As FM fans there is one thing we all have in common, one thing that takes us to the internet (unless you are dodgy and have the RTE) searching for, wonderkids. The young whipper-snappers that can make the difference to our teams in the years to come.

Wonderkids are like gold dust on many of the FM games of the past, but with the invent of the real-time editors lists can be found across the web from all and sundry, but how do you know which ones are any good? That’s were we come in.

I used to spend hours finding lists and scouting every player on their to then find that i was looking at a list of ‘Wonderkids for the Championship’ or like, so now, with my headache of the past in mind I have put together the ultimate list of wonderkids.

Whether you are looking for the best young stars of England, cheapo’s, foreigners or conference players they are all on this page, you will never need to go anywhere else to find wonderkids, star players and must buys for your team ever again.

Football Manager 2013 Wonderkids: Ultimate List (link)

This is a great list of over 200 wonderkids for FM 2013 from Aid the Boss. A cracking collection containing most of the ‘obvious’ choice wonderkids and some players that would suit mid-lower premier league teams, it contains everything from name, age, club, country and value at the start of the game.

Star player form the list: Kurt Zouma

List rating: 4/5

Ideal list for: Liverpool, Everton and Newcastle

Football Manager 2013 Wonderkids and Young Talents (link)

A very comprehensive list of FM wonderkids from True Football Manager, you can find everything here from decent Championship signings all the way up to superstar Champions League winners, my favourite and most used list which also has  all the key ingredients for finding the player on the game as well as some idea of wages.

Star player form the list: Luke Shaw

List rating: 5/5

Ideal list for: Everyone from low-level Championship teams to the best teams in the world.

250+ Football Manager 2013 Wonderkids (link)

A good-looking list from FM Scout, a good selection of players but only really useful for the best teams in the World, I feel there is also some TOP quality obvious English talents that are missing from the list, i.e Will Hughes and Luke Shaw, both 5 star Premier League players after several seasons. There is some great players on the list though that some others haven’t picked up on.

Star player form the list: Raheem Stirling

List rating: 3.5/5

Ideal list for: Mainly top teams but the odd ‘bottom half’ signing about.

250+ Bargain Buys (link)

Another decent list from the guys over at FM Scout, presented as well as the others but I feel this is more useful than most as its very well researched, bargain buys for FM 13 are harder to find. Its a decent list, would be nice if it was presented in a way that ‘filtered’ out unrealistic targets for those in leagues above or below the players’ expectations.

Star player form the list: Felipe Anderson

List rating: 4/5

Ideal list for: Just about everyone.

Football Manager Wonderkids Shortlist 425+ (link)

This is a good list from My Passion for Football Manager, it does require a download to see the whole lot but you can upload that straight into your game so the shortlist is on the game, no need to copy and paste for a few hours! It’s also great for finding the perfect player match as it breaks up players into playing personalities, I.E Ball Winning Midfielders. The only problem I see with this bunch is the presentation for those who don’t want to download the FM 13 Wonderkids Shortlist, the formatting isn’t the best.

Star player form the list: Sime Vrsalijko

List rating: 4.5/5

Ideal list for: Everyone, especially if you’re looking for a gem of a particular playing personality

250+ Best Free Players on FM 2013 (link)

Another list from the guys over at FM Scout, though I rarely use this type of player I’m sure there is a few of you out there who have a bigger interest than me, looks a good list and I can see a few cracking signings who I will definitely be checking out next time I start a new game.

Star player form the list: Roysten Drenthe

List rating: 4/5

Ideal list for: Lower league teams and teams with zero budgets (Liverpool)

Football Manager 2013 best wonderkids list (link)

For me this is the best list out there, its comprehensive, it offers so much more depth that enables anyone with a little time to see what the player looks like in a few season in to the future. Kudos to Darren Smith for putting this together, it must have taken weeks to perfect it. There isn’t much more to say really, this is THE place to be for finding, researching and signing players for any team, in any league.

Star player form the list: Kevin Volland

List rating: 5/5

Ideal list for: Everyone

400+ 2013 Wonderkids (link)

A nice little list from FM-Indo.blogspot. Fairly comprehensive and contains a LOT of players that are not picked up on any other list, its a brilliant resource for mid-table clubs and those on a tight budget. Can’t fault the list though I wonder if missing out a lot of ‘big names’ is intentional or not.

Star player form the list: Moritz Leitner

List rating: 4/5

Ideal list for: Something for everyone here, from lower leagues to CL winners.

Best Of FM 2013 Wonderkids and Young Talents 500+ (link)

A really good list of players from all across the globe, though I do feel that there is a few missing from the English leagues which is normally a staple diet for me, fairly good collection with something for most but like all of the above, what is lacking is some kind of segmentation for those looking for a particular ‘level’ of player, Championship, League 1 for example. Has everything needed to find the players you want quickly.

Star player form the list: Granit Xhaka

List rating: 3.5/5

Ideal list for: Loads of players with some uniques in there too, something for all.

The Ultimate Wonderkids Shortlist For FM13 (link)

A good little list of a couple of hundred names, there is some good picks in there but some that you wont be able to find unless you have some not so popular leagues activated on your database, you do need to download the list though, there is no mention of it online at all.

Star player form the list: Nick Powell

List rating: 3/5

Ideal list for: Plenty to choose from for everyone

Best French Wonderkids

Italian Wonderkids on FM 13

English Wonderkids and Must Buys

Spanish Wonderkids

Best Brazilian Wonderkids

Top Wonderkid Strikers

 Putting an end to the post…

Well thats it, we couldn’t find any other lists online that offered any value to you guys so thats the end of it.

There will no doubt be a lot of duplicates within the lists above but just pick and choose the ones that suit your current team and transfer policies best, for me the wonderkids list by Darren Smith is the best by a long way, check it out, the work that went in to it is ridiculously complex and you will definitely find some players on there that you would have never seen or heard of before.

Get involved, if you have any lists to add to this let us know using the comments below.

We won’t be looking at the consistently top players in the world, just those who have changed the most over the last year, both positively and negatively as these are the guys you may not think of.

For die-hard FM fans this part of the game is always the most thrilling, the hours of scouting, searching through the under-18s of every country in the world and filling your scouts diaries with 99.9% of crap, hoping that one of these kids will show some promise, this article will be a great place to start.

Those of you who may be new to the series, perhaps you’re looking at the next instalment to be your first, these next few months will be tough going but luckily for you the 2013 game is available for under a tenor if you’re feeling blue.

Looking back in history its safe to say that those players that are performing week in week out in the daily rigours of top-flight football will be stat-heavy come the next game, it’s also a fair shout to say that those players that have seen a downturn in their performances will be downgraded in the same way but who are these players and how much will they be affected?

Firstly lets look at those people we expect to be the new class-acts come the new game.

Best FM 2014 Players: Our 5 Would-be Superstars

Theres dozens, if not hundreds of players that will be up there with the best in the game but we have focused on those that have changed the most over the last year, those players that were run of the mill or pretty good on FM13 that are bound to be absolute hero’s when 14 is released.

No 1. Gareth Bale

Gareth was good in Football Manager 2013 but this year he will be one of the best on the game, perhaps even in a Barca or Real shirt by the time it’s released.

He has shown on a World stage that he is capable of mixing it with the best and we fully expect him to be given a massive boost. The 23-year-old Tottenham superstar has made 41 appearances this year in the Prem and in Europe with a total of 24 goals and 8 assists including some monumental solo appearances and spectacular goals from distance.

The other key change to Bale’s FM  characteristics will be his positional awareness, in 13 he was accustomed to the ML/AML position with ability to do a job anywhere on the left side and fill-in on the right-wing if needed but now, with the free-roll given to him this season he will no doubt be much more flexible and we think his ‘bright-greens’ will stretch to the AMC position too.

Lets have a more in-depth look at his stats:

This is how he starts the game on 2013, as you can see a very good all-round winger and attacking midfielder but by no means a world-beater.

Using Bale’s extraordinary form in the Premier League as a gauge we fully expect his stats to raise considerably from the above. In particular:

Dribbling from 16 > 18
Crossing from 15 > 17
Finishing from 14 > 17
Longshots from 10 > 17
First Touch from 15 > 17
Free Kick Taking from 16 > 18
Off The Ball from 14 > 16
Flair from 11 > 16
Creativity from 13 > 16
Strength from 13 > 16

 We reckon that’s a fair adjustment to his ability and one that will make him one of the best on the game, especially if he isn’t playing at Tottenham.

No 2. Marouane Fellaini

In our book Fellaini is one of the best bullying midfielders on the planet, of course he isn’t a massively creative force and isn’t in the same league as his Spanish and Brazilian counterparts, but he offers something else, a towering brute of a man who is capable of using his extreme strength and tenacity to win games all by himself.

I have never been fortunate enough to own Marouane on FM, not to say I haven’t tried (bloody man city), but he is a must-have accessory for a team that likes to play a flat 2 in the midfield. Coupled with either a BWM or a DLP he is magical to watch and scores loads from set-pieces.

In his Everton colours he finished the season with 11 goals and 5 assists in 31 appearances but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Marouane is an inspiration to his team mates and the loyal fans that adore this fuzzy-haired midfielder, he has also scroed some massively important goals in crucial games.

His stats on FM 2013 show his class as one of the best midfield enforcers on the game but we do expect his creative side to be improved as well as some of his mental attributes, heres what we think:

Passing from 15 > 16
Influence from 5 > 14
Creativity from 12 > 14
Bravery from 18 > 19
Flair from 10 > 13

Though we don’t expect a massive increase in his stats, we do expect him to perform vastly better on the game and be able to operate more efficiently further forward.

No 3. Philippe Coutinho

One that could have made the ‘Wonderkids’ section but at 21 Philippe isn’t a youngster anymore, he’s a fully fledged star ready to show what he has in his locker.

Liverpool pulled off this signing last year, it really went under the radar and this season I think the top 4 will be wondering why they were not interested in this impressive attacking midfielder.

Those who have watched Coutinho play for Liverpool know this guy is class, we have been admirers of his talent for many years and its a bit of shame that his Inter Milan career was held back by a manager preferring experience to youth, great news for ‘pool though.

Though not a standout performer last season he showed enough for the scousers to take him under their wing, a pre-season training tour with Gerard and Suarez will definitely help his growth.

He only made 12 starts for Liverpool but quickly amassed 3 goals and 5 assists including some awesome creativity that many fans will be dying to see on a more regular basis next season, he is definitely under the guise of the right manager to achieve that.

Theres loads of room to grow but we reckon Philippe will see a dramatic increase in his stats, followed by an increase in his overall potential, he could certainly be regarded in one of the best youngish AMC’s on the game.

Long Shots from 12 > 15
Finishing from 12 > 16
First Touch from 16 > 17
Dribbling from 16 > 17
Passing from 16 > 18
Positioning from 7 > 13
Creativity from 16 > 18

Everyone has their favourite players, the ones that you have to sign even though there is better or cheaper available, Coutinho is my drug.

No 4. Jesus Navas

Man City have just snapped up Jesus and to be honest I am shocked that it has taken this long for him to be involved in one of the biggest teams in the world.

An explosive winger, mainly right, that loves to cut in. He has really shown his class during his countries journeys to the final of the confederations cup.

Though he is known as not putting in any sort of defensive shift Navas more than makes up for that with his contribution further up the pitch. His problem in the past has been in front of goal, his finishing is not the best but he is often targeted as the ‘main danger-man’ in a team so playing for City he is bound to have more freedom to show what he can do.

In FM Jesus has been a fairly run of the mill player for several seasons, often getting big moves but rarely setting the world alight with his new club but with his recent performances on the World-stage and a big money move to Manchester now completed Jesus is set for a huge rebuild of his stats and performances on the game.

For a winger his stats are already fairly good, definitely better than his new rivals in Milner and Scott Sinclair thats for sure but as a new-be to the Premier League we expect him to be given a nice boost:

Crossing from 15 > 17
Dribbling from 17 > 18
Finishing from 10 > 14
Long Shots from 11 > 13
Passing from 14 > 16
Acceleration from 19 > 20
Pace from 17 > 19

These improvements would really make Navas stand out in the City team and we think that will happen both in real-life and on Football Manager 2014.

No 5. Matija Nastasic

26 games for Man City in your first season, 2 MOM awards, only one yellow card and a pass success rate of 87% as a defender puts you at the top of your game in any team on the planet but doing that at the age of 20 makes you one of the best talents in the World.

Matija is just that, a towering powerful centerback with all the quality of Nemanja Vidic but without his ‘clunky’ athleticism.

Mancini had absolute faith in Nastasic for 90% of the games that he was available for, that says a lot but what will be his fate under the new gaffer at the helm of city?

Either way he is bound to be a must buy in Football Manager 2014 and his stats are set for a major makeover.

Matija, in my opinion will be the second most sought-after young defender on the game behind Varane and is set for a massive upgrade in playing statistics, my guess is:

Marking from 14 > 17
Tackling from 15 > 17
Heading form 15 > 18
Influence from 11 > 14
Off The Ball from 11 > 15
Teamwork from 12 > 14

And an overall 2-3 point increase in most mental and physical stats.

As well as these 5 there’s a few others that are well worth a mention, we anticipate some great strides forward from people like:

• Santi Cazorla
• Leighton Baines
• Laurent Koscielny
• David Luiz

Who Won’t Be Worth Targeting?

Now for as many top-performing players in the Prem this seasons there has been just as many under-performing stars of old, people who didn’t cut the mustard and players that will be due a downgrade come FM 14.

Heres who we think we not be quite as big a force as they have been on previous games:

Wayne Rooney

Wayne has continued to fall in standard over the last season or two, whether that is because of age, lack of motivation or being in need of a new challenge Rooney has certainly lost his charm slightly and we completely anticipate a fall in his skill levels come FM 2014.

Though he still scored a decent amount of goals last season he was often used much deeper than before to open up the position for RVP to take further forward.  Looking a shadow of his former-self Wayne has been attracting interest from other clubs and though he has said he didn’t hand in a transfer request, there is every chance he could be moving on to a lesser team than United.

David Silva

A year ago David Silva was regarded as one of the magical Spanish midfield, now he has lost his flair and lost his way slightly. Partially over taken in the pecking order by Pedro, Juan Matta and Jesus Navas Silva is no longer one of the first names on the team-sheet of Vicente Del Bosque’s team.

David will no doubt still be a very good player but he has certainly dropped in stature over the past season and we fully expect that to be correlated in his stats for the next game.

Vincent Kompany

In the same way David Silva was a modern great this time last year Vincent Kompany was seen as unflappable, perhaps the top defender in the world at the time. But towards the end of the season this previously solid defender started to show cracks in his armour, started making mistakes and was often overshadowed by Nastasic.

With Matija set to be upgraded, Kompany may well have some competition in next years FM for a starting place amongst die-hard FM fans.

In recent seasons on the game Kompany has been making a ludicrous amount of mistakes, is this a sign that in the recent patches the developers have already decided his fate?

Thomas Vermaelen

Captaincy hit Thomas hard, he struggled and buckled under the pressure of being the clubs leader and this lead to some rather shocking performances on the pitch, this soon lead to him being dropped from the team and no doubt from his captaincy role come the new season.

Though he may return to his former self he barely pulled on the Arsenal shirt towards the end of the season and they looked much better for it, he is surely going to be given a penalty for this lack of game-time, composure and unreliability.

Luis Suarez

A controversial choice as he has probably just had his best season in his career, but for us and the FM developers it must be about time that he was labelled as a liability.

His on and off the field actions are not marks of a superstar player and I suspect that his levels of aggression, composure and concentration will be adjusted dramatically to encourage this type of irrational play on the game.

For us Suarez is no longer a top-player, though he will no doubt be sold to a massive club, his qualities on the pitch do not overshadow his ability to cause controversy on it.

Lucas Leiva

For a few seasons now Lucas Leiva has been less than impressive on the pitch and is constantly suffering with injuries and yet on the game he has consistently been one of the best DMC’s there is. It’s time this changed, he does not deserve to be labelled with such qualities.

Shinji Kagawa

A lot was expected from Shinji when he signed for United, a great talent and a very skilful player indeed but in his debut season he barely did anything more than Ji Sung Park ever did, only without his work rate.

Often described as another way for United to increase their revenues from Asia Kagawa has a lot to prove, but I do imagine he will get more game time this season, he matches the type of mould that Moyes’ likes, for the same reason I see Nani getting less time which will help Shinji.

He was long a good signing on FM and was regarded as a great signing by many this time last year but it hasn’t come to fruition and we think he will be no more than an average attacking midfielder when the game comes out.

Sandro

Like Leiva, Sandro has long been an FM favourite, he has long been an over-performing and overrated player on the game who contributed little in the real world. It’s about time he was lowered in standard.

There is no excuse for Sandro anymore, he’s been in the country for a few years and is yet to show the potential he once promised. If only he would spend as much time doing good stuff on the field as he does with his hair.

Wonderkids, Where Art Thou Wonderkids: 5 Predicted Stars

For me, one of the most exciting parts to any Football Manager instalment is trying to find and sign the latest batch of wonderkids, those super-human stars of the future that have been identified by the developers over the past 12 months so we’ve been testing our knowledge and have ear-marked a selection of  wonderkids that we think will be top-notch and available for all most Prem teams in the new game.

No 1. Lloyd Jones

Lloyd, touted by some as the next Alan Hansen, was signed by Liverpool from Plymouth for an initial £20k and has shone in the under-18′s and been a regular in the under-21 set up years before average.

Commanding in the air but graceful and comfortable in possession Lloyd was handed a squad number by Brendan Rogers for a game against Fulham last term and is widely expected to be promoted through the ranks quickly and make his debut before his 18th birthday this October.

Jones is sure to have caught the eye of the SI developers and could well be one of the game’s top youngsters.

No 2. Alen Halilovic

Dynamo Zagreb’s 16-year-old midfielder is already picking up attention from a host of top European teams with Spurs being the most recent.

Croatia’s youngest ever top-flight player Alen is fast breaking more records and is expected to be one of the top youngsters in the world in the coming years.

Grounded and talented the youngster could have his pick of clubs but has his mind firmly set on growing and doing what is best for his career.

Regularly compared to Luka Modric the youngster is confident on the ball, agile and very skilful. Though slightly light-weight he has the ability to step-aside the rough and tumble of the Premiership.

N0 3. Jordan Ibe

Another Liverpool youngster, this kid is quick and is of a similar mould to Raheem Stirling but with a more physical aspect to his game.

It has been said that Ibe may end up being positioned further forward in the future but is already plying his trade with regular appearances on the Liverpool bench and team towards the end of last season.

Jordan was not particularly recognised on FM 2013, but under the guise of the right manager he was capable of becoming a leading Prem winger and this is only going to get better come 2014.

No 4. Luke Shaw

Although already an awesome prospect and already very good on Football Manager 2013, he is sure to get a big move this summer and that will only increase his stock and profile.

I see him moving to Chelsea or Tottenham this summer with an outside chance of United, if not he will be an awesome signing for any top-flight club in FM 14.

A Premier League regular, Luke is progressing very well and is certainly an all-round left-back. Many have compared him to a young Ashley Cole but I think this boy could be better than that, take the athleticism of Cole, crossing ability of Baines and a more attacking minded Philipe Lahm and you get somewhere near the player Luke turns in to on FM 2013.

Lets hope that is portrayed in real-life too.

No 5. Wallace

After joining Fluminese at 11 years old this right back soon grew in to a cracking youngster and although he has already agreed a big move to Chelsea as part of the deal that took Deco the other way a few years ago, he could be potential loan signing for lower-league or bottom half Prem teams next term.

A fast, tricky and athletic right footed defender Wallace is very similar to Dani Alves but has already shown his ability to defend very early in his career, he has shown his class in the Under 17s for Brazil and is the first name on the team sheet with a full international call up believed to be not too far in the future.

Though a very raw player he is vastly superior in terms of strength over the Man Utd Da Silva twins and is expected to slot straight in to the Chelsea first team fold upon his arrival in England.

Though potentially not available for the first season on FM 2014, Wallace may be available for loan and those type of player is often available for purchase early on in their careers. He is well worth checking out, there isn’t many good right backs on FM 2013 or appearing on the world scene at the moment.

 Until next time

You may have guessed that we are massively excited about Football Manager 14, we love talking about it and if you do to give us your ideas to add to this post and we will get them mentioned.

For anyone who is keen to get their mits on the game through pre-order, Amazon are the official partner for SI on this so have a look here for the best price online.

Featured image thanks to https://www.facebook.com/SerbianFM

You don’t even know the best part yet, it’s all free, well next to free.

Let me tell you how I got to this, for the last few weeks I have been relentlessly loading up old FM saves, clicking space bar a few times than systematically getting bored and turning it off, this ain’t right, we need some fresh enthusiasm and I think I have the cure.

I just bought 5 awesome classic games online from Amazon (which by the way is far cheaper than anywhere online or off) and like a kid at Christmas I just can’t wait for the postman to come in the morning to drop them off, I got’em all for under a tenor including delivery, there’s some real classics here that are sure to sit in my collection for years to come.

For those who prefer playing on a PC/Mac

First up is the legendary Championship Manager 01/02, this has to be the most played game in football management game in history and for me has never been bettered.

Though compared to the previous release there wasn’t too many new features or additions apart from player masking being an optional extra, it was the gameplay itself that really got fans purring.

A game that is leaps and bounds above everything else for one reason alone, the balance between fun and football simulation was utter perfection and this alone set Championship Manager 01/02 apart from every other game in its class.

There was just enough ‘depth’ to the game and the right blend of tactical, transfer and skill was required to get through a season, which you could do at your own pace or super-fast if you wanted to hop through the years quickly.

For those who prefer a retro and no ‘faff’ management game, CM is by far the best instalment over the last 20 years and a must for every Football Manager fans’ collection.

You can get your hands on Championship Manager here from £1.65.

Next up is Football Manager 2005, what a game this was. With 158 divisions and 51 countries to choose from it was first game to also feature the media interaction element that is common-place in the more recent games.

Another awesome new feature of the 2005 version was the ability to start unemployed, this gave the user the ability to ‘play the field’ and possibly holiday for a number of days, months or seasons until the right job came up. Something that I thought really enhanced the options of the game.

Football Manager 2005 was the first FM to really have a smooth match engine, it was stripped right back and is a lot more predictable with dodgy players doing dodgy stuff and better players being more reliable from 4 yards.

You can get Football Manager 2005 from £0.71p here.

Console gamers

LMA Manager 2006 is the perfect accompaniment for the console gamer in need of a football management fix. Though the match engine and graphics are not on a par with its PC counterparts, they are plenty good enough for a console.

It’s retro feel coupled with a really cool menu system and a feature that I really liked in the ‘progression bar’, rather than seeing loads of arrows on FM you get one overall bar that shows the players progression in an easily manageable way makes this the best console option for those who like a pad in their hands.

Though the game didn’t get massively good reviews  these were because all were comparing it with FM on the PC, you simply can’t do that and for me this was massively unfair on this game, trust me its brilliant and will keep you entertained for hours.

You can buy LMA Manager 2006 here for 1p, yep that is one pence.

Second up for you console gamers is FA Premier League Football Manager 2000, though its available on PC and Playstation I reckon the console game is by far the better proposition.

LMA offers the player some awesome options and ways to build and manage your squad, think of all the players at the heights of their careers that you could sign, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, a young David Beckham?  That is enough to get the juices going and this is a great way of turning back the years and building a team that can only dream of bringing Wayne Rooney through the youth set up.

Like LMA Manager, this game is available from 1p, obviously you need to pay postage but that don’t count!

You can buy it here.

The Wildcard

I know it’s not really a ‘classic’ game yet but I had to throw this one in just for what it ‘meant’ to the Football Manager series, for me it is also the best FM since 2005 and one that I hope SI look into for the next release.

Football Manager 2011 is awesome, it just is, it’s the one that I spent the most time playing and one that has been lost by me in the transition from PC to Mac a few years ago, I just bought it, I cannot wait for this game, I will have a bear come next weekend when i smell, am pale and have no blood left in my fingers because this is going to be my life for the next week or more.

I can’t believe that its available on Amazon for £2.30, what a result.

Pretty much every review site out there gave this game a 9/10, most notably for its longevity and they are spot on.

For me the mix of classic old school players like Beckham, Ronaldinho and even the likes of Mark Viduka is a lure that I can’t resist, if you like Football Manager, any of the series, you have to own this game.

I feel like I just stole this game for £2.30 from here.

By my reckoning that’s 5 awesome games for a combined £4.68, what more could you want. I reckon that works out at less than 1p an hour for the enjoyment you will get out of all these, try going down the cinema with a chick for that!

I hope you enjoy the games, let me know if you buy them!

From all the football books that I read a year, below are my top 5 books that I think are a definite for all us Football Managers to help us improve our game.  These books range from gaining a better understanding of the beautiful game from tactics to player strops, speaking with the people who created Football Manager and FM’ers who have taken things a little too far.

1) Football Manager Stole My Life: 20 Years of Beautiful Obsession

This has got to be the top book every FM obsessed fan needs to read.  Not just to have a laugh at others misfortune, but just to remind us that there is actually a real footballing world out there no matter how good FM is.  This book is written by Iain Macintosh (a sports journalist in Singapore), Kenny Millar (sports writer for The Sunday Post and not the ex striker of Celtic and Rangers) and Neil White.

The book goes into details about Nostalgia, Inspirational stories, and failed FM world beaters who never made it in the real world.  These stories range from a boy taking full use of his parents going on holiday and hooking his laptop up to the big screen TV, to Tonton Moukoko getting calls to this day from avid fans asking him where it all went wrong, and an FM addict is put on the psychologists coach to discover what 20 years as a virtual football manager has done to him.  These are just a handful of some of the funny stories which are within this book.

2) FC Barcelona – A Tactical Analysis: Defending

“If you never concede a goal, you’re going to win more games than you lose” – Bobby Moore.  There has never been a truer word spoken and is exactly what this book is for.  What better team to base your defensive tactics on than Barcelona who went 30 home league games unbeaten during the 2010/11 season.

Pep Guardiola’s blue print to get Barcelona so tight defensively was so good, that it didn’t matter who took over from him when he left, it’s legacy still worked without much effort or changes having to be made by the new gaffer.

This book goes into detail about what defensive tactics Barcelona use and could be used by you for your own FM team or potentially against Barca when you next come up against them.

3) Set Plays: Organizing and Coaching Dead Ball Situations

A slightly older book which was published back in April 2005.  It is still worth a read though as it takes an in-depth look at the single most important aspect of scoring and preventing goals from dead ball situations such as Free kicks, Kick-offs, Goal kicks and Corners.

Good set-pieces can be the difference between no points, one point or three. Taking advantage of the numerous dead-ball situations within FM which occur in matches can work massively to your benefit and by reading this book.  We would all love a Steven Gerrard or Gareth Bale in our team to score a direct free kick, but what do we do with indirect free kicks?  This book can certainly give you plenty of food for thought to how we set up our team in the different situations.

4) Coaching Soccer: Match Strategy and Tactics

Match coaching is often overlooked in football coaching in favour of drills and training methods. This book tackles the tough task of preparing for, executing, and analysing the match.  Sometimes it is not always about putting out your best players but instead trying to outfox your opponent.  To do this, you have to send your scout out the week before to compile a report on how they play.  However, this is only the first stage of operation hoodwink.  It’s all well and good having this information, but what does it mean?!  This book is perfect for that to help you understand the match strategies and tactics used within the footballing world.  Once you understand these, coupled with the Barca defending tactics from the earlier book, the world is your oyster – easy!

Let’s read on and I wonder what book is next – yep, you guess it, attacking.

5) Attacking Soccer: Mastering the Modern Game

So by now, we have mastered the dead ball situations, understood the different strategies, and firmed up our defences.  All what is left to do now is score that all important goal.  This book helps football fans from around the world adore the offensive style of play based on fast passing combinations, spectacular dribbling, and the art of beautifully shot goals. The question regarding this style of game is how to coach your team to embrace fast attacking soccer.

This book is written by Peter Schreiner and Norbert Elgert, who are renowned German coaches who give their answers to the modern attacking game, including systematically approaches.  Every coach can easily shape his training programs with easy to use exercises, but is what you are doing making any differences come match day.  This book should help with making sure you are putting your players through the correct attacking exercises and hopefully bring the end of those dreaded goalscoring drought messages that I get all to frequently.

There is one final book to consider, it isn’t out yet but looks a real treat and you can actually pre-order it now.

The Manager: Inside the Minds of Football’s Leaders

This book is due for release on 29th August 2013.  The book goes into detail on all aspects within the footballing world from the post room to the boot room.  With all the big billionaire owners coming over and running the British clubs more as a business than a hobby, working there must just be like working for a FTSE 100 company.

All stories come from some of the 30 biggest names in the game.  If for nothing else, you will learn real life lessons of what these managers have learnt along their way and what methods they have used.  Could help with those tricky FM team talks or handling the media minefield.

Don’t just put these on your ‘to read’ list and stare at the titles thoughtfully every now and then. Go out, buy them, and then read them and hopefully (like me), it will whet your appetite ready for FM14.  After all, until FM14 is out, what else do you have to do!

If you found this article interesting, why not read our other article about 5 Must Own Classic Football Manager Games for £4.68.

Our e-book guide to winning penalties is exactly the answer, it shows you exactly how to win every penalty shootout, in testing we have won over 99.7% of shootouts and now you can get your hands on this 100% unique guide. It isn’t a cheat, it isn’t editing, it’s a sure-fire strategy that has won us thousands of penalty shootouts in the last decade of Football Manager. The 185th person to download our e-book, Joe ‘Sepherson’ Williams had this to say about it: Hey Danny/FM team,

Sorry to bother you but I wanted to say thanks for publishing this penalties ebook, you don’t know how frustrated FM gets me sometimes, especially penalties, actually punched my screen a few years ago and knocked it off the desk! Lols, mum was not happy. Anyway, in the last week I have had 3 penalty shootouts (I go through seasons mad quick on classic) and have won all of them, I know its a small number so far but I am yet to miss a penalty going on your strategy. Tbh I wasn’t going to buy it as some guy in a forum told me it would be s*** and “couldn’t have any different info in it”. he couldn’t have been more wrong, obviously I won’t tell him that, need to keep my new ‘edge’ a secret. Never lose a penalty shootout again for the price of a ice cream, bargain! Thanks guys, would love to see another book!

We are really chuffed with the feedback that we have so far, so we are going to extend the introductory offer on the e-book, for the next 14 days it will be available for £1.99, it really is a bargain and the details in there are 100% unique. We even offer a 60 day money back guarantee (no-one has requested that so far) for anyone who has seen the information contained in the e-book anywhere online. There is loads more info on the e-book here, or you can buy it through Paypal using the button below.



Ok, granted, all the best free transfer players might have been snapped up by the time the game comes out.  Also, some on the list below might not actually be interested in dropping down to the Championship but you never know what might happen over the next two and a bit months.  However, maybe this could be a potential change to the game SI could make.  Giving us the option of starting the game from two different player databases.  The options being you can start the game with either the squad your team ended with at the end of last season or with the squad including all the signings they made during the pre-season just gone (as you do now).  This would mean any Tottenham fans starting a game on FM13, would of been able to start the game before Adebayor signed permanently.  For other potential game improvements, have a look at our wishlist blog.

Anyway, free transfers – this list of players was correct at the time this article was written including players who have either already been released or had been offered a new contract.

Goalkeepers

Craig Gordon

The one time record breaking goalkeeper hasn’t played over the last season due to injury and is helping coach somewhere up in Scotland.  Rumour has it, he is looking for a new club – could be worth a punt.

Lee Camp

Released by Norwich after only 6 months and playing 1 game for them during that period.  A couple of seasons ago, he was rumoured to be the best keeper outside of the Premier League.  At only 28, could still do a job in the Championship.

Other Goalkeeping options are…

Lukasz Fabianski, Ross Turnbull, Adriano Basso

Defenders

Titus Bramble

Now depending on who you are, some of you might think Titus is an absolute donkey, but Titus I think would be a very good Championship footballer – you might just have to replace him if/when you get promoted.

Richard Dunne

Spent most of last season injured at Aston Villa and isn’t getting any younger.  Still an International player though and scores his fair share of goals each season from defence.

Other defending options are….

Wayne Bridge, Nicky Shorey, Gonzalo Jara, Jon Hartley, Elliott Ward, William Gallas

Midfielders

Simon Davies

Spent last season playing at Fulham and is rumoured to be going Cardiff but with them potentially losing their manager, could end up playing in the Championship next season.

Simone Perrotta

Italian world cup winning midfielder who is out of contract at AS Roma.  At the age of 35, I cannot see any premiership teams taking a chance on him so maybe open to a move to a Championship team (after all, he was born in Ashford-under-Lyme).

Other midfielding options are….

Tiago, Mathieu Flamini, Joaquin, Yossi Benayoun, Phil Neville, Zoltan Gera, Florent Malouda, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Andrey Arshavin, Owen Hargreaves

Strikers

Carlton Cole

A big asset for any Championship team next season.  Didn’t quite cut it for West Ham last season and is the reason behind them letting him go.  A big powerful front man who knows where the back of the net is.

Mido

On loan at Barnsley last season and only managed 1 goal – could be worth a punt to draw the crowds in and make some shirt sales money.

Other striking options are….

Louis Saha, Javier Saviola, Heider Helguson, Jay Simpson

If  we also had the ability to be able to tempt players back out of retirement to help clubs out, it might of been worth asking Michael Owen or Nwankwo Kanu if they fancied a game (although the likes of Championship side Yeovil succeeding in doing this would have been very slim!).

I am sure there are plenty of other decent players on free transfers out there which I have missed so if you know of any, let us know here at footballmanager2014.