Football Manager 2018: 10 Challenging Teams You Will Need To Use
1. AS Saint-Etienne
In strictly numerical terms, Saint-Etienne are the most successful team in Ligue 1 history. They’ve won 10 domestic titles throughout their glittering history, and were considered among Europe’s biggest clubs in the 1970s, having finished as runners-up in the 1975/76 European Cup. Success has been hard to come by in recent years, however, with ASSE’s last piece of major silverware coming in 1981.
Marseille provide a similar ‘sleeping giant’ challenge, but St-Etienne will be a tougher game. The club’s squad is solid, but isn’t half as talent-rich as Marseille’s, and a modest transfer budget will make breaking the Monaco/PSG duopoly an imposing task.
Given that France’s new ‘big two’ can essentially buy their way to success every season, you’ll need to rely on smart coaching to get by. Investing in youth, improved facilities, and a broader scouting network should pay dividends, but if you can keep the squad’s talented core from jumping ship to the money men, you’ve got a fighting chance.
St-Etienne are a historic club, and one deeply rooted in tradition: their golden era is becoming a distant memory, and their resurgence is overdue.