So what’s the plan? A glance around the first team encourages me a lot. It’s upon these little connections that FM love affairs are built. Stuttgart also has a place in my heart because I once received their advent calendar as a gift from a German friend and the chocolate was delicious. That doesn’t say a lot for the club’s strategic planning, but it does allow me to do what I do best in Football Manager - set a lot of long-term goals, develop young talent, rein in spending, and generally data-nerd my way to success.

They’ve had six managers in the last three years alone. Since finishing runners-up in the DFB-Pokal in 2013, Stuttgart have had 15 different coaches including Bruno Labbadia, who was sacked shortly after that cup final defeat. Now returned to the top flight, Stuttgart are blessed with an exciting squad with players of genuine potential, and former Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal recruitment wizard Sven Mislintat, but are also in need of stability. But they’re in a process of rebuilding after bouncing back from relegation to Bundesliga 2. I will need every minute of them to help me work out this mess.Īlex Stewart: Stuttgart are one of the giants of German football, with five league titles, the most recent in 2006-07. I have hours to assess every player, improve the coaches, set training routines, tinker with set pieces and scout for better players. Alex and I also have proper grown-up jobs, so we give ourselves two weeks of real time to get acquainted with our teams, leaving the game running all day in the background so that we can dip in and dip out when we’re free.

First, I am the presenter of The Football Manager Show by The Athletic, a podcast that, with the help of Sports Interactive’s biggest brains, has spent three months demystifying the game. And I used to be the Sunderland manager.īut I have some small advantages. This club is the biggest mess I have seen on FM21 so far.

It’s a disaster zone and it is no surprise whatsoever that when Borussia Monchengladbach come calling, Alessandro Schopf hurls himself out of the canteen window and runs gleefully into their arms. For some reason, Sebastian Rudy and Weston McKennie have been allowed to go out on loan. There is no right-back, save for a 20-year-old loanee, there are hardly any centre-backs and there’s only £2 million in the kitty for replacements. Now they’re a horrifically unbalanced, apparently random collection of nomadic let-downs. The last time I watched German football was 2017 and Schalke were really good. I don’t know what has happened here recently and, to be honest, I don’t think I want to know.

Bundesliga Manager