The next installment of the Football Manager franchise releases today and we are here to give you a list of German teams that you could manage in your first save (or whenever really).
Schalke, Hertha Berlin, Hamburg, Kaiserslautern
It is hard to pick between these four teams out of the 2. Bundesliga who you should take back to the Bundesliga. They all have their quirks, Schalke and Hertha will both want to return to the top division instantly and selling the deadwood on Hertha should give you the money to finance a return to the Bundesliga. While for Schalke, it will be about nurturing Assan Ouédraogo and potentially reducing the average age of the squad.
Hamburg came close to gaining promotion last season if it were not for a dramatic final day of the season. For them, it will be about securing promotion for the first time around and priming the squad to stay in the Bundesliga.
Kaiserslautern provides the hard of the four as they have little to no budget and no saleable assets. The squad has shown that they compete at the upper reaches of the 2. Bundesliga but the 1997 Bundesliga winners are the type of club that deserves to play regular Bundesliga football. Can you bring it back to the Betze?
1860 Munich
The second team of Munich, financial troubles have meant that 1860 has dropped from the Bundesliga and now finds themselves languishing in mid-table of the 3. Liga. The aim in charge of 1860 will be long-term of first taking them back to the Bundesliga before then trying to dethrone the goliath that is Bayern Munich as Munich’s number one team.
1860’s academy has produced some stalwart Bundesliga players in Florian Neuhaus, Julian Weigl, the Bender twins as well as Marius Wolf. With a lack of funds, it may make sense to try and breed a new crop of players who can lead you back to where the Grünwald club should be.
Stuttgarter Kickers
The former club of Jürgen Klinsmann, the second club of Stuttgart were last in the Bundesliga in 1992 and are currently plying their trade in the Regionalliga Südwest against VfB Stuttgart II. The aim will be similar to 1860 Munich, taking the team that plays at the Gazi Stadion into the Bundesliga and trying to dethrone the more successful Stuttgart.
If you are a real psycho, an added challenge would be trying to do this while only signing players from the surrounding area (Baden Württemberg, Bavaria, Alsace–Lorraine) a la Athletic Bilbao.
Union Berlin
The obvious choice. Can you follow in the footsteps of Urs Fischer (not this season) and continue the upward trend of the former East Berlin club? The first season will open with the challenge of the Champions League and trying to avoid getting grouped, in what is a tough group. Then it will be to continue with Champions League qualification before progressing to trying to win some major silverware then the ultimate goal of trying to win the Bundesliga.
Union have been known to not have many youth players progress through the club, while they have also been known to not have many representatives in the senior German national team, so try and change that.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
