Hello and welcome to my first save in Football Manager 16. I am KJVM and I will be starting out by managing SK Rapid Wien: an Austrian club which is always a threat to win domestically but has very little success in the European competitions. I have chosen them both because I want to use my first save to take a club from European minnows to champions and also because SK Rapid Wien has one of the top two youth systems in Austria. As a result, it will be my aim to use my promising hot prospects to create a club capable of beating top European sides and, eventually, winning a Champions League trophy.
To begin with, allow me to introduce my manage, Klaus-Johan von Mir, an Austrian international who has recently taken over at the Ernst Happel Stadium. Von Mir enjoyed 67 caps for his country and netted a total of 10 goals in competitive fixtures. He brings an attack-minded approach to Rapid Wien which should delight fans and worry opponents.
Next, let's take a look at my backroom staff. My Assistant Manager is, Thomas Hickersberger, and I will be sticking with him for the foreseeable future as his stats are good enough for my needs (man management 7, jpa 10, jpp 10 and he is on a fairly low wage. As for coaches, I have two very strong specialized coaches, GK coach Raimund Heidl (GK 19, tac 17, tec 18) and Fitness coach Alexander Steinbichler (fit 17), however I will be getting rid of my general coaches because they are either too weak or they share my strengths and given the small number of coaches that I'm allowed to have, I would rather have more diversity in specialty.
Now on to my squad. Some of my key players are:
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Centreback Stephan Auer is a first team CB for me who is also young and with potential to be a leading defender for us in the next year or two. I will be giving him a large amount of playing time in our back three.
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Right winger Philipp Schobesberger is already a leading talent in the Austrian league but has four star potential for our side and at only 21 years old, I can see him becoming a star for us even in Europe in the next few years. In particular, his pace, dribbling and flair will make him a formidable opponent on the right wing.
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Twenty year-old CAM, Louis Schaub, is another young player with 4-star potential and the current ability to be a key fixture in our starting 11. Although most at home playing as the CAM, our primary tactic will require him either to play as a supportive CM or as a central stricker who consistently pulls off the line to create space for our other two strikers and play passes from behind the line. He would do well in either position and I will be training him as a DLF (S) in the coming months.
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22 year-old Florian Kainz is a young winger with a boat load of talent as well. He will be playing on the left, opposite Herr Schobesberger, and in a very similar role to him. Noting that he likes to cut in from the wing, I may find myself playing him as a striker at some times but he will mostly be on the left.
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At 24, Stefan Schwab seems like the elder statesmen of my selected players and he will play a leading role in my midfield. Because of his physicals and all-around ability, I will be playing him as a CM(S) for the majority of time, but I am glad to see that he can fill in for any of the front-men if need be.
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Matej Jelic is a beast of a striker. With 16 strength, 16 finishing, and 15 off the ball, he will be playing in the DLF space when Schaub is used elsewhere and will be featuring strongly as an AF otherwise. I will be looking to him to not only lead the line on the attack but also lead the team in scoring.
As you can see, there is a strong contingent of young players whom I will give plenty of opportunity in the first team, especially during regular league play and the Austrian FA Cup.
As for tactics, necessity dictates that I play with three. The first, and my favourite, comprises of three forwards, two wingers, two central midfielders and three defenders. This is my take on the early Austrian national team's most successful tactic, the WM. I will use this against weaker opponents, mostly in the League and the FA Cup. My second tactic is much more defensive, with three centre backs including a sweeper, a half back in DM, two defensive wingers, two central midfielders, an attacking midfielder and a striker. This tactic will be massively defensive and will see us sitting back with at least 10 men behind the ball at almost all times. It will be used in European matches mostly wherein we have little chance of winning with attacking football. Finally, my third tactic, is a rather more conventional 4-2-3-1 which I will employ against our domestic rivals. It will rely on maintaining possession as our midfield has the best decision-making, first-touch, and passing stats in the league.
In the first season, my goals have been given to me and no alternatives proposed: we must win the Austrian league, we must win the FA Cup, and we must reach the playoff round of the Champions League qualifiers. This task should be well within our grasp but we will need to play well in some key matches, especially in the domestic league. I should note what my personal goals for this season are:
- To win the domestic league
- To make the playoff round of the Champions League
- To win the FA Cup using at least 50% rotation of young players
- To secure the club's financial viability
- And to sign only Austrian players under the age of 25 to the team while selling non-Austrian and over-30 players off.
In the next update, we will go over the pre-season, including our first FA Cup tie, and we will see how my squad has changed and what, if any, changes have to be made to my goals. Thank you for reading and I look forward to bringing you more content soon.