Carl Anka | Why I Love FM

This week's edition of Why I Love FM features our chat with writer, journalist and broadcaster Carl Anka who rolls back the years to recall the very best moments from his Football Manager career. 

What do you look for when selecting a team? 

Nottingham Forest. Leeds. Derby. Sunderland. I’m a sucker for a sleeping giant in need of waking up. I’m very much the FM manager that gives motivational speeches to his computer.

What’s the first thing you do when you start a new save? 

First thing: talk to my assistant manager, get the lay of the land and figure out the pros and cons of my squad (while showing him who’s boss, obviously).

Then I look into my reserve team and see if there’s anyone I can promote as a quick win. There’s always one of two who can do a job, while giving them valuable minutes.

Then, RELEASE THE SCOUTS. France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Brazil.

How do you approach transfers? 

I rarely buy a player over the age of 26 if I can help it. The occasional veteran who adds some stardust onto a good unit can help, but where possible, I buy them young and let my team grow together. From FM05-09 my tactic was to take over a top-flight club and buy as many Brazilian/Portuguese speaking players as possible, turning them into a real classy side.

What do you look at when signing a player? 

Nearly every team I’ve managed eventually settles into a 4-3-3 formation. If I can’t play it immediately I start with a 4-2-3-1, that will eventually move to 4-1-2-2-1 and then finally give me the ‘totaalvoetbal’ system I want. So, I need fast players, intelligent players who have a bit of needle to them on and off the pitch. I can try all I want, but when all those dots take to the field on match day, they’re on their own, so if I find someone with a good leadership stat, that’s nice as well.

Nationalities and language profiles are also important to me and I try to build partnerships that way. If three members of my back four speak French, I may as well try and sign another one.

What’s your favourite type of player? 

Left footed centre-backs who can also fill in at left-back are always handy. Six-foot defensive midfielders who love nothing more than beat up the opposition, redistribute play and get double-figure yellow cards in a season. Chunky thighed, five-foot-something strikers who rarely wander outside the penalty area. Rapid lanky right wingers that love to crash the back post and score five-10 goals a season.

Best signing? 

In the real world, Nicolás Castillo is a Chilean striker currently playing for Club America. He’s the man of a thousand skills. I picked him up from Club Brugge for £3 million in the 2015/16 season to be a backup and he ended up scoring 30 goals. By Christmas 2017 he had scored 100 goals for me and he also took Chile to a World Cup semi-final.

Most disappointing signing? 

I had a Dutch centre back and he WOULD. NOT. STOP. COMPLAINING.

‘When will I get game time? Why did you substitute me? Why do you praise other players, but not me?’. He’s a fantastic player in the 2014-16 era FM games but mercy me, he wants to go places in life and he will make that known.

Best newgen? 

Had a lovely gentleman called Andreas Long work as a box to box midfielder in one save. American born and a bit of a glass cannon (once had a three-month ankle injury followed by a season-long knee problem), but nothing got past him when he made it onto the pitch. Eventually, all the injuries began to worry me, so when I was offered £25 million for him, we shook hands and he was on his way. He then scored a winner against me in a huge semi-final, of course.

Why do you love FM? 

I love how it makes you think. No matter how much detail they have in FM (and there is A LOT), they always leave JUST enough for your brain to fill in the gaps. Why is my playmaker so clutch? I imagined because he stayed behind on training days and watched game tape with me.

There’s loads of talk about games being ‘open world’ or ‘like real life’, but FM is one of the only games that doesn’t revolve around you. Win lose or draw, this FM world is going to keep ticking, so you better get working and get winning trophies.