Over the last few seasons of Football Manager
there has been an ever-growing presence of FM users venturing away from the mainstream
leagues of the English leagues to more adventurous and interesting leagues such
as the Bundesliga.
The German leagues are now complete with very
good editor files for name fixes and National teams, which thanks to the FM
community are available on the release of every update. Before you start any new game, be sure to
update your game with these files. The lads at [SORTITOUTSI] offer a great step
by step how to guide for both PC and MAC platforms and you if you do get it
wrong, just pose a question in the forums and they are always answered
promptly.
The Bundesliga is a very interesting and
entertaining league, which I put down to a number of factors, the first being
that any of the top 10 teams are capable of challenging for the title straight
off the bat, with little or no improvements really needed. A
clever use of players, a keen astute eye for tactics and player management can
place you in a position to challenge within a season or two.
Bayern & Dortmund posses quality squads
and by all defaults should be clear favourites for the top two positions. Outside of these two, the rest of the top 10
is really interesting. Leverkusen and Schalke have both very talented squads, and
with a good run of results, would really challenge for the title. In many saves
I have seen Bayern and Dortmund have bad starts or losing games to lower ranked
teams, with a couple of these upsets, can leave the door ajar slightly.
After these teams, this is where the league becomes very interesting in my opinion; Wolfsburg, Stuttgart, Gladbach, Frankfurt, HSV
and Hannover have quality sprinkled throughout each of their squads. I even place
Werder Bremen in this group, but they do lack the depth to stage a season long
challenge for a continental challenge in the first season.
Having a closer look at the teams outside
Bayern and Dortmund, who we all know, have World Class quality players, thus
your approach will be slightly different.
Leverkusen, I do like the look of
Leverkusen, even though I haven’t played a save with them to date. I
watched them play in CL v Man Utd which
prompted me to take a closer look at them in FM. Their squad is very good and I
think capable of snatching the title from Bayern and Dortmund. The only signing
I would make, would be a young striker capable of 15 games or so to support
Kiebling.
Wolfsburg, My favourite German team, they do
have the potential to challenge for the title but in the first season. A solid
squad with 3-4 very good young prospects in the game to start with. They do
lack goal-scoring penetration up front, but have a industries midfield and a
solid back four. Wolfsburg also starts with $16M transfer funds to assist in
rebuilding the squad.
Stuttgart, Manage this team well and you
will almost be challenging for the title in the first season. They have an
abundance of talented players with Alexandru Maxim who is absolute quality. The
much sort after Timo Werner is one you will need to fend off offers to keep. A
strong creative midfield and robust defence, you will have more than enough to
see off those below you and turn your attentions to stealing points off Bayern
and Dortmund.
Gladbach, Although this season Gladbach have
re-elevated themselves back up the Bundesliga IRL, I cannot see them hitting
the same heights in FM in the first season, due to lack of depth and quality,
but I do see them inside the top 10.
There is a lot of squad building to be done, with Stegen and De Jong you
Key players, the support cast needs the work.
Frankfurt, Reading a team thread in the FM
forums, I have managed to start a save with Frankfurt. An exciting challenge, a
ton of good young prospects and great squad depth, you will not need to bring
any players in. You will lose one of your best players in Rode, who is looking
to leave on a Free Transfer at the end of the season, so you can cash in or
take a chance and keep him to the end of the season. This team is more than capable of finishing
in the top 4, having already qualified for the Europa League in the current
season.
HSV, These guys are a really dogmatic team.
Every time I have played them, I am always struggling to get a result. Taking a
closer look at the team and personnel, I notice that they do have a really good
team in FM terms! Their only down fall and why they will not see the top 4 is
due to a lack of quality striker up front. Their midfield is really good, led by Van der Vaart, Badelj, and hot prospect Tolgay Arslan.
League Predictions
I have listed my predictions below, not really dependant on which team you are managing, but based upon where I see the team's squad versus the table. Hertha, unlike their performance this season in the Bundesliga, a staggering 6th, much due to Adrian Ramos form in front of goals, I have set for relegation.
Media Prediction
|
Frog'sPrediction
|
|||
FC
Bayern
|
1
|
FC
Bayern
|
1
|
|
Dortmund
|
2
|
Dortmund
|
2
|
|
Schalke
|
3
|
Stuttgart
|
3
|
|
Leverkusen
|
4
|
Leverkusen
|
4
|
|
Wolfsburg
|
5
|
Schalke
|
5
|
|
Stuttgart
|
6
|
Wolfsburg
|
6
|
|
Hannover
|
7
|
Frankfurt
|
7
|
|
HSV
|
8
|
HSV
|
8
|
|
Gladbach
|
9
|
Gladbach
|
9
|
|
Frankfurt
|
10
|
Hannover
|
10
|
|
Werder
Bremen
|
11
|
Werder
Bremen
|
11
|
|
Hoffenhein
|
12
|
Hoffenhein
|
12
|
|
Freiburg
|
13
|
Freiburg
|
13
|
|
Mainz
|
14
|
Mainz
|
14
|
|
Herta
BSC
|
15
|
Nurnburg
|
15
|
|
Nurnburg
|
16
|
Herta
BSC
|
16
|
|
Augesburg
|
17
|
Augesburg
|
17
|
|
Braunschweig
|
18
|
Braunschweig
|
18
|
League Prospects
Like all leagues there is a number of
commonly know youth prospects and the Bundesliga is a garden bed of riches –
Name
|
Position
|
Age
|
Club
|
Oliver
Schnitzler
|
GK
|
17
|
Leverkusen
|
Odisseas
Vlachodimos
|
GK
|
19
|
Stuttgart
|
Timo
Horn
|
GK
|
20
|
Koln
|
Bernd
Leno
|
GK
|
21
|
Leverkusen
|
Aykut
Ozer
|
GK
|
20
|
Frankfurt
|
Robin
Knoche
|
DC
|
21
|
Wolfsburg
|
Marc-Oliver
Kempf
|
DC
|
18
|
Frankfurt
|
Jonathan
Tah
|
DC
|
17
|
HSV
|
Marian
Sarr
|
DC
|
19
|
Dortmund
|
Niklus
Sule
|
DC
|
17
|
Hoffenhein
|
Antonio
Rudiger
|
DC
|
20
|
Stuttgart
|
Leon
Goretzka
|
MC
|
18
|
Schalke
|
Julian
Brandt
|
AML
|
17
|
Leverkusen
|
Timo
Werner
|
SC
|
17
|
Stuttgart
|
Maximilliam
Meyer
|
AMC
|
17
|
Schalke
|
Mitchell
Weiser
|
AMR
|
19
|
Bayern
|
Mortiz
Leitner
|
AMC
|
20
|
Dortmund
|
Nils
Quaschaner
|
SC
|
19
|
Liefering
|
Julian Brandt - Bayern Leverkusen beat off Chelsea to sign the German U19 international from Wolfsburg for an un-disclosed figure.