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The plumage of a Canary
The plumage of a Canary Almost three years ago i took a huge gamble with mine and my families...
Samoa - National League SS'2018 by gianni1970 New! (14/04/19) - Not SSKCC yet!
Samoa - National League SS\'2018 by gianni1970 New! (14/04/19) - Not SSKCC yet! FM19 Download posted on SS Kits Forum for Football Manager 2019
Building A Nation - Polonia Warszawa - S4-E4 Wojciech's On Fire! | Football Manager 2019
Building A Nation - Polonia Warszawa - S4-E4 Wojciech's On Fire! | Football Manager 2019 FM25/26 Update Video posted on Football Manager Videos for Football Manager 2024/25
mix pack 24
mix pack 24 FM25/26 Update Download posted on sortitoutsi Cut Out Player Faces Forum for Football Manager 2024/25
“Dubbed the next…” – the FM Crystal Ball
🎵 Suggested tune: “Que Sera Sera (What will be will be)” – Doris Day 🎵 Football Manager has always been famous for predicting the footballing future, and for recognising a young player’s potential long before the real life football community catches on or makes a move – so much so that a number of well known clubs and managers have taken to actually playing/utilising the game in order to ensure they are up to date with the highest potential and most sought after wonderkids that SI continue to identify through their outstanding scouting network and wide range of researchers and contacts all over the globe. One of my favourite features of Football Manager is to scout and find wonderkids / hidden gems who are “Dubbed“, “Touted” or “Labelled” as the next {Insert Football Legend name here}. While this doesn’t always mean that the player is guaranteed to rise to stardom and become an absolute superstar, I’ve always enjoyed unearthing a top youth prospect that has the potential to reach the ability of an already well known footballing icon – not only does it give an indication of the type of player they may aspire to be, it is also a great way of connecting the FM alternate universe to real life football which for me is the reason I have played the game relentlessly for over 20 years now since that fateful day when I swapped my copy of Sensible World of Soccer 95/96 for a copy of Championship Manager 2 with a mate at aged 10, and to this day have never returned it to him 😆. The addition of FM19 to my Steam library not only means another 1000+ hours of trawling through random European and South American U-19 squads in the hope of finding a never-seen-before wonderkid – it also completes a 10 year collection of Football Manager games on Steam (the older ones are still piled up in boxes on my desk), and as such I think it is fitting to look at a selection of the best and most interesting Football Manager media comparisons between FM 2009 and FM 2019 and analyse where SI have either hit the nail on the head or had a swing and a miss when it comes to predicting the future and dubbing/touting a youth prospect as the next big thing. In this article we will look at 10 of the more memorable FM Media Comparisons over the past 10 years and analyse how accurate they were now that most of those players are either in their prime or have reached the pinnacle of their careers, comparing them to the legends whose footsteps they were touted to follow in and evaluating FM’s Media Prediction ability by rating each comparison on a 1-5 star scale. We will then compile a list of 10 of the hottest youth prospects in FM19 that have come out of the FM Crystal Ball who are already branded with a Media Comparison at the start of the game, and are dubbed/touted as a future footballing legend. 10 years of Media Comparisons 1. Chris Smalling – “Dubbed the new Rio Ferdinand” (FM2009) In January 2010, Sir Alex Ferguson beat Arsenal to the signing of 20 year old highly rated England U21 defender Chris Smalling from Fulham for a fee reported to be in the region of £7 million – roughly 14 months after the release of Football Manager 2009 in which the game had an 18 year old Smalling “Dubbed as the new Rio Ferdinand” while he was still playing in the Fulham Reserve side, an interesting comparison considering the two ended up playing side-by-side in real life during United’s title winning campaign the following season. Rio on the other hand, has not once but twice broken the record as the most expensive defender in history after his £18 million and £30 million moves to Leeds and Man Utd respectively; needless to say Smalling would have big shoes to fill (no pun intended 😋). How do they compare? In order to compare the two we will look at each player in FM terms by comparing both players at their peak. Smalling, currently 29 years old is arguably in his prime now in FM19 and we will therefore measure him against a 29 year old Rio Ferdinand which requires us to go back to FM2009 to get a like-for-like comparison: FM Media Comparison Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ Overall, FM didn’t do a bad job in predicting Chris Smalling’s inevitable rise to the pinnacle of English and International football – it’s fair to say he is not at the same level as Ferdinand in terms of football ability and defensive solidarity and overall Ferdinand is certainly the stronger of the two, however as FM predictions go this was definitely one of the more accurate and we will give it 4 stars on the MaddFM Media Comparison scale 😎. 2. Connor Wickham – “Dubbed the New Alan Shearer” (FM2010) There are arguably not many boots that would be bigger to fill than those of Alan Shearer, particularly for a young English Striker that spent four seasons on the red side of the Tyne-Wear derby. Before that however, Football Manager 2010 predicted that it would be 16 year old Connor Wickham who would fill those boots and become the new Alan Shearer, and despite playing at Premiership level (on and off) for the past 8 or 9 seasons, it hasn’t quite happened for Wickham who currently plies his trade for Crystal Palace in the Premier League. Shearer on the other hand is one of the best Strikers to have graced the Premier league, and was prolific at both domestic and international level for close to 15 years scoring 379 career goals in 734 appearances. HOW DO THEY COMPARE? It’s easy to forget that Wickham is still only 26 years of age, and certainly has a whole lot of football ahead of him. In FM terms he is not a bad target man based on his attributes, however unfortunately he does not come close to Shearer’s ability or achievements and this is one of FM’s more unsuccessful attempts to predict the footballing future in-game. FM Media Comparison Rating: ⭐⭐★ ★ ★ Even though he still has plenty of years of football ahead of him, Wickham is still a long way off reaching the ability and goal-scoring heights of Alan Shearer, therefore we are giving a two-star rating to this media prediction. 3. Marco Verratti – “Could be the next Andrea Pirlo” (FM2011) Football Manager 2011 told us that a 17 year old youth prospect at Pescara had the potential to become one of the greatest Italian midfielders of all time by tipping Marco Verratti to become the next Andrea Pirlo – high praise indeed for a player who was only 2 years old when Pirlo made his Serie A debut for Brescia in 1995. Verratti showed signs of incredible talent from a very young age, and hasn’t failed to live up to his potential whereby at the age of 20 he was already playing Champions League and International football for PSG and Italy respectively. While Pirlo has almost enjoyed unparralleled success during his time at Milan and Italy, Verratti has also shone at the top level and as media predictions go this was one of FM’s finer attempts at looking in to the crystal ball and picking out a youth prospect destined for success on the big stage. HOW DO THEY COMPARE? Pretty close! In terms of ability, there is not a lot between the two from an FM perspective, with Pirlo narrowly edging it and rightly so based on his overall contribution year on year for both Milan and Italy over the years. Verratti has a long way to go to replicate Pirlo’s achievements and honours gained however this is one prediction that FM can be proud of and hopefully Verratti can push on to emulate some of Pirlo’s achievements for both club and country. FM Media Comparison Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Five stars may sound generous, but if you think about it and look back at all of the occasions where we have seen the best FM youth prospects fail to live up to the hype surrounding them – SI were fairly on the ball when their researchers spotted 17 year old Verratti’s potential and dubbed him the next big thing in Italian football, therefore we will give them 5/5 for a top effort. 4. Sean McGinty – “Touted as the next Mick McCarthy” (FM2010) Who?? My thoughts exactly…but when FM2010 came out, it seems that the SI researchers saw something special in 15 year old Irish teenager Sean McGinty, so much so that they labelled him as the next Mick McCarthy who was one of the best defenders of his generation during the 1980s. How do they compare? McGinty was part of United’s FA Youth Cup winning side in 2011 alongside the likes of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Michael & Will Keane, Sam Johnstone and Ravel Morrison – however he never managed to make the grade at United and struggled to make the transition to professional football. Following multiple loan spells, he eventually ended up playing lower league football at Aldershot and Torquay before signing for Partick Thistle in 2018. McCarthy on the other hand, played at the highest level for both club and country and sadly McGinty never lived up to his potential as a teenager in FM2010. FM Media Comparison Rating: ⭐★★★★ Unfortunately for McGinty this was a complete swing and a miss for FM Media Comparisons and he never managed to fulfil his potential as is so common in modern day football. 5. Jonjo Shelvey – “Dubbed the new Glenn Hoddle” (FM2012) I had previously seen a 16 year old Jonjo Shelvey compared to Michael Carrick in FM2009, however it was in FM2012 that we began to see Jonjo Shelvey announce himself on both the FM stage and IRL also, so much so that he was touted by FM researchers as the “next Glenn Hoddle” within the game. Bearing in mind that I am a 32 year old Irishman, I never really had the opportunity or cause to see Glenn Hoddle play live during his prime and my main introduction to Hoddle was when he managed England in the 1998 World Cup finals (as well as all that Eileen Drewery nonsense :P). However I have since learned that not only was Hoddle a talented midfielder and fully-fledged England international, but that he was also one of the most technically and tactically astute players of his generation and an absolute powerhouse of a midfielder during the 70’s and 80’s. Were SI on to something here in comparing a young Shelvey to Hoddle? HOW DO THEY COMPARE? Slightly biased being a Newcastle fan, but in terms of midfield style and looking at the attributes where both players are strongest – I reckon that it’s a fairly close comparison overall; Shelvey is of course nowhere near Hoddle in his prime however the two are very similar and I think that FM did a decent job in tipping Shelvey to emulate Hoddle’s creative and forceful playing style. FM Media Comparison Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ★★ Perhaps Shelvey should give Eileen Drewery a call? 😋 6. Dani Pacheco – “Touted as the next David Villa” (FM2010) Around the time that Rafa Benitez was building a Spanish revolution at Liverpool following their earlier Champions League successes, a young Spaniard was just signing professional terms at Anfield following successful youth spells at both Malaga and Barcelona. Such was his goalscoring prowess that Dani Pacheco was nicknamed “El Asesino” (The Assasin) by his team mates at Barcelona, which led to a high profile move to Liverpool and therefore a…
Regen Rovers | Episode 93 - Crystal Palace & West Brom | Football Manager 2019
Regen Rovers | Episode 93 - Crystal Palace & West Brom | Football Manager 2019 FM25/26 Update Video posted on Football Manager Videos for Football Manager 2024/25
Football Manager 2019 | Fiorentina Live Let's Play | Episode 3
Football Manager 2019 | Fiorentina Live Let's Play | Episode 3 FM25/26 Update Video posted on Football Manager Videos for Football Manager 2024/25
Building A Nation - Polonia Warszawa - S4-E3 One Man Defensive Unit! | Football Manager 2019
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Football Manager 2019 | Burnley Live #8: Series Finale #FM19
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Pending improvement images mixpack 11 [26 images]
Pending improvement images mixpack 11 [26 images] FM25/26 Update Download posted on sortitoutsi Cut Out Player Faces Forum for Football Manager 2024/25
Nest-Sotra Fotball Teampack
Nest-Sotra Fotball Teampack FM25/26 Update Download posted on sortitoutsi Cut Out Player Faces Forum for Football Manager 2024/25
Pending improvement images mixpack 27 [26 images]
Pending improvement images mixpack 27 [26 images] FM25/26 Update Download posted on sortitoutsi Cut Out Player Faces Forum for Football Manager 2024/25
Can I Get Wolves Into Europe? - Football Manager 2019
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La Riforma - A Piacenza 1919 Story
From Serie C... To Serie A... To Europe Piacenza Calcio are the worst team in the Serie C, and t...
Changing club adjectives
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Building A Nation - Polonia Warszawa - S4-E2 Unleash The Rocket! | Football Manager 2019
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Regen Rovers | Episode 92 - Marching On Together | Football Manager 2019
Regen Rovers | Episode 92 - Marching On Together | Football Manager 2019 FM25/26 Update Video posted on Football Manager Videos for Football Manager 2024/25
Mid 90's Milan - Part Six
Written by @cm9798 Welcome back to Mid 90’s Milan. Last week, we may have crossed over from 96 to 97 but it aged me far more than one month should. Some heavy defeats and some equally industrial tackling left us bruised in every sense. Progression in the Champions League was secured but a f
Football Manager 2019 | Fiorentina Live Let's Play | Episode 2
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Football Manager 2019 | Burnley Live #7: Needing a Miracle #FM19
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BOSTON BOYS | PART 29 | DECEMEBER LIVE | #FM19
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FM19 10min Training Guide | Football Manager 2019
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Nordic Nights and Dutch Days | Chapter 14: Emmen Wasn't Built in a Day
After a short recess, I welcome you back to Holland where FC Emmen are eagerly awaiting the start of their second season in the Eredvisie as we look to build on last year's 12th placed finish. The Journey So Far... If you've missed any of the previous updates, you can read a quick summary on how
Floreat Salopia: Season 3, Part 7
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Pending improvement images mixpack 26 [25 images]
Pending improvement images mixpack 26 [25 images] FM25/26 Update Download posted on sortitoutsi Cut Out Player Faces Forum for Football Manager 2024/25
Jagd auf den Red Bull
Can one of Austria's biggest clubs take back the crown from Red Bull? [h3]Jagd a...
Pending improvement images mixpack 25 [25 images]
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Pending improvement images mixpack 24 [24 images]
Pending improvement images mixpack 24 [24 images] FM25/26 Update Download posted on sortitoutsi Cut Out Player Faces Forum for Football Manager 2024/25
Molde FK Teampack
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Building A Nation - Polonia Warszawa - S4-E1 One Million Pound Transfer! | Football Manager 2019
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BOSTON BOYS | PART 28 | INTO THE BLENDER | #FM19
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Football Manager 2019 | Lyon Live #50: Half a Century #FM19
Football Manager 2019 | Lyon Live #50: Half a Century #FM19 FM25/26 Update Video posted on Football Manager Videos for Football Manager 2024/25
Stalybridge Diaries Is this Camp Nou? WoW Football Manager 2019
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Whole Lotte Love - Leon Schmidt's Story
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Building the City
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Pending improvement images mixpack 23 [27 images]
Pending improvement images mixpack 23 [27 images] FM25/26 Update Download posted on sortitoutsi Cut Out Player Faces Forum for Football Manager 2024/25