FM25 might be cancelled, but my Football Manager 2024 save is still going strong. I’m just about to enter my 7th season at Nacka FC, making this the longest time I have spent with a single club in any of my Fuller FM blog careers.
After an encouraging end to the 2029 season, hopes are high that Nacka can push on in 2030 and get promoted to the Allsvenskan. If only it was that simple…
OUTGROWING THE BEARD
There’s been a bit of upheaval at Nacka over the holidays. Firstly, the club’s fans elected a new chairman. Not sure he’ll make much difference, but okay…
Secondly, I’ve hired three new coaches – including an international defender, and one of English football’s most prolific strikers! You’ve guessed it…
…it’s former Northern Ireland and Millwall right-back Conor McLaughlin, and Dorking Wanderers icon Jason Prior!
But most importantly, we parted ways with three long-serving players.
Arvid Wiklund was a solid left-back for three years, but really struggled with injuries. Backup goalkeeper Kevin Blennestrand has finally departed as well, leaving Tim Hauzenberger as the last man standing from my original Nacka squad.
And after scoring a club-record 61 goals in 139 matches over five years, we said farväl to ‘The Beard’, Albin Rickborg. Albin’s wage demands were too unrealistically high for us to keep him on, especially as we had a younger and even better striker on our books. Note the emphasis on had.
Unsurprisingly, the Allsvenskan vultures were already circling around Luis Mendoza. The promising, pacey Paraguayan was angling for a big move, but I was equally determined to hold out for as much as possible. Eventually, we agreed a deal with league champions Malmö.
£125,000 up front, another £125,000 in annual installments, plus a potential £150,000 in bonuses… and a 30% sell-on fee… AND we get to keep Mendoza on loan for the season! Sounds like a great deal to me!
Meanwhile, the jewel of our youth set-up – 18-year-old defensive midfielder Furkan Öztürk – was sent out on loan. Having featured sporadically for the first-team over the last two years, he’ll now spend the first half of the season playing in the Ettan Södra for Torslanda.
I only signed six new players this pre-season – a defensive midfield backup, a couple of freebie teenage prospects from abroad, and three loanees. Let’s take a closer look at the loanees.
After giving us a bunch of money for Mendoza, Malmö were also kind enough to lend us Lucas Schwarz – a hard-working wing-back with a very bright future. He’ll play on the left flank, with fellow loanee Marius Hansen on the right.
I’m very intrigued about Kohei Yoshizawa, whose key attributes are ideal for a deep-lying playmaker. However, his off-the-ball awareness is abysmal, which is… er, not ideal. And neither is THIS.
Arghhh… knulla.
Just weeks after backup goalkeeper Alexandros Iliopoulos suffered a huge random drop in determination, our new number 1 had a similar off-field event that destroyed his ambition. (I’m guessing our cuddly HoYD told him the tooth fairy wasn’t real.)
Changing from a Light-Hearted personality to Unambitious will likely hurt Mounir El Bassil‘s development, though I’m choosing to believe it could be worse. A less ambitious Mounir will probably be more willing to stay with us a bit longer rather than seek a big move at the first opportunity. To that end, he’s already extended his contract by a year.
SQUAD REPORT
Nacka have been a bit top-heavy in recent times, but now I believe we have our most balanced squad so far. I can confidently say we have at least one quality player and a decent backup in each and every position, and a growing crop of talented prospects. Perhaps Aron Gauti Lárusson and Bar Benitah can make their mark up front, just like these two?
Here’s another look at MENDOZA!!! Luis is developing pretty nicely by all accounts, but he will want to improve on his eight goals from last season. With that pace, technique and finishing ability, I reckon he has a good chance.
And now’s a good time to formally introduce you to the skilful Norwegian inside-forward Ulrich Knudtzon. We signed him in 2028 for our youth team, where he made solid progress and also got a few league outings. After scoring 12 goals on loan at Åtvidaberg in the Ettan Södra last year, Ulrich is ready to stake a claim for regular first-team action.
These three don’t need any introductions. Hauzenberger and Elias Ziani are now the only players who’ve featured in every season of this series. Finlay Neat joined us in 2026 and has now found his feet as a Superettan-level playmaker.
Our high-pressing game worked so well last year that… er, I’ve decided to rein it again in favour of some more defensive solidity. It’s mid-block season, baby.
I’ve also replaced the Defensive Midfielder with a slightly more rigid Anchor role. Ideally, I’d have a Half-Back who can form a back three with our central defenders when we’re on the attack, but that just doesn’t seem to work on FM24.
This is new. For the first time since reaching the Superettan, Nacka are NOT the overwhelming favourites to be relegated.
Obviously, the bookies still don’t think we’ll be anywhere near the promotion picture. At least we now have shorter odds than you can get on Donald Trump making a calm, rational decision.
Though the season preview has us down in 15th, our media prediction is actually a more hopeful 12th – higher than the three promoted teams and AFC Eskilstuna. As it so happens, our league opener is against Eskilstuna at home.
The season started – as usual – with the Svenska Cupen Group Stage. We only had one Allsvenskan team in our group this time, so I fancied our chances of at least finishing 2nd…
CUPEN
…but our Group Stage didn’t get off to a great start. We left it late to save a 2-2 draw at Västerås, who had just been relegated back to the Superettan after one year in the top flight.
We responded with a 5-0 battering of Sirius, who were clearly reeling from last year’s shock relegation to the Ettan Norra. A first-half hat-trick from midfielder Ayoub Hussein and a creativity masterclass from winger Zakariya Enow made this an extremely clinical performance!
That gave us the chance to top the group – and qualify for the Quarter Finals – if we could somehow beat Malmö at home. Despite a valiant performance, that was never really on the cards. The Allsvenskan champions just had far too much quality for us.
Never mind. I was aiming for 2nd place, and that was exactly what we got. Our team was already looking in pretty good shape as we set our sights on a Superettan promotion race.
FIRST HALF
We started the Superettan season like George Graham’s Arsenal – three 1-0 wins in a row. The last of them was against Brommapojkarna, who have had a bizarre three-year period that I can only describe as a Leicester City speedrun.
In 2027, Brommapojkarna were promoted as Superettan champions. In 2028, they WON the Allsvenskan – their first ever top-flight championship. But in 2029, they crashed down to 14th, lost a play-off to Värnamo, and were RELEGATED. And only a few weeks before returning to the Superettan, Bromma were facing Lazio in the Playoff round of the Conference League!
And this was what we did to them. To be honest, we could have got an even bigger win if Mendoza hadn’t missed half a dozen chances!
Our woeful finishing didn’t get any better, as we won only ONE of our next seven matches.
We were leaving Mendoza isolated up front too often and weren’t creating many decent chances for him. But even when he did get chances, Luis was often blazing them off target or into an opposition defender’s midriff. Our next-best attacking threats came from Hussein (who’s ridiculously injury-prone) winger Noel Wall (who’s ridiculously inconsistent).
We were also often relying on set-pieces for our goals. Our one victory in that rotten run was a 3-0 vs Helsingborg, where we scored from two free-kick routines and a penalty.
Defensively, our back four were surprisingly not too shabby; the problem was the man behind them. El Bassil might have great aerial reach and ball-playing skills, but he didn’t have the reflexes or agility to actually stop any shots. After his first eight matches, Mounir’s save percentage was 62% (he was expected to save 83%), and his Expected Goals Prevented was an alarming -3.15.
As if to illustrate just how poor El Bassil has been, please take a moment to ‘enjoy’ these highlights from our away matches at Falkenberg and Mjällby:
[Sigh] Just one decent goalkeeper. That’s all I ask for, FM.
We did at least pick up another win at Västerås just before the summer break. As frustrating as we had been, we were still only three points adrift of the promotion play-off place… but there was still plenty of room for improvement.
SECOND HALF
When the season resumed in July, I brought in a couple of players who would help Mendoza out in different ways. The first was his Paraguayan countryman César Gamarra – a brave and resilient right-back that FM believes is actually a centre-half. Not with 5 Heading, he isn’t.
And then I got another freebie loan from Hammarby. Lebanon international Mohamad Elrich‘s technique and hold-up play were well-suited to being a Deep Lying Forward – a role that would link up better with our widemen and midfielders. Mendoza would still lead our attacks, but as an Inside Forward from the left flank rather than an Advanced one through the middle.
We also lost a few players during the break. Centre-back Mohammed Bangoura – one of our form players – randomly decided to sign for a club in Guinea, because reasons. Backup playmaker Max’Med Mohamed was released (he was hardly playing anymore), and Knudtzon went out on loan again (he just wasn’t good enough yet).
The new boys made their bows at Trelleborg, with mixed results. Elrich gave us a 2-1 lead (which turned into a 2-2 draw) but then didn’t score again for nearly four months. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – star ratings are a lie.
Meanwhile, Gamarra had a very shaky debut, but quickly settled down and made the right-back slot his own. By the end of the year, César’s incredible form would see him break into the Paraguay squad and earn his first cap – making him the first senior international in Nacka’s history.
July was a hugely frustrating month in which we squandered leads in three consecutive matches – including yet another late collapse against leaders Örebro – and then couldn’t even score against a hopeless Jönköpings Södra team!
Luckily, a much better August propelled us back into the play-off mix. It started with a 4-0 thrashing of Oddevold – in which Yoshizawa scored this absolute screamer – and also included ANOTHER win over Bromma, whose championship days were now firmly behind them.
Nacka were the form team as we headed into September. Our next match was away to Norrby, who were bottom of the form table after three straight defeats…
…until we royally cocked it up.
And so the erratic form continued – two defeats, then two wins, then four straight defeats that completely destroyed any hopes of promotion. I was so fed up at this point that I decided to ‘Instant Result’ the rest of the season.
Nacka limped home in 8th place with 42 points (six fewer than last season), and only 33 goals – the fewest we’d ever scored in the Superettan.
SEASON REVIEW
After a step back in 2028, then a step forward in 2029, we’ve now taken another step back. How on Earth could one of the most dangerous attacks in the Superettan last season suddenly become THE most impotent?!
All the major statistics make for grim reading. We only created an average of 10 shots per match, getting 40% of them on target and only 10% of them into the net. Our shot creation actually wasn’t that bad – an average of 0.13 xG per shot – but incredible wastefulness led to us underscoring our Expected Goals by SIX.
To further highlight how impotent we’d become, this was the first season in which we failed to get a single player into double figures for goals. Mendoza led the way with nine goals (still a massive disappointment), and our next-best were Hussein and Enow on six apiece. Incidentally, Enow was voted the Fans’ Player of the Year yet again, because they just love him.
Aidan Zaar Ibrahimaga scored five goals, but four of those were in the cup. In 18 league matches, the Kosovan centre-forward scored ONE goal – and it was a penalty on the opening day. Perhaps I should have released Aidan last winter instead of Rickborg?
But perhaps the biggest mistake was me neutering the high press. Perhaps I was too scared of us giving away easy chances again that I retreated into my shell and didn’t really give my attacking players the freedom to express themselves. It didn’t exactly improve our defensive record either – we let in 35 league goals (the same as last year), but we allowed our opponents to take more shots.
Maybe we have become a team that accepts mediocrity. Only three regulars got an average rating of 7.00 or higher this season – Iliopoulos (our backup goalkeeper), Yoshizawa (a loanee), and Hussein (who’s more fragile than a Ming vase and played in barely half our matches).
It’s just as well that Iliopoulos has stepped up, because El Bassil has been awful in goal. The man just can’t save anything.
In September, I rejected a load of offers from several bigger clubs (most notably St Pauli and Bodø/Glimt) for Mounir. When January comes around, I’ll be much happier to sell if the price is right – and bring in a more reliable goalkeeper with much better reflexes. Iliopoulos has had a great season, but you can’t always depend on a goalie who has 7 Positioning.
Another rebuild is in the offing, and captain Fabian Falkstrand Ransjö is likely to be the biggest casualty. Fabian had such a miserable, mistake-ridden year that he lost his starting place at centre-half to Yusuf Aksoy, who’d been shunted back inside by Gamarra’s arrival.
Aidan and Wall will probably leave during the holidays. Neat is staying, but will probably not be a regular starter anymore. Even Hauzenberger and Ziani may not be safe from the axe.
At least Nacka’s future looks bright. After six years of constantly finishing 2nd or 3rd in their regional league to perennial champions Örebro, our Under-19s finally won the Division 1 title – and then some.
Nacka’s kids won 23 of their 24 league matches this year and scored 126 goals! We were particularly brutal against IFK Eskilstuna – beating them 14-2 (yes, FOURTEEN-TWO!) at home and then 10-2 away!
Winning the title got us into the Division 1 promotion play-offs, where we drew with Eskilsminne and then thrashed Karlbergs BK. One more victory over Eskilsminne (this time through the sophisticated tie-breaking method of a coin toss) meant that Nacka will be playing in the U19 Superettan next season!
I guess Stefan Lindmark isn’t doing a bad job as Head of Youth Development after all…
Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to hit the ‘Follow’ button below if you haven’t already, and also follow me on Threads and/or BlueSky.
I’ll be back soon for my 8th season at Nacka. If it’s as miserable as this one, it’ll almost certainly be my last.
Right then. Time to look for a new goalkeeper… again.
Fuller FM 