Once deemed a role for ‘foreign types’ and ‘not proper football men’, the Director of Football is a key appointment at any forward-thinking club. While you might be playing a game where you are quite literally the football manager of a club, you are not the most important person at the club.
Once deemed a role for ‘foreign types’ and ‘not proper football men’, the Director of Football is a key appointment at any forward-thinking club. While you might be playing a game where you are quite literally the football manager of a club, you are not the most important person at the club. That role, at most clubs, goes to the good old DoF.
Take the above picture, showing you Igli Tare. The Albanian has been a major part in turning around the consensus around how transformative a DoF can be at a club. He’s one of the best men in his role in the world and is easily seen as one of the top names in the position due to his eye for a player at a good price who can then be developed. Look at where Lazio are in 2020, and tell us that the former Albanian has not been transformative in his 12 years at the helm?
But what actually matters when hiring a Director of Football? Let’s take a look at what we think are some of the most vital stats that matter when hiring your next DoF.
Good league knowledge
First off, hiring a DoF with no prior knowledge of your league or its language is a silly thing to do. Make sure you hire someone who knows where you are operating. This helps to know that they are on the same page as you with regards to making intelligent decisions about the kind of players that you need.
Just like in real life, hiring someone with no real knowledge of the league can lead to them making some pretty wild suggestions. FM has a lot of nationalities that simply do not settle well in some nations, so having a DoF who ‘gets’ that is vital.
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Judging Players
When you go to look at a DoF, you will notice three major highlighted stats like the above image. They are Judging Player Ability, Judging Player Potential and Negotiating. All three are major parts of a good Director of Football.
Typically, focus on the second stat the most. We can all make a blunder about how good a player is today, but you want a director who can work with scouts to find a player with great long-term potential. As we can see above, too, negotiating matters. If you don’t do all of your deals on your own and let your DoF handle the budget, making sure they can get you a good deal is very, very important.
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A similar tactical remit
When you look at any coach or staff member in FM2020, you can find out their preferred playing style, formation, and general attitude on the game. Naturally, bringing a Director who is all about possession football in a 4-3-3 when you normally play an aggressive 3-5-2 might lead to some mismatches on the players he targets and bids for.
Naturally, you should be looking for someone who at least has the same football ideal as you. You can find this all on their page, both through the Overview section and the Information page. Making sure you hire someone with similar personality traits and football views as you will make it much more likely that you have a positive, harmonious relationship.
Who will you target as your next major Director of Football, then?
READ ALSO: Best Backroom Staff to hire in Football Manager 2020
