Soccermanagerite: “Damn, it’s sure been a minute since I’ve read a new episode of the S.M.B…”
Back when we’re needed most, aren’t we? 😉
As you Soccermanagerites should already know by now, we love a series over here! 🔥 And therefore it brings us the utmost joy to produce this mini series which is the equivalent of a Drake dropping a ‘Scary Hours 2 or 3’ which basically means that these upcoming episodes are certified BANGERS!
As everyone should have already been aware of, there’s been quite a few changes that have occured between today’s episode and our previous one within the Soccermanagerverse. SMW has received a much wanted update but the consensus is that these updates are acclaimed to be not good since some Managers have chosen the route of boycotting SM altogether… We’re here to let you know that we will NOT be one of these boycotters since we firmly believe in the spirit of handling changes via the use of resiliency and persistence! (🙌). And this series in particular is a fan favorite so why the 🤬 would we leave when all the fun stuff is just getting started?!
Anywho, onwards to the main part of today’s episode! 🥅 🏃 💨
SMW has produced some new players who have been granted the opportunity to now consider themselves a ‘SMW Superstar’. We hope you haven’t been living under a rock since an ‘SMW Supertar’ is a player who currently has a rating between 94-99, and in this mini pack there are 5 players in particular who have recently joined the “World Class Exclusive Club”, with our first member being the German stalwart who loves defending so much that he just might threaten to kill you on the pitch (just kidding, please don’t sue us).
PLAYER BIO
Born in Berlin, Toni started his career at Stuttgart but didn’t quite fit the technical mold of most German defenders so decided at a young age to venture to foreign shores and ended up in Italy where he represented Serie A team AS Roma and made a name for himself as the current aggressive (and often considered crazy) style of D(C) that he is today. He then signed for Chelsea where he continued his aggressive nature which led to him winning major accolades like the Champions League and the FA Cup. As we all should know by now, Rüdiger is representing arguably the strongest team in the world where he is one of the leaders on and outside of the pitch. Come to think of it, Real Madrid’s best XI has 7 freaking SMW Superstars as well as Carvajal, Rodrygo, and Tchouameni all being rated ‘93′!!!😳
BEST ROLES
If you remember anything about this series you’d know that our emphasis is to identify the best player roles, teammates, and formations that will benefit the Superstar in question. Unfortunately, there are a few knobheads with a belief that we shouldn’t be incorporating the player roles from SM24 or 25 into SMW since they’re stating that our game is nothing but a “match engine that automatically simulates every encounter“, but we’re not about the life of letting anyone ruin our love for the tactical aspect of SMW due to some unimaginative folks who have lost their spark for the beautiful game.
Rüdiger is and will always be a specialized ‘Stopper’ who is simply all about making it as challenging as he possibly can for his forward opponents that aim to get a sniff in on goal… During his final 2 seasons at Chelsea, SM21 and 22 claimed that Toni was a ‘General Defender’, but it’s safe to say that he is all about defending and nothing more in 2024Each image from today’s episode will display Toni’s best role in various formations, and this one in particular is what you should be aiming to do if you are playing Toni in a back 4 formation with a 2 man Central Midfield in front of him… Due to his superb athleticism, Toni doesn’t necessarily need to be played within a back 3, but we know that some Managers adore the back 3 formations within SMW, so here is Rüdiger being played in extaclty that. One thing we’d like to comment on is the fact that we would’ve placed him on either the right or left of this back 3 formation since he is so physically imposing, but Rüdiger also possesses great leadership in order to play in the center, albeit not being the best when it comes to having the ball at his feetHere we have Toni yet again being placed in a back 3 type formation in what looks like a ‘3-4’ formational configuration…
HOW TO BEST USE HIM
In every episode we will identify which role and formation will be the best to get the utmost out of our World Class player in question, and Antonio Rüdiger undoubtedly will thrive in his role as a ‘Stopper’ playing in either a formation with a 3 man midfield or a 2 man one. It is essential to get players like Rüdiger actively engaged while defending, so you could potentially take some risks with your player acquisition for your various teams
WHO ARE THE BEST TEAMMATES
One of the best things about specialists roles within SMW (‘Stopper’, ‘Ball Winning Midfielder’, ‘Classic No.10’, etc) is that they are known for being amazing at a few traits which means that it is simpler to identify who would be the best teammates to play around them (since we should always seek to play to the strengths of our world class players within SMW). In Toni’s case (The Centerback, not the Midfielder), he’ll benefit from having a ‘Ball Playing Defender’ next to him who will take almost all of the responsibility of ball progression. We’ll also need a ‘Playmaker’ within the middle of the park who will also assist in getting the team ticking via his creative prowessThe same thing goes for choosing Rüdiger in a more attackingly biased formation such as the 4-2-4 since he will come even more alive causing him to use his aggressive nature to overcome the disadvantages of said formation… In a back 3, the key will be to have players around Rüdiger who can do the work of progressing the ball and creating chances for their teammates in order to simply allow the German just to focus on his positioning in order to prepare for an opposition’s in possession transition and instruct his teammates on where to be at all times throughout a match It’s a similar story in the 3-4-3 although you might consider playing a ‘Playmaker’ with good lung capacity, but we must admit that Toni (the Midfielder, not the Centerback) could’ve done more than a solid job for this team
Antonio Rüdiger has had to deal with lots of rejection in order to get to where he currently is today. From being rejected by Stuttgart for not being good enough on the ball to being ostracized by Frank Lampard during his time at Chelsea, Rüdiger is a true definition of staying true to your strengths as a player while keeping your head down and doing the tedious, quite often thankless work. It’s safe to say that he’s probably getting many a thank you’s from his teammates and fan base for his consistent displays in the modern game.
Up next, we head to Italy to check out a player whom many are still surprised made it into the ‘SMW Superstars club’…
The Soccermanager Experience 