The Hardest Saves In Football Manager 2024

Key Takeaways

Football Manager 2024 offers a deep football management simulator with licensed leagues and tactical complexity.
Certain clubs present challenging opportunities due to financial woes, relegation struggles, and strict transfer policies.
From facing relegation debt-ridden clubs to navigating transfer embargoes, these challenges require strategic acumen.

As a seasoned manager with decades of experience under my belt, I must say that the clubs you’ve presented are some of the most challenging cases I’ve ever encountered in my career. Each one presents unique difficulties and requires an entirely different approach to turn things around.

The “Football Manager” series delivers an engrossing football management experience, featuring captivating aspects like its realistic 3D match system and strategic intricacies. In “Football Manager 2024”, you’ll find the greatest number of licensed leagues among all sports games, providing a vast array of clubs for players to manage.

Each team presents unique hurdles for its manager, but some clubs are definitely tougher to handle than others. They might struggle with financial constraints, have shallow player rosters, or confront intense competition within their leagues. To guide these teams towards long-overdue triumph in Football Manager 2024, you’ll need a player performing at the pinnacle of their abilities.

10 Luton Town FC

Battling Giants

League: English Premier Division
Stadium: Kenilworth Road
Financial Status: Secure

After consecutive promotions from League One, Luton Town finds itself struggling in the Premier League with one of the smallest squads and the least financial resources compared to other teams in their league. To make matters worse, they will frequently play against top-tier clubs like Manchester City and Liverpool.

In truth, Luton had already been demoted from the Premier League, but now it falls upon the players to prevent a similar outcome. By employing strategic gameplay and shrewd transfers, they can aim for survival, provided they recognize the intense competition that characterizes England’s top division.

9 Arminia Bielefeld

Stop The Drop

League: German 3. Liga
Stadium: SchucoArena
Financial Status: Okay

After enduring two consecutive demotions, Arminia Bielefeld found themselves struggling in Germany’s third division, having been pushed out of the Bundesliga. With their current standing, they urgently require a competent coach to help them regain stability and eventually aim for promotion once more within the German football hierarchy.

Fortunately, they find themselves financially stable, allowing room in the payroll for modest upgrades to the team roster. However, there’s a tendency to lean excessively on temporary loans. The challenge for any incoming manager will be to optimally utilize the existing young team and unlock their full potential.

8 Athletic Bilbao

Region Locked

League: Spanish First Division
Stadium: San Mames
Financial Status: Rich

Initially, overseeing Athletic Bilbao may seem uncomplicated given their talented roster, robust financial resources, and excellent infrastructure. However, the true test lies in navigating their stringent transfer regulations.

As a devoted supporter, I find myself bound by the rule that only allows managers to recruit talents from the Basque region. This means the promising foreign youngsters are out of reach for us. Consequently, our quest for excellence in Spanish football often boils down to a roll of the dice, with our future triumphs heavily relying on a lucky generation of homegrown players breaking through our youth ranks.

7 FK Austria Vienna

Deep In The Red

League: Austrian Premier Division
Stadium: Franz-Horr Stadion
Financial Status: In Debt

Over the past few years, I’ve been a passionate supporter of FK Austria Vienna, but it’s become increasingly clear that the club is facing some significant financial challenges. Once a dominant force in Austrian football, the team now finds itself grappling with an overwhelming debt of approximately £52 million and a negative bank balance of around £18 million. It’s a far cry from the glory days we once knew.

Because the club is facing a financial crisis, their top players have been put up for transfer and it seems this situation will continue until their debts are paid off. This means that managers won’t be able to form strong bonds with crucial players and will instead need to regularly search for replacement players who aren’t tied to contracts.

6 Dover Athletic FC

Starting From The Bottom

League: English Vanarama National League South
Stadium: Crabble Athletic Ground
Financial Status: Okay

For those seeking a lengthy management career in soccer, overseeing Dover Athletic might be the toughest task. After all, they are unquestionably the poorest performing team in England, and their roster is significantly depleted because the club hasn’t signed any goalkeepers yet.

With a team that’s largely underperforming, limited funds for player salaries, and no room for new signings in the transfer market, managers would struggle immensely just to prevent relegation, not to mention aiming for promotion within the English league system.

5 Manaus

Relegation Bound

League: Brazilian National Third Division
Stadium: Ismael Benigno
Financial Status: Okay

A team established about a decade back, Manaus appears to be heading towards demotion. In their league, the last four teams get relegated, and given their limited player resources, it’s not unexpected that they’re forecasted to end up second-to-last.

Despite facing some financial constraints, there’s still a modest budget available for spending, and the team doesn’t need major financial recovery. With shrewd player acquisitions and tactful squad handling, these Brazilian debutants could potentially lead their club towards unprecedented triumph.

4 Bursaspor

Drowning In Debt

League: Turkish 2. League White Group
Stadium: Timsah Park Stadyumu
Financial Status: Insecure

Bursaspor, unlike many other Turkish clubs based outside Istanbul, was once victorious in the Turkish league. However, currently burdened with more than £40 million in debt and competing in the lesser leagues, it appears that their heyday has come and gone.

Balancing debt is challenging, but doing so without a salary budget and a predominantly young team under the age of 23 adds an extra layer of complexity. Reviving the club’s financial health and ensuring their success isn’t merely about strategic gameplay; it requires more than just tactical brilliance.

3 Southend United

Points Deduction

League: English Vanarama National League
Stadium: Roots Hall
Financial Status: Okay (Transfer Embargo)

Heavy rain is falling everywhere, and a massive storm has hit the southeastern coast of England. Unfortunately, Southend United didn’t pay their taxes on time, so they lost 10 points at the start of the new season due to unpaid HM Revenue and Customs debt.

If starting on -10 points isn’t challenging enough, then consider that the club is also under a transfer embargo until January, they’re over £500k in debt, and they’re in the middle of building a new stadium. There really aren’t many starts to a save as difficult to manage as this one.

2 FC Vaduz

No Room For Failure

League: Swiss Challenge League
Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion
Financial Status: Okay

For FC Vaduz to taste European success, everything needs to fall into place. Their only route to the Europa Conference League is by winning the Liechtensteiner Cup since they are ineligible for league qualification due to being a Liechtenstein team playing in Switzerland.

To participate in the prestigious Champions League, FC Vaduz needs to first triumph in the Europa Conference League and subsequently win the Europa League. Any mistake during this process could mean a return to the Europa Conference League, providing they even manage to qualify initially.

1 Shenzhen

Everything’s Gone Wrong

League: Chinese Super League
Stadium: Bao’an Stadium
Financial Status: Insecure (Transfer Embargo)

Starting with Shenzhen, it’s important to note that the Chinese league is likely in progress when they step into the field, and unfortunately, they find themselves at the bottom with just 2 points. However, their low league standing might not be so unexpected…

For the rest of the season, Shenzhen are subject to a transfer ban, leaving their current squad largely inadequate and unbalanced. To add to their troubles, they’re heavily indebted by £20 million. The team lacks both an assistant manager and a director of football to support the new coach. With limited resources, the players must rely on their strategic abilities and leadership skills to turn things around for this struggling club, as all other avenues seem unavailable.

2024-09-09 04:34