Obviously 2020/2021 was a difficult time for a lot of people, though for most it was trying to find a way to deal with the monotony and the frustration of not being able to interact with people.
A lot of people I knew took up new hobbies, such as chess or learning a new language – I admit, I did both, though mainly (when I wasn’t working), it was a return to a trusted, old favourite.
I’d had Football Manager installed on my phone for quite a while and it was always convenient to play when I had a spare 10 minutes or so, though with the start of lockdown it gave me time to really crack on with it.
So, I focused on a couple of saves simultaneously to mix it up. Being a Leeds United fan – and this being the season that we went up as champions (I knew we would), this was the obvious, first choice.
Playing The Bielsa Way With Leeds United In FM20
Right from the beginning, I knew I was going to try and continue to play like Marcelo Bielsa would, though I did bring in a handful of signings – mainly ‘unknown’ players from around Europe, but who crushed it in the Championship.
I partnered Kalvin Phillips in midfield with a couple of new signings, whose names I really can’t remember, while I also brought in a centre-back, winger and a centre forward. To be fair, I got really into it, essentially doing almost everything Bielsa might, in terms of analysing opposition players – their strengths and weaknesses and how to manage these.
By the end of September I had won every game in the league, plus 6-0 victory over Mansfield Town in the Carabao Cup – a game in which I played most of my Under 21 side.
That was another great thing about it – I made use of what was a great crop of talented youngsters. I was trying to go through the entire season winning every game, though it proved impossible – and also stressful! In the end, I lost just three and drew two.
However – my accomplishments didn’t just end with a Championship title. I also guided Leeds to a Carabao Cup final victory over Tottenham – Patrick Bamford bagging a brace in a 3-1 win.
Leeds Back In The Premier League On FM 2020
Within I think 20 days of lockdown, I guided Leeds back into the Premier League and I couldn’t wait to get started. My Carabao Cup success meant entry into the Europa League – immediately giving me an edge on other promoted clubs (Fulham and Blackburn Rovers), so I could attract better players in the transfer window.
It did feel a bit weird, as I wanted to be as realistic as possible, though I also knew that we have ambitious owners. I think I loaned out quite a few players, which created room in the wage budget and sold players who had been on loan the previous season and saw their value rise. This increased my transfer budget further. All told, I had about £150 million to spend.
I brought in Charles de Ketelaere (who we were linked with the following summer) and he made an instant impact, in addition to Robin Koch, who we appeared to be signing anyway (and actually did). Generally, I seemed to follow the rumours – compared to in real life (where we didn’t), I was able to land Rodrigo de Paul who was a revelation, plus Nahitan Nandez, to add further steel.
That season, I led Leeds to a Europa League win – beating Valencia in the final, while guiding them to a sixth place finish in the Premier League.
