Bonjour 👋🏻
Any Football Manager title gives the opportunity to create a parallel Universe, but the retro 2007/08 database (made available by TheMadScientist) allows me to go that bit further and re-write history. Perhaps not as drastic as re-writing history in the same was as Albert Einstein did in Command & Conquer: Red Alert, but still drastic enough to create a new French powerhouse. The season is 2008/09, and here is my update from the shores of the Mediterranean; where it’s my second season in charge of AS Monaco.
Nouvelle Tactique: 3421
Last time out on the blog I mentioned that I would be moving away from the 4231 Target Forward tactic. But this is an evolution, as opposed to a drastic revolution, a few instructions remain the same; as do the set piece routines that proved to be effective last season. The big change for us though is the move towards a three at the back, replacing Wingers for Wing Backs and attacking centrally with two No.10s behind a quick striker (unlike the battering ram of Jan Koller last season).
3421 out of possession.
3421 in possession.
Season 2008/09 - L’Incroyable Hulk
So, you’ve seen the new tactic…could it help us build on last year’s 7th place Ligue 1 finish and also be competitive in Europe? Answer: Yes.
However, I should firstly mention the new signings who came in and made the 3421 flourish. In particular Givanildo Vieira de Sousa, who had a really impressive second half of the season. You may know him as ‘Hulk’, an FM07/08 beast of a striker who starts out in the database at Vitória in Brazil’s Série B. I signed Hulk on loan from Newcastle, and he is one of three great loan deals:
Yoann Gourcuff (from AC Milan) - €2.9m loan with mandatory €14.25m fee to buy at the end of the season. Arguably the player that transformed us most this season. Seventeen goals and ten assists (all comps), as he played a mix of AM-S and SS-A in the tactic.
Hulk (from Newcastle) - €400k loan with optional €13.25m fee to buy at the end of the season. Hulk’s became a cult figure at AS Monaco, scoring only a couple in the first 5 months of the season before powering in twelve goals in the final few months, most of those goals key too. He went from 3rd choice striker (behind Black Panther Gomis and IronMan Hoarau), to becoming the main central striker at Monaco. Adaptability in FM is a funny thing!
Gerard Piqué (from Manchester United) - no upfront fee loan with optional €18.5m fee to buy at the end of the season. No man in the squad can beat Piqué’s progressive passes per 90 stat of 5.37. He was also the man on the end of a lot of crosses and passes too: twelve goals from Centre-Back. What a player!
Another signing that saw it come together for us was stealing Mamadou Sakho from under PSG’s noses for a measly €800k. A top teenage talent who predominantly played as the left sided Wide Centre Back.
Ligue 1 - 3rd place, Champions League qualification 🎉
We turned last season’s draws into wins and that made the difference in qualifying for the Champions League this year. What has been interesting though is how the 3421 distributed league goals around the side. Unlike last year, where we relied on Jan Koller’s 19 league goals, it felt that this year anybody in the match day squad could score. We only had two players enter double figures for league goals, and even then it was a rather meagre figure of 11 for Jérémy Ménez and 10 for The Incredible Hulk.
Ligue 1 top seven
UEFA Conference League - Winners 🏆
After a 100% win record in the league phase, we faced some decent opposition in SK Rapid, Werder Bremen and Hearts en route to the final. Nothing could stop the Monaco machine from purring into the showpiece match, where we faced Sicilian side Palermo. Some great FM names awaited us: Barthez, Barzagli, Belletti, Bréchet, Bresciano and Voronin.
So, a cup final for a competition that didn’t exist in 2009…played in a stadium that also had yet to be built (Wrocław Stadium, Poland). I’m still taking this as a massive win for AS Monaco though, it’s their 1st continental honours. After a 1-1 in normal time, we had to thank our lucky stars due to the game going to penalties. Or is it luck? We trained penalties and also had five competent penalty takers line up to smash it home (Hoarau, Gourcuff, Martin, Valbuena and Bastos). 5-4 to AS Monaco in the shootout. Très bien!
Happy New Year
Do I play more? That’s the question I am currently debating. Whilst I think this save has ‘one more season’ left in it, to see how AS Monaco do in the Champions League…I am also aware that FM25 news will be shared sometime in January 2025. Will that kill my enthusiasm to play, or heighten it? Again, it’s something I am debating. There’s also New Years Resolutions to contend with too, and sadly playing even more Football Manager is not currently on the shortlist 🤭
Regardless though, I’d like to thank you for reading/sharing and caring this and previous AS Monaco retro blogs (including the CM4 playthrough). It has been really fun, and I’ve enjoyed blogging an era I previously never documented when playing Football Manager 2008 the first time round.
I hope you are having a nice festive holiday with friends and family, and I am sure I will be back writing FM in 2025 at some point soon. Take care of yourselves 🎄
Tony / FM Grasshopper