It’s time to say goodbye to sunshine, sunshine.
Because Football Manager 2019 has been pencilled in for a worldwide release on 2 November 2018 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux and Nintendo Switch.
Alright, so there’s still a few months to go until we get our hands on the new game, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get excited, right?
In fact, we’ve already thought long and hard about which team we want to manage on the game this year (here’s a hint: they play in red and have ‘Dream Team’ emblazoned on their chest), but we’ve also thought of seven more teams who will be cool to take control of.
1 Sunderland
One of the most satisfying things you can do on Football Manager is take control of a club on a downward spiral and bring them back to the top.
Last year, we were all about getting Parma back into Serie A, while take up the helm at Leeds and trying to get them back in the Champions League is a lot of fun.
But the one club that springs to mind is Sunderland, who start this season in League One after years of poor managerial appointments and even worse transfer business.
2 Real Betis
With their cross-city rivals Sevilla finishing in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season (nice going, Jose), but flogging the likes of Clement Lenglet and Steven Nzonzi over the summer, the motivation lies with Betis to become the top dogs in the Derbi sevillano.
And having made the summer signings of FM-favourites William Carvalho and Sergio Canales, along with Takashi Inui, Pau Lopez and um, Joel Robles, Betis look like a lovely team to take charge of with a decent base of talent.
Breaking into La Liga’s top four would be very satisfying indeed.
3 1860 Munich
Much like our Sunderland suggestion above, 1860 are a team who desperately need a new lease of life.
Despite the club having a huge following in Germany – ranking among the top 15-best supported clubs in the country – the side are currently in the third-tier of German football.
But before you call them the ‘Sunderland of German football’, remember that their cross-city rivals are one of the biggest clubs in world football.
That’s gotta sting, right?
They were in the Champions League as recently as 2001, but for now we reckon their fans would appreciate a return to the Bundesliga.
4 Club Brugge
They might be the best club in Belgium at the moment, but they’re a far-cry from the national team that finished third ion the World Cup over the summer.
That’s probably because the best Belgian players want to play in the Premier League.
But with a host of decent youngsters in tow and passage into the Champions League, turning this side into a strong force in Europe while keeping hold of your best players will be a great challenge.
5 Wolves/Fulham
We reckon Wolves or Fulham will be a lot of people’s automatic go-to choice on Football Manager this season.
They’re hot, new to the Premier League, with money to spend and an already-decent line-up to boast.
Perhaps you’ll build a title-winning squad after selling Ryan Sessegnon for a world record fee? Or maybe you’ll turn Ruben Neves into Wolves’ equivalent of Steven Gerrard?
There’s plenty of possibilities with two of the the most exciting teams around right now.
6 Saint-Etienne
Far from being a ‘farmers league’, Ligue 1 is full of teams we fancy managing (no, really).
Monaco are always a lot of fun, Marseille has a decent spine of players and Lyon have one of most exciting forward lines in Europe at the moment.
But what about the most successful team of the lot?
Saint-Etienne have the most top-flight French titles to their name, so how about adding to that tally?
Starting off the season with the likes of Football Manager legends Yann M’Vila, Mathieu Debuchy and Neven Subotic in the side, along with starlet Assane Diousse, we think this team has potential.
7 Cagliari
Personally, the idea of coaching at the Stadio Sant’Elia – in the beautiful setting of Sardinia – is what dreams are made of.
And from a Football Manager perspective, taking the hot seat at Cagliari is one of the tastier roles in Serie A.
In the last 20 years, the club has bounced between Italy’s top two divisions, but you probably know them for signing the odd maverick in recent years (Bruno Alves and Marco Borriello have been on the books recently, while Darijo Srna left Shakhtar to join them over the summer).
Perpetual underachievers since the early-90s, it’d be great to see this famous and well-supported club challenging at the peak of Italy’s top-flight.
READ MORE FROM DREAM TEAM GAMING:
- We used Football Manager to see what happens if the biggest clubs in Europe had a 30 year transfer embargo
- 7 new features and improvements we really want to see in Football Manager 2019
- What does the future hold for Ryan Sessegnon? We used Football Manager to find out
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