FM24 has been officially out for a while now, and you can’t think of a team to manage that gets you excited about the latest edition of the game. Well, why not try to awaken a sleeping giant of football in Everton?
A fantastic history
Obviously, this one is close to my heart, having been a lifelong Evertonian. Unfortunately, I was born slightly too late to witness the Blues great team of the 1980s. However, the club were not just successful in the ’80s, as only Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal have won more than Everton’s nine English top-flight titles.
In all, the Toffees have claimed 24 trophies in their history, which is an impressive total for a club that hasn’t enjoyed much major success in recent years. The Toffee’s last trophy came in 1995 when they lifted the FA Cup.
In the last two seasons, Everton have gone on a worrying spiral of underperformance, fighting back-to-back relegation battles after some moderate success in the previous 30 years of numerous top-ten finishes and many times being ‘the best of the rest’ in the Premier League.
A relatively easy turnaround
In real life, head coach Sean Dyche is starting to turn things around, as at the time of writing, Everton are eight points clear of the relegation zone. There is optimism around the club, and many are looking up the table rather than over their shoulders at the bottom three.
The fact that the team is usually predicted to finish 13th at the start of every FM game shows that, in real life, they have been underperforming. In reality, as the team has been showing in recent weeks, they are better than their recent relegation battles have shown.
In FM terms, the Everton squad is relatively strong, and it is quite easy to guide to a top-half finish in the Premier League table without being a tactical genius.
The likes of Jordan Pickford, Jarrad Branthwaite, Amadou Onana, Nathan Patterson, James Tarkowski, Dwight McNeil, Dominic Calvin-Lewin and Beto provide a good foundation of a squad you can build on.
Loan players such as Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison are also very useful players. However, there is a caveat with the pair in that they tend to perform well on FM24, but it is difficult to sign them on permanent transfers, as their parent club demands hefty fees.
With no agreed price, it is hard to sign permanently. In the few personal saves on FM24, I have allowed the pair to leave and had to bring in cheaper options. More on those lately.
The squad is easily good enough to perform above the predicted 13th place, which means you can ease your way into a long-term career without having massive expectations placed upon you in the first season.
How to improve the squad
As I mentioned, the squad has good foundations but lacks any in-depth strength, so it is vital to box clever in the transfer market in the first couple of summers. The starting budget of £24million is not the greatest in the world but can be boosted by selling the likes of Michael Keane and Andre Gomes, who never feature in my plans in FM.
There are some big positives in the Everton squad for sure. In England’s number one, Jordan Pickford, you have a consistent goalkeeper who barely ever gets injured, so you don’t have to worry about that.
In attack also, the presence of two very good strikers in Calvert-Lewin and Beto makes life easier for you. However, DCL usually refuses to sign a new contract in the first season, so in the second season, I typically sell him for big money before risking losing him on a free transfer.
Beyond those positives, the squad is low on depth in almost every position. One position I look to strengthen straight away is left-back, as the squad doesn’t have a capable left-back other than Vitaliy Mykolenko, who, to be fair, is a very reliable player.
So far, one of the best bargains in my short personal save was versatile Mexican youngster Omar Campos. I signed him in the second summer for £ 7 million from Laguna, and he has been sensational at left-back. At 22, he also has the potential to become world-class.
However, as much as I love Campos, he cannot compete with renowned FM hero and Swedish wonderkid Roony Bardghji for the bargain of the save so far. I tried to sign the youngster from Copenhagen in the first summer, but he didn’t want to join.
After the team qualified for the Champions League in the first season, the Swedish starlet joined for a fee of just £9.5m. It is fair to say he hit the ground running on the right flank, scoring six goals in his first nine league appearances.
Anybody who has played FM in recent years will know that Bardghji is one of the must-buy players in the game, so that is unlikely to be a revelation to many.
Another bargain buy in the second summer was Manchester United central midfielder Scott McTominay, who cost me just £4.6m and has been brilliant in a defensive midfield role.
My replacement for Arnaut Danjuma was Benfica winger Tiago Gouveia, who cost just £6.25m. He is 23 and can play on either flank. He has proven to be a creative force on the wing this season.
Last but least among the players I brought in is Oumar Solet, who arrived from RB Salzburg for £10m. The French centre-back is one of the players I always look to sign in FM, as he offers quality and versatility at a decent price.
There are many positives to managing Everton
Everton are something of a sleeping giant. However, there are many significant positives to managing the team from Merseyside, such as a decent squad, low expectations and the fact that the club are due to move into a state-of-the-art stadium at Bramley Moore Docks in the next year or so, which will generate greater cash
If you are looking for a light challenge in the Premier League, where you can challenge the more monied clubs, then Everton could be the team for you to manage in your next save.
Do you like to manage Everton on FM? If you do, let me know how your saves are going via our socials
