Football Manager’s ability to put together a dream team of players, those you only wish your real counterparts would buy if they had the chance. But in a long term game having a transfer policy can allow of sustained ability to perform consistently season after season. Have young players coming through for the future and help keep a settled side that will play much better once gelled.
Advantages of a Transfer Policy
- Easier to put a gelled side together
- Team management and Squad harmony easier to achieve
- Plan for the future needs of the club
- Help make money from bringing young talent to the team
The Arsene Wenger Transfer Policy
Wenger has been praised for his careful transfers, a fantastic scouting network which constantly searches the world especially Africa and France. This has helped Wenger build a side that has been brought up together and able to play a certain type of beautiful football as his philosophies are built from the ground upwards. Patience with his young team has been key and as they have grown up, look to constantly challenge for silverware, hopefully it won’t be long before this side peaks and finally gives some reward back to Wenger.
Within Football Manager this policy will allow you to build a squad that will gel and able to play with more fluidity, great for anyone wanting to play fluid passing football and why Arsenal and Barcelona have teams that have grown together and can play this way.
But so many foreign players in the Premiership can make the second season onwards much harder to put a squad together, as 8 players in the squad must have been trained in the UK. I have found it a struggle picking my strongest squad in FM at Liverpool. To be classed as trained in England, the player must have played 3 seasons before their 21st birthday.
Finally, Arsene will spend big money on players when he thinks they will add something strong to the team. This is a rarity and helps keep Arsenal in a good financial standing. But criticism has been thrown at Wenger’s policy because of the lack of depth and experience in the squad in order to challenge harder for the title.
Barcelona’s Approach
Despite being one of the biggest clubs in the world, Barcelona have not bought themselves success. Instead built their a squad from within, building a culture of football and good coaching techniques in order to develop one of the best teams in the world. Few of the current Barcelona side has been bought in and much of the spine is Spanish and even Messi is a product of an amazing academy system and could even be considered Spanish himself.
This can be hard to do put together in Football Manager, lack of control over the youth system and the players that come through and a certain amount of luck needed to get the best players coming through.
The best way to put together a young side coming through he ranks of your club is to poach other young players from your own country, using scouts to find the best of the regens and young players that are not only coming through your side but the side of your own. This again can take time but if done well it can be a good money make scheme as well. This has not only beeen an approach that has benefited Barcelona but also Spain too.
The Real Madrid Approach
If you have the money to spend then many will be tempted to spend it. Many Football Manager players do and who can blame them, the game rewards those who buy the best players straight away.
Good financial stability in the game isn’t rewarded enough, you will never see your team go bust and often the game will bail you out with new buyers when you get into trouble. Therefore not encouraging sides to stay within their means for long terms building and success, which could be argued has been a reflection of real life, many will say they would rather be United or Spurs then the financially secure Burnley.
One disadvantage to this rule though is the problems with getting a side to gel quickly, you will have to perfectly select your players to hope the slot together with little fuss. Pressure will be on when given alot of money and your board will expected results straight away for the money they have spent.
No Money Approach
When you have no money at a team it is valuable to look at loan signing and scour the free transfer lists in order to snap up a bargain. Any money that is in the pot needs to be looked at to sure up your side with a player that will really make a difference to your side.
Lower league sides will be the most likely to be financially stricken. Close ties with teams higher up then you can help loan a little bit of quality and cover for your side. At the lower leagues experience from the leagues above you can be a real benefit and the differece to gaining promotion with good mental and technical skills.
What transfer policy do you have?
Leave a comment below, do you have a structured transfer policy in place or would you rather just go out and buy players on wim? I used to have a serious tendancies to sign as many world class strikers as I could even to deny teams. Do you think a good transfer policy can benefit you in Football Manager?
i tend to mix, my best youth players were john fleck and daniel opare when i use everton on FM 2009. Now on my FM 2010 tottenham side i have aron gunarsson, daniel aquino, jose baxter, kyle walker and harry kane.. I’ve just snatched Brian Mc Clair from ManU so i’m sure they will become great players for the future
.-= dendi´s last blog ..are you ken? =-.
I actually participated in an interesting challenge which I decided to continue playing even after someone reached the objective. The goal was to win the Premier League with Man City as soon as possible – NOT using Zabaleta, Garrido, Sylvinho, Petrov, Kompany and De Jong and furthermore only buying two players over 18 years and 365 days each season. They both had to be from Great Britain and one must be under 22 at the time of transfer. You were allowed to bring in any players under 19. It’s a transfer policy that I might use in other games as well. It’s a huge challenge and a welcome change to just buying ridiculously priced foreigners.
That sounds really interesting challenge. But I think with the money you get from City you are able to use the money to just bring in the best players your scout can find and there is some great under 21′s in the game. How are you doing in this challenge?
no money approach ..actually it’s my favourite
Wonderful read, really thorough. I ten to mix a little bit with the Wenger, Real Madrid and Barca style. I always scout very thoroughly and find the best young players possible, as long as they are below a certain price. I also try to make sure the youth players based at the club are given every chance of ‘making it’, but I also find the urge sometimes to go out and blow 15m on 1 player. But my main policy revolves around this –
1 – Assessing the squad I already have.
2 – Selecting or creating the most suitable formation for my squad.
3 – Then buy the players to fill in the gaps, or provide the backup. The backup players, I try to buy younger, or loan from another club.
Thanks for a fantastic read, and KIU:)
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