How the mighty (Magyar) have fallen

[FiftyBeforeThirty]

Prologue

When people talk of the fabulous, the exquisite and the phenomenal in international football, there are many countries that easily come to mind.  Brazil, France and Germany, to name but a few. 

During the 50s, however, there was a dark horse, a country rising to prominence from the murky depths of Eastern Europe. Hungary.

You've probably heard of their antics through a quiz, or looking through the history books, or - like me - previous runners-up of big competitions - namely - the World Cup.

The small nation that borders Ukraine, Austria and Croatia has had to look on as these nations have risen to prominence whilst they've been relegated to the history nerds of the footballing world, but there is so much more to unpack with the team that set record upon record almost 70 years ago.

 

Hungary's Hogan Homage

The Hungarian side was managed by Gusztav Sebes - a worker in pre-war Paris with car manufacturer, Renault, and a Budapest trade union organiser - not exactly Pep Guardiola's early career.

Unlike any manager before him, however, Sebes brought fitness regimes, policies for international players and regular practice sessions that simply were not mirrored anywhere else on the international stage. Further to this, Sebes practically invented the deep-lying forward play-style we see regularly today. 

Whilst most teams tended to go for a WM-formation (see below) - the WW/MM developed by Sebes as manager of the Hungarian Golden Team involved the role of a center forward dropping back and providing support to the midfield out of possession, and providing a player between the advanced midfielder and main striker.

The WM-formation (left) - and the MM formation (right)

Although it was developed by Sebes it was, in fact, initially created by a fellow Hungarian - Marton Bukovi - who would later take over the reigns from Sebes when his time with the national team finally came to an end.

It was, however, not just the formation that Sebes initially tried to instill with the Hungarian side, nor the advances in player cohesion and fitness at international level, but also the idea of Total Football.

It was once said by legendary striker Ferenc Puskas - "When we attacked, everyone attacked, and in defence it was the same. We were the prototype for Total Football".

Whilst this all sounds rather simple and, at a push, fundamental, at the time the influence that this went on to have on not only international football, but the world of football as we know it, is truly quite remarkable. Tiki-taka, the famous Brazilian 4-2-4 and the consequential 4-4-f***ing-2.  It all may not have ever come to fruition in quite the same way, had Sebes not brought Total Football to the international masses, and in the way that he did.

 

The Golden Team

Whilst all of this is well and good, if I were to set this kind of system up in 1950 with my local Sunday league side it is very likely that the same domination that Hungary wrought upon the footballing world, would be wrought upon my merry men.  The side that Sebes had at his disposal was nothing short of generational - and not in the Football Manager sense.

Ferenc Puskas. Sandor Kocsis. Nandor Hidegkuti. Zoltan Czibor, Jozsef Bozsik and Gyula Grosics are all names that you may or may not have heard of before.  These 6, however, were the keys to the car with destination - history makers. Together they built the back-bone, the foundation upon which Sebes built his system and developed his team to produce extraordinary results.

Some of the records I can list off that Hungary managed with this setup:

• Most consecutive games scoring at least one goal: 73 games (10th April 1949 - 16th June 1957);
• Most collaborative goals between two starting players: 159 goals between Ferenc Puskas & Sandor Kocsis;
• 20th century record for international goals for country: Ferenc Puskas (84 goals);
• Most goals scored in a single World Cup: 27 goals;
• Highest winning margin in a World Cup Finals match: Hungary 9 South Korea 0.

Whilst more exhaustive lists do exist, these stats highlight not only that the system and players worked together well - but that they could perform on almost any international stage.

 

Where Echoes of the Past are Silent

There are a number of reasons that there's a good chance you haven't heard of the exploits and demolitions that the Hungarian national team produced during a near 6 year period.

Their record between 4th June 1950 - 3rd July 1954 was unbeaten - not only this but unbeaten in 32 games.

Furthermore, between 4th June 1950 - 19th February 1956 their record was 42W / 7D / 1L - a 91.0% win percentage.

Possibly the most ridiculous stats that you or I may ever see.  So why and how have these antics not charted on the walls of footballing stadia like paintings of cherubs in the Sistine Chapel?

Arguably, one reason is the state of Eastern Europe at the time, and the Western media would most likely be shoulder-charging any attempts of Eastern European positivity from creeping into tabloids and newspapers.

The least political reason that I can think of is the loss. The singular loss in nearly 6 years.

The 1954 World Cup was where Hungary showcased their phenomenal capabilities on the international stage.

 

1954

The World Cup was to take place in Switzerland, across the major cities of the small, scenic nation. Hungary came into the tournament unbeaten in near 4 years and, as a result, were one of the pre-tournament favourites.

Their group - Group B - consisted of Turkey, West Germany and South Korea.  Since Turkey were also seeded Hungary did not play against them (so far as I can tell, this ruling is correct), so the tournament began with 2 games in Group B for The Mighty Magyar.

They began their campaign with a record-breaking win that stands to this day - a 9-0 dismantling of South Korea with striker Kocsis netting a hat-trick.  Kocsis then went one better and bagged 4 goals for himself in an 8-3 routing of West Germany, who also managed to progress from the group.

As a result, Hungary progressed from the groups, scoring 17 in just 2 games, Kocsis with 7 goals in 180 minutes of football.  The draw saw them face fellow favourites, Brazil, in what was expected to be one of the games of World Cup history, let alone this Swiss edition.

For Hungary, however, they were without Puskas who picked up a hairline fracture of the ankle during the game with West Germany.

The stage was set in the Swiss capital; Bern. The "Battle of Berne" was billed and the whistle blew to begin the game.  The referee would, unfortunately, have to use said whistle on a multitude of occasions during the match as both sides threw tackles rather than bodies forwards. The English referee, Arthur Ellis, once noted "I thought it was going to be the greatest game I'd ever see...they behaved like animals. It was a disgrace. It was a horrible match" going so far as to claim that in more modern standards - and purely down to his own desire to see a proper end to the game - that the game would likely have been abandoned due to an abundance of dismissals.

Hungary prevailed 4-2, not without further drama as fights continued in the tunnels long after the final whistle. 

Having dodged punches and weaved crunching tackles an arguably more formidable opponent lay in their way; Uruguay.  They were defending champions and had never lost a game in a World Cup match, winning the 2 editions of the competition they had qualified for.  As a result, they were unbeaten against teams outside of South America.

A repeat of the last game's result, but this time with an overloading of beautiful football that will, no doubt, have left mouths and hearts agape in awe, love and wonder at the way the two teams fought it out.  Hungary 4 Uruguay 2, and a second World Cup final appearance for Hungary. Facing off against European opposition this time. The team that inflicted the injury that saw Puskas miss the previous knockout ties; Western Germany.

12 years after their debut in a World Cup Final (losing 4-2 to Italy in Paris in '38) Hungary were to face West Germany in Bern, a game often referred to as "The Miracle of Bern". There was no doubt about which team would win this game in anyone's mind. It was a question more so of how many Kocsis and Puskas (who would return, though still not readily fit) would bag against the Western side.

To cut a long story short (for the first time this thread) the Germans shocked the world in what is widely regarded as the biggest upset in World Cup history. There were many controversial incidents - 3 main ones, all benefiting the Western Germans, but the scoreline is but a title to a story untold.

And with that, the Germans rose to the powerhouses they are today.  Hungary meanwhile...

 

The Fall

After the World Cup Hungary continued to regularly dispatch oppositions, highlights including a 4-2 win at Hampden Park against Scotland in front of a massive 113,000 fans and a win against the Soviet Union in September 1956, inflicting the first ever home defeat by the Soviets in their history. 

The latter, the game against the Soviets, can be looked at as a trigger point.  Not just in footballing terms.  The result is said to have impacted upon relations between the countries and a Soviet uprising soon resulted in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which saw the Soviets quash any Hungarian resistance.

The Hungarian Revolution had a wider impact on the world of Hungarian football than could be initially pertained though.  Many of the Hungarian team played for Budapest Honved, who were in the European Cup in the 1956/57 season. They played Athletic Bilbao in the first round, traveling to Spain for the tie, losing 3-2.  The side, however, could not return home due to the Revolution.  The tie was, therefore, played in Brussels where the sides drew 3-3, handing the Spaniards a victory on aggregate.

At the end, the players and staff of the Hungarian side were left stranded somewhat, and decided to go on a tour of Southern Europe and Brazil, raising money.  Once this was over, the players parted ways, many never played together again.  Kocsis and Czibor moved to Barcelona while Puskas emigrated and played for Real Madrid whilst others returned to smaller sides.

 

The historic run was over.

 

The Hungarian run was over.

 

But history stands forever impacted by the 1950 Hungarian national team.

 

What Remains

Hungary have seen a small resurgence in recent years, with solid players making their way through the ranks, but the team, currently ranked as high as 37th, have not seen success for quite some time.  It's been 36 years since they reached a World Cup and will be 40 by the time the 2026 edition rolls around - should they qualify.  After their previous 2 finals, they were thrashed 6-0 by the Soviet Union in their opening game and had an utterly forgettable campaign then.

They reached the re-scheduled EURO 2020 finals but fell in the group of death, though claimed 2 impressive draws against Germany and France, both of whom had to overcome a deficit to gain a point.

 

 

So with all that said and done, let's see what we can do about restoring some respect and some tactical prowess to this side that are rather...Hungary for success.

[FiftyBeforeThirty]

Game Setup

There's quite a lot of preamble that I feel that this thread requires before I "jump right in" and there's quite a lot of different things that I want to try and accomplish and develop in my own right and way.

To begin with, the leagues I've loaded for this save are as follows:

Nothing too crazy as I wanted to be able an abundance of players - and we'll work our way down through the leagues as required. I have loaded every current international player and player from top divisions of all continents, giving approximately 64,000 players.  This, as I say, is just my "base" setup.

 

Tactics

Please forgive my oh tactical gods of FM, the forum, and those who give a damn about this kind of thing.  I'm going big or I'm going home, and the latter seems more likely than anything else at this point.

I'm going to try and recreate something similar to the tactic that Hungary played during the 50s, but with a little tweaking and variation, keeping the MM-formation at the heart of everything we do, just with some extra width.

 

I started with something relatively similar in another save recently to give it a whirl, not for any extended period of time mind, but this is what I've come up with this time -- hopefully a more refined version.

I'm already very aware that there is a massive gap in the middle of the park, and I'm fully preparing myself to have to drop back the wingers, or put them onto support.  I'm interested to see what the defensive compactness does for the team, along with the transition instructions, I'm well and truly into unknown territory and I'm kind of digging it.

I've hardly ever played with stats, attributes, tactics or anything like that, I've been plug-n-play since first starting playing the game a long while ago now.  For FM23 I want that to be different, and for the tail-end of this edition I'm looking to build up knowledge and strength in these areas, becoming more acclimatised to the steps I need to take to improve and develop a tactic.

This is the 23 that the game has given me off the bat. There'll definitely be switches and changes coming up, not last due to injury, but I'm quite happy with where we stand.  

As you may be able to tell I'm yet to set up proper views for my squads so apologies for the rather poor man's look at the side right now.

 

How it stands

 

Here's how things look for the UEFA World Cup Qualification going into things.  We're definitely going to have an interesting time against England and Poland but a 3rd placed finish in the group would be about right. We've yet to play either of Poland or England, and so not much can really be made about how good we are, considering the quality of competition in the group.

 

 

Here's our set of fixtures for the upcoming qualification campaign.  Interestingly our hardest two fixtures are the last two games of the group, so maybe - just maybe - we can dream, though starting off with a 2-3-2-3 tactic against Kane's England and Lewandowski's Poland...will probably bruise my confidence.

I'd love to be able to take control of some friendlies but unfortunately the side does not have allocated space available until March. Rather disappointing and September is going to be crazy, having 3 games to play and getting used to this tactic is going to be interesting to say the least. 

 

Summary

I'm kind of glad that the Hungarian powers that be only expect me to "attempt to be competitive" as it gives me some breathing room.  We certainly have opponents that we will either win against or lose to - on paper - Albania or Poland being the closest we have to a game we may draw.  I'm going to test this tactic to death and probably to the death of my career - but that could be interesting too right?  Right?

If any Hungarian jobs in Division II come up then I will possibly go for them - I'm unlikely to get them for a season or two but it is worth a shot I would hope.  I want to try and "build a nation" but more "build a nation with a tactic of times gone by". 

Who knows, we may not even last until the turn of the year...

[karanhsingh]

Great write up! Will you also be managing any club sides?

I had an amazing adventure in Hungary on FM 21 was a very enjoyable save and probably one of my best threads here. 

[FiftyBeforeThirty]

7 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Great write up! Will you also be managing any club sides?

I had an amazing adventure in Hungary on FM 21 was a very enjoyable save and probably one of my best threads here. 

Thanks for the response!

I'm hoping to manage a club at some point so long as I can get a gig. I've started with the minimalist manager attributes so I'm not going to get anything for a while at least - but hopefully in the future.  I will check out your thread for research purposes as well

[FiftyBeforeThirty]

July 2021

I suppose it is rather irregular to do updates at this stage of an international career but it feels necessary due to a couple of factors:

1. I've been watching quite a lot of matches - trying to source new players and/or existing players for the squad to improve it.
2. I'm trying to keep myself up-to-date with all of the goings-on in Hungary including the European journeys for clubs as well as in the domestic competitions.

Unfortunately the league opener is on July 31st, so there's a few teams which have already played and then most teams have yet to do so.  Hopefully this doesn't skew the view too much for all of you.

 

Watched Matches

I have watched a few, as I have said, but only started collating data towards the tail-end of the month. It's rather interesting actually - I've never really tended to watch games before now and I'm finding it rather relaxing and soothing knowing that I haven't got to shout at my under-performers or work miracles at half-time.

Despite this relaxation - it is quite a lot less simple than sitting around doing nothing. As I also mentioned, I'm trying to keep track of the progress of all of the teams, and the early stages of the 3 main European competitions is hectic, to say the least.

Nevertheless, here are my documented matches spectated for the month of July:

The two European fixtures were interesting to watch for a couple of reasons and the domestic fixture was a Budapest derby that was quite the spectacle.

Elfsborg 2 - 0 FC Basel - This game had very little to write about - Szalai hardly had a touch of the ball and Elfsborg shocked the former Swiss powerhouse.  In the end, Basel would reverse the scoreline and take the tie on aggregate in the second leg.

HJK 2 - 1 Ferencvaros - Ferencvaros progress 5-4 on penalties - This, for all the hyped billing for our Hungarian side, was nothing short of a slaughter with a blunt knife by the Finnish.  They had chance after chance that they could not work into a commanding position over a Ferencvaros side that were down to ten men after 25 minutes (Bosnian trying to ruin my Hungarian teams' futures...).  Luckily for Ferencvaros though, they held on for dear life and, although they were nowhere close to scoring other than the goal that came entirely against the run of play, they took the game to penalties where Dibusz pulled off the heroics with a save on the first penalty leaving the pressure on the Finnish side to come back, which they were ultimately unable to do.  It wouldn't be the only time I saw Ferencvaros get away with it during this week of play...

Honved 1 - 2 Ferencvaros - I had a feeling that this would be a rather good game, though expected Ferencvaros to walk out with a 1 or 2 goal cushion in all reality. The game, however, proved me almost entirely wrong for the first 90 minutes.  Honved were comfortable in possession, had a brilliant performance from Bole on the wing (thankfully a Hungarian having a good game for a change) and looked the better side - almost unlucky to be heading for a draw.  Then, in the 91st minute Marko Marin, former Chelsea and Wolfsburg attacking midfielder, stepped up for a free kick about 25 yards out. He struck it almost perfectly and curled it into the top corner past Szappanos who could do little more than throw himself helplessly towards the ball.  Honved not only were unlucky in this way - they also had 3 disallowed goals in the game, each for offsides that grew increasingly closer to being called for a goal - though all correct decisions.  An unlucky game in the first Budapest derby for Honved though if they can carry the form they showed in this game throughout the season then I can see them contending and pushing Ferencvaros all the way.  A big "if" though, after such a blow against their local rivals.

 

European Nights

Ferencvaros

• Beat Zalgris (LTH) 6-1 on aggregate in the Champions League First Qualifying Round
• Beat HJK (FIN) 2-2 (5-4 p) in the Champions League Second Qualifying Round
• Face Ludogorets (BUL) in the Champions League Third Qualifying Round next month.

Fehervar

• Beat Birkirkara (MLT) 5-0 on aggregate in Conference League First Qualifying Round
• Beat Panevezys (LTH) 4-1 on aggregate in Conference League Second Qualifying Round
• Face Hammarby IF (SWE) in the Conference League Third Qualifying Round next month.

Puskas Akademia

• Beat Gagra (GEO) 5-1 on aggregate in Conference League First Qualifying Round
• Beat Stjarnan (ICE) 4-1 on aggregate in Conference League Second Qualifying Round
• Face Molde (NOR) in the Conference League Third Qualifying Round next month.

Ujpest

• Lost to Austria Vienna (AUT) 3-3 (3-4 p) in the Conference League Second Qualifying Round.

 

A generally positive showing in all - Ujpest went straight through to the Second Qualifying Round in the Conference League though fell to Austria Vienna on penalties, which I would still consider a very strong showing in all.

Ferencvaros, Fehervar and Puskas Akademia are our remaining teams in Europe and all have a tie they could win on their day, though I think Fehervar are the most likely to make it through their tie.  Ferencvaros have been unimpressive in the games I've watched and Molde should be able to overcome Puskas Akademia in my eyes, but I'm hoping and ready to be proven wrong.

 

On the Home Front

I'm going to skip this update as there's not much to say after just 3 games played. Rather expected wins all around - even if Ferencvaros didn't do it in the expected fashion.

 

The Month Ahead

It's a busy month for myself next month ahead of the international break starting at the end of August and heading into early September with our 3 games against England, Poland and Andorra.

Below is a list of the games that I will be attending next month:

A grand total of 9 games to watch. I'm trying to keep my options open in terms of watching as many different teams as I can, but on most weeks half of the games clash times and a 4th is overlapped by the previous on the Saturday, and on Sunday both games are played at the same time also.  As a result, I'm keeping things realistic and doing things what I hope to be the right and real way.

[FiftyBeforeThirty]

August 2021

It's been a long month of watching matches across most of mainland Europe this month; in total attending 13 matches. There's been highs and lows for teams around the country, and now with only 1 team left in Europe at the end of the month, even that highlight has been dampened.  Enough spoilers, let's get right on into the action.

 

Watched Matches

As I said previously, a long old month, but it has been interesting and I've made quite a few notes that have affected some call-ups already.  Performers such as Botka earning a potential cap make it all the more worthwhile to watch these games, he was fantastic when played out in the wider positions but has played in all 3 roles at the back this month alone.  I'm hoping that I can bring him on as someone to run rings around tired teams - looking for overlaps and underlaps whenever possible.

 

European Dreams - The Shattering Truth Prevails

As you can see above, Puskas went out at the final hurdle in the Conference League, falling to Spurs 8-1 on aggregate.  They didn't resist much at all, but it's hopefully seen as a decent showing for the side who finished 2nd last season. 

Fehervar were beaten 4-3 on aggregate though were poor in the away leg in Sweden.  I gave them the highest hopes of progressing but they fell short by quite some way, unfortunately. 

Meanwhile Ferencvaros fell out of the Champions League to Greek opponents, Olympiakos who were the better side over the two legs, the Budapest side having very little in the way of favourable statistics in either tie.  They fall into the Europa League, a huge bonus for us...until their group was drawn...

I am really struggling to envision a world where they pick up any points, unless they manage to turn things around from what I have been seeing - they've been poor across the board so far and much improvement is required if they wish to see the knockout stages of the Conference League - as I can't see West Ham or Marseille dropping points to them.

 

The Home Front

The league has started off and 3 teams are as yet unbeaten, including Fehervar who also had their European campaign, quite impressive of a start for them it could be said.  Honved, Ferencvaros and Ujpest are hot on the heels of Kisvarda and Fehervar though, and Honved have shown some utter brilliance so far, their 5-1 demolition was a joy to behold and really brought back some of that excitement for this save - seeing as they were the side that many of the Golden Team's players represented.

Debrecen and Puskas are struggling at the lower half of the table - only picking up 2 points a piece, Puskas have of course been affected by the midweek cluster-bomb of fixtures, and faced a very confident Honved side, Debrecen - champions in 13/14 went down two seasons ago, to come up against last season - much to my own surprise while writing. They're a side with 7 league titles and espexially dominant between 2004-2014, so I wondered if they might propel themselves up the table this year, a though that has yet to come to fruition.

 

First Call-ups

Ahead of our first international games we had to decide on our squad.  It's a relatively young squad with some older faces, especially up front, mixed in.  There's a lot of potential in the team and a lot of different squads that I have to attempt to work my way around scouting, making my job even more difficult. 

As mentioned before, the call-up of Botka was very much directly impacted by the brilliance of his displays on the left side of defense for his side, and could potentially see him feature in one or more of the upcoming games.

We will play what I believe to be our strongest 11 against England, and likely for the Poland game a few days later. There could be some changes implemented in the interim, though I want to try and give consistent opportunities for players. In the final game of the international break I would like to think we can try and move a couple of our younger players into the side - especially Bolla, Horvath and Balogh - potentially also Bakos, but we shall see how things go.

I'm expecting a thumping against England, honestly, if we can stop them scoring 3 or more I'm more than happy, but it's more about the performance than the result in that game, for me at least.

Against Poland I'd like to see us try and mute Robert Lewandowski as best as we can, he'll be crucial to any chances that they have of winning the game, though there is obvious talent elsewhere on the pitch for them also.

Closing out the break against Andorra it'll be an experimental squad, but I'd like to see us try and score 3 or more goals, without conceding.  They don't possess too much quality and I'm really just hoping that we can get some rotational players into the mix for familiarity with the tactic, so that we can do the same in October in the San Marino game, and a little in the Albania game though it could be a crucial match.

As always though, this is Football Manager and anything could happen.  Except Harry Kane not scoring. That never happens, right?

 

The Month Ahead

If I thought that this month was busy, next month is even crazier, I feel.  3 games during the international break and 12 games, once again across Europe, where we will see some of our players on the European stage.  Here's how the spectating plan looks for September:

We will be watching some of Europe's finest, and welcoming some of them to Hungary also. Leipzig have 3 of our best players so I want to try and get to Germany (or away games in the Champions League) as much as possible if I can.  I also have tried to keep an eye on Szeged since they are home to Krisztofer Horvath who is on loan from Italian outfit, Torino. Horvath is probably our closest player to a generational talent and quite an exquisite player already, at just 19 years of age.  I'd like to try and win favour with him by turning up to some of his games and watching him play, especially seeing what confidence a first cap for his country can instill in him.

It'll be busy, chaotic, hectic and more, but September is exciting, even if it does contain a lot of competitive fixtures, not just for our national team but some of our domestic sides as well.  I'm keeping an ever-present eye on proceedings in the leagues to see if I can't nab myself a job somewhere, even in the 2nd tier for now, but so far, so smooth for all of the managers there or thereabouts.

Onwards and hopefully upwards!