Soccer Gaming

Football Manager has long been simulation in Football Management, far now removed from what Championship Manager used to be, a game you could pop on, stick on your Lone Gunman tactics and let the game run with best Swedish talent around. Instead the latest editions of the game have needed commitment, thought and the patience of a saint if you are to get it right. Don’t get me wrong though, this is why I continue to play the game, the satisfaction that my every decision could have an affect on whether I take my team to glory or deemed for failure is a pretty entertaining aspect, must be close to real the thing as even the men in charge of the real teams are using it. So when it comes down to the latest game which I have very little knowledge in terms of players in the game I spent a fair bit of time looking for the right players, especially when I have refused to delve into the good player guides found at each and everyone of the great Football Manager related sites.

Goran Pandev

Previous knowledge of Football Manager 2008 does help though, in the hope that the potential stars of tomorrow are still developing nicely in the Football Manager world. My first signing of the game was to solve my forward problem, putting a punt on Macedonian striker from rival Lazio, Goran Pandev. The Eastern block pretty boy has already had a fantastic Football Manager career, being a must buy for many clubs since FM 2007, he doesn’t look too bad in the latest edition either. Goran comes with Pace and Agility to take him past defenders, with technique to match, great on and off the ball and meeting the other criteria for a my Milan team, he is under the age of 27, 25 in fact. A player ready go into the side straight away, but setting me back £8 million as the most observant of you may know the whole of my transfer budget.

So before bringing someone else in we had to let someone else go, one player made this easy for me. Andrea Pirlo before the season even started was already complaining that he wanted to move elsewhere, the usual cliche of wanting a new challenge, I wasn’t going to hold him back and I even offered him out to any club that was willing to fund his transfer. A number of sides appeared with the readies, but it was Spanish giants Real Madrid that was the team to tempt him away from Italy, making a £24 million move giving me a nice bit of cash to play with for some defenders.

Mirel Radoi

Defenders are so hard to come across, I looked at players such as Stephen Warnock, Zapata and many others, but teams did not want to part with these players for what seemed a fair price. But after searching through many players I was pleased to stumble across a Mirel Radoi. The Romanian who has notched 45 caps for his country, fantastic in every area needed for a central defender and a snip at £9.5 million the move ending a 9 year career for Steaua and will look forward to seeing him in my defence once he settles in.

The last two signings of the season where little needed and rash decisions, based on both players being fantastic in 2008 and them both being of tender ages looking at places for them in my side in the future. First was Jimmy Briand and arriving on deadline day was dutch utility player Geoginio Wijnaldum, costing a combined £8 million I thought a decent punt to end the window with.

Jimmy Briand

Gio Wijnaldum

Pre season went like a dream, but how is it that you can win every game but yet the fans are still not happy? Keeping a clean sheet in all pre-season games, including a 0-0 draw against title rivals Juventus, a good sign for the season to come, with new signing Radoi performing well. The star of the show throughout many of the games had to be Ronaldinho, looking as if he has left his troubles in Spain, his arrival at the San Siro bring goals playing just behind the strikers. Another player to impress was Bonera on the right side of the defence, quickly making me reevaluate his position in the squad and making me feel less guilty about the lack of defenders coming in during the summer. But the start of the season would begin without fully fit players Kaka who missed out on the whole of the pre-season and Ronaldinho who is looking to make the bench for the opening game against Siena.