2014 Top 10 most exciting clubs to manage in FMH2014

[Dec]

The 2013-14 seasons are starting or very nearly starting and that means Football Manager Handheld 2014 is on our minds. Like last year I will run through who I think will be the top clubs to manage in terms of excitement in the next instalment of the FMH franchise. Will any tickle your fancy?
 

10. Manchester City:

Nation: England
League: Premier League
Finances: Rich
Star player: Yaya Toure
Why?: Losing the title to their fierce rivals was hard on Manchester City and the summer transfer window has seen them spend some money on the likes of Jesus Navas, Fernandinho and Stevan Jovetic as well as introducing a new manager into the mix. When you take over as Manchester City on Football Manager Handheld 2014 you will expect big budgets, lots of expectations and a surprisingly nice striking problem by having too many attacking midfielders for your own good. Challenging for the league will be a must but managing your spending to go into the right areas and balancing your top heavy team will be where the fun begins.

9. Napoli:

Nation: Italy
League: Serie A
Finances: Rich
Star player: Gonzalo Higuain
Why?: Another team that have been splashing the cash are Napoli and again the runners up in Serie A aren't happy. Selling Cavani has opened up many avenues for them and they have been linked with great players such as Luiz Gustavo who's future is still undecided. The team they have moulded though is looking stronger than before and being armed with a reported £120m warchest is sure to put pressure on Juventus as the teams around them get stronger with the likes of Roma and Inter Milan making many signings too. Napoli's fresh new squad gives you a chance to build and overtake dominant force while still attracting top class players by being in the Champions League just with threats from behind as well as above don't expect it to be as easy as you think.

8. Borussia Dortmund:

Nation: Germany
League: Bundesliga
Finances: Good
Star player: Marco Reus
Why?: After an impressive Champions League run Dortmund are sure to be better than ever in Football Manager Handheld and already losing star player Mario Gotze to rivals Bayern Munich is going to put an additional challenge onto Die Borussen, especially considering Robert Lewandowski may follow suit. Keeping hold of star players may be hard for the team when the big clubs come knocking but getting to the Champions League final in 2012/13 and finishing 2nd in the Bundesliga will surely give them the expectations to do the same again or even go one better. The team itself is full of potential with Marco Reus, Ilkay Gündoğan and Mats Hummels being joined by new signings Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to make for a young but talented core. It will be up to you what you do with this core in order to take them a step up but Dortmund expects and so they should, a dynasty is very much possible in the right hands even while making a profit so don't mess it up if you choose to manage them.

7. Palmeiras:

Nation: Brazil
League: Serie B
Finances: Average
Star player: Hernán Barcos
Why?: Qualifying for the South American equivalent of the Champions League is a big deal in itself especially considering Corinthians beat Chelsea last year making them the World Champions but for Palmeiras it was just a glimmer of positivity in an otherwise negative season with them finishing 18th and getting relegated. This would make for a great game as you would have expectations to go back up of course but with the added challenge and thrill of facing South America's best while doing this. Could this be a help or a hindrance? Only time will tell but this fallen giant of the Brazilian game wants to be back to their best and this will be your job in the short term.

6. Heart of Midlothian:

Nation: Scotland
League: Premiership
Finances: Very Poor
Star player: Danny Wilson
Why?: Everyone loves a points deduction on FMH and Hearts' -15 due to entering administration is as big as Portsmouth's yet this time it is in the top tier of their structure! In a league as tight as the Scottish Premiership is this is sure to ruffle a few feathers as anyone can beat anyone (barring Celtic) so -15 can make all the difference. Finishing in that Champions League spot will look a far cry but it is very possible but with very little budget in order to shape the squad in the way you want you will have to adopt what you have and embrace it in order to overcome the points deduction and reach the promised land of the Champions League.

5. Paris Saint-Germain:

Nation: France
League: Ligue 1
Finances: Rich
Star player: Thiago Silva
Why?: They have finally done it! After spending hundreds of millions they managed to win the Ligue 1 title and do well in the Champions League but this is just the start for PSG and their domination of the French league looks to continue though Monaco may have something to say about this. With lots of money and a superb base all you have to do is keep rolling it on and avoid doing poorly to get sacked, toppling Europe's elite may not be easy in the Champions League but the Parisian side are well equipped to do so and bringing in new players like Edison Cavani and Marquinhos are going to help with this charge. Don't forget the nice boost their players will get for winning the league too, the squad will be very strong and not need much changing but the long term project will be a joy to manage.

4. Bayern Munich:

Nation: Germany
League: Bundesliga
Finances: Rich
Star player: Manuel Neuer
Why?: Treble winners Bayern Munich are probably the best team in the world at the moment after dominating Barcelona in the Champions League last year and their players are going to show this in Football Manager Handheld 2014 especially stars such as David Alaba and Dante who surprised a lot of people last season with their performances despite being great already on the game. This aside Bayern have spent a lot of money over the summer on two attacking midfielders to give their attacking side of the game a mouth watering look no matter what pairing you go for, however it does present you as a manager a head ache trying to keep them all happy as Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Thomas Müller, Thiago and co won't be happy with just sitting on a bench yet you cannot play all of them at one time! Picking whether to sell or not will be a change of pace from the usual having to make improvements because of a lack of quality but it won't be as easy.

3. Paços de Ferreira:

Nation: Portugal
League: Primeira Liga
Finances: Average
Star player: Tony
Why?: The surprise package of the 2012-13 season. P. Ferreira managed to not only beat Braga to 3rd but also Sporting CP too meaning they are in the Champions League qualifying for next season! A very poor team by no stretch of the imagination they will be odds on favourites to go out against the likes of Zenit, Arsenal and Schalke 04 but they have a chance to shine again. The real underdogs in both league and Europe and with very little funds yet the attraction of Champions League football to draw in players balance will be key and going all attacking won't mean they will get anywhere unlike a lot of teams. Os Castores will not be expecting much but if you can pull off the feat and do well or emulate last season's success then that will be a massive victory in which will be very satisfying indeed. They will really test your mettle as a manager so do you dare manage them?

2. Juventus:

Nation: Italy
League: Serie A
Finances: Rich
Star player: Arturo Vidal
Why?: Fixing the gap of lacking a striker hasn't been easy for Juventus but they have finally done it with not one but two top class strikers in Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez. They have still managed to win Serie A though but as mentioned earlier everyone around them is improving and they won't find it easy and they still have to get to the stage in Europe that they were in before the relegation to Serie B took effect. This isn't enough though to make them an exciting club and warrant 2nd on the list, what is though is something never seen or attempted before- their formation. Juventus are trying to implement a 334 formation and this is the only real formation they can start with on Football Manager Handheld 2014 in my eyes with a lack of wing backs making it hard to put a standard four defenders in a team. Thinking outside the box is a great trait for FMH in general and Juventus doing this in real life is going to make it even more of a test as you try to balance an unbalanced formation or risk gutting the whole team for the sake of avoiding this. The choice is there but whatever you choose it won't be as smooth as imagined and it will be a ride for sure.

1. AS Monaco:

Nation: France
League: Ligue 1
Finances: Rich
Star player: Radamel Falcao
Why?: They are back in Ligue 1 and the rich French club have to be number 1 don't they? Buying players way above their weight because of their huge transfer budget such as Radamel Falcao, Eric Abidal, Ricardo Carvalho, James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho have meant they have quite a first team. Yet this won't be enough, the team is still lacking depth and this will be your job, with a virtually bottomless pit of money and a blank slate to craft your perfect team this is as close as it will come to having your dream team on FMH without using the Save Editor or cheats and the project embarked is mouth watering. Competing with other mega rich club PSG for the title will be the first battle but after that and with the weight of the millions on your shoulders the fans will expect the Champions League and so will the board. Monaco can be as long term or as short term as you like but money problems will never be an issue and if the player is willing to come I am sure you will have the funds to bring him in. The questions is though, who will you buy?
 

Notable Mentions:

Anderlecht, AS Roma, Barcelona, Cardiff City, Corinthians, FC Porto, Inter Milan, Palermo, PSV, Queens Park Rangers, Swansea City, Wolverhampton Wanderers

[Chelsea8]

Great read and well written once again Dec. I will be most interested in Paços de Ferreira due to the challenge and the potential financial rewards for getting into Champions League if you get qualified.

[Jens]

I find this list to be better and more surprising than last years, so well done.

Though I am a bit disappointed by the omitment of a Belgian team while at least two spring to mind: Brugge, for finally being at the top again and anderlecht for finally giving youth a chance.

But even if they are not in, psv is doing an awesome job with a squad that has the average age of 20.5...

[Ashez]

Interesting, well done

[Obika]

Definitely looking forward to being Monaco! Hopefully you will get loads of money - £60 million would do.

[Dec]

I find this list to be better and more surprising than last years, so well done.

Though I am a bit disappointed by the omitment of a Belgian team while at least two spring to mind: Brugge, for finally being at the top again and anderlecht for finally giving youth a chance.

But even if they are not in, psv is doing an awesome job with a squad that has the average age of 20.5...

 

Cheers guys .

 

I did look at Anderlecht Jens but I thought Dortmund were better example of youth implementation but I will put them in notable mentions (same with PSV though I did have them on my shortlist yet they sold Strootman and Mertens which put me off them making the list as I think with Scotland, Holland and Belgium unless they have something special they really lack an exciting factor as they can walk the leagues with youth).

[Archie Graveluth]

Interesting read, once again

 

A correction though. I believe we will find Palmeiras in the Série A and not in the Série B because in FMH we will get to play last season and not the current one and last season they were in the top division.

[Lewiitom]

Great read Dec

I was considering managing Palmeiras next year because I like managing a 'fallen giant' and I thought Palermo would be good too

[Dec]

Interesting read, once again

 

A correction though. I believe we will find Palmeiras in the Série A and not in the Série B because in FMH we will get to play last season and not the current one and last season they were in the top division.

FMH will be the current season (this year they have 2012 I believe) so next year it will be 2013 as the season starts in January and ends in December which means they will be in Serie B as they got relegated in the 2012 season.

[Archie Graveluth]

Well, I'm not sure anymore. During the 2012 season they played in the Serie A, got relegated and that means they'll play the 2013 season in Serie B...

 

...but in FMH13 they are already in the Serie B which means that the first season we play is the 2013 season. So, for FMH14 I assume we will get to play the 2014 season which makes no sense

 

I wonder if we have Palmeiras in Serie A with the original database and in Serie B with the February database?

 

---

 

Yup, that's it. I just checked it. If you load the December 2012 database Palmeiras is in the first division but if you load the February 2013 database they're in the second division. Had no idea the database had implications with the divisions as well.

[Dec]

Do you have the update installed?

 

The Feb database update by SI has the updated Brazilian league so at the start of FMH2014 Palmeiras will be in Serie B.

[dirtboy]

I think Wigan should get a mention. They will be in the Championship and Europa League, and Swansea seem exciting too. Also, I think Dortmund is a very good choice

[PalaceAllTheWay]

Bury will be exciting to manage as they have made 17 new signings so far.

[ArsenalFanatic]

So excited, I love playing as some of the Portuguese, Spanish and Brazilian Teams.

[Sunny]

 

I find this list to be better and more surprising than last years, so well done.

Though I am a bit disappointed by the omitment of a Belgian team while at least two spring to mind: Brugge, for finally being at the top again and anderlecht for finally giving youth a chance.

But even if they are not in, psv is doing an awesome job with a squad that has the average age of 20.5...

 

Cheers guys .

 

I did look at Anderlecht Jens but I thought Dortmund were better example of youth implementation but I will put them in notable mentions (same with PSV though I did have them on my shortlist yet they sold Strootman and Mertens which put me off them making the list as I think with Scotland, Holland and Belgium unless they have something special they really lack an exciting factor as they can walk the leagues with youth).

 

I feel that for players(managers) to get the youth implementation experience SI would have to really add the right youngsters into the squads, especially those who are way lesser known...and I'm still hoping that we'll get more complete second teams next year. 

 

Great job as usual Dec

[samhardy]

Think Wigan should definitely be in there, maybe Coventry too, great article

[De Gea]

As usual, a great read! Tottenham should be up there, they have a very good squad with the addition of Soldado and the retention of Bale(FOR NOW).

[MerlionMaple96]

Great read Dec. I personally think United should be up there as well (absolutely no bias whatsoever ) just for contrast's sake. They will be interesting to manage because they will have to compete with the likes of City and Chelsea who have made big signings this summer while themselves making none of note! (yet)

[J-savage]

Great read Dec! More nice work

[Dec]

Wigan - I agree but I think they are a poor man's Palmeiras.

Spurs - Their team has hardly changed, they have signed 2 good players but really they don't have that excitement factor globally really. They are an average team to manage in this aspect really, a few great players and you have a few gaps to fill, no real need to strain your brain with squad selection and only really Bale's sale a talking point.

Cheers for the great comments .

[anfieldsquirrel]

Oh just saw this Dec, must have missed it before!

Was waiting for this, and worth the wait it was! excellent guide mate, hope to manage a few of these teams in the new game .

I know you don't play the game much Dec, but do any of these teams Interest you enough to sit down and play? If you had the time of course.

[TheFalse9]

Well, I'm not sure anymore. During the 2012 season they played in the Serie A, got relegated and that means they'll play the 2013 season in Serie B...

 

...but in FMH13 they are already in the Serie B which means that the first season we play is the 2013 season. So, for FMH14 I assume we will get to play the 2014 season which makes no sense

 

I wonder if we have Palmeiras in Serie A with the original database and in Serie B with the February database?

 

---

 

Yup, that's it. I just checked it. If you load the December 2012 database Palmeiras is in the first division but if you load the February 2013 database they're in the second division. Had no idea the database had implications with the divisions as well.

 

 

Do you have the update installed?

 

The Feb database update by SI has the updated Brazilian league so at the start of FMH2014 Palmeiras will be in Serie B.

Thanks for clearing that up, guys - much appreciated!

[Matthew]

Tottenham would be interesting to see after/if Bale leaves just to see how Chadli replaces him. If that doesn't happen, then they'll be the same just with a transfer update

Good job once again Dec

[TheFalse9]

Dec, would you be interesting in doing one of these for nations? I'm interested to see your take on the international stage, although you may have to include less teams in the guide due to there being less.

[Dec]

I may do though to be honest I am not keen on international management, I do have some more I want to do but whether I do or not is a different story.

[Keraviln]

I love it Dec,

Far far better than last year due to the inclusion of smaller teams too . Great work!

[RadamelsRollocks]

Think Peterborough will be a good team to manage, some exciting players like Assombalonga, Mendez-Laing and Tomlin to build a promotion winning team around.

FC Schalke 04 will be an interesting one too, three young midfielders in Draxler, Meyer and Goretzka to work with.

[TheFalse9]

Good job! I agree with most of the teams mentioned - and the reasoning too! Dante isn't young, though, as you've seemed to suggest in the Bayern description.

[Dec]

For some reason I thought he was younger, thanks.

[AlexP]

Top guide Dec