I'm giving virtually all the time I have for sports gaming over to
Football Manager these days. One of the things I find most enjoyable about FM is the fact that I can play it in innumerable ways. I can make myself a Sunday league player with no coaching credentials and take over a team in the lowest levels of a nation with no footballing tradition at all. I can create a manager with world-class ability, and try to lead Chelsea or Barcelona to world domination. Or, I can choose any one of countless variations in between.
I've been aware that I could manage a national team in FM, either at the same time I'm running a club, or by itself. I've never given it a try, however, so I think it's time for a new adventure.
It's not possible to take over a team like Luxembourg or the Faroe Islands in an "out of the box" FM career, but I read about a way to "unlock" the smaller national teams. It doesn't require cheating or hacking the database, so I'm not worried that I've somehow corrupted my game.
Now I can introduce myself to you as
the manager of the Liechtenstein men's football team.
I've been somewhat fascinated by the
Principality of Liechtenstein since I was in eighth grade. My geography teacher assigned each of us a report on a European country and, by the luck of the draw, I ended up with Liechtenstein. I got a good grade on my report, so I figure I might have some kind of Liechtensteiner mojo.
I'm not going to manage a club in this career; I'm getting my fill of that experience in my FC Santa Claus save (which I'll still continue to write about for the forum here, too). I've loaded the Swiss leagues into my game, since a club from Liechtenstein's capital city, Vaduz, play in the Swiss leagues.
The story will last as long as my career as Liechtenstein manager. I don't see myself taking another job if, by some chance, it's offered to me, and if the Liechtenstein FA sack me, then the tale will end.
Hopefully a few of you will find it interesting to read about the attempts of a tiny nation to battle for international football relevance, and my attempts to help that happen.