It was a long 2020-21 season both domestically and internationally. This post is going to be very heavy on the international side since I had a full slate of Nations League qualifiers to get through in the fall and the start of the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers in the spring. Sandwiched in there was the MTK domestic slate with 33 league games and a lot of Magyar Kupa games. A very busy season and a very successful season filled with ups and downs.
After getting sent out of the 2020 European Championship Qualifiers, 2-0, by Poland. The second half of the season was focused mainly on getting MTK promoted into the top tier of Hungarian football. It was a pretty easy task since we had spent the entire season in first place and there really wasn’t much to change that fact. In short, it was a mainly getting through the remainder of the season and into the offseason where the heavy lifting was going to take place.
The midway point of the 2019-20 season has been completed and it has going exactly how I expected it to. I’ve had great success domestically with MTK and struggled on the international scene with Hungary. I’ve been running the same formation with both MTK and Hungary. The difference is coming from a talent standpoint. We are head and shoulders the best team in the Hungarian Second Division. In our European Championship qualifier group, we are nowhere near the best team but our formation and style of play is bringing us closer to the top tier of the group even though it doesn’t show on the field.
A stupid housekeeping error on my part led me to scrub my Getting (Is)Real In Quarantine save. However, I quickly cleaned up my housekeeping error and started up a new save. Now, we are “Not Going Hungary In Quarantine.” Same basic premise – Club and Country but in a new location: Hungary and MTK. The national team is ranked higher than Israel (58th compared to 92nd). MTK is one of the most successful clubs in Hungary but are now in the second division. I traded a better national team for a weaker domestic side. It still should be a challenging save.
I haven’t done this is awhile so bear with me. I, like just about everyone, is stuck in some type of “shelter in place” restrictions until who knows when. I work in the leisure travel industry and as a field hockey umpire so I’m now sitting around with nothing to do until we are allowed to see and interact with other humans. I’ve been playing Football Manager in my usual comfort zone in England taking a team from the Championship into the Premier League and finally into European competition. I wanted something different. Something that could hold my interest so I don’t go crazy. I’m trying, for the first time, a club and country save and had it narrowed down to two countries with very little European history, Norway and Israel. I settled on Israel and chose Maccabi Haifa for my team.
FM American 