7 Tips for Winning Leagues in Championship Manager 01/02

Championship Manager 01/02 is a legendary football (or soccer) management game that retains a considerable fan base. It might not include a fancy 3D match engine, but for many fans this is the greatest game of its series that most of the more recent Football Manager titles have not eclipsed. This is a footie management game that gets the balance between realistic simulation and accessibility just right. Winning leagues in Championship Manager strikes that balance, as well.
 
Today, Championship Manager 01/02 is freely available at the Champman 01/02 website (or forum), which keeps the game alive with updates. The download is an ISO file that you’ll need to burn to a blank CD. The Champman site includes a video that provides further details for installing the game without a disc. 
 
Championship Manager might seem a little daunting when you first start playing. So it’s better to start with a big club with more substantial resources. Winning leagues and cups is, of course, the name of the game. Here are a few tips for winning leagues in Championship Manager 01/02.

1) Rotate Your Squad for League and Cup Football 

If the league is your priority, rest your best players in cup fixtures. That will ensure your first eleven is fresher for the league games. Thus, you might finish the season with a few more points by keeping your best players 90-100% fit for most league matches. Remember that the difference between winning leagues or finishing second can just be a matter of 2-3 points.

2) Select the 4-1-3-2 Formation

There are lots of team formations to select from in Championship Manager 01/02. The formation, or playing system, will make a big difference to your team’s title chances. The 4-1-3-2 is among the best formations in Championship Manager that you can win loads of trophies with. That is a formation with a flat back four, one defensive midfield player, three central midfielders and two forwards. The formation does not include wingers, but the fullbacks can make forward runs to provide more width for the team.

You should make a few minor adjustments to the 4-1-3-2 formation. First, configure the formation’s defensive midfielder position so that he does not make forward runs. Then the defensive midfielder will provide more cover for the defense. Instruct both the central defenders to man mark players. In addition, instruct both the fullbacks to cross the ball so that they support the forwards more.

3) Add Tsikalgo to Your Team

Maxim Tsikalgo is probably the most prolific goal-scoring player in Championship Manager 01/02. He is a striker who plays for Dinamo Minsk, and you’ll have a much better chance of winning leagues with Tsikalgo banging in the goals for your team. This is the sort of striker who scores almost a goal a game. Tsikalgo is a clinical striker with blistering pace who has high ratings for finishing, pace, acceleration, balance, flair, jumping and technique. Lots of clubs can sign him as he’s a young player with a 625K transfer value.

4) Make the Most of Scouts

Scouts can find you plenty of decent players playing in lower leagues. As such, your scouting network will unearth some great bargains for you to sign. Assign your scouts to Eastern European and Scandinavian leagues where there are plenty of quality bargain players to be snapped up. You’ll also need to assign scouts to some players to show you all their attribute ratings, which are otherwise masked out with attribute masking. So scouts are pretty essential for winning leagues in Championship Manager.

5) Don’t Select Players who are Less Than 80% Match fit

Players don’t play so well when they’re tired. As such, you need to keep your team fresh to win leagues. So make sure all the players selected for a league match have condition ratings higher than 80%. If you have a few first choice players less than 80% match fit, it’s better to leave them out of a few games to restore them to 100% as quickly as possible.

6) Utilize the Compare Player Option

Championship Manager 01/02 includes a Compare Players option on its Action menu. When signing players, it’s not always easy to tell which ones will be the better additions to your side. However, the Compare Players option will compare two selected players’ attribute ratings and tell you which one is the best for alternative positions. So the Compare Players option is invaluable for signing players.

7) Include About 22 Players in Your Squad

Remember that squads, not just your first team, win leagues. You’ll need a replacement squad player for each of your team’s positions. Squads of 15 or 16 players will be too small to win leagues. The ideal number of players for a squad is 22 with 11 players to replace each position in your first team. Many players can play in multiple positions, so you probably won’t ever need more than 22 players. However, don’t include many more than 22 players in your squad as that will reduce your club’s transfer budget.
 
Those tips will boost your team’s chances of title glory. Now you can take on Ferguson, Wenger, Capello, del Bosque and co for the league titles in Championship Manager 01/02!