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| The Gregg Berhalter Challenge | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 3 2012, 02:29 PM (197 Views) | |
| The King of Norway | Oct 3 2012, 02:29 PM Post #1 |
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Advanced Member
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Been kind of quiet here on FMNA so I'll kick off a thread. After playing a lot of FM12 with MLS teams, I recently decided to do something different. I decided to take on the challenge of leading Hammarby in Sweden's second tier, the current managerial home of US international Gregg Berhalter ... just to see what would happen. I created my manager as a US international and named him Walt Reifschneider (after my great grand-dad), then sent him to Hammarby. I decided to play him as a defensive-minded, ambitious manager ... I want to see how far I can go and whether I can someday lead the USMNT or manage in an upper-tier European league. I also wouldn't be adverse to an MLS stop in Seattle, DC, New York or LA (the first two are my favorite teams, the second two the league's glamour franchises). I set the playable leagues to Sweden, Norway, England, Germany, Holland, Russia, Mexico and the US. My career got off to a rough start with me hovering just above relegation for the first half of the season. Just as the board was getting antsy, I changed my tactics to a more straightforward 4-4-2 and signed a true target forward. All of a sudden, I went on 16-game unbeaten streak and finished third, just barely losing the promotion playoff. In the second season, I got Hammarby off to a good start and had them in first place about a third of the season when the headhunter came calling with an offer from FC Rostov. They were offering about 10x more than I was making in Hammarby, plus they had a sizable budget and transfer monies compared to what I had been working with. I'd always wanted to manage in the Russian League, and since nearly one-third of the teams in that league are eligible for continental cup, I figured it'd be a good move for me. It turned out to be a bigger challenge than I'd expected. The team was a collection of broken-down, overage has-beens and it's been a mighty struggle to stay above relegation. So far I'm halfway through my first season. We'll see if we can get more clear of the cellar after the transfer season. Meanwhile, Hammarby continued to play well and managed to get promoted without me, and an opening just appeared in Seattle, plus Backe is on the hot seat in New York, so it looks like I might have missed the opportunity to jump to MLS by taking the Rostov opportunity. Anyhoo, it's all been really interesting. I'd be curious to hear if other FMNAers have taken up a challenge like this. |
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