Swedish manager Freja Holm was back on the job hunt after a successful 12 months in Japan, leading Urawa Reds to their first league title in 11 years. That added the Japanese title to the two in Italy, as Holm looked to tick off all 11 playable nations in Football Manager 26.
Upon standing down, there weren’t too many options available, but the few that were introduced us to a major bug in the women’s side of FM26: Australian clubs don’t hire new managers. For example, six of the A-League sides don’t have a manager, and several have had vacancies for over three years. And, when Holm applied, she was instantly informed that the “interview process was over.” So, essentially, managing in Australia will be impossible. Additionally, none of the “big” women’s sides – Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid – have sacked their managers during this save. PSG only had a change because their boss retired in 2029 and Bayern only did as their manager departed for Man City the same year. In short, this challenge might be difficult to complete.
A couple of weeks passed by with no movement until a German side’s manager retired. Holm applied and was swiftly invited for an interview and offered the only realistic vacancy available (and there were only 6 available in total).
Who Are RB Leipzig Women?
RB Leipzig is a professional women’s football club that was founded in 2016. The club initially planned to partner with fourth-tier side Leipziger FC 07 but, just as the 2016/17 campaign was about to kick off, the partnership collapsed and RB Leipzig continued independently. It recruited local players and swiftly rose through the ranks – garnering criticism from other clubs on the way – to reach Frauen-Bundesliga in 2023.
The club finished 8th in its first two seasons in the top tier and stabilised through this save, never finishing above 5th but never below 9th in the 14-team league. Bayern and Wolfsburg remain the dominant forces in German football, with Bayern winning the last two, Wolfsburg winning the two prior to that, and Bayern winning seven in a row between 2023 and 2029.
Unsurprisingly, Holm walks into a club that’s struggling financially with minus £3m in the bank, only £100k to spend and £1,600 over a wage budget of £21k. Leipzig play at the 2,050-capacity RB Leizpig Trainingszentrum, which was built in 2015 and has great training and youth facilities and excellent academy coaching and youth recruitment.
She released eight players to at least get the wage budget back in the black. She was forced to sell the club’s best two players, who both wanted Champions League football and refused to sign new contracts, to Aston Villa and Atlético for a combined £1m and then striker Janina Wenzel to Guingamp for £400k. And six more players left for an additional profit of £300k.
The best players remaining were winger Lisa Baum, Argentina international midfielder Daiana Fragapane, centre back Bente Fischer and winger Paula Comendador. They also had a promising youngster to look out for in Canadian striker Phoebe Pendlebury.
That left Holm with a threadbare squad, and she moved quickly to bolster it. She spent £55k on Calgary Wild midfielders Elisa Tampieri and Angélica Durán, £35k on Grasshoppers midfielder Anastaija Zlatanovic and £40k on goalkeeper Leah Sandnes Olsen from Rosenborg. She also snapped up attacker Lucía and 19-year-old Precious Mmolotsi, who’ll retrain as a striker, on free transfers and loaned in Liverpool midfielder Fátima Guatemala and Fiorentina centre back Cabralzinho.
Holm wasn’t 100% sure which approach to take with the players available. She initially settled on a 4-2-3-1 that allowed Fragapane to play in her natural position and took advantage of their strong wingers.
Getting Started In Germany
The bookies have Leipzig as fourth favourites to win Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga with title odds of 50/1. Holders Bayern are 1/10 favourites, followed by Wolfsburg (17/2), Hoffenheim (20/1), Eintracht Frankfurt and Union Berlin (100/1) and Werder Bremen (150/1).
Holm’s Leipzig reign began with the toughest test possible, a trip to Bayern, which started predictably as the hosts scored their first shot. Leipzig responded well and levelled through good play by Comendador, but abysmal defending led to them conceding twice after the break before the keeper let a tame header float over her head. And a 4-1 defeat felt a touch harsh. Holm’s first game at RB Leipzig Trainingszentrum also wasn’t easy as they entertained Frankfurt. But they were much improved with early Fragapane and Baum strikes, before Fragapane wrapped it up from a corner.
Baum earned a solid 2-0 win at Essen before Zlatanovic’s second-half strike edged a 1-0 win at home to Wolfsburg, whose team was heavily rotated after a Champions League game. A couple of draws were followed by a disappointing 4-2 defeat at Koln, who surprisingly topped the table after 7 games, and a 2-1 loss at Stuttgart, in which Pendlebury scored her first goal. And that was followed by a really poor 3-2 defeat at Carl Zeiss Jena in the German Cup, which the board really wasn’t happy with.
That goal gave Pendleburg a boost, as she bagged consecutive doubles in a 5-1 thumping of Turbine Potsdam and a 3-0 win at Meppen. Abd Leipzig headed into the new year sitting in a comfortable 6th place, 10 points behind the leaders, albeit with two games in hand.
Another Sale Forces Youth Focus
Holm’s plans took a hit in January as Fragapane’s £300k release fee was triggered by San Diego. That forced the manager into a slight tactical tweak, dropping the AM back into a central midfield role.
2036 began with Pendlebury earning a point at Freiburg before scoring again in a frustrating 3-2 defeat at home to Bayern, in which Leipzig had 20 shots to 15. The Canadian got the opener in a 2-1 win at Frankfurt before Baum’s brace earned a 3-0 win at home to Eppen. But a decent run of form ended with a 2-1 defeat at Wolfsburg. But another Pendlebury double in a 3-2 win at Werder Bremen lifted Leipzig up to 3rd, albeit 11 points back from leaders Wolfsburg.
Baum ensured they got revenge on Koln, who’d massively dropped off to fall to 7th, with her hat trick leading a 5-0 thumping. Comendador’s late goal nicked a 3-2 win at home to Stuttgart, leaving Leipzig fairly comfortable in 3rd, 5 points clear of Hoffenheim going into the final four games. However, a 4-2 defeat at Potsdam made the last few games interesting.
Leipzig completely dominated Meppen but missed a mass of chances before Pendlebury and Zlatanovic strikes either side of halftime… only to ridiculously concede from a hoof over the top. But a 2-1 win confirmed 3rd place and, as a result, the highest finish in club history.
Leipzig went on to lose at Union then thrash Freiburg on the final day. That secured a 3rd-place finish on 49 points, after 15 wins, 4 draws and 7 defeats, scoring 60 goals and conceding 34. That meant qualification for the Champions League, but they finished well behind the big two of Wolfsburg and Bayern. Baum was the league’s seventh top scorer with 15 in 26 and had the most shots (108, 16 more than anyone else), and Pendlebury was 13th with 12 in 25. While Comendador and Baum were the second-best creative forces with 12 assists each, only 2 behind Bayern’s Cristina Librán, who’s officially the second-best player in the world.
Surprise Overachievement at Leipzig
Holm was delighted with her first season in Germany, leading Leipzig to their best ever league finish despite losing their best three players. However, despite those big sales, the club was still in a mess financially, having somehow lost money over the year – and the bank balance is now minus £3.8m. And, frankly, the finances in women’s football on FM26 are an absolute joke.
Baum was the star of the season, scoring 16 goals with a new club record 13 assists in 28 games. The promising Pendlebury also impressed with 12 goals and 4 assists in 26 games, along with Comendador (9 goals and 13 assists), Zlatanovic (6 goals and 2 assists) and left back Derin Demirdogen (7 assists).
Holm’s youth focus was boosted by a strong first academy intake at Leipzig. That was led by three elite talents in winger Maja Schaller and midfielders Selina Birkholz and Leni Andres, plus top talents centre back Julia Wisniewski and midfielder Anika Bartz.
The signs were bright at Leipzig, but Holm had her work cut out to try and get anywhere near the big two in Germany with extremely limited financial clout. But she was excited about the youthful potential at the club.
Could Leipzig push for the top two in 2036/37? And how would they get on in the Champions League? Join us on Monday to find out!
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