Series The Top Ten Missing Clubs On FMH:

[Ashez]

The Top Ten Missing Clubs On FMH:

 

With every new installment of Football Manager Handheld we have the slight chance of a new league being added into the game, in recent years to the disappointment of most FMH has focused on the British leagues with the Irish leagues being the last new additions. with this in mind MerlionMaple and myself put our heads together to create this list of the top ten missing playable clubs on FMH and what they could bring to FMH'14. The list is in no particular order and we're sure you guys will think of other clubs worthy of a mention so make sure you leave a comment sharing your views and opinions. 

 

1. LA Galaxy

 

 

League: Major League Soccer

2012-13 Position: MLS Cup Winners

 

In North America, there is simply no club as big, as star studded or as successful as LA Galaxy. Established in 1995, it was one of the 10 clubs which began the MLS. Since then the club as reached heights never before reached by a North American club and has won 4 MLS titles and even a Club World Championship trophy. They are also the defending champions of the MLS which they won after defeating Houston Dynamo in the finals last season by 3 goals to 1. Financially, money has never been an issue for the LA club and for that reason many retiring superstars have made the club their home. A famous example of this is, of course, David Beckham who joined the club in 2007 from Real Madrid. The current iteration of the team features such notable names as Carlo Cuddicini, Omar Gonzalez, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane. If LA Galaxy are playable on FMH 14 your task would be to get them all the way to the Club World Championship again.

 

2. Boca Juniors

 

 

League: Primera Division

2012-13 Position: 4th

 

Not only is Boca Juniors one of the most successful clubs in its native Argentina, but Boca are also one of the most successful clubs in the world. Established in 1905, a whopping 108 years ago, Boca have won more 50 official titles! How astounding! This includes a truly marvelous 30 Primera Division titles as well 6 Copa Libertedores. Boca were ranked as the top South American club of the last decade by the IFFHS (International Federation for Football History & Statistics) in 2010. The club has a well-known and fiercely contested rivalry with River Plate, the other major Argentine club. Their youth academy has previously produced such notable names as Nicolás Burdisso, Carlos Tévez, Éver Banega, and Fernando Gago while their current squad boasts once brilliant players like Pablo Ledesma and Juan Roman Riquelme. If Boca are on FMH 2014 it would be your task to keep up their brilliant run of success and guide them to a 7th Copa Libertedores title.

 

3. Chivas Guadalajara

 

 

League: Liga MX

2012-13 Position: 8th

 

No discussion of Mexican football would ever be complete without the mention of Chivas Guadalajara. Over the past 107 years Chivas has been the premier force in the Central American country winning 11 Mexican First Division titles, 7 Campeón de Campeones, 1 InterLiga, 1 Copa Challenger, 4 Copa Oros de Occidente, and 2 Copa México. Little known to most people is that Chivas were one of the founding members of the Mexican First Division. Not only that, but they have never been relegated to the Second Division either! In 2010 Chivas equaled compatriot club Cruz Azul by reaching the semi-finals of the Copa Libertedores, the highest a Mexican club has ever gone. Although now devoid of star power, Chivas has always been known as a producer of terrific talent such as the likes of Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez, Omar Bravo and Carlos Salcido. If Chivas are on FMH 2014 it would be your goal to become the first Mexican team to win the incredibly difficult Copa Libertedores.

 

4. Olympiakos FC

 

League: Superleague Greece

2012-13 Position: 1st

 

Olympiakos are one of the biggest names in European football and the dominating side of Greek football, since the founding of the club a mere eighty eight years ago the club has gone on to hold every record available including owning forty league titles and twenty-six domestic cups! All in all Olympiakos has picked up an incredible seventy titles within it's eighty eight years existence, incredible! However the side has struggled on the European side of things with their best performances being reaching the quarter finals on two occasions (1998-99 and 1992-93). Leading Olympiakos to European glory would be a fantastic challenge on future FMH's and it's a challenge i personally look forward to hopefully trying.

Player wise the Greek champions have a fairly solid squad with a few familiar names within the roaster like the former Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll and the former Real Madrid hit man Javier Saviola. 

 

5. Shaktar Donetsk

 

 

League: Ukraine Premier League

2012-13 Position: 1st

 

Formed seventy seven years ago Shaktar is the second most supported club in Ukraine and in recent years they've became more and more well known across Europe due to their performances in the Champions League. The club has won the Ukraine Premier League for the last four years and they also picked up three domestic cups within that time, although their last European achievement was some six years ago when they beat German side Werder Bremem 2-1 in Istanbul to claim the old Europa League trophy. Squad wise Shaktar are extremely interesting as the team is mainly made up off Ukrainian and Brazilian talent with many FMH favourites like Bernard, Srna, Wellington Nem, Ferreyra and the former Arsenal striker Eduardo. Shaktar would be extremely interesting to play as in FMH due to their fantastic young squad which has bags of protential while you'd also have to deal with the fact the club sold off over 100m pounds worth of players in the summer as fan favourites William ( Chelsea via Anji who he moved to in the January window), Ferandinho (Man City) and Mkhitaryan (Dortmund) all left the club!

 

6. CSKA Moscow

 

 

League: Russian Premier League

2012-13 Position: 1st 

 

CSKA Moscow seem to be the Russian club most people have forgotten about with all the heavy investment and news stories coming out of rival club Anzhi but CSKA deserve a mention! CSKA hadn't won the Russian Premier League in six years (2006) but during this title drought they did manage to pick up an impressive six domestic trophies, this all changed last season though as not only did they win the league they also completed the Russian triple by also picking up the Russian Cup and Russian Super Cup, CSKA Moscow are back! In European football CSKA have a somewhat decent history as they have been involved within the various European competitions for the last 20 years although their only success came in the old Uefa Cup in the 2005 season. looking at the squad it is clear to see why so many people want this club on FMH as they have plenty of high profile stars on their books like Russian goalkeeper Akinfeev, Ivorian power house Doumbia, former Liverpool speedster Mark Gonzalez, Japanese sensation Honda and the up and coming Dzagoev.

 

7. FC Basel

 

League: Swiss Super League

2012-13 Position: 1st

 

Formed one hundred and nineteen years ago this club are the second most successful in Switzerland having won an impressive sixteen top division titles and eleven Swiss Cups. Although it is in Europe where they are catching the head lines as two years ago they became the first Swiss club to progress from the Champions League group stages after they managed to beat Manchester United 2-1, they've also claimed another massive scalp this year by defeating Chelsea! FC Basel has managed to catch peoples attention in the last few years with impressive European results but the club is yet to achieve anything of great note in the European competitions as the best they've achieved is a semi final place in the Europa League and the last sixteen in the Champions league, surely the challenge of bringing this club to European glory would be great on FMH14?

Looking into the squad of Basel you'll see a few familiar names like Philip Degen, the injury prone full back had a brief spell in England with Liverpool before he headed to Basel, looking else where you'll see a few names which are becoming more and more talked about due to the teams European exploits with attackers Streller and Salah rumoured to be interesting a number of larger clubs.

 

8. GNK Dinamo Zagreb

 

 

League: Prva HNL (Croatian Top Division)

2012-13 Position: 1st

 

Having won consecutive Prva HNL titles for the last eight years Dinamo Zagreb are the most successful club in Croatian history having won an impressive fifteenth league titles and twelve Croatian cups. Once again though it is in European competitions the club has failed to live up to expectations with their best ever performances being reaching the semi final of the 1961 cup winners cup but in recent years the most they've achieved is reaching the group stages of the Champions League and i'm sure many FMH players would love the chance to add to this clubs winning history. The squad is fairly young and within their ranks they have one of Europe's most wanted attacking midfielders Alen halilovic, at just seventeen years of age he is already a full Croatian international and the youngest ever scorer in the Croatian top division, definitely one to keep an eye on.

 

9. Galatasaray SK

 

 

League: Super Lig

2012-13 Position: 1st

 

Galatasaray are the premier footballing club in Turkey, having won a ridiculous 46 domestic trophies including 19 Super Lig Titles, 14 Turkish Cups and 13 Turkish Super Cups. This record is even more impressive considering the Super Lig has only been around for 54 years. They are also the first Turkish team to win the UEFA Cup and the first team ever to win it undefeated. Unfortunately, Galatasaray has never won the UEFA Champions League and it is no doubt that winning that competition will be the first goal for any manager in FMH 2014 if Galatasaray are in it. It should not be too difficult to do so though, especially with a squad home to the likes of Didier Drogba, Wesley Sneijder and “ace-up-the-sleeve” Burak Yilmaz.

 

10. Steaua Buchresti

 

 

League: Romanian Liga

Position 2012-13: 1st

 

In Romania, there is no bigger club than the legendary Steaua București. This particular club has amassed an amazing 24 Romanian Liga wins. Their team of 1986 went down in the history books when it won the the European Cup, becoming the first East European team to do so. That team was so good it also made it to the 1988/89 European Cup final only to end up being destroyed by a Milan team with the likes of Van Basten and Gulit. Their current squad is comprised of just 7 international players with the rest of the team made up by the cream of Romanian Football. As manager of Steau, one’s aim would be to bring them to the heights of European Glory once again without departing from their Romanian roots. That, folks, is far easier said than done.
 

Cheers for viewing and please remember to get involved with the discussion by leaving a comment while also remembering to thank both us for this article as it was a joint effort.

[Dec]

Nice work, I agree with 90% on here too. Maybe Zenit not CSKA though as there are more stars there and a bigger budget.

[anfieldsquirrel]

Wonderful guide lads, epic work!

Would be great additions so they would .

Well done!

[Ashez]

The Russian inclusion was the one we debated about the most as well tbh, i'm just not a fan of "sugar daddy" clubs and i've always had a fondness for CSKA, Zenit would have been worthy of a mention though and i think we can all agree that Russia is the ideal league to add to FMH'14.

 

Cheers for the comment

[Lewiitom]

Great article guys

I loved managing Steaua on the PC version and if love to be able to manage all of these teams on FMH

[Dec]

The Russian inclusion was the one we debated about the most as well tbh, i'm just not a fan of "sugar daddy" clubs and i've always had a fondness for CSKA, Zenit would have been worthy of a mention though and i think we can all agree that Russia is the ideal league to add to FMH'14.

 

Cheers for the comment

While it is personal preference and I prefer CSKA I honestly think for this if you had to pick one then more would go for Zenit who have :

Dominated the league

More well known players such as Witsel and Hulk

Lots of money

Ultimately for me I think more know and would pick Zenit than CSKA for these reasons making them more desirable in FMH2014.

[Chelsea8]

Decent work but there are a few things I would like to point out.

 

1) There are a few paragraphs which have "" in them which, I know, are mistakes but if one of you could go back a clean them up it would make it better. 

 

2) Willian went to Anji in January and then Chelsea in the summer, not Shakhtar to Chelsea . 

 

3) What Dec said about having Zenit over CSKA. CSKA have a decent side but because Zenit have bigger names and a bigger budget, I think they would be more enjoyable to manage. 

 

4) I understand your reference to Basel about knocking United out although that happen in the 2011/12 season, as last season they were knocked out of the Champions League in the play-off round and competed in the Europa League group stage.

 

Like I said, decent article and good read, just small little details that might need to be changed . 

[Ashez]

Good points Dec.

Ben:

1. Coding differences between MM and myself, I thought I got them all but I'll sort the ones I missed now

2. Whoops I actually forgot that stepping stone as I was thinking where he is now.

3. Personal opinion on that one, I agree Zenit would be the main choice and in hindsight the one we should have included but CSKA have always been the club unavailable I've wanted to manage along side Gala and Olympicakos.

4. Slight miss reading of wiki I'm afraid

Cheers for the constructive criticism though

[Chelsea8]

Haha, no probs . 

[AlexP]

Great read

[Devil]

Nice work. Happy you included Basel.

[famheld]

Cool list, more leagues is one of my main hopes for FMH 14. Would like to see a few more nations available to manage, too. As far as notable mentions go (from leagues you haven't mentioned), I can think of the Red Bull Salzburg, two Belgrade rivals, Sparta Prague and possibly Malmo. 

[Lee-Roy]

Great read, I can honestly say I would play with 9 out of ten of them clubs, great choices. Surprised that with Maple's influence there was no Canadian clubs there.

[yihaoXCZ]

I would agree 100% of those clubs,though I think Zenit deserves a mention.

[MoussaSowFB]

Great read I disappointed when i didnt see Fenerbahce Turkish Russian Ukranian and Argentinian leagues would be very good in FMH.

[famheld]

I'm surprised they haven't already got the MLS available, as I'm sure the game must have a large audience in the States. I guess the the complex transfer system could be hard to implement, considering they haven't even managed co-ownership deals or loan fees yet, but it can't be a game breaker. Perhaps we can expect MLS in 14, perhaps not. I would definitely like to see Russia, Argentina, Ukraine and Turkey, though, and I think we should be a little disappointed if that doesn't transpire.

[Dec]

If you are going to be disappointed that Russia, Ukraine and Turkey aren't in the game you shouldn't blame SI but the "fans" of them countries for pirating the game too much to not justify spending the money on the license to help increase sales in that region.

[Archie Graveluth]

Piracy isn't the answer for everything. Some leagues aren't simply economically viable to bother having.

[dirtboy]

Piracy isn't the answer for everything. Some leagues aren't simply economically viable to bother having.

What are some of those?

[Archie Graveluth]

 

Piracy isn't the answer for everything. Some leagues aren't simply economically viable to bother having.

What are some of those?

 

 

Some of the leagues? The ones mentioned before, as an example. You have to remember that the handheld version is meant to be played in a lot of older devices as well, like older Android phones where space is more limited (not only processing power) so to include more leagues would mean more space needed.

 

Like Ash said before, it would be better to have the Russian league instead of Wales, Australia or Northern Ireland, but that's highly doubtful because I believe most of FMH players are from the UK so it's expected to have all their leagues + Australia. 

 

Sure, it would be nice to have Russia and Turkey, as an example, but instead of having the top division of those countries I would much rather have more tiers to the current leagues, specially the Portuguese one, for obvious reasons.

[Dec]

Of course piracy isn't the only reason but if SI think the country has very few fans and/or it won't boost sales enough to pay for the rather expensive licenses then they won't even consider its viability for coding.

[famheld]

All true, but you can't say it's not a shame that they aren't there. Hence the creation of the thread. I'm sure many of us yearn to ply our trade with some of the clubs mentioned in the OP. 

[Dec]

Of course and I do too yet if SI (who are a business) don't get the sales in the region to begin with to justify spending a ridiculous amount of money on the license then why would they take the risk to get probably not enough increase in sales. This leaves two options - they don't include it or do include it and take it out OR the price for us as the legitimate users goes up.

[Archie Graveluth]

Quick question. Doesn't SI already have the licenses for, let's say, the russian league, since it's part of FM for PC?

[Dec]

They are licensed per version so the PC version's license won't cover iOS.

[magpiemadman]

Really detailed guide Dec I would love to manage GNK Dinamo Zagreb on the game

[Dec]

I didn't do this .

[magpiemadman]

I didn't do this .

Sorry Ashez please forgive me

[Ashez]

And MM

[magpiemadman]

Sorry MM