This is post eight of a wider series. A series for FM22.
“Those who had to earn power are replaced by those who have known nothing else.”
The New Golden Era?
It’s Saturday the 16th of May 2026 and the final whistle has just blown on a mild evening at the ZTE Aréna.
Honvéd have dispatched today’s hosts 3-0. An entirely unsurprising brace from Honvéd’s inspirational number nine Tomáš Chorý has put ZTE to the sword.
This makes it five OTP Bank Liga titles in a row for Icelandic manager Glenn Árnason.
I think it’s time that we at theangrylinesmen have a closer inspection at what exactly is going on.
Seasoned European football journalist Carl Hagedorn headed to Budapest for a more focused look at the record-breaking Hungarians.
“Record breakers, halls of fame and an unexpected ice bath,” by Carl Hagedorn.
I had arrived at the ZTE Aréna early in the day ahead of Honvéd’s final league match of the season. Today there was nothing at stake, unlike one of my favourite final matchday experiences in Burgos back in 2021.
That day I experienced an intense dramatic end to a La Liga Smartbank campaign which ultimately saw Fernando Teixidó’s Rayo Vallecano side promoted to the promised land of Spain’s top tier.
Well. Nothing at stake today but the status of a long-running, mind-blowing record.
As club captain and goalkeeper Aleksa Milojević lifted the old trophy into the Zalaegerszeg sky, this made it five Hungarian top flight titles in a row for Honvéd. This is impressive, but not nearly as much as the record that sees them go four seasons without losing a single league game. 118 wins, 14 draws and 0 defeats.
Seriously.
In Árnason’s first season in charge, his side did lose six times in the league campaign, but they were all in the first half of the competition. Therefore Honvéd’s ridiculous record actually stretches back to 149 league games unbeaten, and counting.
Glenn Árnason is now considered the most successful coach ever to manage in Hungary. With that record, it’s hard to argue against that accolade.
The 46-year old’s eight trophies in five years (this year Honvéd also won the domestic Magyar Kupa again, making that a three-in-a-row triumph) were so hard to ignore that the Hungarian FA approached Árnason to lead the national team. A role that the Icelander turned down to stay at his club.
Hungary instead eventually appointed former Salford and Motherwell boss Graham Alexander in one of the more curious appointments in recent years.
Árnason’s football during his first two years in charge were primarily playing a direct 4-4-2. Wingers like Nenad Lukić and Romarinho hugged the touchlines, firing high balls towards giant target man Denis Laptev (still playing at Al-Wakrah in Qatar as he nears 35) and Argentine Lucas Di Yorio (the scorer of 88 goals in 2.5 campaigns, before a £1m move to Ludogorets).
Seasons three, four and five have been more tactically nuanced. A short-passing 4-3-3 ultimately now centred around Irishman Jack Taylor (a free signing after six seasons at Peterborough) playing a Jorginho-esque deep-lying playmaker role. Happy to drop even deeper than the centre backs to collect the ball from his goalkeeper and tasked with keeping possession in his team’s favour without any panic or theatrics.
The wide attackers cut inside to support the (on-paper) lone striker, while the full-backs drive high and into the channels to create space for those wide men. These two attacking spots are more often than not taken by the Thai international pairing of Ekanit Panya (42 goals and 42 assists in three seasons) and Suphanat Mueanta (23 goals and 17 assists across two).
Serbian central midfielder Igor Maksimović tends to drive forward into space to support attacks, while the rumoured-to-be-wantaway Brazilian maestro, Oberdan Ramos Silva, generally receives the ball with his back to goal before using his incredible balance and agility to pivot, before trying to carve open defences with Kevin De Bruyne-style dangerous through-balls.
Here is the overall “best” team since Árnason took the reins of Honvéd in 2021.
Rumour has it that while a strict disciplinarian, Árnason attends training with a smile on his face, even setting up ridiculous (and often hilarious) forfeits for players failing to beat certain fitness targets, or slipping to a less than perfect diet. From unexpected ice baths to having to step up and sing at more than just your initiation; the coaching staff are said to keep things light while on the pitch, but direct and unflinchingly professional in the classroom where tactical strategies and player movements are mapped out in intricate detail. This is often presented to the first team by Head Performance Analyst Nenad Babić, complete with video analysis and state-of-the-art heat maps and passing statistics.
It’s a combination that clearly works, and Árnason, alongside Director of Football Stéphane Saillant, must surely now focus on replacing any leavers like-for-like, while focusing on the next generation of potential miniature Ferenc Puskás or József Bozsiks.
In fact, this year a homegrown youth product managed a senior Hungary cap in a 0-0 friendly against Russia, at just 18 years old.
Hopes are high at Honvéd for Benedek Rédei. As they are for Barnabás Bobal (17), Marcel Vesely (17) and Milán Gergely (20).
20-year old Brazilian playmaker Oberdan Ramos Silva continues to go from strength to strength. Honvéd were said to have rejected bids from Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Milan this year. After Silva failed to leave Hungary after multiple attempts, he parted ways (apparently amicably) with his former agent, and immediately linked up with renowned power agent Cristian Benedito. Benedito manages the careers of such Brazilian heavyweights as Real Madrid’s Vanderson and Manchester United’s breakthrough wonderkid Francisco Olivan.
Swapping representation could be the change that leads Ramos Silva out of Honvéd eventually, but for the time being his club are delighted to continue to have his services. Árnason and co will at least be hoping that remains the case until summer 2029 when his current deal expires. The free agent signing of Silva after his release from Palmeiras shortly after he turned 18 could yet prove to be a hugely profitable piece of business for the Hungarian champions.
I’m not going to wax lyrical about Czech striker Tomáš Chorý, as our publication has written about the six foot six number 9 many times before.
I’ll simply update you on the iconic striker’s goal-scoring form since he joined Honvéd just two years ago, and say very little else.
Back to manager Glenn Árnason and as well as topping the Hall of Fame for managers in the Hungarian league, he now sits second in the Hall of Fame for managers of Icelandic nationality.
The man in first position? It’s Heimir Guðjónsson, the fourteen trophy-winning current manager of Valur. Ironically the team that Grindavik-born Árnason has supported all his life.
Can his adventures in Hungary lift him higher than his compatriot? Time will tell.
In parallel with the domestic double, the 25/26 season featured another dabble in the UEFA Champions League group stage. This time a third place finish in a tough group featuring Real Madrid, Roma and Monaco after the usual gruelling EIGHT qualifying matches, despite entering the competition as league champions. A 7-0 demolition at the Bernabeu at the hands of Real Madrid was difficult to watch for a team usually so dominant in their own comfort zone, but slim victories against the other two sides were more than admirable.
An eventual knockout round exit in the Europa League at the hands of competition experts Sevilla closed the book on Árnason’s most successful continental adventure yet.
There’s always next year, right?
With his signature brand of total football in full flow, domestic dominance secured and now major Hall of Fame progress and homegrown youth prospects breaking into the international team, I imagine it can only be a matter of time before Glenn Árnason seeks a new challenge, or at least takes a break from the intensity of success. Even the great Pep Guardiola knew when to step aside when it looked like his Barcelona side were destined to rule over football forever.
Max Barry once wrote “All empires fall, eventually. It’s not for lack of power. In fact, it seems to be the opposite. Their power lulls them into comfort. They become undisciplined. Those who had to earn power are replaced by those who have known nothing else.”
What could this mean for the fully restored Hungarians?
Honvéd have risen from 212th in the European club football coefficient table to currently 59th in the past five years under Árnason and have eventually ousted Ferencvaros as the most reputable club in the country, according to the official index which charts these things. They are now a powerhouse of Hungarian football. Just like they were in their 1950s pomp.
If Glenn Árnason was to bow out after five years of success at Honvéd, who could blame him?
I have a sneaking suspicion however, that he may be there for a year or two yet.
Carl Hagedorn, for theangrylinesmen.
End of 2025/2026 (season five) review
Thanks for reading.
FM Stag