Around The World II

So here I am, Hungary. Famous for it's... something and proud owner's 5 Olympic medals including THREE Golds in 1952, 1964 & 1968. They were also runners up in the World Cup in 1938 and 1954.

However since 1986 they have not qualified for a major tournament and have been in decline.

The team in 1954 was known as "The Magical Magyars" and I'd love to be able to recreate those days, hell even to qualify for a major tournament would be enough!

My first job is Euro 2008 qualifying, which I am almost half way through upon my appointment.

History

2007-2014





2014-

So here's what I have to deal with





My aim is to not come bottom. I am one of the lower ranked teams in this league so I think I won't aim too high. The highest I shall aim for is 4th, that would be a great start and a good foundation.

The plan is to have a few solid qualification campaigns and then hope on some good newgens to strengthen my squad. If that doesn't happen then I could spend a fair amount of years struggling for little gain.

The overall aim is to qualify for a major tournament, sounds easy but it will require 8-12 very good results on the spin and/or a flukey playoff results.

Been messing around with my formation after being told that farrows only work when you're not in possession! Therefore I quite like my DMC to drop back as a 3rd CB when not in possession.

I imagined my formation as: Set them out to defend, arrow to attack. Fm classes this as a 4-1-4-1-0. First game's coming up against Moldova, will be looking for three points as it's at home.

First Game.



Convincing win really, never really looked threatened and the formation works quite nicely.





A good start in my first game, and also a nice little rankings rise. I need the rankings to rise enough so I can get better seeding and better draws. Better draws mean playing against lesser teams which means more chance of winning and a better ranking through those wins. It's an endless cycle really.

Next game is against reigning Euro champions Greece! They're ranked quite high in this edition.



We put up a great fight but in the end lost out due to a disallowed goal when losing 1-2. Had that have counted then at 2-2 we looked quite good, however they went down the other end and made it 1-3 and that was game over.

I am very pleased with the possession however. Also note that we seem to draw in more fouls and have a very good passing percentage.

I've dropped back down to 6th again. Next up Norway.

Haven't played FM08 since well 2009 , so I can't recall the tactical tricks anymore. But good luck on you Hungary Career. Just build towards the World Cup it seems as this qualification comes to early and with to many points lost already.

I have to be pleased seeing as Norway were very strong favourites for this one. It's an unexpected point picked up as I was concentrating on the Bosnia, Malta & Moldova games to pick up the necessary points for 4th.

Up next IS the biggest game in the group for me, Bosnia. A win here will be huge. A loss and I may have to kiss goodbye to my 4th dream.

...and it seemed to work

The must-win game against Bosnia.





It was allot more one-sided than the score line suggested. Just check the match stats to see that we dominated them.

This win is crucial to nothing else but our World Rankings. Winning against teams around us will mean we can overtake them in the rankings and get a better draw next quail.

Another good point made, and away too. To be honest the game was very even and I thought for the life of me I was going to lose until Buzsaky fired in a long range shot to surprise even me! Turkey were 1-10 to win this game so to get a point is a massive bonus.

Winning over Turkey, not bad, not bad at all.

We seem to be on a good run at the moment, only been beaten once so far.



So the picture looks good. I still have to play Greece and Moldova but I am pretty assured of 5th unless Malta stage something remarkable. If i beat Moldova & Bosnia lose to Turkey then I am assured of at least 4th. It's going to be tough to beat Norway as still have to play Malta which they should win.

There's allot of variables in this one and it will be tough but 3rd has to be the aim.

Stepped over that banana skin. A very solid win which we should have scored more and conceded less. Next up is the all important game against table-topping Greece. If we lose we could actually finish 5th, we win we finish 3rd. A little too close for me.

Bosnia play Turkey
Norway play Malta

Well that was a shock. We have just beaten the reigning European Championships holders!

This win means,





I don't think I've ever seen a ranking rise like this in my experience. It's god for potential newgens in the future.

I drew, but thanks for the comment (Only just saw it)

World Cup groups drawn and I've got a toughie. Spain are OK as long as they beat everyone else in the group. Then it's a slog between Serbia, Ireland & Me. Of which I'm 3rd favourite. So overall I'm looking at 4th as a minimum and 2nd as a dream.

The other sticking point is my fixture list. I have:
Serbia (away)
Spain (home)
Ireland (away)

3 losses from that and it'll be very hard to come back. If i can get a good run going into the 2 easier fixtures & Serbia at home then I may have a chance.

So my rankings have continued to rise despite not playing a single game all year! I'm up to 14th somehow, which is worrying as it doesn't represent my current squad at all.

However I am hoping I can stay there as my newgens coming through will be better.

I thought I'd check how the Euros went anyway, although I holidayed and missed the Germany job (can't remember if I deleted the appropriate file to manage them and Holland though)



Looks fairly standard and I have the Euro 2008 runners up in my Wotld Cup qualifying group, first game coming up soon. Serbia.

Right on on with trying to qualify for the World Cup 2010.



Rollocks!

Well that was possibly the worst start I could have had. I now need a result against Spain to kick off my campaign.

Brilliant work so far mate !

Second game went a little better actually, we made a few chances but couldn't convert and got punished by a 2008 Fernando Torres. So next up is Ireland away and if I lose that then I am up a certain creek.

Cheers man

Damn. This really has gone very wrong very fat. Problem is I have to wait 6 holiday months to try and resolve this. I am hoping it's just class of opponents and not a demise of my own team.

I had a Friendly against Brazil but canceled it as I couldn't handle 4 defeats in a row and it seemed like a morale drainer.



Operation "Not Gonna Happen."

What goes up must come down!



So after about 7-8 very successful games it only takes 3 losses, admittedly in a row, to dump me straight back down.

Aug 2008: 14th
Nov 2008: 78th

So I've now seen it all, the biggest rise I've ever seen followed by the biggest drop I've ever seen. I am happy I spend 1 year in the 20-60 bracket.

That's a bit more like it at least we now have 3 points on the board. Next up the Luxembourg, Serbia double header, two wins there and we're back in the game.

Wow!

I may have put out a reserve team with Serbia in mind. I did not expect this to happen however.

This highlights the lack of depth within Hungary, we have a total of 30-40 players to chose from so naming a 26 man squad can be difficult.

I shall write this campaign off as utter tripe and focus on my newgens, of which I have 6 All 16, all shit.

So that's 2 games in a row I've dominated, had more possession & more shots and still lost. I need to buy a striker...oh wait.

Definitely writing this campaign off. Luckily my board are still okay with all of this, they just don't want me to come last.

Next fixtures are Spain & Ireland. Balls.

Not too shabby! I know I have just said that to a loss, but we had them in the first half and matched them in the second, difference was their finishing.

Next up Ireland and I need a win there to save this campaign from being a complete disaster.

In other news I now cannot qualify for World Cup 2010 South Africa: Mission Failed

My god we needed that! Means little for me in the group but seriously dents Ireland's chances.

I now have the "formalities" of Luxembourg & Lithuania, and then another summer of nothingness.