Let's get the shameful business out of the way first. Every year on Football Manager, I choose to manage Manchester United. United - or, ahem, Man UFC - are the team I support here in the real world, and that's about as far as my thought process goes when starting up a new FM save. There are two philosophies, basically: the fashionable, hipster choice of managing somewhere a little trendy, a little half-step out of the limelight, an AS Saint-Étienne, maybe, or for a greater challenge someone like AFC Wimbledon or your local ultra-underdogs of choice; or, you manage the team you support. There is technically a third way which we don't speak about (PSG), but broadly speaking, those are your options.
The reason I like Manchester United is because they straddle a bit of both. I know the club inside out, I'm desperate for us to win and loathe to see City win the race for another five attacking midfielders ahead of us, and frankly I just like having all my dreams fulfilled. At the same time Manchester United is a god awful mess of a club, and it brings me immeasurable joy to step into the breach every year and be the hero who comes and fixes it. So, like I said, best of both: favourite-team fantasy plus the pleasure of mending that which is fundamentally broken.
Where does Football Manager 2022 come in? Well, this year more than any other year before it has truly captured the experience of modern football management at the very top of the game. To both my immense joy and my not-insignificant anguish, playing FM22 makes me feel exactly like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.