Football Manager 2021 is here, and asides from messing around during the BETA with Strikerless tactics, I didn't really know who I would be starting with once the full release came out. That was until I was browsing YouTube one night and found myself watching a video from Jack (@WorkTheSpace on Twitter) regarding the hardest teams to manage on Football Manager 2021..
That is when I came across Chertanovo Moscow, a team in the second tier of Russian football, but what makes them so special? What makes them one of the hardest teams to manage on Football Manager 2021?
Well, they can't sign players.. Yes, that is correct, Chertanovo Moscow can't sign anyone. They have to rely on their Youth setup 100%. I can already tell this save is going to be one **** of a ride, but I'm seated, I'm ready, so lets do it!
The Russian Youth Club - Chertanovo Moscow
After loading up FM21, starting the save and having a look around the club, it was clear this would be like nothing I've ever done on Football Manager in the past, I've always enjoyed buying/selling players for a profit, making the club I'm managing stable in the finances department and focusing my attention on youth, and yeah, I'll have to focus on youth this save, but it's completely different, I'll can't go scouting around different teams/leagues in hope to find myself the next Russian superstar, I have to generate as much money as I can and push it all into the facilities at Chertanovo, in hope that one year, I get the dreamed about 'Golden Generation' youth intake.
But enough of that, let's take our first look at the squad!
But enough of that, let's take our first look at the squad!
That is pretty much the entire squad list of the club, not just the first-team, there is maybe 3/4 other players that are just way below the level needed to even avoid being relegated this season, and these players aren't even players to rave about, there is a couple of players that I've had a look at and they do possess some talent for this level, my only hope is a fair few of them are still teenagers and might improve.
Let's take a look at the few players I think stand out from the rest of the squad..
I'd consider Abaev & Zavezen to be our two key players, attribute wise Abaev is just miles ahead of the rest of the squad and with Zavezen he provides the team with a little bit of everything, he is fairly creative for somebody in this league, his mental attributes in areas are solid and has a little bit of pace behind him, he's also able to cover 9 positions, which will no doubt come in fairly handy in the long-run.
Thankfully, Zavezen is only 24, so he'll be around for a while, Abaev on the other hand is 39! I'll be lucky if he doesn't decide to retire this year, which would cause a problem.
Tactic(s)?
I'm normally the sort of person that likes to have 3 variations of 1 tactic, for different situations, but I'm not 100% convinced which 'base' I will go with yet, this so far has looked the best during pre-season, but I want to give it some extra time to fully decide if this is the way I will play going forward.
It fits the squad fairly well, too, it's only really lacking some width, which in terms of talented wide players, the squad isn't filled with them - But once I've fully decided on an end product and I've created the defensive and attacking variation of the tactic, I will do a dedicated post to the tactic and go into more depth, because I know you all love the tactical posts.
So, we have a brief first post, we know who I'm managing, we know why I'm managing them, we've briefly looked at the squad and the key players and taken a look at the tactic I will hopefully be using going forward. I will look to do dedicated posts for certain areas of the save, as we move further into it, the lack of signing/selling players means I'm currently just trying to find the right tactic to use.
Update wise, I can't put a confirmed timeframe on how often I'll post updates, but it will be as and when I can, my plan is to post 'Monthly' updates (monthly in the save, not IRL)
But yeah, let's see if we can eventually catch up to the Russian powerhouses of Zenit, Lokamotiv, Krasnodar and the bigger Moscow clubs!
Let's take a look at the few players I think stand out from the rest of the squad..
I'd consider Abaev & Zavezen to be our two key players, attribute wise Abaev is just miles ahead of the rest of the squad and with Zavezen he provides the team with a little bit of everything, he is fairly creative for somebody in this league, his mental attributes in areas are solid and has a little bit of pace behind him, he's also able to cover 9 positions, which will no doubt come in fairly handy in the long-run.
Thankfully, Zavezen is only 24, so he'll be around for a while, Abaev on the other hand is 39! I'll be lucky if he doesn't decide to retire this year, which would cause a problem.
Tactic(s)?
I'm normally the sort of person that likes to have 3 variations of 1 tactic, for different situations, but I'm not 100% convinced which 'base' I will go with yet, this so far has looked the best during pre-season, but I want to give it some extra time to fully decide if this is the way I will play going forward.
It fits the squad fairly well, too, it's only really lacking some width, which in terms of talented wide players, the squad isn't filled with them - But once I've fully decided on an end product and I've created the defensive and attacking variation of the tactic, I will do a dedicated post to the tactic and go into more depth, because I know you all love the tactical posts.
So, we have a brief first post, we know who I'm managing, we know why I'm managing them, we've briefly looked at the squad and the key players and taken a look at the tactic I will hopefully be using going forward. I will look to do dedicated posts for certain areas of the save, as we move further into it, the lack of signing/selling players means I'm currently just trying to find the right tactic to use.
Update wise, I can't put a confirmed timeframe on how often I'll post updates, but it will be as and when I can, my plan is to post 'Monthly' updates (monthly in the save, not IRL)
But yeah, let's see if we can eventually catch up to the Russian powerhouses of Zenit, Lokamotiv, Krasnodar and the bigger Moscow clubs!