1860 Munich: An FM22 Dress Rehearsal

[goonergez]

Introduction

With my plans firmly to take part in the Ultimate Football Manager Challenge again, for now I decided to begin a save to see me through until the release of the full game on November the 9th. I debated taking over Newcastle and my beloved Arsenal but eventually decided on a bit more of a challenge. Germany is somewhere I’ve not spent a great deal of time but I’m excited to have a brief pop here and my team hail from the mighty city of Munich. I didn't really know where to post these updates so I thought I would just start a thread of my own. Hopefully I can give people some quality updates that are eagerly anticipated.

I’m not expecting too much from this save but hoping that it’ll give me a nice little welcome into the new edition and give me a chance to grasp what is needed to go on and be a successful manager.
 

[goonergez]

Team Selection

When deciding who to begin as I had pretty earlier settled on Germany as my choice of nation. Club wise I initially tinkered with the idea of RB Leipzig due to my love of the energy drink but decided that I’d rather go somewhere a little less set up for immediate success. I was then all set to go for FC St Pauli before deciding I’d rather start in the bottom division of a nation. Personally I much enjoy those saves where you begin at the deep dark depths of a nation and try desperately to improve fortunes. After deciding on the bottom tier of German football it was an easy selection for me as 1860 Munich are very much favourites to lift the league title in the first season. This would mean I wouldn’t need to go crazy in the first transfer window desperately trying to overhaul the squad. The club are realistically far too big to be playing in the third tier of the German pyramid.

I normally try to avoid taking charge of a club favourites for the league title as to me it seems to put a lot of pressure on me as a manager. As I said though I was just drawn to the club due to the size of the club to be playing in the third tier of Germany. The squad I took charge of looked very strong for the level and that made it a very exciting prospect to begin my time on FM22. I saw no real weaknesses and that would give me the freedom to focus on getting the inherited players performing and clearing out some of the members of the squad who weren’t going to be featuring regularly.

[goonergez]

Tactical Approach

My arrival was treated rather sceptically, but I was confident in my ability to prove the public wrong. I settled upon a formation that set me up well on FM21, a setup that seemed well balanced at the vast array of clubs I managed during my Ultimate Challenge. Counter attacking football very much my go to as a manager. It's a relatively simple system but hopefully will bring me big success.

My team would be very much built around 36-year old former Augsburg striker Sascha Molders who looks to possess more than enough ability to perform at this level. Despite his age he managed 22 league goals last season and looks to be our best player. If we can get him finding the net on a regular basis then I have no doubt that we can match all the expectations and enjoy a good successful campaign.

The board want us to win promotion and I’m confident we can achieve a finish in the top two and achieve that. The media make us their favourites to loft the league title and personally that’s what I will be aiming to achieve with this side.

As I said previously I didn’t plan on going mad in the transfer market as the squad we had looked more than strong enough to enjoy a solid opening campaign. We did bring in a couple of new faces though, whilst also managing to clear some more fringe members of our squad as well. The board didn’t give me any money in a transfer budget and so we would be forced to move players on before we could bring in any new faces. The wage budget was also pretty much pushed to its capacity and so having cleared players I decided to use the more cost effective loan market to strengthen our squad.

[goonergez]

Transfer Activities

We allowed four players to depart in the summer raking in a nice £325,000 in transfer fees. The most significant departure was of young goalkeeper Tom Kretzschmar who joined Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen for an initial £250,000. Winger Stefan Alex was sold to Erzebirge for £25,000 and full back Fabian Greilinger left to join division rivals Holstein Kiel for £52,000. Finally we let Marius Willsch join VFL Osmabruck on loan for the season after we failed to attract any suitors on a permanent deal.

Our two new arrivals both came in on loan dealings from clubs higher up the German pyramid. Defender Fabian Cavadias arrived from FC Ingolstadt to offer us some defensive cover and I think he will prove a useful addition. Emrehan Gedikli is a player I’m excited for though. With Molders now 36-years old it was important to have a backup option of quality to allow him some rest. I feel we’ve got that with Gedikli who came in for the season from Bayer Leverkusen.

[goonergez]

August 2021 Update

On the field our season has started pretty well, as you can see from the above image. We faced a tough opening couple of matches against hopeful sides but did brilliantly defensively to avoid defeats. Two 0-0 draws didn’t do much to offer hope in front of goal, but all the while we keep clean sheets I’ll be very happy. The shock victory over Wolfsburg in the cup really kickstarted our campaign though. That victory was brilliant and should’ve been even better. We conceded two late goals to make it a nervous finish but held on to take a historic cup upset and spot in the next round. We’ve been much better since that game and have looked much more impressive going forward. The brace that Sascha Molders scored in that cup upset over Wolfsburg have spurred him on and he’s started to lead the line really well.

I’m pleased with how we’ve started the campaign and we’ve definitely begun to lay some foundations to try and mount a serious push for promotion. We’ve picked up some very good results and we still sit unbeaten. On paper 6th may not look the best, but there’s definitely signs of improvement from the two drab 0-0 draws we started with. I said if we could get Molders scoring consistently that I felt we could have a really good campaign and that’s exactly how it’s begun for us. Hopefully we can push on over the next couple of busy months. We’ve also got the excitement of a cup game against Holstein Kiel to come.

[karanhsingh]

Have a soft spot for 1860 since my save with them a couple of years ago. Good luck with this! 

[goonergez]

October 2021 Update

Another couple of months has passed and things in Munich are still going well. There was high hopes of a successful season and despite a slow start to my reign things have moved in that direction. The only negative we’ve had is that backup striker Emrehan Gedikli has left. He was recalled by Leverkusen in mid September as we weren’t using him enough as we had agreed with them. I don’t know how we were meant to give him more game time when Sascha Molders was in such good form but it did leave a slight hole in our squad.

September was a near perfect month for us as we climbed our way to the summit of the league table. Defensively we were resilient and we looked much more dangerous up top as well. Results saw us remain unbeaten and now we sat top of the pile. We defeated two of the teams around us in the table and that was also extremely satisfying.

Our winning run did finally come to an end during October but at the same time we also ended up remaining the only unbeaten team in the division.  Scoring goals continued to prove minimal issue and defensively we still looked more than solid enough. This month also saw me taste my first defeat as manager though as we were given a cup hiding by fellow third tier side Holstein Kiel. We never got going in the game and we’re completely blown away by our opponents as we exited the competition one round on from defeating Wolfsburg. Thankfully we bounced back from that defeat perfectly though to win our final game of the month and ensure we would end October still sat atop the league table and on course to achieve our targets.

[DefinitelyTaylor]

A very impressive start to the season. I remember Sascha Molders at Augsburg when they initially made it into the Bundesliga. Glad to see he’s still producing the goals for you. 

[goonergez]

December 2021 Update

November was a disappointing month for us as we managed just the one win across our three matches. We remained undefeated in the league but saw our gap at the top cut. It’s not that we performed badly we just seemed to struggle in front of goal. It wasn’t helping that Sascha Molders had a goalless run stretching the past six matches. We needed him scoring again. December saw us finally suffer a league defeat although we bounced back well and ended the year with a couple of impressive victories. We also saw Sascha Molders return to scoring ways. We still sit top of the league table, but it’s tight at the top and I can see this promotion battle going right to the end.

We now enter a mid season winter break and get the players some much needed rest. We’ve performed really well so far and I can’t be anything but pleased with how things have gone for us. The transfer window is about to open and I do have my eyes on a couple of targets. I feel that we really need to find a backup striker for Molders. At 36 he’s starting to look like he’s on the decline and as a lone striker I need somebody to score regularly. We also lack options in central midfield and I’ll be looking to bring in someone to play there. It’s not going to be easy to bring in quality on a limited budget but as it’s just two positions I’m targeting I have faith.

[goonergez]

January 2022 Update

The January transfer window saw a flurry of activity for us although not much of it particularly relevant. We let five players leave the club from the second team squad, with all of them departing on free transfers. None of them had any hope of making a first team match day squad and so I saw it as a good opportunity to clear some money off of our wage bill.

Those departures gave us room to bring in new faces and we ended up bringing in two new players. First up was a deal on loan until the end of the season for central midfielder Lukas Fahrnberger. He arrived from Darmstadt to offer cover for our midfield and will see plenty of game time through the rest of the campaign. The other arrival filled the other gap I had highlighted in our squad as we brought in a striker. Brazilian Falcao cost us £25,000 from Viktoria 1889 and looks a really good option for us in front of goal. He can also play on either flank and that versatility will see him feature in our side a lot moving forwards.

On the field we faced a tough month as we competed against some of the sides high up the table. We endured a difficult month in which we won just once and scored just three goals across our four matches. Initially it looked good for us as a Sascha Molders strike have us a 1-0 win over a strong Wehen Wiesbaden side. A drab 0-0 followed in a rival derby match before we were beaten by Kaiserslautern on a day in which we failed to take any of the many chances we created. We ended the month with a shocking draw with struggling Viktoria Koln. Two late goals rescuing us a point after we’d found ourselves 0-2 behind at the break.

Those results have seen us drop off top spot in what looks like a very tense battle for promotion. League seasons often have difficult spells though and I’m hoping that January has just been ours. With any luck our new signings can find their feet and we can start to put some form back together. I still have high hopes but this month had definitely proven a real setback.
 

Edited October 24, 2021 by goonergez

[goonergez]

1860 Munich: March 2022 Update

I’d hoped January was just a blip, but February continued in the same vain. Two more defeats took out winless run to five matches and we found ourselves sat down in 3rd place and four points adrift of the league leaders. The defeat to Braunschweig was particularly painful as we found ourselves at one stage down 0-4 to a promotion contender. We were battered from the first whistle in truth. Thankfully we picked up after that run and a motivational team meeting after the defeat to Meppen defeat has sent us back to the summit. A run of results has pushed us back into the driving seat. Capped off by a fantastic victory over the leavers at the time Zwickau.

There’s only a handful of games left now and we are very much in control of our own destiny. We’re playing well again and we’re top of the pile. Hopefully we can carry on strong and see this job over the finish line.

[goonergez]

1860 Munich: 2021/22 Review

I left you with my side having recovered some form and sitting atop the league table. With just seven games to go we had form on our side and a genuine opportunity to go on and lift the league title and gain with it a valuable promotion to the second tier. I was worried by the in form Braunschweig but thankfully for us Zwickau had gone off the boil though meaning that we were not far away from the promotion we craved.

We started our run in perfectly with two victories that saw us build a gap to both Braunschweig and Magdeburg. Two dull 0-0 draws followed as we began to look a little leggy. At that stage panic set in a bit for me as we really needed Falcao to start scoring again just to see us over the line. We bounced back with a brilliant 2-0 victory over Havelse, a game which saw Sascha Molders score his first goal since the 8th of January. That victory clinched a top two finish for us and with it promotion into the second tier. We needed a point from those final two matches to secure the league title and thankfully we managed to do it. After losing to Magdeburg we put all the pressure on ourselves for the final day, but a Biankadi brace saw us pick up the victory we needed. We cap off a truly fantastic opening season of my reign with top spot and the league trophy.

Promotion and a league title in my opening campaign means we sit in good stead. I'm delighted to be preparing for the division above and that is a really exciting opportunity for me and my side. We possess plenty of quality but if we can add some more additions we can definitely look for more than just a bog standard avoidance of relegation. I'm excited to strengthen the squad and its a real opportunity to stamp my authority and personality on this club.

1860 Munich Honours
--------------------
2021/22 3.Bundesliga Champions

 

[deltablue]

Well done!

[goonergez]

1860 Munich: 2022/23 Season Preview

Despite a mini blip during the turn of the year we managed to complete a successful first season by winning the third tier and gaining with it promotion. To win a league title felt really important and also very much worthy of our campaign. At times we were brilliant and we definitely performed best across the campaign. Defensively we were very good all season (a 2-5 defeat to Braunschweig aside) and up top we scored plenty of goals. We achieved our pre season targets and my position as manager is very much safe.

Now it was on to a new challenge though and attempting to piece together a squad capable of avoiding the drop straight back down. We had a busy couple of months but I felt we added some good quality to our ranks whilst also managing to trim our squad of some of our more fringe players.

We allowed a large number of players to leave although to be honest none of them are particularly painful. Right back Kevin Goden was one I would’ve liked to have kept, as was central midfielder Richard Neudecker. Both performed regularly as first choice members of our team last season but both rejected new deals with us to move onwards with their careers. Other than that the only disappointment was losing promising centre back Niklas Lang. He featured a fair few times last season and was one I had high hopes on for the future. He chose to move on though and that meant I would have to look at a central defender as a priority. We also let last seasons top scorer Sascha Molders leave but he was 36-years old and had struggled for form in the last few months of the season anyways.

A whole host of new faces came into the club with most of them offering cover and depth to our squad. Three of them in particular stand out though as we managed to add some real quality to our ranks.

Our most exciting signing is probably the £60,000 deal for 27-year old central midfielder Franz Pfanne. He possesses some real talent and I’m excited to see him pull on the shirt. Aside from him there’s 25-year old winger Thomas Agyepong who arrived from Manchester City. He had a really good loan deal last year with Lommel SK of Belgium bagging 12 goals in 24 matches. Hopefully he can offer us that sort of return. 25-year old central defender Stefan Velkov is another I’m intrigued about. He had a great season with Duisburg last time around and I see him as a perfect starter at the heart of our defensive line. 

It’s important for us to remain grounded this season though and focus on the main priority of avoiding an immediate relegation. I believe we’re strong enough to do a fair slice more than just stay up but I need to accept that that’s our number one priority. Our activities over the summer have given hope and the media and bookmakers both fancy us to stay up with how we managed to strengthen. It’s going to be a tough season but I am very excited to get started and I’ve got real belief we can prove last season wasn’t just a standard formality as a big club in a lower tier.

1860 Munich Honours
--------------------
2021/22 3.Bundesliga Champions

 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Congratulations on promotion mate! Best of luck in 2.Bundesliga.

[goonergez]

1860 Munich: August 2022 

The transfer window has now slammed shut on us and the first month of matches has come and passed as quick as a flash. We made one final addition to our squad in the form of 25-year old Swedish striker Gustav Nilsson. He was signed from Wehen Weisbaden in a £20,000 deal and offers us some cover for Falcao. He scored on a regular basis in the division we were in last season and I actually was torn between signing him or Falcao last january. It's delayed but he will now strut his stuff with us this season.

We kicked off our season brilliantly, although with the aid of an early red card for our opponents. A Falcao hat trick kicking our campaign off with a win. We followed that up with a win over Holstein Kiel before remaining unbeaten for the remainder of the month. We’ve played some good stuff but we do look slightly out of our depth as well. Hopefully as the new signings gel we can climb up the table and show our worth. I’m confident that we can and it’s fair to say we’ve enjoyed a really good start. We also face an exciting tie against top tier side Union Berlin soon in the Second Round of the domestic cup competition.

1860 Munich Honours
--------------------
2021/22 3.Bundesliga Champions

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by goonergez

[goonergez]

1860 Munich: October 2022 Update

A couple more months of the season has passed and it’s fair to say we’ve been brought back down to earth at a higher level. Our bright start has given way and we’ve slipped down the league somewhat. We did start the sequence of games well mind you, beating top flight Union Berlin 3-0 in the Second Round of the domestic cup. I’m eager to see who we will face in the next round although that game won’t take place for a couple of months yet.

It’s the defensive side of our game that’s hurt us and we’ve managed just one clean sheet in our last seven league matches. Up top Gustav Nilsson has slotted in nicely but Falcao has gone off the boil after a bright start. We sit in a decent enough position in the league but I’m definitely keen for us to find a little more consistency so that relegation doesn’t become a really serious threat. So far we’re comfortably clear but it could all go wrong if we don’t pick up points on a regular enough basis.
 

1860 Munich Honours
--------------------
2021/22 3.Bundesliga Champions

 

[goonergez]

December 2022 Update

When I left you last we’d suffered a few defeats and saw our bright start in a new league give way to a more expected run of form. We were still comfortably above the drop zone but had managed just one win in our last six matches to slip into the bottom half. I was confident we could do better though and we had a run of games up until Christmas that looked simpler and an opportunity to return to our form during the opening weeks of the campaign.

November saw us complete a clean sweep as we won both matches and kept two clean sheets in the progress. It was good to have goals from both Falcao and Gustaf Nilsson and I was left with hope for what was to come. A tough game with giants Schalke kicked off December and I was very fearful of what a big club like that could do to us.  Thankfully we produced a display and despite falling behind early we thoroughly deserved our last gasp equaliser. We ended the year with a narrow but comfortable victory leaving us in a very good place indeed and on an unbeaten run now stretching four matches.

1860 Munich Honours
--------------------
2021/22 3.Bundesliga Champions

 

[goonergez]

January 2023 Update

I left you with us sat in a very good position within the top half of the second tier. We’d enjoyed both good and bad patches this season but with the transfer window opening I was sure we could add some more depth to our squad in order to help us through the rest of the season.

The January transfer window was overshadowed for us though as we suffered a really disappointing departure. 25-year old goalkeeper Marco Hiller had been superb since my arrival but left to join Wolfsburg who activated his release clause of a mere £165,000. His departure was massive for us and came at the end of the window too. This meant we were running around the last couple of days to try to bring in a replacement. In the end I couldn’t find sufficient quality to replace him so instead we bought in 20-year old Gavin Didzilatis on a free transfer having previously been on the books with Hamburg.

Other than that we brought in two more attacking players to our squad. Firstly we signed 27-year old Marveille Biankadi from FC Heidenheim for £20,000. He had enjoyed a really good loan deal here last season before his club rejected the chance for us to bring him back. This window saw him shoved onto the transfer list though so we made the move to bring him in. 19-year old Austrian striker Jakob Knollmuller was the other signing, coming in for £25,000 from Hoffenheim. He looks to possess some quality and I’m excited to see how we can develop him in the future.

It’s fair to say that on the field we didn’t enjoy the first month of the new year. First up we were knocked out of the domestic cup, although we were never truly expected to beat Hamburg. Two disappointing defeats hurt us, especially as we failed to find the net in either. We finally took a point in the last game of the month, scoring a late equaliser against the leagues bottom side Dynamo Dresden. We will have to improve moving forward that is for sure.

1860 Munich Honours
--------------------
2021/22 3.Bundesliga Champions

 

[goonergez]

March 2023 Update

After a difficult January things didn’t really get any better for us over the next couple of months either. The goals began to dry up and although defensively we were still pretty good we simply weren’t picking up points.

If February wasn’t great then March was truly awful. We picked up just the one victory over the two months and worryingly in march we failed to even score a single goal. Frustratingly the 3-0 victory over FC Ingolstadt was probably one of the best performances of my reign here as we dominated from start to finish and should have scored more than we did really. There is enough creativity going on in my team, we just can't seem to find a way of putting the ball in the back of the net.

We’re still safely clear of the relegation zone but any chance we had of climbing the table has probably gone. We’ve achieved our pre season targets though and that has to be really pleasing. With a real clinical finisher up front I think we could do a lot more in this level than we have.

1860 Munich Honours
--------------------
2021/22 3.Bundesliga Champions

 

[goonergez]

2022/23 Season Review

My second season at the helm of this club has drawn to a close and it’s been a pretty successful couple of years so far. Last season saw us promoted from the third tier and the plan for this campaign was all about avoiding the drop straight back down. January saw us lose our first choice goalkeeper which hurt us a lot and at the same time our strikers seemed to lose the ability to score goals. This saw us scramble our way through the rest of the season and drop down from a strong position. I left you at the end of match where we were really struggling.

In truth it didn’t really get any better for us after that and the end of the season came at the right time. Thankfully we had enjoyed a decent first half of the season or otherwise we could’ve been in real trouble at the end of the campaign. It was scoring goals that proved the problem for us as both Falcao and Gustaf Nilsson both struggled to impress over the past few months of the season.

Before the season started I said that I would be happy with a campaign that saw us avoid relegation straight back down from where we came. We managed to achieve that so I should be happy really with how our season went. Unfortunately after such a bright start I cannot help but see it as a bit of a disappointment. We really did struggle over the second half of the campaign and as I said previously we just need to be glad that we had picked up enough points early on in the season to make sure relegation was never really a worry.

The summer will give me an opportunity to strengthen the squad again and look to make us improve next season. Bringing in a proven striker with a clinical eye for goal is the number one priority as we just wasted far too many chances. I’d like another goalkeeper too and I feel we need to add some quality into the heart of our midfield. We have interest in quite a few players too so this could prove a very busy summer for us in regards to transfer activities.

1860 Munich Honours
--------------------
2021/22 3.Bundesliga Champions

 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

I can totally empathise after the good start that you would be disappointed despite having achieved your aims for the season. Unfortunately, losing your goalkeeper and lacking the goals at the other end will naturally contribute to a poorer general performance. Nevertheless, survival has been achieved and now you can look to kick-on.

Have to say, Bochum pulled it out of the bag when it mattered, didn’t they!