[FM13] A.S. Roma - Being a fan is our job

Welcome to FM13 AS Roma team thread.

In the shadow of Juventus, Internazionale and AC Milan in the Italian Seria A you find AS Roma; a young club compared to many other European clubs. Roma have a long history in the top-tier of Italian football as they have participated in Italian top football for all of their existence, except from 1951–52. Roma is one of the outsiders to win the Italian Serie A.

For many people like me, Roma is most known for their club legend Francesco Totti, a player developed at Roma. Now 36, Totti hardly has 1-2 years left in his playing career. And I start this save to bring him an European Trophy he deserves.

Brief History

Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome.Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have articipated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s (1951–52). For their 60th season in a row (79th overall), Roma are competing in Serie A for 2011–12.

Roma have won Serie A three times, first in 1941–42 then in 1982–83 and again in 2000–01, as well as winning nine Coppa Italia titles and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. On the European stage Roma won an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960–61, coming close to European Cup victory in 1983–84 (lost the one-legged final played at home against Liverpool after a penalty shootout), and finishing as runners-up in the UEFA Cup for 1990–91 (two-legged aggregate defeat against Internazionale).

Home games are currently played at the Stadio Olimpico, a venue they share with city rivals Lazio. With a capacity of over 72,000, it is the second largest of its kind in Italy, with only San Siro able to seat more. In September 2009 the club unveiled plans to build a new 55,000-capacity stadium in the western suburbs of Rome. Its design was be modeled after English football stadiums with the objective being to give fans a closer view of the pitch. In September 2011, it was announced that the new president, Thomas DiBenedetto, had reached an agreement with the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, to have the new stadium completed by 2014. Like the previous plan by Sensi, this new stadium is to be modeled after English stadiums.

End of the Sensi era

In the summer of 2010, the Sensi family agreed to relinquish their control of AS Roma as part of a debt-settlement agreement. This brought an end to the presidential reign of the Sensi family who had presided over the club since 1993. Until a new owner was appointed, Rosella Sensi would continue her directorial role of the club. The 2010-11 season had once again seen Roma start off with mixed fortunes on both a domestic and European level. These included losses against teams like Cagliari, Brescia and a 2-0 defeat against Bayern Munich in the group stages of the Champions League (a match which saw manager Claudio Ranieri openly criticised by his own players). However, these were accompanied by victories against Inter Milan and a sensational victory against Bayern Munich in the return fixture, which saw Roma fight back from 0-2 down at half-time to emerge as 3-2 winners. Following a series of poor results which saw Roma engage in a winless-streak of five consecutive matches, Claudio Ranieri resigned as head coach in February 2011, and former striker Vincenzo Montella was appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season. It was also during this season that Roma icon, Francesco Totti, scored his 200th Serie A goal against Fiorentina in March of 2011 - becoming only the sixth ever player to achieve such a feat.

On 16 April 2011, the takeover contract was signed. Lead by Thomas R. DiBenedetto, through "DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC" (along with James Pallotta, Michael Ruane and Richard D'Amore), would acquired 67.1% shares (or 88,918,686 shares) of A.S. Roma Spa (the clubitself, valued €60.3 million), entire ownership of "ASR Real Estate S.r.l." and "Brand Management S.r.l." from Sensi's "Roma 2000 S.r.l." (a subsidiary of Italpetroli) for a total of €70.3 million. The new holding company, "NEEP Roma Holding S.p.A.", was a joint venture of "DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC" and Unicredit S.p.A., in a 60-40 ratio. The transaction date was scheduled on 31 July 2011, but delayed to 18 August.

The new ownership immediately went into effect by making significant changes in the club, hiring Walter Sabatini as director of football and former Spanish international and FC Barcelona B coach Luis Enrique as manager; the first high-profile signings from the duo were attacking midfielder Erik Lamela from River Plate, forward Bojan Krkić from Barcelona, goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg from AFC Ajax and unattached defender Gabriel Heinze. The club also sold and released high earner, namely defender John Arne Riise, keeper Doni, forward Jérémy Ménez and Mirko Vučinić.

After the formal takeover on 18 August, Roma also bought forward Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, midfielder Miralem Pjanić, Fernando Gago and defender Simon Kjær, as well as youngster Fabio Borini, made the club costed more than 40 million if the loan deal were successfully turned to definitive deal.

In ownership, the "NEEP Roma Holding S.p.A." also started a total takeover, which the company would purchase the shares from the minority shareholder and public market (43,604,610 shares or 32.903%), for €0.6781 per shares, below the half-year and 3-months average price, but the same price as takeover price in April.

Supporters and Rivalries

Roma is the fifth most supported football club in Italy behind Juventus, Internazionale, Milan and Napoli with around 6% of Italian football fans supporting the club (according to the Doxa Institute-L'Espresso’s research of April 2006). Historically the largest section of Roma supporters in the city of Rome have come from the inner-city, especially Testaccio.

The traditional ultras group of the club was Commando Ultrà Curva Sud commonly abbreviated as CUCS; this group was founded by the merger of many smallers groups and was considered one of the most historic in the history of European football. However, by the mid-1990s CUCS had been usurped by rival factions and ultimately broke up. Since that time, the Curva Sud of the Stadio Olimpico has been controlled by more right-wing groups; A.S. Roma Ultras, Boys, Giovinezza and others. The oldest group Fedayn is apolitical however and politics is not the raison d'être of Roma, just a part of their overall identity. In September 2009 the club unveiled plans to build a new 55,000-capacity stadium in Rome's western suburbs.

The most known club anthem and motto is Roma,Roma,Roma by local singer Antonello Venditti. The title roughly means "Roma is not to be questioned, it is to be loved" and is sung before each match, the song Grazie Roma, by the same singer, is played at the end of victorious home games. Recently, the main riff of The White Stripes song Seven Nation Army has also become widely popular at games.

In Italian football Roma are a club with many rivalries; first and foremost is their rivalry with Lazio, the club who they share the Stadio Olimpico stadium with. The derby between the two is called the Derby della Capitale, it is amongst the most heated and emotional footballing rivalries in the world. The fixture has seen some occasional instances of violence in the past including the death of Lazio fan, Vincenzo Paparelli in 1979–80 as a result of an emergency flare fired from the Curva Sud, and the abandonment of a game in march 2004, following unfounded rumours of a fatality which led to violence outside the stadium.

With Napoli, Roma also compete in the Derby del Sole rivalry meaning the "Derby of the Sun". Nowadays fans also consider other Serie A giants like Juventus (rivalry born especially in the 1980s), Milan and Internazionale (increased in recent years) among their rivals as these four compete for the top four spots in the league table to secure a spot in the Champions League.

Conflict with English fans

There have been a number of instances of conflict in recent years between some Roma supporters and fans of English clubs, pointing to an apparent dislike for English fans in some Giallorossi supporters. One reason forwarded for this is the defeat to Liverpool in the 1984 European Cup Final at the Stadio Olimpico, and the subsequent violence outside the stadium which saw a number of Liverpool fans stabbed. Since then, there have been further instances of some English supporters being attacked and stabbed in Rome, including incidents in 2001 when Liverpool visited Roma twice and subsequent clashes with Middlesbrough fans in 2006 and Manchester United fans in 2007. In March 2009, a coach carrying Arsenal supporters was attacked by a group of Roma "Ultras" just outside the Stadio Olimpico. The coach's windows were smashed and at least one person entered the vehicle, letting off a flare and stabbed a supporter in the knee. Arsenal had posted advice to their fans on how to avoid routes taken by Roma Ultras.

Stadium

The Stadio Olimpico is the main and largest sports facility of Rome. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex on the north of the city. An asset of the Italian National Olympic Committee, the structure is intended primarily for football. It is the venue of the final Coppa Italia, the home venue of the Italian national rugby union team and Italy's national athletics stadium. It also occasionally hosts concerts of pop music and events of various kinds.

Built - 1910

Architect - Annibale Vitellozzi

Capacity - 72,698

Honours

Edit: Credit to GavinLP1987 for this post

Club Information:

Goalkeepers [8/10]

Compared to the other clubs in Serie A, Roma possess one of the best goalkeepers in italian football. Maarten Stekelenburg has much experience from continental football from his Ajax career. Bogdan Lobont is not quite on the same level but has much experience from italian football.

#24 Maarten Stekelenburg, 29yo, €7Mill

Maarten Stekelenburg is a reliable goalkeeper with much experience. He has over 200 appearances in his total career and has experiences from international football for Holland and has many appearances in Champions League for Ajax. He has been voted player of the year twice, last occasion was in 2011, before joining Roma. Stekelenburg main strength is his handling, positioning and aerial ability. He has no obvious weaknesses and can be a good choice for the captain role.

#1 Bogdan Lobont, 34yo, €550K

Despite his age, he is regarded as a fairly good goalkeeper. Lobont has pretty average goalkeeping attributes. His most notable main strength might be his concentration. Lobont is a real team player and could be reliable if injuries. Lobont has also played for Ajax, and has over 80 caps for Romania national team.

Promising Goalkeepers:

There are none obvious youth talents, who can compete for a place in the first team from day one, or in the future.

Defenders [6/10]

The defensive area looks very unbalanced regarding abilities and qualities. Roma have only one defender who is on international level.

Roma lacks players with excellent tackling and strength, but has two players with much experience On the other hand, Roma have two youngsters who could develop to become a leading Serie A player. Some of the weaknesses lies in the width of the defensive squad as there are few outside the basic four.

#42 Federico Balzaretti, 30yo, DL, €4,9Mill

Balzaretti should be regarded as an attacking wingback who also can play in the midfield. His stamina, working rate, passing and concentration is excellent, which makes him a real threat both in defense and attack.

Balzaretti was bought from Palermo before this season and has gotten over 250 appearances for different Italian teams, such as Palermo and Juventus. Balzaretti is the most experienced defensive player. He has also some international experience for the Italian national team.

#29 Nicolas Burdisso, 31yo, DC, €2,5Mill

Burdisso is an experience central defender with high attributes in anticipation, heading and marking. Burdisso is not the tallest defender in Serie A, but is quite high compared to his defensive teammates, which makes him a real threat in attacking set-pieces. This is the fourth season for Burdisso in Roma, and has got around 79 appearances for Roma. Burdisso's main weaknesses is his concentration and pace, which could lead to personal mistakes in crucial match situations.

#5 Leandro Castan, 25yo, DC, €3,1Mill

Leandro Castan is a brazilian born central defender, who have experience from swedish and brazilian football. He is the new buy this season.

I consider Castan to be a fairly average defender. Castan and Burdisso have pretty similar qualities and height. Castans main strength might be his heading and positioning. You should look to improve his strength and quickness. He has also quite average teamworking abilities.

#23 Ivan Piris, 23yo, DR, €3Mill

Ivan Piris is a fairly average Paraguayan fullback. The weakest link in the defensive line, and could be transfer listed as there are younger and cheaper options such as Serge Aurier (who could be available for loan), Crystian (Santos) or Romario (Vitoria). His main strength is his marking, positioning and stamina, and his main weaknesses is concentration, crossing and off the ball. There are no other obvious candidates for the right back, but Balzaretti could play on right, with decent results.

#27 Dodo, 20yo, DL, €1,8Mill

A fairly good Brazilian fullback. Dodo is quite young, and has pretty average skills. His main strength might be his dribbling and quickness. Main weaknesses: tackling, positioning, heading and marking. When player development he should be assigned to the fullback role in individual training.

Loic Nego, 21yo, DL, €600K

Loic Nego is a decent full back. He lacks much of the defensive qualities and should be transfer listed. Nego has pretty good skills in quickness and stamina.

Promising Defenders:

#3 Marquinhos, 18yo, (on loan from Corinthians), DC, €750K

Marquinhos is a very promising central defender who might become a very good central defenders in FM13 with the right guidance. Compared to many other defenders, he possesses very good defensive qualities despite his young age. Attributes to improve: strength, heading and tackling.

#46 Alessio Romagnoli, 17yo, DC, €35K

Romagnoli is another very promising central defender. He might become a very good defender in FM13 with the right guidance. Romagnoli has good marking, tackling and heading, but lacks pretty much in positioning, composure, concentration and strength. In player development he might be assigned to the central defender role in individual training.

Midfielders [8/10]

Roma has a very balanced and good midfielder area, and would be regarded as Romas best area. They have one world class player in Daniele De Rossi, who connects the defense and attack. The core of midfield have very much creativity and has broad experience. Roma have very broad backing in the midfield area. I have noted that there is around 10 players under the age of 21 who could develop to be a star player in the future, amongst them Valerio Verre and Nicolas Lopez, who are only 18 years old.

#16 Daniele De Rossi, 28yo, DM, €18,5Mill

De Rossi is developed at Roma as a striker, and has earned almost 290 caps in his Roma career. He has also experience from international football for the Italian national team. He is also a good leader, and is the vice captain of Roma.

Daniele De Rossi is a very versatile player. He might be considered as a complete midfielder, who have abilities to both play in defensive roles and attacking roles. He has exceptional tackling, positioning and anticipation. As I see it, he has no obvious weaknesses, according to his best player roles, but he could be assigned to an individual training which improves his finishing and quickness.

#15 Miralem Pjanic, 22yo, AMRLC, €11Mill

Miralem Pjanic is a Bosnian playmaker who was bought from Olympique Lyonnais in 2011. Last season he played 37 matches, scoring 5 goals. Pjanic has much experience despite his age, and has played Champions League matches for Lyon. He has exceptional ball handling skills, such as dribbling, first touch, technique and passing. He has also very good creativity and decisions. His main weakness might be his finishing. Pjanic has also good skills to play as a winger. Pjanic should be assigned to a support or attacking role, as he lacks very much in defensive qualities.

#4 Michael Bradley, 24yo, MC, €7Mill

Michael Bradley is a hard working ball winner who plays along De Rossi. The American rock is 185 cm tall, and has exceptional stamina and team work. Bradley has also much aggression and bravery and are likely to give everything in every situation to help the team effort. Bradley has very good marking and tackling, but lacks some in heading and jumping to play in more defensive roles than a ball winner.

His other main weaknesses might be his strength and decisions.

The most suited individual training role would be defensive midfielder.

#8 Erik Lamela, 20yo, AMC, €4,8Mill

Erik Lamela may be considered as a young Miralem Pjanic. His skills is very similar to Pjanic, but lacks more in aerial situations (heading and jumping).

Erik Lamela was bought from River Plate (Argentina) in 2011. Last season he earned 41 matches for Roma, scoring 12 goals. Lamela has exceptional flair, technique and dribbling and could become a wonderkid.

#48 Alessandro Florenzi, 21yo, AMRLC, €3,4Mill

Alessandro Florenzi is a young midfielder with much potential. He is considered to be the next Demetrio Albertini, as he possesses much flair, technique and finishing. Florenzi is quite similar to Pjanic and Lamela and like both of them, his natural role is advanced playmaker.

As an advanced playmaker he might lack a little bit in creativity and anticipation. Florenzi can also play as an winger, or is better suited as an inside forward, as he has very good finishing.

#77 Panagiotis Tachtsidis, 21yo, DM, €2,2Mill

Panagiotis Tachtsidis is a Greek rock with much potential. He is currently co-owned by Genoa, but is available to play for Roma. Tachtsidis is 191cm tall and has exceptional strength and balance. He is a real threat in attacking set-pieces as he possess good heading and jumping.

He is a natural anchor man as he has very good tackling, marking and concentration. I would suggest to retrain him as DC and you'll have a great Ball playing Defender.

#11 Rodrigo Taddei, 32yo, AMR, €1,3Mill

Rodrigo Taddei is a Brazilian born winger, who have spend most of his career in Italian football. He has been in Roma for the last 8 seasons and knows their culture. Taddei is a professional player, and a good tutor for the youth of Roma. Taddei differ a lot from the other midfielders at Roma, as he likes to hugs the line, like an old-fashioned winger. His main strength is his off the ball and teamwork attributes. His main weakness might be his technical attributes.

#7 Marquinho, 25yo, WB/M/AML, €4Mill

Marquinho is a versatile Brazilian born winger, who have spend most of his career in Brazilian football. He joined Roma in 2011 and has not gained a lot of trust. He would not likely improve his skills, as his ability is fully reached.

Marquinho is an average footballer and could be considered transfer listed.

Preferred role: Defensive winger. His main strength is his work rate and teamwork attributes. His main weakness might be his defensive skills, such as tackling, marking and decisions.

Promising Midfielders:

#17 Nicolas Lopez, 18yo, AMRL/ST, €800K

Preferred role: Inside Forward

Main strength: teamwork, flair, passing, technique, first touch, crossing

Main weaknesses: stamina, anticipation

Optional positioning: deep lying forward

Marco Frediani, 18yo, AML, €475K

Preferred role: Winger

Main strength: quickness, technique, passing, creativity, dribbling

Main weaknesses: decisions, anticipation, stamina, finishing

Optional positioning: Right winger

Marco Frediani, 18yo, AML, €475K

Preferred role: Winger

Main strength: quickness, technique, passing, creativity, dribbling

Main weaknesses: decisions, anticipation, stamina, finishing

Optional positioning: Right winger

Valerio Verre, 18yo, MC, €625K

Preferred role: playmaker (deep-lying)

Main strength: technique, tackling, first touch, dribbling, acceleration

Main weaknesses: strength, stamina, heading, concentration

Matteo Adamo, 15yo, MC, €22K

Preferred role: playmaker (advanced)

Main strength: technique, tackling, first touch, creativity

Main weaknesses: strength, stamina, marking, positioning, decisions

Attackers [7/10]

The attacking area is quite good. They might not have the best strikers in Italian football, but Totti, the legend, could aid by saving the first season atleast. If you really wants to compete for the Serie A, you should look to strengthen the attack with a natural poacher, a player with excellent finishing, composure and speed.

#10 Francesco Totti, 35yo, AM/ST, €1,9Mill

Totti is the real club legend of Roma. He was developed at the club, and has served Roma for 24 seasons. Totti is the number-one goalscorer and the most capped player in the club's history, and is nicknamed "il Gladiatore" or "The king of Rome". Totti could play as an attacking midfielder (trequartista), but naturally is a deep-lying forward. You should opt to positioning him between the attacking midfielders and strikers, as he will serve teammates with excellent passes by using his creativity and vision to create chances by supporting the attacking line.

#9 Pablo Osvaldo, 26yo, ST, €13,5Mill

Pablo Osvaldo is a real football nomad, as he has short spells in 7 other clubs in Spain, Italy and Argentina. Osvaldo joined Roma in 2011 and has scored 18 goals in 35 appearances. Osvaldo is pretty strong, and is quite good at finishing. Osvaldo has good skills all over, good technique, heading, stamina and anticipation. Osvaldo is a team player with high work rate. There are none obvious weaknesses other than his speed.

#22 Mattia Destro, 21yo, ST, €4Mill (on loan from Genoa)

Mattia Destro was developed at the youth academy of Internazionale, and has figured in all the national levels of the Italian national youth teams. Destro has not gained too many first team matches in his career, but could rebuild his career in Roma. I consider Destro to be a natural poacher, but could be opted for the deep lying forward role.

Destro has pretty good attributes in finishing, heading, off the ball and pace.

Destro has good attacking attributes, and could improve further.

#22 Gianluca Caprari, 18yo, ST, €2,2Mill (co-owned by Pescara)

Gianluca Caprari could become a leading Serie A player, who is unavailable for Roma. Caprari is a young striker with pretty good skills.

Should be a potential transfer target.

Preferred role: Advanced Forward

Main strength: Quickness, flair, passing, decisions

Main weaknesses: Anticipation, Composure, heading, concentration

Promising Attackers:

#25 Gadji Junior Tallo, 19yo, ST, €500K

Preferred role: poacher

Main strength: strength, dribbling, composure

Main weaknesses: stamina, anticipation, concentration, passing, flair, agility

Jonathan Alexis Ferrante, 17yo, ST, €14K

Preferred role: poacher

Main strength: Off the ball, finishing, dribbling, quickness

Main weaknesses: stamina, strength, anticipation, composure, concentration, passing, flair

Let us use the League comparison charts to analyze squad strength/weakness

Goalkeeper:

As discussed above and evident from the league comparison chart that this area is pretty strong and does not require any reinforcements.

Defenders:

With Tackling, Heading, Jumping and strength all getting poor rankings in the leagues, the team lacks pretty much all the vital characteristics and need immediate attention.

Targets: Astori, Lisandro Lopez

MidFielders:

Again you are the best in league and should not buy until found a cracking bargain (Dzagoev has signed a new contract in recent patch).

Attackers:

You'll definitely score a lot of goals from midfield and outside the box.. but you need a natural poacher high on pace and killer instinct to change your fortunes.

Targets: Leonard Kweuke, Andreas Cornelius, Nicklas Helenius

Coaches

You inherit adecent training and coaching set up. With money so tight you would like to keep the old staff as it is and bring in two additional coaches to concentrate on Attacking and Defending coaching.

Recommendations: Valdir de Moraes, Gianpiero Ventrone, Paulo Cesar Batista Dos Santos, Massimo Bonini, Ivan Couto

Scouts

You have 4 scouts, two of them are top class. You may let go Zinfollino and Beccaccioli. But top priority is to get some non-Italian scouts on board.

Recommendations: Gilmar Francisco, Pantaleo Corvino, Luciano D'Onofrio, Luciano Moggi, Aurelio Pereira, Pablo Longoria

Physios

You are well versed in this area. Out of 7 physios employed you can easily find quality in 3.

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]Strengths[/TD]

[TD]Weaknesses[/TD]

[TD]Style[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Counter attacks[/TD]

[TD]Defending counter attacks[/TD]

[TD]Take a lot of shots[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Creating chances through individual skill[/TD]

[TD]Defending against attacks down the wings[/TD]

[TD]Control the game in the opposition's half[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Creating scoring chances[/TD]

[TD]Defending against skillful players[/TD]

[TD]Attempt through balls often[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Coming back from losing positions[/TD]

[TD]Aerial duels[/TD]

[TD]Short passes[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Finishing scoring chances[/TD]

[TD]Avoiding individual errors[/TD]

[TD]Attack through the middle[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Shooting from direct free kicks[/TD]

[TD]Protecting the lead[/TD]

[TD]Possession football[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Attacking down the wings[/TD]

[TD]Stopping opponents from creating chances[/TD]

[TD]Play the offside trap[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Attacking set pieces[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Let me list some articles first, these are a few systems Roma as applied in recent past:

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/09/03/inter-1-3-roma-zeman-collects-the-first-win-of-his-second-spell-at-roma/

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/blog/_/name/juventus/id/106?cc=5901

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/12/14/luis-enrique-roma-tactics-barcelona/

http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2011/05/tacticsromas-4-2-3-1-striker-less-system/

Formation

Roma plays a 4-3-3 with Totti (DLF/T), Osvaldo (P) and Lamela (IF) in the front-line. Pjanic (AP), De Rossi (DLP) and Bradley (BWM) in midfield.

Balzaretti and Piris are obvious first choice fullbacks. You can pick one of Burdisso or Castan to play as stopper with Marquinhos are cover.

Managerial Notes:

Arrange a lot of Friendlies...

With no European Football Roma is just contesting in the league and Coppa Italia. There are a lot of gaps in your first year fixture list.

Transfer Targets

The idea is clear - boost your defence with the limited funds and keeping hold of your key players. You have two decent CBs in Nicolas Burdisso and Leandro Castan, but both of them are short and lack speed. So Priority one is two get two CBs who can challenge Burdisso and Castan for first team birth. Your scout hands you the obvious list - Astori, Ogbonna and Douglas. All are pricey and have significant wage demands. Søren Lerby

suggested some budget options in Kara and Okore. Though cheap both of them have their limitations - Kara is not natural DC and Okore has pace and boasts high potential but just like Marquinhos still an understudy to both Burdisso and Castan.

Why not get in some South Americans? Bingo!

Lisandro Lopez (Arsenal de Sarandi) and Guillermo Burdisso (Boca) were two of the best but I could afford only one. It was a tough choice but Lisandro's all round stats made me go for him. Search was still on for another name and there appeared Gabriel Paletta (Parma), an experienced player with Lisandro like stats but NO room for further growth... still quality for 2.4M

Priority two is improve on Piris and seek a good RB. Corchia is expensive and Cédric Soares is not interested. in comes another Serie A talent - Giuseppe Bellusci. He is no attacking mould but an excellent tackler with bags of potential to grow.

Here is a list of all the transfers:

And a look back at the improvements.

Coaches

As I said before you have a pretty good set up already but you need an attacking and a defending coach.

Clive Allen and Bonini are available on free and offer you a good 4**** option.

Gritti is a luxury addition high on mental stats (determination/motivation etc) and decent enuf to share thye load of tactical coaching.

Winsper is an excellent Fitness coach.

Note: Adding coaches not only adds to coaching option but also improves your world knowledge, so choose them wisely.

Scouts

Roma has two great scouts in the form of club legend and Chief Scout Bruno Conti and Angelo Orazi. Orazi lacks Tactical knowledge and thus is a bad choice for scouting your next opponent. Hence comes Cesare Maldini, former AC Milan Defender. Common choices like Corvino, Lerby, Orlandelli and Begiristain completes the list of fresh recruits.

When it comes to foramtions and tactics, Itlay is probably the place to look at. In Serie A no two teams play a similar tactic, whats more surprising is that Europe's 4-2-3-1 doesn't even get a place here. Will you face a pack of 3 defenders or the orthodox 4? You are never sure how your next opponent is gonna line-up.

This is quite long since I had a save in Italy (I managed Roma 2-3 years back, it was too easy to dominate then). Not only the match engine and AI are changed quite considerably but also have become adaptive. Sticking to one single Formation/Tactic does not work anymore. Rightly so you have a pack of 3 tactics now. I am currently playing different versions of 4-5-1 and 4-3-3, cautiously choosing my back-line according to the attacking numbers in oppositions front-line.

Counter is the best consistent tactic on FM13. It allows even a mediocre defence to sit tight and mean. Defenders are reluctant to venture out too far from there position and also get a decent shielding from midfield.

Also with the speed and passing strength Roma could be devastating under this tactic.

hey great job starting this thread, will be looking forward to see how your game goes, I had a save with way back in the day and I really enjoyed it....maybe it'll try them this year

Great start .

Love the fact you used the roma colours.

I managed Roma on FM12 (with transfers up to date). It was a tough task due to having no money to work with and a very inexperienced back 4 but its a good club to be if you want to just promote from the youth team. Keeping Totti fit is another tough task

hey great job starting this thread, will be looking forward to see how your game goes, I had a save with way back in the day and I really enjoyed it....maybe it'll try them this year

Great start .

Love the fact you used the roma colours.

Thank you all.

I am a slow player but always look forward to the experiences of fellow managers.

I managed Roma on FM12 (with transfers up to date). It was a tough task due to having no money to work with and a very inexperienced back 4 but its a good club to be if you want to just promote from the youth team. Keeping Totti fit is another tough task

I had the financial thing in mind but the country is pretty relaxed in terms of work permits and all so will look to set up a high profile youth centre and follow the portugese model of Porto and Benfica.

+ With squad so good, Totti can come on stretcher to lift the European Cup.

about time someone made a roma thread

not sure if I will do a save this year, but at some point it will probably be hard to resist the temptation

Where are the league comparison charts found???

Where are the league comparison charts found???

Team (Roma) -> Squad -> Report -> Comparison (Last Tab)

Ah nice, a good Roma thread has been started! Saves me a few hours making one in the holidays, if and when I get the full game. Hopefully I'll manage to find the time to play a bit and contribute to this great thread.

updated transfers.

Ahh great thread Superb breakdown with the league comparison and the coaching staff analysis.

Gonna start a Roma save ASAP. One of my best saves ever was CM Early 00's where Totti was still young, De Rossi was just coming through the youth ranks, Cassano was the coming star and Walter Samuel was one of the best CD in the game. I snapped up Lucio from Leverkusen and had the two best CD's in the game a long with pretty unstoppable offensive forces. Great times

Good thread. Roma is my favorite club. I took them all the way to the CL final vs Chelsea in my first year in FM10, beating out Real Madrid is the semis. Naturally, I started a new Roma save with 13. Interesting move by training Tachtsidis as a CB. I'll have to try that out because he's not going to get any major minutes behind DDR, Bradley, Pjanic and Florenzi. I just made it through my friendlies undefeated and beat Sampdoria 2-0 in my opening match.

I'm sticking with a 4-3-3 with Totti on the left dropping to support. I'm very strapped for cash, so I'm holding out on transfers and building up my staff. I just cut ties with Zinfollino and Beccaccioli after which, I picked up an Italian scout, 18 ability and 20 potential...loads of world experience, I'll get his name when I get home.

This thread makes me want to start up my own.

Currently, I have Napoli and Spurs kicking down my doors for Pjanic. They are offering a $25m co-ownership deal with something like $49m for a future buyout.

Ok, so I'm home and I had a look. The Scout is Luciano D'Onofrio, JP20, JA18.

Ahh great thread Superb breakdown with the league comparison and the coaching staff analysis.

Thanks. It is a great feature isn't it. I know people must be using it but strange nobody used these charts in team threads before.

Gonna start a Roma save ASAP. One of my best saves ever was CM Early 00's where Totti was still young, De Rossi was just coming through the youth ranks, Cassano was the coming star and Walter Samuel was one of the best CD in the game. I snapped up Lucio from Leverkusen and had the two best CD's in the game a long with pretty unstoppable offensive forces. Great times

miss them

@Fedayn83: Its nice to have money but its even better to keep hold of your key players. Pjanic attracts a lot of interest as soon as you start your save. And I'll definitely not trade him for Napoli - your serious contender for the title race. [Don't forget what you'll loose on your team comparison chart]

Just like IRL I had Man City lurking for De Rossi and Lamela. Imagine how I let it pass. An eye for Club Grown player, when I compete for Champions League next year.

Can you tell anything about how money develops if you keep hold of key players? Do they keep being tight or do you get some air?

Very good job.

On another note, it's ridiculous how overdone Tachtsidis stats are.

I am still in October (slow player.. phew). But just like last year I think the money should be tight, in Serie A there is no TV revenew and the Prize money is also not huge. So basically get into the Champions League buy young sell old and then SURVIVE.

The summer window has closed, I've held onto Pjanic. Once Florenzi matures, it's his spot to take. Home grown Italians will rule Serie A!

Also, I've started training Tachtsidis at CB.

Eric Lamela

If only Lazio bought him then FM would be complete, well for me at least anyway.

Great thread I love the detail you put into it.

Eric Lamela

If only Lazio bought him then FM would be complete, well for me at least anyway.

Great thread I love the detail you put into it.

IRL? I'm pretty sure Roma beat out United for Lamela.

I am still in October (slow player.. phew). But just like last year I think the money should be tight, in Serie A there is no TV revenew and the Prize money is also not huge. So basically get into the Champions League buy young sell old and then SURVIVE.

There's no TV Revenue?

There's no TV Revenue?

Yes. What I meant was in comparison to your top contenders like Juventus and Milan Clubs. Not matter how long you keep winning.

Follow the complete story here.

IRL? I'm pretty sure Roma beat out United for Lamela.

Yeah I know that I was just saying if they had got him it would have been great.

What is the tax bug people are complaining about? Is it affecting you Roma managers>

I got £20m worth of tax took out of the bank over the season with Udinese and that was in Serie B, so yeah I guess it effects everyone in Italy.

I didn't even know there was a bug? What should I look at? I'll check it out when I'm off work.

What is the tax bug people are complaining about? Is it affecting you Roma managers>

I didn't even know there was a bug? What should I look at? I'll check it out when I'm off work.

Nice thread, I have just played my 1st friendly game of season 3, finished 4th season 1 and 3rd season 2 (will give a more in-depth overview when I have a bit more time) but 1st two seasons are very touch money wise, but budget for 3rd season is £20m and £1.1m wages, I guess because there is champs league money due to come in...

Receiving roughly £49m in TV revenue each season, no Serie A prize money, and tax bill in season 2 was £39m not sure if that is correct or not?

I didn't even know there was a bug? What should I look at? I'll check it out when I'm off work.

I am not exactly sure myself but a few people have reported it in the Juve thread and the feedback section under pc/mac general discussion. Seems to affect the way you lose money and so on. I know it is meant to be fixed for the next patch but I would like to know in more depth what the actual bug is myself

I am not exactly sure myself but a few people have reported it in the Juve thread and the feedback section under pc/mac general discussion. Seems to affect the way you lose money and so on. I know it is meant to be fixed for the next patch but I would like to know in more depth what the actual bug is myself

Nations > Italy > Tax > Pension Employer > change 38% to 23%

I am not exactly sure myself but a few people have reported it in the Juve thread and the feedback section under pc/mac general discussion. Seems to affect the way you lose money and so on. I know it is meant to be fixed for the next patch but I would like to know in more depth what the actual bug is myself

Who knows...it may be in place to reflect Italy's corrupt government. Hahaha.

You have to manually change the tax bug in the database I think. As they didn't include it in the last patch

Great thread.

You have to manually change the tax bug in the database I think. As they didn't include it in the last patch

Great Thread!! Currently bringing HinterReggio up through the ranks for the achievement and after that I'll definitely be doing a Roma game, Forza Roma!!

Great Thread

Great Thread!! Currently bringing HinterReggio up through the ranks for the achievement and after that I'll definitely be doing a Roma game, Forza Roma!!

Thank You. Nice to see this thread getting traction.

After 17 games I am undefeated in the league and won against all the top clubs (touch wood), but some bore draws against the lowly Bologna and Cagliari snatching a point almost in the closing minutes.

T Barone had a fantastic start to Roma career with Giallorossi extending their unbeaten run to 17 games. The following Headlines are now common on italian newspapers.

Creating some records on the way