FM Challenge: Can You Make England Great Again?

I'm setting you an FM 2016 challenge: Win the Euros and the World Cup with England.

For a long while now, England have been billed as the world's biggest 'under-achievers'. Year after year, tournament after tournament, we hear journalist prattle on about their failure to live up to expectations... but - given that they haven't won a major tournament since 1966 - a great truth has dawned upon me... England aren't under-achieving, the media are over-expecting.

With that in mind, I'm setting you an FM 2016 challenge: Win the Euros and the World Cup with England, turning them into the international superpower so many believe the already are. It's a doable, yet tricky task, and one I'll be undertaking myself over the coming weeks.

So, without further ado, let's get started. I've decided to start my game as the current England manager, Roy Hodgson, that of course means building a profile:

There he is, good old Roy - perhaps with slightly thicker hair than normal - but, overall, not a bad effort. Fortunately, the English FA aren't quite as ambitious as the real-life media and we've been given the aim of qualifying for the Group Stage of the Euro's - considering we can potentially do that with just one win - it should be easy enough.

Next, let's have a look at the staff.

Making Proper Use

People like Ray Lewington and David Watson are very, very good coaches to have around, however, the most important man here is probably Gareth Southgate. The youth system is going to be key facet and he's the right man to keep it all in check, so make sure you use his U21 squad appropriately.

Just days ago, I heard Robbie Savage claim that Marcus Rashford should be in the England squad... a statement which sums up the broken thought process of many England supporters. We over-hype youngsters to a point were they believe they're the next big thing - thus leading them down a path which will most likely see them self-implode. You'll have to be careful to give youngsters - John Stones, Harry Kane etc. - a chance, without relying too heavily on their skills; potentially tarnishing their development.

The Squad  

The squad is a pretty strong base to build upon, however, there are a lot of injuries upon starting - with Leighton Baines, Jordan Henderson, Danny Welbeck, Fraser Forster, Ben Foster, Daniel Sturridge, Jack Wilshere, Fabian Delph and Phil Jones all struggling - so make sure you're keeping an eye on potential back-up players you can pull into the squad if needs must.

As always, you should be building the team around 4 key players; a goalkeeper, a defender, a midfielder and a striker. Joe Hart, Gary Cahill, Jordan Henderson and Wayne Rooney are the obvious candidates. If you opt, instead, for players like Daniel Sturridge or Harry Kane, be wary of Sturridge's high-risk of injury and Kane's lack of experience.

You're now all set to get started. I'll be posting my challenge progress here, so make sure to stay tuned and, until next time, enjoy playing FM 2016!