[FM17] The Rise of Brondby

[The Regista]

 

If you're part of the FM Slack community you've probably seen that I've been a bit annoying recently (or at least I feel that I have) as I've been in a bit of "management limbo". No matter how many different saves I loaded, no matter what leagues I picked, I could not get stuck in to a save. Many of you guys reading this probably know that feeling all too well right? It's almost as if you're under an "FM Curse".

Arsene Wenger knows of the struggle to find an FM save that sticks

Then it hit me - the reason I can't get stuck in to a new save is because of the way I left the Brondby save - unfinished, unfulfilled, a huge amount of unfulfilled potential in what could have been an epic journey to European glory. In fact, the whole thing barely got off the ground after the first couple of posts.

After talking to some fellow FMers, I felt that it was only right that I go back to Denmark. I reread my post "Identity, Ethos and Philosophy" and it really hit me why I wanted to play as Brondby in the first place. It ties in with everything that I try to do on FM - run a sustainable, reputable football club, echoing the great sides of yesteryear. Bringing through the cream of the crop in Denmark and mixing them with the best talent worldwide. And finally, to tell a story of the rise of a football club to global dominance. That's why we post and stream our FM saves, isn't it?

Let's go back to the beginning...

The FM fire is burning again...

I hit New Career Game, loaded up the leagues, and got cracking...

Just the one month's worth of in game play time right now to ease myself back in to blogging and playing the game again, and I'm absolutely loving it. It's been a decent start, with the main achievement being progressing in to the Europa League third round qualifiers.  We love scoring only two goals against teams, which makes me a little uneasy. However the squad are still learning my tactic, which I'll detail in future blogs.

I'm now using the 17.3.0 update so the squad is a little different from before. However, the core of the side is still the same. If we're to do well this year, we'll be looking to on loan midfielder Hany Mukhtar for inspiration. He's on loan from Benfica for one season, and I'd love to keep him at the club permanently. Benedikt Rocker will have to be the rock at the back, whilst striker Teemu Pukki will once again lead the line.

The future of Brondby - 16 year old Karl Appelt is one to watch

A major focus of this year is going to be blooding the youngsters currently in the first team squad. I mentioned Karl Appelt as the main youth prospect in my first attempt, and he's still the pick of the bunch at just 16 years old. He's not the only one now though, as centre back Joel Kabongo, attacking midfielder Rezan Corlu and striker Gustaf Nilsson will all feature this season.

By opting to do this, I've also really cut back on my transfers so as to ensure they actually do get some playing time. We've only made two signings this summer - defensive midfielder Mavin Schulz joins us on loan from Monchengladbach for this season, whilst Argentine Emmanuel Ledesma gives us more options on the flanks.

The aims for this season is to give the Superliga a good go. I'm not expecting us to win it as Copenhagen are very strong, but you never know what could happen. However opting to play the youngsters may cost us slightly, but I'm prepared to take the "hit" now for long term success.

We're all set up again now, and I'm stupidly excited to start playing this save again. Let's just hope the FM Curse has been lifted. To keep up to date when the next post goes live, follow me on Twitter (@registafm) and also my blog for other posts related to FM!