FM13: FC Nordsjælland - Danish Champions, European Minnows

Football Club Nordsjælland

General Information

A relatively young club, FC Nordsjælland has a turbulent history, being the product of a club merger, rapid back to back promotions, corruption, near bankruptcy and a re-branding, the club would go on to win the Danish Cup two years on the trot and win the Danish Superliga for the first time last season. FCN is fairy tale of a club if there ever was one.

In Football Manager 2013, for the first time the club begins a new chapter as reigning champions, no longer are they expected to fight relegation or to get lost in the shuffle of mid table, but expected to compete for honors on multiple fronts, with the backing of Champions League money. Used wisely FC Nordsjælland will be able to establish themselves as a force within Danish football for years to come.

History

Long time manager and club icon Morten Wieghorst won FC Nordsjælland their first silverware in 2010, unexpectedly winning the Danish Cup in a 2-0 (aet) win over FC Midtjylland in the final. He would repeat the feat, successfully defending the cup in 2011, once again facing Midtjylland in the final, winning 3-2. Wieghorst would leave the club that season to take the Under-21 Danish National Team job.

Kasper Hjulmand would be promoted from the coaching staff for the 2011-12 season, with big boots to fill. Far exceeding expectations, the club would finish the first half of the season before the winter break in 2nd place. The squad were elate with whispers of a championship push, the staff were eager to keep the team grounded with a conservative expectation of European football as a minimum. FC København and FC Nordsjælland would duel it out for the remaining of the season, both teams slipping up from commanding positions, until the final day of the season. March 23 2012, FCN sealed the title race with a convincing 3-0 thumping of AC Horsens, lifting the Danish Superliga Championship in their home ground of Farum Park, Kasper Hjulmand writing his name in FCN history, winning the club their first league championship, in his first season in charge of the club, guaranteeing Champions League Group Stage football the following season.

Three titles in three years. Can you continue the tradition?

Stadia & Facilities

Farum Park, home of the Tigerne, with a capacity of 10,100, seating 9,800, the club has some way to go from filling the stadium week in week out. Expect attendances of around 5,500+, with influxes when playing the likes of København and Brøndby. I recommend not buying or upgrading Farum Park in the first few seasons, as it'll take a few years before you start selling out, save your money. Champions League games will be played in the Parken Stadium, Denmark's national stadium, home of rivals FC København. With a capacity of 38,076, you can look forward to larger attendances and bigger gate receipts when playing in Europe.

FCN's facilities, while not outstanding, are within the top three in Denmark. In their current state you can remain competitive within the league and produce the occasional hot prospect. With the certainty of Champions League money within the first season, you will have the tough decision of where to spend your finances, to either improve the club's training facilities or bring in new players.

Season Expectations

By default, the Chairman Allan K. Pedersen will expect you to qualify for the Europa League:-

The highest expectation you can negotiate is to challenge for the title, where you can get around £220k transfer budget and £53k p/w wage budget. A seasoned FM user should be able to meet a title challenge expectation, though a cautious player should be able to win the title with little to no spending, if you want to pick a low pressure expectation.

You may be able to request additional funds once the Champions League money is issued just before the end of August, but you will not have much time to spend it. Identify your transfer targets in advanced.

In FM13, you are not only expected to meet league specific goals, but also to run the club under certain philosophies. As you can see from the screenshot above, you'll be expected to play attacking, possessive football and develop players from the youth system. For the later, it should be relativity easy, as 20 year old Jores Okore, the team's star player should already be a starter in your first XI and Andreas Laudrup and Lasse Petry should be rotated in to your squad and/or bench, you may even want to give Emiliano Marcondes his debut in the Danish Cup. As for the attacking possessive football, while it's not hard to achieve, doing it successfully can be. You have the players to play from the back to front and some excellent attacking players. The team shouldn't need to park the bus to beat opposition in the league, though if you want to get some results in Europe you may have to bend those philosophies a bit.

By the second season, if successful, you should be able to negotiate your philosophy expectations down to just developing youth players.

Finances

In their current state, your FCN's finances are pretty much 'Okay'. With a single outstanding loan of £1.2M, paying £7k a month, your major expenses will be your wages, with a projected balance of -£1.07M. You can look forward to £2.2M a season in sponsorship money, but what the finance page wont tell you is the Champions League Group Stage money you will get in August, which is around £6-7M and another £3M for the TV revenue at the end of the season. You also have the £1.7M to £7M prize money from the Danish Superliga depending where you finish in the league, £4.4M-7M providing you stay within your season expectations.

On the other hand your wages are bound to go up. FC Nordsjælland's squad, like many teams in Denmark are built on a shoe string budget. Once you start renegotiating contracts, you can expect your player wages to almost double. Providing you meet your goals and don't go crazy in the transfer market, you can expect to have a healthy balance by the following season, with room to renew your squad's contracts, bring in at least one star player and enough to upgrade your facilities. Though if you don't make it into the Champions League for the following seasons, you may want to put money aside until you can qualify again.

Competitions

FC Nordsjælland play in Denmark's top division, the Danish Superliga, which is contested by 12 teams, 2 of which get relegated at the end of the season. Teams play each other three times between late July to early December and March to May, having a three month winter break. Prize money is awarded based on the team's position during the half way point of the season (before the winter break) and at the end of the season, each half awarding anywhere from £840K to £3.57M.

Registration rules are relatively relaxed, maximum of 25 players 4 of which were trained at the club before their 21 birthday and 8 of them trained in Denmark, players under 20 do not need to be registered. Match day squads require at least one goalkeeper on the bench. As of the 2012-13 season, the top two teams qualify for the third qualifying round of the Champions League, third and fourth placed teams are awarded Europa League spots. The Danish Cup also awards the winner a Europa League berth, if the winner has already qualified for Europe, the spot is awarded to the fifth placed team in the league.

FCN are entered into the Champions League Group Stage for the first time in their history. No qualification is needed. The Tigerne will be a 4th seed team in the group stage draw, where they will be drawn into a group with three other teams, where they will play each other twice, home and away. FC Nordsjælland's home games will be played at the Parken Stadium.

Lastly FC Nordsjælland will play in the Danish Cup, entering at the Third Round, which is around late September. The rules are very laxed, no registration, no squad rules, though lower league teams play at home and you are reduced to four substitutes against Denmark Series teams and below. The matches are played via a single deciding match each round, bar the Semi Finals, which are played over two legs, home and away. The final is played at the Parken Stadium.

Links

FC Nordsjælland Official Website (Danish)

FC Nordsjælland Wikipedia

FC København Team Guide

The Team

Goalkeepers

Jesper Hansen: FC Nordsjælland's longest standing player. Brought through the academy from the Farum days, Hansen is more than capable to guard between the posts for any Superliga team. While weak in his Handling, Positioning and occasionally a little Eccentric, he can land a ball on a dime and is up there with the best shot stoppers in Denmark. Expect him to get the odd cap down the line, you'll want to renew his contract within a year.

Thomas Villadsen: Brought in at the start of this season as cover for Hansen, you're stuck with him on a 2 year contract. Not much of a step up from David Jensen, except for experience. You may want to keep him as your backup and use the length of his contract to send Jensen out on loan. From experience, hes more than happy to sit in the bench and not play a single game while picking up his pay cheque.

Hot Prospects: FCN is fortunate to have two very good prospects in David Jensen and Jannich Storch. Jensen has the slight edge over Storch, both are on long contracts, I'd recommend sending one or both on loan, and eventually Jensen should be able to compete with Hansen for the starting spot, or use him as a Homegrown backup. Be warned, Jensen is injury prone.

Overall: You shouldn't need to bring anyone in for this position, until the club out grows Hansen, which will probably take three to four seasons.

Defenders

Jores Okore: One of the young rising stars of Europe and FC Nordsjælland's star player. Okore should be the first name in your starting XI. Quick, Strong, Aggressive, can defend and play out of the back, his only weaknesses would be his Concentration and lack of a goal threat on set pieces. He has a long contract but you'll want to renegotiate it as soon as possible, as he has a £1.3M Minimum Fee Release Clause. Keep hold of him, if you manage your finances, you shouldn't need to sell him, just keep him happy.

Michael Parkhurst: Naturally a Centre Back, Parkhurst has reinvented himself under Kasper Hjulmand as a Right Fullback. He starts the game injured, with only 6 months left on his contract, so get him to sign a new one as soon as possible, but he won't be available to play until the second or third game into the start of the season. I highly recommend retraining him to become natural at Rightback, unless you bring someone else in. He is a good tutor with high Determination, his first pupil should be Ivan Runje. Keep hold of Parkhurst, you won't get another player as cheap and as good as him.

Patrick Mtiliga: One of FC Nordsjælland key players during their title run last season, Mtiliga is a very good attacking Leftback. At 31, he's not going to get much better, by the second season he'll begin to decline, but he can be a starter for you for at least two seasons and potentially a experienced backup after that. Though there is a problem, his contract runs out at the end of the season. Renewing it is easier said than done.

Already one of the highest earners at the club, Mtiliga is an Ambitious player, and so far from my experience, he often asks for double his current salary. So you will be at a cross roads with this player, you either sell him now, though you will have to wait for him to recover from injury first, let the contract expire and bring someone else in, or renew it at a large cost. If you plan to let him go, either by selling or letting his contract expire, you'll need to bring someone else in ASAP, as FCN has little to no depth at Leftback. Kildentoft and your utility man Gundelach can play there, but you'll want a natural left footed Leftback. If you plan to renew the contract, I suggest talking him into a future staff role, so when he eventually becomes a Player/Coach he'll dump his agent. Then wait him out till the last 3 or less months of his contract, to get him as low as possible. Be warned, if you upset him while waiting till last minute to offer him a contract, he'll announce his intentions to leave the club, and he'll be a lost cause.

Worth keeping hold of him if you can, providing you can negotiate him down to a reasonable contract.

Ivan Runje: With big boots to fill, Runje has become a starter, paired with Okore in the center of defense, filling the hole left by Andreas Bjelland's sale to FC Twente in the summer. A good defender for most Superliga sides, he is one of the tallest players in the squad. He is just under par for FC Nordsjælland's ability level, though he does have room to improve. He is a suitable backup, but unless the team declines, you'll eventually want to move him on after a season or two.

Henrik Kildentoft: One time captain of FC Nordsjælland, a gradual decline in form lost him his Rightback spot to Parkhurst last season. If you choose to play Parkhurst back in central defense with Okore you may want to put Kildentoft back in the starting XI, though he is better off used as a backup and let go at the end of his contract, as he fills a spot potentially used for a young player who needs the experience and game time.

Ragnvald Soma: A last minute addition to the FCN squad, brought in as cover for Runje and Okore, possibly a challenger to Runje's spot. Statistically better than Runje and the only left footed central defender, he is on a 6 month part time contract and at 32, no more than a band aid till you decide what you are going to do with your defensive situation. Slow, but can play out of the back, doesn't particularly do well with the team's high line, can also be used in defensive midfield.

Hot Prospects: Not a lot of depth or good young prospects for your defense. Søren Henriksen is probably your best young defender, but he is somewhat lacking. Good in a pinch, incase of emergency, but you may want to scout for some young defenders to bring in.

Overall: If you only bring in one player, I recommend making it a defensive one. You first concern is whether to bring in a Rightback or a Centre Back, this will depend on how you use Parkhurst. Though not naturally a Rightback, his attributes are slightly leaning towards being a Fullback rather than a Central Defender, plus you may want a left footed defender to pair with Okore, who is right footed. Keep Kildentoft and Runje as you backups on the bench and drop Soma to the reserves for emergencies, let his contract run out.

Another purchase you may want to consider is a young Leftback as backup for Mtiliga. For the first season you can use Gundelach as cover, though there are plenty of good young natural Leftbacks out there if you have some transfer budget to spare.

You will also need to consider that you have a slight injury crisis at the start of the season, with both Parkhurst and Mtiliga out. By the time the Champions League matches come around they should be back to fitness, but until then you should be able to use Kildentoft and Gundelach at Right and Leftback.

Midfielders

Nicolai Stokholm ©: Your captain and most experienced play in the team. The first season he'll be a starter, but come the next you'll want to begin to rotate him out, but play him in games you are expected to win easy, as his influence will help your time from getting complacent. A great tutor and can become a good coach, he is an asset to any time and worth keeping around, even if it's on the bench when he begins to decline.

Enock Adu: Your first team defensive midfielder. Very strong defensive mental stats across the board, but he does need to improve his Strength. He has room to improve and is a likely candidate to out grow the team. His value will keep going up and up, so if he gives you any greif about moving on, you should be able to get a good price for him.

Anders Christiansen: Signed from rivals Lyngby in the summer, he should be your successor to Stokholm. Relatively versatile, his pace will let him down on the wings, but he is a fighter, keep him centrally in midfield, hes not too far off from being a very good Box to Box midfielder and possibly a future captain. AC has very good potential and should grow well with the team. He'll also make a very good tutor when he is old enough, but keep an eye on him on the pitch as he is prone to picking up cards.

Kasper Lorentzen: A fantastic player for FCN, with very good creative and passing attributes. Naturally a MC, I highly recommend retaining him as a AMC and can replace S. Christensen as your playmaker. He does hurt in the Determination and Consistency areas, but he'll balance out and then some in the long run. Also a very suitable set piece taker. Does have a tiny bit of space to improve some more, if you can squeeze it out of him. You may want to consider giving him a longer term contract sooner rather than later, so his wage demands don't become too excessive.

Søren Christensen: The second most appearances for FC Nordsjælland. Had a stand out season in 2011-12, Christensen is one of your more reliable midfielders/attackers. Though not particularly flashy, he is a team player and has great work rate for someone that plays so high up the pitch, and does poach the odd goal. Not as good as Lorentzen, but too good to be a backup, a prime candidate to cash in on if in need of more money. If you can keep him and give him the games he needs, he'll reward you for it. You'll need to make up your mind soon though on what to do with him, as he has just over a year left on his contract.

Hot Prospects: Another area where FCN is spoiled for choice in young players. Lasse Petry is your main cover for Adu, with good potential. When fully trained he'll make a good squad player, though you'll need to iron out his Strength weakness, and his lack of Bravery may be a concern. Mark Gundelach is your utility man, the youngest debutante in FC Nordsjælland history, Gundelach started out as a striker, become a playmaker, then was told he would make a good fullback at youth international level. He has played almost very where on the pitch apart from in goal and DM. A great squad player, worth keeping around to plug gaps, but could do with a tutor. Then there is FCN's second Ghanian Kamal Issah, a surprise signing in the summer, Issah already shows a lot of promise, but there is no obvious spots for him to get game time at the start of the season. Very much likely to bug you asking to go on loan, and to be fair, even I've not figured out how best to handle him yet. He seems to do well as an Attacking Midfielder, but whether you can fit that into your system or not is up to you, he could potentially play Box to Box, but he'll be behind Stokholm and AC in the pecking order. His attributes suggest that he could play as a winger, but he isn't trained for any wide positions. Either way, keep hold of him as he has plenty of potential, once you figure out where you want him to play. Lastly you have Emiliano Mercondes, the young Danish Brazilian is the next best thing to come out of the Tigerne's academy. Looks to be a very capable playmaker down the line, you have plenty of time to develop him and it wouldn't hurt to get him tutored. You may want to train him to play as an AMC, rather than his current MC, and move him onto a full time contract as soon as you can.

Overall: No obvious areas that need improving here, providing you can get the players to play the system you want. Adu can play pretty much any defensive role and Stokholm will shine best as a Box to Box midfielder. If Adu was to go out with a long term injury then you'll have to rely on Petry as your only defensive cover, or possibly move Stokholm over into a more support role with AC taking the more attacking role. You need to decide out of Lorentzen or S. Christensen, who will be your primary AMC, as neither are going to accept being benched too much, you got to decide between the overall better player or the more consistent player, if you get rid of one, then you'll open up space for Issah to act as cover. Unless you want to replicate real life where Lorentzen is being pushed out wide.

Attackers

Mikkel Beckmann: FC Nordsjælland's star attacker last season. Has bundles of flair, two footed, a good shot, can play as the striker or anywhere behind, and best of all, he knows it. Can come across as a bit of a prima donna at times, but hes worth it. Best played on either wing as an Inside Forward cutting in, when he is in form he will be one of the top scores in the team. Though he does have his faults, a fair few of them, injury prone, lack of Stamina and Natural Fitness, he struggles with back to back games or a high paced 90 minutes and he has low Work Rate and Teamwork. Along with Mtiliga he is one of the highest paid players on the team.

I recommend with Beckmann, to handle him case by case. Some saves he'll become an injury ridden wreck, another he'll bang them in consistently. The one pattern I do notice is he doesn't last long though, generally after a season or two, he'll decline early or lose form and never find it again. The sort of player that generally has to join a new club to rediscover themselves. So don't be afraid to cut your losses on him if hes not performing, as you wouldn't be the first to do it, nor the last, though generally you should make a few quid out of doing so. Be cautious on the contract lengths when offering him a new contract.

Starts the season injured and should return around a similar time as Parkhurst. Don't try and return him to match fitness too quickly.

Morten Nordstrand: FCN's prodigal son has returned, Nordstrand should be your starting striker. Though not as consistent as he once was, he is still one of the best Danish strikers and you are fortunate to have him. If you give him the games and stay faithful to him, he'll return it in kind. An amazing Poacher and a great Deep Lying Forward, you can also have him cover as an Advanced Playmaker in a crisis. Just watch out if his form gets too good, as his current contract has a £875K Minimum Fee Release Clause. I wouldn't give him a new contract straight away, but if he finds his feet, you may want to consider it.

He begins the season injured with a concussion and may take his time getting match fit, don't rush him back or you may risk a relapse.

Rawez Lawan: Seeing out his final year of his contract, Lawan is a well rounded attacker. Similar to Beckmann in his versatility, he can be used as an Inside Forward on the wing or a Deep Lying Forward up top. A similar pattern with most FCN attackers that he isn't exactly consistent but will be invaluable for the first few months while Nordstrand is injured. After that he may be lost in the shuffle. It's up to you how you want to use him, or if you already have another attacker in mind to bring in, sell Lawan now while you still can, otherwise a good squad player.

Joshua John: Already a fan favourite at Farum Park, John has settled well in real life, scoring like it's going out of fashion. Sadly no one could predict he would do so well and isn't exactly comparable to his FM representation. While a versatile winger who can play either side, on £6.25K a week, you are better off terminating his loan, as Laudrup and Ticinovic will be a head of him in selection and you'll be able to free your self up some wage budget for either moving it into your transfer kitty or renewing contracts.

Mario Ticinovic: A fantastic young winger, with two feet, Ticinovic will become an instant favourite of yours if you use Inside Forwards (a common theme in the FCN team). With no glaring weaknesses, he is there to be molded into the player you want, with potential to spare. Get him tutored if you can and keep him on a long term contract, once he starts developing other teams will come sniffing around. A solid squad player and can fulfill a first team spot while waiting on Beckmann to return to match fitness.

Andreas Laudrup: I've discussed one prodigal son already, and here is another. Son of Danish legend Michael Laudrup, Andreas already has a high reputation just because of his name, so don't be surprised to see interest from other clubs already. Quick and flashy, Laudrup does better out wide rather than cutting in, he is also mostly limited to his left foot. Prone to inconsistency and can have issues with pressure, Laudrup has lots of potential but he needs to be babied to get him where he needs to be. To fully develop him you will need lots of patience, a good tutor and to pay a lot of attention to detail. If you don't want the hassle, you may want to consider selling him, though I wouldn't do it in the first season, as his value should increase by the second, providing he doesn't perform terribly

Christian Gytkjær: Current out on loan to Sandnes Ulf in Norway, he'll return to the team in the winter. Already 22, Gytkjær never developed into the player everyone hoped, and with only a year left on his contract, is fully expected to leave by the end of it. I highly recommend letting him go.

Hot Prospects: A few good young players in the reserves and below, Oguzhan 'O.G.' Aynaoglu can be decent backup to your backup. He's fast, determined and has plenty of flair, but still needs a lot of work to become a good winger. I don't think I've ever managed to fully develop him, so if you do let me know how he turns out. Then there is Nichlas Rohde, who has shown tons of potential in the youth teams and reserves, becoming the top scorer of the u-19 league with 20 goals in 2010-11. The kid has an eye for goal, scoring on his debut last season and is getting the experience he needs at Breiðablik in Iceland and should return in the winter. Not particularly flashy or technical, he can get you goals and will make a good Homegrown backup to Nordstrand until you can develop a better striker. Joe Sise was brought in last winter and has been a bit of a disaster ever since, having to have surgery and missing the rest of the season, he got re-injured during pre-season and will miss most of, if not all of 2012-13. Physically he is Strong and Fast, but that's pretty much all you are getting from him and by the time he returns to fitness, he'll already be 23. Sell him as soon as he is no longer injured, the Swedish clubs usually jump all over buying back their compatriots. Kristian Lindberg is our final hot prospect, most veteran FM Superliga players should know about this kid, having had potential for some years now. Not much has changed, he still has a lot of potential but he is a year older. He has many 9s and 10s on various attributes, leaving room for the user to mold him into the striker they want. I would recommend tutoring him now, while he is still young enough to play in the U19s, then send him out on loan the following season. Also keep an eye on his contract, as he only has a year and a half left on it.

Overall: I usually find attacking players easy to replace, even if they have good stats, as they heavily rely on form, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that does it. If you follow my advice and terminate Joshua John's loan, you will have to rely on Lawan, Ticinovic and Laudrup until Beckmann and Nordstrand get back. You then may want to cash in on Lawan before his contract expires at the end of the season. You hands are slightly tied with Gytkjær and Rohde unavailable until after the winter break so don't be afraid to give O.G. and Lindberg a chance on the bench or playing Lorentzen out wide. I just suggest not bringing in new attackers at the start of the season over a defender, if you have a limited war chest.

You will be restricted though in the style you want to play with the current selection of strikers, as the attackers are mostly setup to play with one striker, usually a Deep Lying Forward, supported by two wide Inside Forwards and an Advanced Playmaker or Attacking Midfielder behind the striker. If you attempt to play a 4-4-2 or a Diamond in midfield, you will have to look at cashing in on some of your wide players for true wingers and another forward.

Potential Transfer Targets

Formations and Tactics

Real Life Replication

FC Nordsjælland has played a 4-2-3-1 for years under Morten Wieghorst, and Kasper Hjulmand continues that tradition with his own twist. When he took over in 2011-12, his first major change was moving the wingers to the opposite flanks of their preferred foot, so Laudrup would end up on the right and Mikkelsen (sold in the summer) to the left, encouraging them to cut inside and play relatively narrow. He would then push his fullbacks/wingbacks forward to supply the width and crosses, which only came natural to new signing Mtiliga but not so much Kildentoft, who eventually lost his place to Parkhurst at rightback. The central defenders, Okore and Bjelland (sold in the summer) were then to play as high as they could, while encouraged to play out of the back and Stokholm would drop deep to collect the ball and drive it forward, occasionally acting as a sweeper from midfield. All the while Adu would hold in the center of the park to shield the defense and act as a passing outlet for in trouble defenders, where he would then lay off simple passes to more creative players. Long time attacking midfielder Søren Christensen would then sit behind the striker and supply the final pass or poach stray balls. Lastly Beckmann was given free reign, as he would play a false number 9 position pulling the opposition defenders apart and create space for the inside forwards, help create attacks and shot from range.

Generally Hjulmand rarely changes his system to fit the opposition, FCN doesn't park the bus, nor stop attacking when they are 3-0 up or 4-0 down, which has been called both naive and entertaining.

The 2012-13 season, FCN play pretty much the same system, though Adu is often playing more creative passes, giving the player behind the striker more room to attack rather than supply and a more experienced and confident Okore will make the odd dribble with the ball from defense to open up space when the opposition has the passing lanes locked down. Overall it's the same system, but some of the players have changed. If you were to replicate the formation and most common lineup (2012-13) in Football Manager, it would look something like this.

Maximized Lineup

The above line up doesn't account for Nordstrand, as so far this season Beckmann and Nordstrand haven't really played at the same time, mostly due to injures and form. In Football Manager, you want to use your best players in the best position as often as possible. Well for starters Joshua John is no where near as good in FM as he is in real life, so he is an easy target to drop, moving Beckmann into AML and Nordstrand up top. Also change the striker duty from support to attacking, as the match engine won't be able to fully replicate the false number 9 and as a lone striker as support Nordstrand will be limited on his goals.

Providing the squad remains unchanged via transfers, to get both S. Christensen and Lorentzen both in the team they have to play to their individual strengths. Though Lorentzen would be better off as the advanced playmaker, S. Christensen isn't very efficient anywhere else, so leave the current system with Lorentzen in the AMR and S. Christensen in the hole. The last tweak would be to the fullbacks, as Parkhurst doesn't have the same attacking attributes as Mtiliga, so reverting him back to a fullback and keep him relatively conservative on support duty while giving Mtiliga his head and change him to an attacking duty will put his strengths to better use.

This will give you a basic idea of how best to use the squad, though you'll want to tweak it to maximize any minor details you may notice. For example, you may prefer Hansen to play more safe as a regular goalkeeper instead of a sweeper keeper, etc.

Why Play as FC Nordsjælland?

FCN is neither a top dog nor a team that needs a lot of rebuilding. It's like buying a broken down house, with the idea to build it up and make something to be proud of, to find out it's already half done, you just need to apply the finishing touches. So if you enjoy creating a footballing powerhouse, but don't want to have to do it from scratch, FC Nordsjælland is perfect for that.

Behind FC København in both player quality and financial power, FCN is already in the Champions League and has some money in coming. How you use that money will make or break the club's future. The squad is good enough to compete for domestic top honors with little to no changes, rated in the top 3 behind København and comparable to FC Midtjylland. Your stadium is relatively poor, and attendance isn't what it should be, but you have very solid training facilities and are more than capable to develop your own players.

Then there is the Superliga. Shorter than the Premier League with only 33 games, the registration rules are relatively relaxed, pretty much identical to the Champions League rules. Playing against 11 other teams can lead to a dog eat dog league, very competitive, yesterday's top teams are today's relegation candidates, which can include you if you are not careful.

Your goals can be anything, to building a team of Homegrown players, to Danish only players. Whether you just want to rely on your academy or become the next Ajax, selling your stars to the top teams in Europe. FC Nordsjælland is still a very much open team, and with a little work you can build it into anything you want it to be. So start an FCN save today and keep us informed on how it's going!

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Good start friend, I also play in Superliga but as Randers.

Looking forward to the rest and maybe a place to discuss Superliga tidbits.

Nice start dude. Looking forward to the rest of it

Thanks guys, work in progress. Check back often for updates.

Nice job, i have linked to your thread in the FC Copenhagen one i did Here

So after starting this guide and having a tester game or two, I've started my FCN career game. I plan to keep a semi-basic journal of my game in here, where I'll have a Summer and Winter post which I'll cover and update to include my transfers and my position in the various competitions (Superliga, Danish Cup, Europe). Hopefully it'll encourage other users to try out FC Nordsjælland.

2012-13 - Summer

Started the game with Sunday League experience, else it's too easy. The goal is to win the league in the first season, I'm not expecting to do much in the Champions League, and I should put a good showing in the Danish Cup, but plan to blood youngsters in it, and you know how that can turn out from time to time!

Transfers Out:

Transfers In:

Adryan is a heck of a signing. Took advantage of his minimum release clause and used the sale of Søren Christensen to fund the transfer, as much as it pained me to sell him. Also made a profit selling Lawan and replaced him with Ponjanpalo, who will be backup to Nordstrand.

Playing a deep 4-2-3-1, very similar to FCN's real formation, except my midfield is playing as DMs instead of MCs, which suits Adu, but I'm having to retrain Stokholm and AC. And my AMC is more of a Trequartista, which didn't fit Søren Christensen, hence forth it gave me good reason to sell him. I would have bought in an AMR and played Lorentzen in the AMC, but after I saw Adryan was a possible buy, Lorentzen then got shifted out wide.

Erivélton will play with Okore in the center of defense for now. I'm looking at bringing in Dória in the winter when he is old enough to move clubs, providing I have the cash, as he'll succeed Erivélton the following season.

I'm still weak at leftback, Mtiliga being the only natural player there. For now I have Gundelach retraining, but I don't plan to use him there unless necessary. It's certainly somewhere I will have to pay attention to coming towards the end of the season, as Mtiliga has only 12 months on his contract and will probably have high demands, which I'm not sure I'll want to meet for a then 32 year old.

I also pretty much replaced most of my staff. Having a scout for each region of the world, the highest amount of stars in each training category I can find/afford and a good tactical assitant manager. Most notable pickups were Pedro Jaro (Legendary FM goalkeeping coach!), Luciano Moggi and John Sivebæk as my chief scout.

Season:

Superliga: 20 games played

And we started the season so well, with away wins against København and Midtjylland, we hit a wall against OB and AGF exposed our vulnerabilities with a 4-0 defeat, the season went to hell after that, with inconsistent results and a leaky defense. Erivélton didn't repeat the success hes had with me in other saves, frequently putting in bad performances I ended up giving Runje games and Ticinovic, who I prefer over Laudrup for my Inside Forwards ended the first half of the season with 1 assist in 14 appearences. Beckmann was a similar story!

Adryan didn't set the league on fire, but I think hes still settling in, hes shown glimpses of brilliance and should be amazing come the winter half or at least next season. Pohjanpalo has done ok as backup to Nordstrand with a handful of goals, but nothing amazing. I've come to realize he might be a bit slow for my formation.

Hansen has been outstanding, which I shouldn't be surprised about considering how poor our defense has been. Though hes yet to get capped, he's been named in almost every team of the week/month, him and Adu are the only consistent performers in the team, even over Okore.

Come to the conclusion that I put too many changes into the team and club too soon. Doesn't help when you start as a Sunday League experience. If I can get some good friendlies in during the winter I hope to get into the last part of the season strong and close the gap on Horsens, who are over performing, maybe they'll lose some key players in the transfer window! The regular league contenders Midtjylland and København have underperformed, as they end the first half of the season at 6th and 7th respectivily.

Champions League:

I flirted with the Champions League, at one point being second, but it didn't last long. The 7-1 Shaktar win was incredible, Nordstrand hadn't been firing since coming back from injury, but decided he wanted a hat trick in that match. I hoped to at least end the Group Stage in 3rd for the Europa League spot, it came down to the final match against Shaktar, all I needed was a draw, but they got their revenge and whiped us 4-2 and even leapfrogged Arsenal for 2nd place, Juventus topped the group with 4 wins, 2 draws.

Danish Cup:

Played my fringe players, with a young bench and paid for it when I brought some youngsters on in the 70th minute and had to go down to 10 men after an injury in the 75th minute. Shouldn't have been too surprised, due to my form in the league at that time.

2012-13 - Winter

Transfers Out:

Transfers In:

Lost the race to sign Dória, he ended up going to Austria, which left me in a bit of a pickle, so I scout Ervin Zukanovic of KV Kortrijk, and began to unsettle him, though it looks like he could cost me a pretty penny. But I did managed to get cover for Leftback, bringing in Thomas Grøgaard from Odd on a free, though Gundelach hasn't done half bad as backup when he has had to play there. I also did find some other gems for free during the winter, plenty of clubs left their players unprotected, so I should have some exciting signings coming in next season.

Shift out Joe Sise, the injury prone striker. He was already 23 and needed more time to improve, so I decided to move him on as soon as he recovered from injury. Got a good price too, valued at £200k, sold him for £250k plus 50% profit of sale.

Season:

Superliga: Season complete

Frickin AGF! In the 3 games played they beat me 4-0, 4-0 and 3-0. I hadn't a clue how they did it, but anything I attempted against them, they were immune to. They've certainly become my bogey team!

Started the winter pre-season well, beat Malmo, Hertha, St. Pauli and Rostock in friendlies then lost my opening game to AaB 3-1. Did get a small 6 game win streak, including a 5-1 thrashing of Brøndby, but AGF put an end to that and couldn't find form afterwards. I basically ping ponged from 5th to 3rd and eventually finished 4th. At least I'll be in the Europa League next season, not as big of a pay day as the Champions League, but maybe I can get out of the group stage there, providing I can get to it first, as I start in the Third Qualifying Round.

Ticinovic ended the season still with that 1 assist, after 27 appearances. Nordstrand found some form, both him and Pohjanpalo scored double figures eventually. My biggest weakness is center of defense, I eventually just gave up on Erivélton and put Runje in, who did ok but not great. He did develop well though, has become a decent ball playing defender and will become a reliable backup, providing he doesn't ask for much of a pay rise. I have someone set to come in at the start of next season to play DC, so my focus now switches to my wingers, and what to do with Beckmann, who is on high wages and Ticinovic, who is young, foreign and may just need more time.

I finished the season with £11M in the bank, but I will have around 5 of that come out for training upgrades. As I won't be in the Champions League next season, I'll need to be conservative with my remaing cash. Overall a pretty poor campaign by my standards, hopefully 2013-14 will be a better season.

Who Won What?:

Superliga: AaB

Danish Cup: AaB

Champions League: Real Madrid

Europa League: Napoli

European Super Cup: Chelsea

Club World Championship: Al-Hilal (KSA)

Confederations Cup: Uruguay

Superliga: 20 games played

1st: AC Horsens - W12 - D3 - L5 - +20 - 39Pts

2nd: AGF - W11 - D5 - L4 - +14 - 38Pts

3rd: AaB - W11 - D4 - L5 - +12 - 37Pts

4th: FC Nordsjælland - W9 - D5 - L6 - +32Pts

5th: OB - W9 - D4 - L7 - +31Pts

are AC Horsens overrated? surprised to see them top of the league, and where are FC Copenhagen, are they underperforming or have they had a lot of injuries?

are AC Horsens overrated? surprised to see them top of the league, and where are FC Copenhagen, are they underperforming or have they had a lot of injuries?

København are 7th with 30 points. No major injuries, they sold Bolanos and Sigurdsson and didn't bring any other major names in. Not sure why AC Horsens have done so well, haven't sold anyone, not brought anyone in. They just seem to be a well rounded team with few weaknesses.

København are 7th with 30 points. No major injuries, they sold Bolanos and Sigurdsson and didn't bring any other major names in. Not sure why AC Horsens have done so well, haven't sold anyone, not brought anyone in. They just seem to be a well rounded team with few weaknesses.

strange about FC Copenhagen, either their players are underrated, or perhaps Jacobs isn't rated highly enough in the game as a manager/the system that he plays have a weakness that the other teams explores

strange about FC Copenhagen, either their players are underrated, or perhaps Jacobs isn't rated highly enough in the game as a manager/the system that he plays have a weakness that the other teams explores

The league is pretty tight overall. Only 2 points difference between 4th and 7th, though FCK should be leading the pack. In a few saves I've played both FCK and FCM have underperformed, even in one save FCM got relegated. Not sure why, as their players are always so highly rated. I'm thinking it's more of the game engine rather than the player's attributes.

i've played around a bit with FCK and i struggled. currently 4th

I love seeing a Superliga thread. Will definitely be following this one. I'm an FC København supporter myself, but I like FCN, as they play some really good football. IRL they showed people, what they were capable of, especially against Juventus in the 1-1 draw. It's great to see them representing Denmark. Hopefully you'll be the man to take them to Champions League glory some day

Awesome start to the thread, Viggo

2013-14 - Summer

Transfers Out:

Transfers In:

* Regen

Erivélton didn't work out as well as I hoped. He settled in quick, even learned Danish in his first season, but he started to decline quickly, otherwise I would have used him as backup. My transfer targets of Dória and Ervin Zukanovic didn't work out, I ended up getting Seth De Witte while his contract was unprotected. Though my scouts said he was only an average 3 stars, he has all the right attributes for what I'm looking for and possibly a future captain. I just need to train up his Composure, which is an 8. I also managed to poach Jens Stryger Larsen from Brøndby on a free, who I'll retrain to play AMR as an Inside Forward, a position he'll share with Lorentzen.

I got fed up with my current Wingers/Inside Forwards Beckmann and Ticinovic, who very much underperformed last season and with Larsen coming in, one of them had to go. Though Ticinovic was worse than Beckmann, he is still young, on a cheaper wage, has potential and is happy to sit on the bench and play as a backup, while Beckmann doesn't have that excuse, being one of the top earners. So I offered Beckmann out, his value had dropped to around £500k, but I found a buyer for £875k in Qatar, even managed to get a 50% profit clause on him.

My scouting network paid off, I found a 5 star potential youth, Ivica Pauli, 16 year old Croatian regen. I even managed to get him for free. He is already good enough to play as a backup. Certainly a future star and probably my best buy so far. On the topic of youths, my youth squad is lacking in DCs, so I picked up Petr Koubek from Vecke Budejovice, suggested by my Czech Assistant Manager. Paid more than I would have liked, but I though he could at least play as 4th choice backup.

After I had done my dealings in the transfer market, FC Twente, who I have a working relationship with loan option, decided to loan me two players. Nils Röseler and Alexander Bannink are nothing more than backups, but Bannink does give me the freedom to send Petry on loan for much needed experience and game time.

New Youths

I'll make sure this section is in the Winter summary in future.

Most notable youth prospects to come through the academy are:

* Regen

Annoyingly, the best prospects are all strikers who can play in the hole! Jacobsen being the better of the 3. I don't think Soelberg will make it into the team, and Aabech is unlikely. Jacobsen could become a decent backup, but none of them particularly excel and with Pohjanpalo already in the team at 19 years old and having just brought in Pauli, who is 16, the striker position is pretty much set for some years to come.

Formation and Lineup

First choice is on the left, backup on the right.

Gundelach, O.G. and Henriksen are missing from both lineups. I plan to sell Gundelach in the winter and let O.G. and Henriksen's contracts expire, til then they are 3rd choice. Anders Christiansen may struggle at DM, hes not very defensive but is creative, he'll be under the spotlight this season to see how he does in the role, taking over from Stokholm. Laudrup surprisingly rules the roost at AML, I don't think I've ever had him perform so well before, I usually end up having to sell him, so a nice surprise there. Pohjanpalo has pipped Nordstrand to first choice striker, though honestly there isn't a lot in it and they probably get an even amount of play time, though Nordstrand performs better in important games.

Season

Superliga: 20 games played

A busy schedule, with Europa League qualifiers by the time the 3rd Superliga match of the season. I did not start the season well, with a 3-2 loss to Esbjerg and a poor performance by new signing De Witte. I began to fear the worst. Managed to find our feet again with a few wins and a draw against our bogey team AGF, and an important home win against FC København. If we weren't winning, we were drawing, with the inability to see out games which was stopping us from taking 1st place, FC Midtjylland at one point with a 6 point lead at the top.

We eventually lost again, giving Kolding their first win of the season. I probably should have played a stronger team, but with the Europa League games and Danish Cup games, I had to rest players. Kolding ran with that win to go from bottom to 5th by the end of the summer season. After that we got a good kick up the arse, winning the majority of our games and put pressure on FCM, it went down to the final league game of 2013, where I played Midtjylland away from home. 1st vs. 2nd. We came from behind to win 3-2 and ended 2013 at the top of the table by goal difference, having conceded 19 goals, scoring 46. Though we still haven't registered a win over AGF!

Pohjanpalo leads the scoring charts with 17 goals in 17 games, a goal every 62.47 minutes, and Nordstrand with a not too shabby 8 goals in 15 games. Adryan top on assists with 9, and a mile ahead in key passes with 37, next best Mathias Wichmann of AaB with 22. Weaknesses in the team would be Mtiliga at leftback, who is declining and put in some poor performances and I feel AC could be doing better in his creative DM role. I'll be on the look out for a DL and possibly a DM playmaker in the next transfer window, along with any other wheeling and dealing I can do.

Europa League

I can't believe I lost fo Maccabi Haifa. Having played in the Isreali league before, I know they are strong domestically, but I should have been winning that game, in fact I was, till they got 2 in the final minutes of the game. Some how I destroyed Fiorentina away from home and repeated the victory at Farum Park in the return leg. Zenit ran away with the group and Fiorentina underperformed, which lucky for me allowed me to finish 2nd. Bring on the knockout rounds!

Danish Cup

Of course, I want to win the cup, but it's not practical playing a strong team, while playing in Europe and the league, so for the 2 matches played I used fringe players and youths on the bench and it paid off this time. Pauli got his debut against Næstved, and scored 2 goals in a relatively easy game. I was unsure how I'd do against Horsens, playing a weaker squad, we went down 2-0 until Nordstrand fired back with a hattrick and we managed to salvage the game. We've been drawn Thisted FC in the quarter final, who play in the Second Division West, which we should be winning, and the semis have been drawn already too, who we'll face either AaB or FC Midtjylland. That won't be an easy game.

2013-14 - Winter - End of the Season

Transfers Out:

Transfers In:

* Regen

Come the start of the winter transfer window, I made the decision to move Gundelach on, as with Thomas Grøgaard brought in last season, he was better cover at DL than Gundelach, and he deserved to play games. Didn't get much for him, but the 50% profit clause is there encase he does well.

Initially I didn't bring anyone in during the transfer window, though I do have some end of contract signings coming in next season. As time went on my UK scout discovered a bunch of youths available, Callan-McFadden, Jones, Wilson and Rothwell, all released by their clubs. I picked them up on a free to fill out my youth squad and possibly find an eventually backup player.

Simão, I had been scouting since the start of the game. A straight upgrade to Adu, he is a beast of a DM, and gives me more fight in midfield with higher aggression and bravery. Obtaining him was no easy task! He was in China, but got released at the start of 2013-14 and every time I tried to negotiate a contract with him, he was looking in the range of £10K p/w and £7K per International Cap (I'm paying £4.4K p/w to my best players at the minute). So I left him alone for months, keeping track of him and praying no other team would approach him. 9 months later he sacked his agent and was looking for £3K p/w. Bargain! Sadly I'll have to move Adu on in the next transfer window, I hope to make anywhere from £2-4M for him, plus 50% profit clause.

New Youths

Most notable youth prospect(s) to come through the academy are:

* Regen

Big disappointment in the regens this season, especially have upgrading my facilities and have really good staff. Nørregaard could be a decent backup and Rytter has good determination and flair, but he is slow and low finishing if I were to use him as an inside forward. Once I discovered I didn't have any good prospects this year, I had a look at my neighbors prospects and poached one for next season.

Season

Superliga: Season complete

Winner! It was close up until the end. While still fighting in 3 competitions, results would fluctuate, usually in the pattern of 2 wins then a draw or a loss. I traded 1st and 2nd with FC Midtjylland up till the last 7 games of the season, where I broke ahead, at one point I was 9 points clear and only needed to draw against FCM. Of course I lost, but sealed the deal in the following match in a 1-0 home win over AaB, winning the league in Farum Park with one game to spare.

FC København nearly got relegated, at one point they were 11th. I even beat them 4-1 at home, they were terrible! Though they did do incredibly well in the Europa League, getting to the Semi Finals, losing to Panathinaikos. Funnily enough, once they got eliminated from Europe, they found form once again in the league and escaped to 9th and Kolding plummeted back down to 11th. And yes, I've still not recorded a win over AGF. Beating them will be a championship in it's self!

Finished the league with equally best defense with AGF, conceding 35 goals (13 clean sheets from Jesper Hansen), and league high goals scored of 75, FC København was 2nd nearest with 52, a difference of 23 goals! Adryan got Spring Player of the Year, with a team and league leading average rating of 7.56, with 7 goals and 13 assists from AMC, completing 54 key passes (AaB's Mathias Wichmann, again, was 2nd with 36 key passes). Pohjanpalo got league goal scorer with 20 goals in 28 games, didn't build much on his 17 goals from the summer. I relied on Nordstrand to find the net towards the end of the season, he managed to reach 14 goals in 24 games.

Overall a good season. Weakness in my fullbacks, mostly DL with Mtiliga declining, I have someone coming in next season and Christiansen began to struggle towards the end of the season. Also keeping an eye on new defender De Witte, hes done well, but I hoped for more consistency, but then again it is his first season and he is foreign.

Europa League:

Pissed! We should have won the home game, we were 1-0 up and we conceded an ill awarded penalty in the dying minutes of the game. I had ago at the referee in the post match interview and got the 'FA is silent' response, which basically confirmed that he shouldn't have given the penalty. Of course we'd draw in the second leg, and went on to penalties, scoring the first 3 and missing the last 2, to allow them to get back in it, eventually losing 5-4.

As I mentioned above, FC København did extremely well, which will help out the Danish coefficients. They went all the way to the semi finals, winning the home leg and losing the away leg to Panathinaikos.

Danish Cup:

Underperformed in the quarter final, I ended up playing a weaker squad, considering who the opposition was, I thought I could get away with it, with important games in Europe and the League happening simultaneously, we were lucky to get out of it on penalties. AaB then pushed us hard in the Semi's, last thing my players needed at the time was to play 120 minutes. I made some bad substitutions due to players being low on condition, I didn't expect the subs to have to play till the 120th minute, which is where we lost it. Hopefully we'll win it next season, AaB now winning the Danish Cup back to back.

Who Won What?

Superliga: FC Nordsjælland

Danish Cup: AaB

Champions League: Man City

Europa League: Fenerbahçe

European Super Cup: Real Madrid

Club World Championship: Real Madrid

World Cup: Switzerland

Champions League - Man City LOL, didn't see that one coming, as from what I've noticed in my save, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man U and Chelsea dominate in Europe. I suppose they do have the money to buy an incredible squad, and with the players they already have, they're a very strong side to match up against.

Champions League - Man City LOL, didn't see that one coming

They beat Man Utd in the final.

2014-15 - Summer - Start of the Season

Transfers Out:

Transfers In:

* Regen

I introduced some of the biggest changes to the team since I took charge of the club. Stokholm retired, Mtiliga had declined beyond use and contracts were coming up for renewal. Both Ticinovic and Lorentzen were looking for new contracts with only 1 year remaining. Lorentzen had performed well for me, if I hadn't had brought in Adryan, he would have been my man in the hole, but ended up out wide, having performed his best season for me last season with an overall of 7 goals, 15 assists and average rating of 7.15, it wasn't willing to give him his demands of £12k p/w, my current max is £4.4K p/w, which I only plan to break for either Okore or Adryan. Annoyingly I didn't get as much as I was hoping for him, both AaB and Rosenburg came in for him, and I decided I didn't want to sell him to a rival, so he went to Rosenburg. Ticinovic I could have kept on a relatively low wage, but I kind of just got fed up of him after his first disaster season and ended up going for a lot more than I expected, more than Lorentzen, for £2.3M! Lastly there was Adu, he had done great for me but after bringing in Simão, who was a straight upgrade, it was best to cash in on him while his value was high.

Spent a bit more than I was hoping, generally I try to get most of my signings for free when they become unprotected in January, but I didn't realize I was going to end up having to sell Lorentzen and Ticinovic at the time. Wolski became the direct replacement for Lorentzen, costing the same amount I sold his predecessor for and at a similar wage, Wlodyka, who needs some work, but still young, I got a good price on. I then had to fill the holes left by Stokholm and Mtiliga. While Christiansen had mostly took over Stokholm's mantel, he does lack defensively, I wanted a more solid option when playing in tighter games, so I found Armenian Artak Yedigaryan who is a bit of an all rounder, defensively, creatively and can play fullback. Then I found Boudebouda, it was between him and a Bulgarian I forget the name of, who was up on a free, but was going to be 29 the time he got to the club, so the Algeria it was. Boudebouda turned out to be a great buy! Lastly after getting disappointed with the regens last season, I poached one of the best Danish youth prospects around, Adamsen* from OB, who can slot straight into 4th choice DM, though with his low aggression, I'll eventually move him on.

Formation and Lineup

First choice is on the left, backup on the right.

Having let Villadsen go, homegrown talent Jensen got promoted to backup after spending the last few seasons on loan. He's a small upgrade to Villadsen, with room for improvement. Koubek* is my 4th choice DC, a regen I bought in my first season on my assistant's suggestion. Nordstrand has declined and this will probably be his last season, so Pohjanpalo takes first choice ST, and the 17 year old wonder striker Croatian Pauli* is 3rd choice, but can also play AML in a pinch. No obvious weaknesses in the first team, providing Wolski adapts quickly and both my wingers find form. The only place I'll be screwed with a long term injury will be in goal, which is pretty common for me as I'm too cheap to spend money on a decent backup GK.

Season

Superliga: 20 games played

Had the best start possible, with a 3-0 away win over SønderjyskE, I managed to get 4 consecutive clean sheets in the league, which was rudely interrupted by a shock 2-1 loss to Randers, at home! Overall the league went very well, basically took 1st and have held it most of the season, with challenges from FC Midtjylland, who quickly faded, and FC København, who have been on my tail constantly, had a little blimp, but have gained ground on me again. I would have finished the summer part of the season 7 points clear, but of course the final game was against FCK and they whooped me 3-1 at the Parken. They have improved their team a lot since poor performances over the last two seasons, having sacked 2 coaches now (Jacobs and Erik Rasmussen), now with Lars Søndergaard they've rebuilt well with signings of Christian Poulsen from Ajax, Tsvetanov of Litex, a few Brazilians and Giorgos Samaras on loan. I don't know where they get the money from!

Biggest news coming out of the season is finally beating AGF, 3-1 at NRGi Park. Though they've seemed to have had some decent signings, they've not done well this season ended up sacking their coach and I repeated the feat 3 months later with a 1-0 win at home.

Standout players so far? Pfft, De Witte has done well, I have more trust in him now than I did last season, both him and Okore have done very well at DC, I've only conceded 16 goals. Boudebouda settled in quickly too and done very well, probably my best buy of the season. Pohjanpalo has been on and off, usually scoring 2 or 3 goals at a time then going invisible for a few matches, I had to call upon Pauli* at one point. Pauli* started so well, he was 5 goals in 2 games at one point, his agent ended up asking for a new contract. I think he's ready to take over from Nordstrand. Laudrup has been the best winger, and Simão has struggled to find consistency. Most disappointed with Yedigaryan, luckily AC has lifted some of the burden off of him.

Champions League:

TNS was a nice draw and Wisla didn't put up too much trouble (don't know how I got the biggest crowd against Wisla and less against Liverpool and FC Bayern!). The draw could have been a lot better. I'm still 4th seed, I honestly though I could best Anderlecht home and away. Boy was I wrong! A shock draw with Liverpool, with a late equiliser and a shock win over Bayern with 2 good counters from the weakest of my 4 wingers (Wlodyka), I proceed to be schooled from there. Though Anderlecht didn't exactly dominate, my team just didn't show up and we couldn't finish our chances (bad time for both of my strikers to lose form). Once I lost both games against Anderlecht I knew I was gonna finish 4th and didn't take the final two games seriously when it came to squad selection. Bayern topped the group with 11 points, Anderlecht with 10, Liverpool go into the Europa League with 8.

No other Danish teams made it into the group stage of the Champions League or Europa League.

Danish Cup:

Vestsjælland again! They eliminated me in my first season and this time they destroyed me with a hattrick from Kenneth Fabricius. I though we had a good chance at the cup this season, as I had strength in depth. Next season, if we have a good lead in the league I'm going to play first teamers in the cup. At least I have no excuse not to win the Superliga this season, being out of both the Danish Cup and Champions League.

This has inspired me to have a bit of a bash with Nordsjælland

This has inspired me to have a bit of a bash with Nordsjælland

Cool. Let us know how you get on.

Cool. Let us know how you get on.

Going fairly well. Just going into November and I'm just top of the Superliga by 2 points, but have tough games coming up. Surprisingly though I'm top of my CL group after 2 wins and a loss

Going fairly well. Just going into November and I'm just top of the Superliga by 2 points, but have tough games coming up. Surprisingly though I'm top of my CL group after 2 wins and a loss

Watch out for AGF

just had a read through your 'story' viggo. pretty entertaining stuff

just had a read through your 'story' viggo. pretty entertaining stuff

I intended it to be a summary, but I get carried away. Should have the 2nd/winter part of 2014-15 done tonight or tomorrow.

2014-15 - Winter - End of the Season

Transfers Out:

Transfers In:

* Regen

Minimal movement in the transfer window. Rohde had been on loan for the last few seasons and had developed well, but with being full on strikers I decided to let his contract expire and FC Vestsjælland got a heck of a free signing.

Did my end of the year swooping for end of contracts and once again have a target or two coming in next season. I also noticed Adryan's contract is coming up and had to prepare for the worse. I struggled finding a decent replacement until my North African scout came up with Egyptian Ibrahim*. Not a bad price, considering his stats and very good potential. If he does take over from Adryan at least I'll have someone who will be a threat from Free Kicks, which I've been lacking for some time.

New Youths

Most notable youth prospect(s) to come through the academy are:

* Regen

Naff all. After spending over £10M over the last 2-3 seasons on upgrading my facilities and spending around £3.4M a year on my youth setup (according to my Expenditures), I got a bunch of half staf players, one or two 1 star players and a barely 3 star potential Right Back. Disappointing! My best year so far from regens was my first, where I got a bunch of strikers, who have been out on loan this season.

Season

Superliga: Season complete

Improvement on last season, almost finished the winter period with no defeats. Nearly.

At 5 games to go I was 10 points clear from FC København, won all of my winter games, except one draw against SønderjyskE and having not conceded more than a maximum of one goal a game, I can only presume the pressure got to the team. First, my signing of the season, Boudebouda was ruled out for the rest of the season with an injury, and with 5 tough games remaining, I began to worry when I drew with OB and FCK began to build steam. They had constantly been making some good signings and have a very strong team. I then lost to FC Midtjylland 2-0 at home, ending my hope of ending the winter period undefeated, reducing the gap between me at FCK to 5 points. Of course I played them next, luckily at home, scrapping a 0-0 draw to maintain our lead. That gave me a glimmer of hope, I just needed two points from my two remaining games, where we draw twice more against Esbjerg and AaB, clinching it on our last game (FCK had a game in hand, because of the Danish Cup final).

A good season, again, an improvement from last season, but the last 5 games were a worrying sign. The loss of our Leftback hurt and we had a couple of suspensions from Yellow Cards. Pohjanpalo, not as clinical or consistent as last season, ended as the league Top Scorer (18) and Spring player of the Year. He scored a few hattricks but wasn't to be found in some of our draws or close encounters. I linked that to Adryan's dip in form, as he was linking up our midfield to our striker and had been poor most of the season, basically sealing the deal of me selling him next season, rather than break our wage cap and renewing his contract. Nordstrand barely made 10 games and will now be 3rd choice, Pauli* getting 14 games, scoring 8 times, many of them off the bench. Okore, De Witte, and Simão are big contributors to our Goals Against, only conceding 27. Simão improved from his weak start at the beginning of the season, showed exactly why he is a step up from Adu, winning many balls in midfield, preventing the counters and even scoring from set pieces. All of my wingers found some kind of form, Jen Stryger Larsen even earned a cap and debut goal for Denmark, while Wolski has been knocking on Poland's door.

Parkhurst is now 31 and has shown glimpses of decline. This coming season will be his last as first choice, and as stated above, Adryan didn't put in the performances he should be, considering his attributes. He has developed amazingly since I signed him and could be playing for a big European side, so I'll be cashing him in in the Summer transfer window. Can't think of any other weaknesses, after Adryan and eventually Parkhurst, another 3rd choice striker will be needed once Nordstrand is done for, then I'll have to keep an eye on Hansen, who so far has won keeper of the year each season. I don't see myself replacing him any time soon unless someone amazing becomes available.

Lastly, I can predict next season to be tougher. FC København have certainly found their feet again and have a lot of talent on their books, with cash to spare. This season could have been different if they beat me at Farum Park and they lost the Danish Cup on penalties in the final, they are going to be ones to watch next season. So it'll be a good time for my team to have some stability for the upcoming season and gauge how we do and look for weaknesses in the team during and after the 2015-16 season.

Who Won What?

Superliga: FC Nordsjælland

Danish Cup: AC Horsens

Champions League: At. Madrid

Europa League: Tottenham

European Super Cup: Man City

Club World Championship: Man City

Can you list FCK's signings during the various seasons, please?

I'm happy that it seems the AI's signing some decent players for them.

Can you list FCK's signings during the various seasons, please?

2012-13

DC - Valerică Găman - Astra - £850K

DR - Dennis Flinta - Silkeborg IF - £275K

DR - Hans Norbye - Tromsø - £60K

DL - Kevin Larsen - Hønefoss - £250K

AMC - Måns Söderqvist - Kalmar - LOAN

2013-14

GK - Éverson - Guaratinguetá - £22K

MR - Leandro Chaparro - Vasco - £750K

AMC - Marinho - International - £700K

ST - Simon Makienok Christoffersen - Brøndby IF - £1M

AMC - Cidinho - Botafogo - £3.5M

DC - Alexander Andersen - AC Horsens - £525K

LWB - Leyrielton - São Caetano - £625K

2014-15

DM - Christian Poulsen - Ajax - Free

DL - Wellington Saci - Corinthians - LOAN

GK - Rafael Santos - Corinthians - LOAN

AML - Momchil Tsvetanov - Litex - £2.3M

AML - Giorgos Samaras - Bolton - LOAN

DC - Gum - Fluminense - Free

DR - Pará - Santos - £600K

ST - Denis Stracqualursi - Bahai - £1.8M

AML/AMC - Fellype Gabriel - Botafogo - £2.3M

At the start of 2015-16, they still have:

Kris Stadsgaard (they're paying him 10K p/w!!!)

Pierre Bentsson

Christian Grindheim

Johan Wiland

Thomas Delaney

Sölvi Ottesen

Michael Jakobsen

Thomas Kristensen

Igor Vetokele

At the start of 2015-16, they still have:

Kris Stadsgaard (they're paying him 10K p/w!!!)

Pierre Bentsson

Christian Grindheim

Johan Wiland

Thomas Delaney

Sölvi Ottesen

Michael Jakobsen

Thomas Kristensen

Igor Vetokele

They've sold Cornelius and Claudemir No Nicolai Jørgensen or Martin Vingaard either :|

When you say they're paying Stadsgaard 10.000 a week, are we talking DKK 10.000 or £10.000?

They've sold Cornelius and Claudemir No Nicolai Jørgensen or Martin Vingaard either :|

When you say they're paying Stadsgaard 10.000 a week, are we talking DKK 10.000 or £10.000?

£ British Pounds.

Claudemir went to Getafe for £3.1M, Jørgensen to Stoke for £2.9M, Cornelius to Fiorentina for £2.6M, all by the start of the second season. Vingaard is still there, but in the reserves, set as backup. They brought in a lot of Brazilian attackers which probably pushed him down the pecking order.

£ British Pounds.

Claudemir went to Getafe for £3.1M, Jørgensen to Stoke for £2.9M, Cornelius to Fiorentina for £2.6M, all by the start of the second season. Vingaard is still there, but in the reserves, set as backup. They brought in a lot of Brazilian attackers which probably pushed him down the pecking order.

Well I guess Vingaard is around 30/31 in your save. I've only played a season and I'm using FC København, and Vingaard is my first choice AMC. I love him to death IRL, so I got annoyed when I thought they'd sold him. Can't believe Stadsgaard is on £10.000 a week, he's on like £5.000 in my save.

København are 7th with 30 points. No major injuries, they sold Bolanos and Sigurdsson and didn't bring any other major names in. Not sure why AC Horsens have done so well, haven't sold anyone, not brought anyone in. They just seem to be a well rounded team with few weaknesses.

How many goals did Kruger score in the first season (and the following ones) because he is second in the goal scoring charts in my current game with 16 goals in 27 Superliga mathces so far - with him scoring one goal IRL this season so far, it seems like he could do a down tone IMO

They've sold Cornelius and Claudemir No Nicolai Jørgensen or Martin Vingaard either :|

When you say they're paying Stadsgaard 10.000 a week, are we talking DKK 10.000 or £10.000?

Stadsgaard starts out with £8.5k a week, so it is hardly surprising that he has gotten a little extra for a new contract

How many goals did Kruger score in the first season (and the following ones) because he is second in the goal scoring charts in my current game with 16 goals in 27 Superliga mathces so far - with him scoring one goal IRL this season so far, it seems like he could do a down tone IMO

You think Kruger could do with a tone down? Look at these stats from Jesper Lange from my very first season in the Superliga (I know it's in Danish but if you're from abroad just look at the goals you'll figure it out ). He has 3 goals in 16 games IRL so far.

How many goals did Kruger score in the first season (and the following ones) because he is second in the goal scoring charts in my current game with 16 goals in 27 Superliga mathces so far - with him scoring one goal IRL this season so far, it seems like he could do a down tone IMO

Lasse Kryger?

16 Goals in 32 Apps in his first season

7 in 32 the following

7 in 31 the one after

Then he got released on a free after they got relegated.

AC Horsens did over perform in the first season though (happened twice in 2 different saves).

I welcome any feedback on how the AI is handling FCN, or if anyone is noticeably under or over performing. Thanks.

AC Horsens did over perform in the first season though (happened twice in 2 different saves).

I welcome any feedback on how the AI is handling FCN, or if anyone is noticeably under or over performing. Thanks.

I'm currently 20 games into the 2nd season on my save, and from what I've noticed the AI doesn't really do too well to handle the teams. In the 2012/2013 season they really didn't do well, finishing 7th, and it didn't get much better in the 2013/2014 season as they are currently sitting at 6th place. Esbjerg seem to be the most overpowered team on FM13. Here is the IRL table as of Nov. 15th - 2012.

I welcome any feedback on how the AI is handling FCN, or if anyone is noticeably under or over performing. Thanks.

They finished 5th in the first season, thereby qualifying for the Europa League

Denmark have a fair amount of team in Europe this season as Denmark were awarded a fair play place

1) FCK - CL

2) Horsens - CL

3) FCM - EL

4) OB - EL

5) FCN - EL

7) Brøndby - EL (fair play)

I'm guessing the AI sells most of the best players (Okore, Adu and Parkhurst on a bosman, I'm guessing)?

Biggest weakness with FCN is the squad isn't very deep, once they get into their fringe players there is a big gap in quality.

I'm guessing the AI sells most of the best players (Okore, Adu and Parkhurst on a bosman, I'm guessing)?

Biggest weakness with FCN is the squad isn't very deep, once they get into their fringe players there is a big gap in quality.

Okore were first sold in the summer, and Adu is still there - can't remeber with Parkhurst

I'm guessing the AI sells most of the best players (Okore, Adu and Parkhurst on a bosman, I'm guessing)?

Biggest weakness with FCN is the squad isn't very deep, once they get into their fringe players there is a big gap in quality.

I did steal Okore from them, so that might be one of the reasons, but I think that's pretty much it. They might have sold a few, but they've brought in some decent players aswell. They really should be doing better than they are.

Sounds like a Manager/DoF issue then (or AI).

2015-16 - Summer - Start of the Season

Transfers Out:

Transfers In:

* Regen

My center piece of my team, Adryan, finally had to be let go. His contract was coming up and renewing it wasn't possible, but it did bring in one heck of a pay day! Palermo came in with a £8.5M offer with 50% profit sell on clause and my chairmen accepted before I could even blink. With the sell on clause, there should be even more cash to come! Adryan turned into a heck of a player, click this link to see what his attributes looked like before he left me, not bad for the £850K fee I paid to get him. Kildentoft decided he wanted a new challenge, not sure if it was because of being on the bench, having won two league titles or just RNG, he went on the cheap to Esbjerg, no big loss, I'd use his spot to help break in my future first choice Rightback. Brøndby came in for Storch, who I was only going to send on loan anyway, so he went, plus the 50% clause (if you haven't noticed, I add those to pretty much every sale!). København and Swansea also came in for Stoychev and Wilson, in that order, Stoychev I picked up on a free in my first season to fill out my youth squad. He had potential but never made it. After 3 years at the club and at 20 years old I thought I might as well cash in, and presume FCK only got him because he had 'trained in nation' status and possible potential (but unlikely to reach it, unknowingly to the AI). Wilson, similar situation to Stoychev, a former Man United player, I was surprised such a big club came in for him. In the end it turned out to be one of the best deals I made for such little work, I cashed in his 50% profit clause a few months later for £1.65M. Thanks James Wilson!

Didn't spend a single penny on transfer fees. Brought in Parkhurst's future replacement in Romero. With this season to settle, the Argentine has all the right attributes to command the Rightback position for FCN for years to come. No other big signings, just filling out my youth team, the only ones of note are Surel* and Otto*. Surel* was surprisingly released by Brøndby, funnily enough they ended up buying Storch from me and I brought in Surel* for free. Looks like he could turn into a decent No. 2, who I can get 'trained in club' status on, which is always a benefit for squad registration. Otto* is a young German Leftback, who was released by Karlsruhe. Can't cross for nuffin', but is still young and could also turn in to a backup, possibly to replace Grøgaard eventually.

Formation and Lineup

First choice is on the left, backup on the right.

Well that was quick. Pauli* has already become my starting striker. Though Pohjanpalo had a good season, though not as good as his previous, Pauli*'s attributes alone deserved a starting spot, at least until he proves to me otherwise. You can check them out here. Ibrahim* will hopefully hold down the AMC spot, he didn't do anything fancy during his first 6 months at the club when I brought him in in January, but I trust him to hold down the starting spot, else I got Issah to call upon, who hasn't had many first team chances. Yedigaryan gets the nod over AC, Christiansen will work better coming off of the bench, considering how versatile he is, but for now Yedigaryan is just better for the role I want to play there in DM. New signing Romero will take Kildentoft's spot on the bench and get games where he can, I expect him to take over from Parkhurst by next season, and will give him a year to adjust to the harsh Danish winters! Koubek* is coming along slowly, keeping him at the club one more season to get 'trained at club' status then will send him to my Austrian Feeder club, SV Mattersburg next season, for now he remains 4th choice. Lastly Adamsen*, he's turned into a wonderkid already at 17 (check it out!), who I'll probably never use because of his low aggression and important match weakness. He is already listed as 3 and a half stars (at 17!) and could easy take a spot in the starting XI if it wasn't for those weaknesses. Hopefully he keeps quiet and sits in the reserves, where I'll attempt to build his value up and eventually sell him. Oh, and Nordstrand is still about, a fan favourite I thought I'd let him stay as 3rd choice striker and turn him into a coach as soon as he decides to retire.

Season

Superliga: 20 games played

I was so close to staying undefeated! 13 point lead on FC København, after proclaiming this was going to be a tougher season, I've conceded 10 goals, scored 43, lost once and drew twice. Lossing to Esbjerg fB away from home on the 2nd to last match of the summer period, 1-0. A relatively easy season, Pauli* was absolute class, with my wingers pitching in too. I've forgotten all about Adryan already! A busy schedule due to being in multiple competitions, the loss to Esbjerg was down to a combination of low condition, having to rotate players knowing the FCM game was coming up next, Simão missing the game due to suspension and a handful of injuries. The usually previously promoted suspects at the bottom of the table, AaB started the season well, I thought it would be myself FCK and AaB leading the league at one point, not sure what happened to them. København show they are still a class above most of the other teams, except for my FCN, where I've basically waltzed into every match with very little tactical preparation, and won.

The stats: Pauli* leads the goal scorers with 18 in 19 games, already broken the Player of the Match record with 7. Wolski shows he was a good replacement for Lorentzen with an assist leading 11, and 8 goals (joint 3rd on goal scoring table). And Simão is getting shouts for Player of the Season already. Hansen has become Denmark's No. 1, after the previous main stay Stephan Andersen ended up going to Midtjylland on a free, which lead to him being dropped in the pecking order. Pauli* has had call ups for Croatia, along with both of my Polish wingers Wolski and Wlodyka. Over half of my 22 first team/fringe players are capped, 5 of them are regulars. The team has come along nicely, I'd say the only disappointing thing so far has been Ibrahim*. Big shoes to replace Adryan, he has been slightly injury prone, which I try to avoid in my purchases and maybe made a mistake with him, luckily Issah has stepped up well enough to balance it out a bit. It has made me double think if I should sell Issah next season or not, with Marcondes waiting in the wings. If Ibrahim* isn't firing by next season I'll have to make new plans for my AMC. For here though, I fully expect to win the league, I can't imagine losing a 13 point lead which should only be getting bigger, and would have, if it wasn't for Esbjerg!

Also good to add, our attendance has increased a lot over the years, we're now getting around 9,000 in attendance, minimum. I'm yet to buy Farum Park, so no plans to expand it, fingers crossed the board just decide to build a new stadium instead.

Champions League:

Pyunik wasn't much trouble, but Olimpija was made hard for me. I have no idea why, but my return leg against Olimpija was scheduled outside of the normal Champions League scheduled matches and during the international break. I was left with exactly 10 fringe players, and a few youngsters that weren't playing at international youth level that day, I was lucky to get out of there with a 1-1 draw. The group stage, though the teams looked hard, wasn't that bad, the points turned out pretty even, well except for AZ's. Good for me AZ didn't turn into another Anderlecht, and we beat them in both legs, got a win out of Arsenal (4-1!!) and Schalke just destroyed us both times, they dominated each game. I ended the 5th match top of the group by 2 points, but with having to play Schalke in the final game I had to hope for Arsenal to draw or lose at home to AZ. Wasn't going to happen. Didn't happen. At least there is the Europe League, where I've already been drawn up against Olympiakos. Schalke topped the group with 10 points, leading with +3 goal difference, Arsenal 2nd with 10 also, FCN with 9 and AZ with 5.

FC København were the only Danish team to make it in Europe, getting into the Europa League group stage, though they nearly got into the Champions League, but lost 3-1 on aggregate to Malaga, which was always going to be a tough game for them. They topped their group with 13 points, against the likes of Standard, Legia and Partizan. They'll also face Greek opposition in the First Knockout Round, who they'll be playing Panathinaikos.

Danish Cup:

Two games, both against Superliga opposition, unlucky me. Wasn't sure how the FCM game would go, luckily my team was in peak form coming into this game, which I can't say about the Kolding game. We just came off of our 2nd draw in the league, against Lyngby, who were bottom and are a rival. I was also forced to rotate some players and it ended up nearly costing us, especially when I used my clever wisdom to use my subs early and we got an injury in the 80th minute, forcing us to play extra time with 10 men. We play AGF (!) in the quarter finals.

You think Kruger could do with a tone down? Look at these stats from Jesper Lange from my very first season in the Superliga (I know it's in Danish but if you're from abroad just look at the goals you'll figure it out ). He has 3 goals in 16 games IRL so far.

Lange and Kryger seem to be doing well in my games, too! We've rated then very low so I don't really understand why.

I'm currently 20 games into the 2nd season on my save, and from what I've noticed the AI doesn't really do too well to handle the teams. In the 2012/2013 season they really didn't do well, finishing 7th, and it didn't get much better in the 2013/2014 season as they are currently sitting at 6th place. Esbjerg seem to be the most overpowered team on FM13. Here is the IRL table as of Nov. 15th - 2012.

Funnily, we've rated Esbjerg fB as the worst team of the league

Not sure what's wrong with the match engine.

Most notable youth prospect(s) to come through the academy are:

DC -

Glen Jakobsen*

- Danish - 3 1/2 Star Potential -

[

link

]

ST -

Steffen Hansen*

- Danish - 3 1/2 Star Potential -

[

link

]

* Regen

A lot better than last years selection, a few 2 to 3 star players, the best of the bunch being Jakobsen* and Hansen*. Jakobsen*, while not outstanding, has all the right base attributes to build off of, except for jumping, which is nigh impossible to get good improvement on. He is 5'10", and I like my DCs to have some height, so good chance he won't make it based on that alone. Hansen* also looks very decent. Wouldn't mind some better physical attributes, with more speed. There

I would retrain Glen Jakobsen to be a right back if I were you, it is always nice to have a right back that can head the ball (protect the far post, when crosses comes in from the left) - looks like he could be a decent one

If you are using reverse wingers (left footed on the right hand side) you might want to retrain Steffen Hansen to one, the missing crossing wouldn't matter and his heading would get him a few goals - At first he would just have to concentrate on his pace/Acc

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are you selling out Farum Park on a regular basic? you most likely will have to do that to get a new stadium