Fotball, Norwegian Style (FM Touch 19)

[Greyfriars Bobby]

It's a new year, and I'm back with a new idea for a Football Manager dynasty.

I almost didn't buy FM 19, because I hadn't heard good things about it, compared to other editions of the games. I hadn't been crazy about the last couple versions myself. I decided to give FM 19 a try, and I've been enjoying it.

I'm playing FM Touch more often now. It's a streamlined version of the game that doesn't include some of the details that the full game has, but at this stage of my life, with a career and a family, that is a good thing.

FM introduced a Create-A-Club feature a few years ago. It enables me to replace a "real" club with one of my own creation, using the model club's finances to create a budget within which I have to work as I draft my bespoke team. If I want to make a big club, I replace Chelsea or Bayern Munich, and I can afford any superstar I want. If I want a small one, I replace a club in the Swedish Second Division, and I fill my squad with players I've never heard of. I can customize my club, changing its colors, kit, and stadium name.

Create-A-Club has always been fun to mess around with, but the work the developers have put into making it work better has really borne fruit. I have enjoyed spending hours creating several "fantastic" teams, including large and small clubs in England and a mid-sized Bundesliga team in Germany. Finally, I've decided to take one of my creations and actually progress farther than pre-season with it.



The club I'm bringing to life is based in Norway. I took Strømgodset, one of Norway's bigger clubs, as my model. It's now my pleasure to introduce you to Drammen Toppfotball, who will take its place in the Norwegian Eliteserien for the 2018/19 season.

The club takes its name from the city in which it plays (Drammen is home to the real Strømgodset, too.) Drammen is in eastern Norway. It's the capital of Buskerud county, with a population of just over 60,000. You can see it on the map, just a bit southwest of the national capital, Oslo.



I usually choose clubs located in interesting cities. Drammen is certainly one of those. The Norwegian season begins in March, so this might be the sight that greets my managerial alter ego when he arrives in town to begin pre-season preparations.



I apologize for the size of the photo, but WOW.

Here is a view of Marienlyst Stadion, the home grounds of the Blues. It was built in 1924, has room for almost 9,000 spectators (8,000 or so in seats), and has a soft, new-style synthetic pitch.



I'll be back soon with a look at the team I've created. I hope we'll all enjoy the story of my new favorite Norwegian football team.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Clothes Make the Man, feat. The Trendsetters
You can now design your manager's appearance, too. Here's my Football Manager version of myself, awaiting the arrival of the team in our changing room at Marienlyst. I'm not sure if Norwegian managers tend to wear navy blazers and khakis, but this one will. That's the attire my darling daughters chose for me.




Tactical Talk
The more I watch real football (soccer), the more I'm convinced that one of the keys to success is a proper match between a manager's tactics and the players s/he has to implement it. Create-A-Club is giving me the chance to see if this is true in Football Manager, too.

The game now includes pre-set templates for several popular tactical styles. The feature is advertised as a starting point for gamers who either don't understand the nuances of creating sophisticated tactics themselves or who prefer not to do so. I'm somewhere in the middle. I can make a simple tactic work, but the more adventurous I try to be, the more I mess things up. And I don't have the time to devote to becoming a master of FM tactics. So, I decided to choose one of the templates and build my team with players who ought to fit that style of play.

I decided the Control Possession was the best match for the style I want my team to play. It's described as "a tactic that focuses on retaining possession and pressing high to win the ball back. Looks to play out of defence and create chances through patient, short-passing build-up play." Of the three formations that are suggested as good fits for the Control Possession style, I chose the 4-1-4-1 Wide with a defensive midfielder.



The abbreviations on the tactic screen might not be familiar to some of you who haven't played Football Manager, or who don't follow world football:

SK: Sweeper Keeper
WB: Wing Back
CD: Central Defender
BPD: Ball-Playing Defender
HB: Half Back
MEZ: Mezzala
AP: Advanced Playmaker
IF: Inside Forward
W: Winger
CF: Complete Forward

Each of these roles can be given a Defending (De), Support (Su), or Attacking (At) duty. As you might expect, the duties instruct a player to pay more attention to the corresponding phase of his game. I'll say more about what the more unique roles, like Mezzala, do, when I introduce you to my team.

Choosing Carefully
Now came the fun part: choosing the players who could bring my footballing vision to life. I took greater advantage of the scouting tools the game offers me this time. You can set your player search to identify guys with high ratings for the key attributes for each role, and that's how I chose the first Drammen team. The game even breaks the key attributes into two categories, and I set the search to find players with even higher scores for these.

Of course, since I had only about €5 million in my budget for drafting my team, I couldn't simply stack the roster with world-class players. A player good enough to make the first team at a top club in a big league would easily be worth three or four times that much himself. I seem to remember Harry Kane costs €98 million to "hire" at the beginning of the game. Needless to say, Harry won't be leading the Drammen line.

Who will be? You'll meet him, along with his teammates, in my next post.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Meet the Players
Here are the 24 players I have chosen for our first team. Several of them are also available for duty with Drammen II, our reserve team.

The star ratings are provided by Håkon Wibe-Lund, my assistant manager. He's a three-star talent himself, so he's not a bad judge of ability.

Goalkeepers


The Sweeper Keeper needs to be more comfortable with the ball at his feet than a standard goalkeeper, because he sweeps up balls outside his penalty area and makes passes that can lead to a successful counter-attack.

Both Barli and Myhra are good passers, and they both have the high Determination I look for in a 'keeper. I don't want them hanging their heads if they let in a goal. They're both good at standard 'keeper things, too. I think of them as Number 1 and Number 1-A.

I passed on Sondre Rossbach, a more well-known young Norwegian goalkeeper whom I often pick for my bespoke teams, in favor of these more economical alternatives. Time will tell if I made a good choice.


Defenders


Both my wide defenders are Wing Backs, who are expected to get farther upfield than stay-at-home Full Backs while still taking care of their defensive responsibilities. Norway international Parr is an ideal fit for this role, and he can play well on either side. If Jonathan plays on the right, Våge Nilsen can play the left. If Parr's on the left instead, Eriksen or Desler will man the right. I wouldn't mind having Desler on my bench, because he can do a job at every outfield position except striker.

The Ball-Playing Defender does just what the name implies: he can be called upon to make incisive passes out of defense that key the transition to our attack. Teenage starlet Sandberg is going to be given that role, with Amundsen serving as his more conventional partner. Keep an eye on Weberg, who is even more composed in possession than Sandberg is, but lacks Erik Tobias's defensive acumen.

Weberg and Roseth will do double duty with the reserves, in order to get the playing time they need to develop their skills.

Again, I had the funds to splurge on central defender Even Hovland, but I decided to invest in the three teenagers instead. Amundsen is a similar player, who can match Hovland's pace and marks his man just as tenaciously. Plus, he's four years younger.


Midfielders


Half the outfield players I use in this tactic are nominally midfielders, so this group is naturally going to be a large one.

The Half Back is almost a hybrid defensive midfielder/center back; many of the qualities of a solid center half are present in a stalwart half back. Hauger and Madsen are both sufficiently resolute to fill this role, and both are tidy in possession, too. The classy Hauger has played 23 times for Norway, making him our most distinguished international.

A Mezzala works in the half-spaces between the center of the pitch and the wing, shuttling from attack to defense. I picked Klaussen especially for this task, which requires both creativity and a non-stop motor. Haugen can also play this role very well.

The third central midfielder in my tactic, the Advanced Playmaker, looks to move into the space between the opponents' defense and midfield. On an Attack duty, he ought to look for his own shot as well as picking out his teammates for passes. Haugen is the best fit for this role. Tronstad, whom I seem to choose every time I Create-A-Club, is an economical, reliable choice here, too.

My two wide men play different, easily understandable roles. An Inside Forward cuts inside, and a Winger tends to stay closer to the touchline. Veteran Mjelde and Larsen are options on the left. Halvorsen and young Hauge will play on the right.

Yes, I have Haugen, Hauger, and Hauge in my team. It's a safe bet I'll play one of them in the wrong position at least once during the season.

Wede, the Swede, is a utility man who can play anywhere. I always reserve two or three roster spots for lads like him; Desler and even Klaussen possess this level of versatility, too.


Attackers


Complete Forwards are not easy to find. Most strikers don't possess the wide range of attributes needed to do this job well. I splashed some cash to secure the services of Pedersen, who has plied his trade in England, Holland, and Denmark, as well as in his native land. Then I happily snagged Omoijuanfo, who interprets the role differently, with a little less speed and a little more vision than Pedersen.

The teenagers, Wind and Helmersen, have tons of promise. They are both big and strong, while remaining surprisingly nimble and athletic. Both of them will deputize with the reserves, so they get the playing time they need.

European Nights Ahead?
In the Premier Division season preview, we were picked for fourth place, with 6-1 odds against winning the title. Perennial power Rosenborg, who have won the league 25 times, are once again picked to lift the trophy, on 5-2 odds. Molde (7-2) and Brann (4-1) are the other clubs expected to come in ahead of us.

A fourth place finish could earn us a spot in European competition, and the board would be very happy to see us achieve that goal. They'd also like to see us make the Semi Final of the Norwegian Cup.

[Young Drachma]

You're gonna make me buy FM19 Touch.

[mrkilla22]

Awesome, I'm following along. I started playing FM19 recently. Haven't purchased an FM version since 15 I believe.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

You're gonna make me buy FM19 Touch.

Thanks for stopping by, YD. I own both the full FM19 game and FM19 Touch. I gave the full version a try, and I couldn't really get into it. I simply don't have the time to devote to exploring and mastering all its features. A lot of hard core FM players think Touch isn't complex enough, but it's perfect for me right now.

The biggest negative for me is the fact you can't use edited databases in FM Touch. I often like playing with teams that are farther down the league structure than the out-of-the-box game includes, and that's not possible in Touch. Otherwise, I really enjoy it.

FM Touch is less expensive than the full version too.

Originally Posted by mrkilla22

Awesome, I'm following along. I started playing FM19 recently. Haven't purchased an FM version since 15 I believe.

Good to have you along! There have been a lot of changes between FM 15 and FM 19, haven't there? I started with FM12, and I've owned every edition since. I keep telling myself I'll pass on the new version each fall, but I always end up "giving in" and buying it.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

10 March 2018

As the beginning of the Premier Division season approaches, let's meet the members of my back room staff.

FM Touch streamlines this part of the game significantly. Instead of assembling a coaching staff that could include a dozen coaches, Touch synthesizes the entire staff into the persona of the Assistant Manager.

My right hand man is Håkon Wibe-Lund. He's as good at his job as anyone in our division, and I like his Fairly Professional personality. Håkon is very good at coaching both attackers and defenders. He works exceptionally well with young players.



Our Director of Football, Jostein Flo, is a Norway legend who played 53 times for his country. His brother, Tore André Flo, was a popular striker who played for several clubs, including Chelsea and Rangers. Jostein's ability to judge the ability and potential of players is first-rate.



Head Scout Erik Røren is kind of meh. There are probably better options out there, and I might look for one. There are no individual Scouts in FM Touch, and the spread of a team's scouting network is represented by the size of the Head Scout's team. Erik is rated for a team of four scouts, which is a bit on the small side for a team at our level.



I retained every member of the real Strømgodset staff except the Head of Youth Development. My pick for HOYD, Frode Johnsen, was a productive center forward who led the Norwegian league in goals three times and was capped 35 times. As a HOYD, he has the coveted Model Professional personality that I hope he will pass to the young footballers he nurtures.



Our Head Physio, Thomas Ødegaard, isn't nearly as famous as his nephew, Martin. Thomas is a very solid physio, however, who is good at physio things.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

1 April 2018



We went through our slate of pre-season friendlies with ease; our goal remained unbreached, and the players' spirits were high as the Premier League campaign approached.

An injury to midfielder Sondre Tronstad, who tweaked his knee in training on the eve of the opening match, was the only low point.

We should have taken three points from our opening match. Sarpsborg had one shot the entire game, and it found its way into our net. Veteran midfielder Henrik Madsen alertly pounced on a deflected ball and rifled it home from just outside the penalty area, giving us a share of the honors.

We were much more lively in our next match, away to Start. Ole Jørgen Halvorsen and Frederick Haugen scored for the Blues, and the Start 'keeper fumbled an Erik Tobias Sandberg header over the line for an own goal. Viljar Myhra was barely challenged in goal for us.

A good-sized crowd at Marienlyst and a Norwegian TV audience watched us edge a close result against Brann, whom many experts consider one of the top sides in the league. Kristoffer Larsen scored twice in two minutes to put us ahead, and we did a good job of shutting up shop and securing the win.

We are among a group of four teams at the top of the table, all on 7 points.
To nobody's surprise, Rosenborg is top, with a +7 goal difference. We and Odd are both +4. They've scored seven goals to our six, so they edge us out for second, and Vålerenga are right behind us.