{"id":549340,"date":"2020-04-11T09:52:37","date_gmt":"2020-04-11T13:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=549340"},"modified":"2020-04-11T09:52:37","modified_gmt":"2020-04-11T13:52:37","slug":"football-manager-fans-best-championship-xi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/04\/11\/football-manager-fans-best-championship-xi\/","title":{"rendered":"Football Manager Fans\u2019 Best Championship XI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With no real football to watch or play right now, Football Manager has seen a surge in players.<\/p>\n<p>The computer game offered a free fortnight period last month with over 800 thousand users playing.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Football Manager has shown us which EFL Championship players are the top picks for FM fans based on in-game stats.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">What a team \ud83d\udd25<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#EFL<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FootballManager?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@FootballManager<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BfSkHwUtJT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/BfSkHwUtJT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SkyBetChamp\/status\/1248309703630819331?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 9, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Football Manager Fans\u2019 Best Championship XI<\/h2>\n<h3>In the Sticks<\/h3>\n<p>FM fans have gone for Leeds United&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/58bc7d18\/Kiko-Casilla\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kiko Casilla<\/a> in between the posts &#8211; his experience at the highest level with the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/real-madrid\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Real Madrid<\/a> make him a shoo-in.<\/p>\n<p>Casilla is currently serving part of an <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/2020\/02\/28\/leeds-united-goalkeeper-kiko-casilla-banned-for-eight-games-over-racial-abuse\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">eight-match ban for racial abuse<\/a> during a game last September.<\/p>\n<h3>The Defence<\/h3>\n<p>In front of Casilla lies a partnership of <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/25f50295\/Mike-van-der-Hoorn\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike van der Hoorn<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/172e52d8\/Pontus-Jansson\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pontus Jansson<\/a> &#8211; two defenders with evident quality.<\/p>\n<p>A former Ajax player, van der Hoorn&#8217;s physical ability makes him a great choice as that ball-playing defender alongside the powerful swede in Jansson.<\/p>\n<p>Hot prospect <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/ae5019e6\/Jayden-Bogle\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayden Bogle<\/a> takes the right-back spot, his pace and dribbling make him an ideal attacking wing-back.<\/p>\n<p>On the other flank, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/cardiff-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cardiff City&#8217;s<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/dc936144\/Joe-Bennett\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Bennett<\/a> offers an experienced head alongside his industrious playing style.<\/p>\n<h3>Middle of the Park<\/h3>\n<p>Tom Cairney of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/fulham\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fulham<\/a> and Leeds United&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/4f565d77\/Kalvin-Phillips\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kalvin Phillips<\/a> make up a centre midfield pairing worthy of the Premier League.<\/p>\n<p>Cairney&#8217;s finishing and technique make him ideal for the deep-lying playmaker role.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst Phillips, aged just 23, has bags of potential and will surely be a player to build your team around for years to come.<\/p>\n<p>Out wide, Fulham&#8217;s Portuguese winger <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/979b811d\/Ivan-Cavaleiro\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ivan Cavaleiro<\/a> is another popular choice despite his hefty price-tag in-game.<\/p>\n<p>The ex-<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/wolves-club-analysis-news-fixtures\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wolverhampton Wanderers<\/a> man has netted six goals and provided seven assists for the Cottagers this season.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s joined on the opposite flank by in-form winger <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/5a04fd92\/Said-Benrahma\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Said Benrahma<\/a> &#8211; the Algerian has scored 10 goals from the wing this season and has been <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/2019\/12\/23\/aston-villa-dealt-transfer-blow-in-chase-of-brentford-star-said-benrahma\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">on the radar of some big clubs too<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The 24-year-old&#8217;s skilful style and flair make him an inviting choice for some FM fans.<\/p>\n<h3>The Attack<\/h3>\n<p>Playing in the number 10 role is England&#8217;s all-time leading goalscorer <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/f07be45a\/Wayne-Rooney\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wayne Rooney<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>With his abundance of talent and experience at the highest level of the game, it&#8217;s no surprise the Derby County man is smashing it in the Championship in-game.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, leading the line is Serbian danger-man <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/3925dbd6\/Aleksandar-Mitrovic\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aleksandar Mitrovic<\/a> of Fulham.<\/p>\n<p>He has scored 23 goals so far this campaign, the league&#8217;s best, making up 44 per cent of Fulham&#8217;s goals, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whoscored.com\/Regions\/252\/Tournaments\/7\/Seasons\/7840\/Stages\/17629\/Show\/England-Championship-2019-2020\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WhoScored.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>His strength and finishing make him impossible for defenders to handle and the ideal talisman up top for any FM player.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"bz_NkdmVQoFlgRKuHaFnbQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1197171749\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'bz_NkdmVQoFlgRKuHaFnbQ',sig:'XbG-cLLY5ARSNCdpDdbXz_b-Z6TpO9ny4uzHjhkFljU=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1197171749',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With no real football to watch or play right now, Football Manager has seen a surge in players. The computer game offered a free fortnight period last month with over 800 thousand users playing. Now, Football Manager has shown us which EFL Championship players are the top picks for FM fans based on in-game stats. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3325,"featured_media":549386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,33,2],"tags":[4906,168,5259,925,136],"class_list":["post-549340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-league-football","category-championship","category-featured","tag-coronavirus","tag-efl","tag-football-manager","tag-sky-bet-championship","tag-world-football"],"modified_by":"Ben Robinson, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3325"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}