there is no chance of a boring story since I would look to outscore each opponent because when you’ve got striking talent such as Lavezzi, Cavani, and Hamsik, is there any other way to play?

Team 5 — Vfl Wolfsburg (Germany)

A team who had an amazing rise to prominence before a massive and sudden fall. Now struggling to stay in their domestic top division Wolfsburg would make the perfect project. Can’t really talk about them too much since I don’t know a great deal about them but I think they would make an interesting option.

Team 6 — AS Monaco (France)

The stereotypical fallen giant. Relegated last season and they only have themselves to blame really. Over the past few years or so Monaco became a selling club, producing great talent only to allow other teams to benefit from it. Well with me in charge that would be the first thing to stop and I would look to take full advantage of their amazing youth system. Again I don’t know a great deal about this club but I’m sure AS Monaco would be a good one to choose.

Well that’s the teams, as for the voting, I’d like people to just leave a comment with 2 teams, their favourite English choice followed by their favourite foreign choice. I’ll leave this poll open for a week so I’ll reveal the results next Sunday, or you could just tally them up yourselves I suppose, but that would kind of spoil the surprise. :)

Well that’s all for now!

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to vote!