FM14: Inter Milan - Shooting for Europe!

Why manage Inter?

• A squad of exciting, young players and some excellent old heads.
  
• After winning the Champions League 3 years ago, they didn't qualify for Europe, can you get them back where they belong?
  
• Javier Zanetti. Full Stop.
  
• The chance to try to rival Jose Mourinho's treble winning season.
  
• Low expectations, take some risks!
  

Who are Inter Milan?

Internazionale (Inter Milan for short) are officially known as 'Football Club Internazionale Milano S.P.A. and are a professional football club based in Milan, Italy. They are one of the most successful clubs in Italian history alongside the likes of A.C. Milan and Juventus, who are make up Inter Milan's most fierce rivals. They are the only Italian club to never have been relegated from the top flight, and indeed one of only 22 professional clubs in the world capable of claiming such a feat.

Since the club's founding 105 years ago, it has managed to collect 30 domestic titles, 18 of which are Serie A titles. The club has also won several European honours, including the Champions League three times, with two consecutive victories in 1964 and 1965 under the legendary Helenio Herrera and the most recent coming under the management of the 'Special One' Jose Mourinho in 2010.

Inter Milan play their home games at the Giuseppe Meazza, more commonly known as the San Siro. Despite their rivalry, they share the stadium with A.C. Milan. The current capacity of this magnificent stadium is 80,018, although it had previously reached an outstanding capacity of 100,000 back in 1956. The derby between both teams played at the San Siro is known as the 'Derby Della Madonnina' and is one of the most followed in football. However, attendances at both clubs has dwindled in recent years, and Inter now record generally 55,000 for league games, still the highest in the league.

Internazionale was formed in 1908 after a disagreement between A.C. Milan board members as to the signing of foreign players for the team. This disagreement caused 44 A.C. Milan members to split and form their own team, which took its name from the desire to have foreign (International) players within the team. Despite being founded just 2 years previously, Inter Milan managed their first ever 'Scudetto' (Championship) in 1910 and followed up with it's second 10 years later in 1920. The coach and captain of the team was 'Virgilio Fossati' who was killed during World War 1.

Moving on to their most successful period in their history, the 1960's saw the Argentine Helenio Herrera join the club from Barcelona along with world record transfer, Luis Suarez. These two players effectively transformed the club into one of the greatest European teams of that period. In their first season at the club, Inter Milan managed a third place finish, second season a second place finish and then finally in the third season the club won the Serie A. Then came the miraculous back to back European cups and almost made it an unbelievable triple of European Champions, although with star player Jair gone and Luis Suarez injured, Celtic managed to beat them in the final.

Dark times approached in the 1990's with A.C. Milan and Juventus having a lot of success, whilst Inter Milan suffered and is known as the only decade in the clubs history that it hadn't won the championship. It will be forever remain a decade of disappointment, despite the arival of Ronaldo and Christian Vieri, breaking the world record transfer fee twice in a desperate attempt to bring back the glory days.

The ressurection of this suffering club came in 2004 when the club appointed former Lazio boss Roberto Mancini as their new head coach and by 2005 the club won the Coppa Italia and followed that up by winning the Supercoppa Italia, defeating league champions Juventus (who were later stripped of their Serie A title due to the Calciopoli scandal). From 2006 through to 2010 Inter Milan managed to win 5 consecutive Scudetto's along with making history and winning the treble consisting of the Scudetto, Coppa Italia and the Champions League in 2010. Unfortunately Jose Mourinho decided to leave after this amazing achievement to join Spanish giants Real Madrid leaving Inter Milan with the job of finding a new head coach. They moved for former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez and he managed to continue the success of 2010 winning the Supercoppa Italiana and then eventually the Fifa Club World Cup in December to complete the 'Quintuple', becoming the fourth team ever to achieve this feat.

Despite his best efforts, Rafael Benitez was sacked as Inter Milan head coach as results quickly slipped following his initially promising start, and quickly replaced with Leonardo. Leonardo had a instant impact on the team, despite key players either unavailable or injured and won his first match in charge thanks to the signings he made inthe winter transfer window; Houssine Kharja, Giampaolo Pazzini, Andrea Ranocchia and Yuto Nagatomo; the latter two remaining at the club to this day.

Since 2010, Inter Milan have failed to sustain their impact on Italian and European football, winning only the Coppa Italia in 2011 since then. Since the last highs of 2011, Inter has seen their team slowly disbanded, as high earning players such as Wesley Sneijder, Samuel Eto'o and Julio Cesar have all left, with president Massimo Moratti explaining it as necessary due to the incoming Financial Fair Play rules.

Things have looked up recently for Inter, with Indonesian Tycoon Erick Thohir aquiring 70% of the club from Massimo Moratti for $480m through his International Sports Capital company. Whether or not this will signal a large round of spending is unknown, but the likelihood is a continuation of the recent emphasis on sustainability and youth.

What you need to know:

Bear in mind that as this is the beta (and I will update this upon the full release) Erick Thohir's recent takeover is not in the database.

As you can see, Inter are predicted a fourth place finish, which is only good enough for the Europa League due to a drop in Italy's coefficients. Inter, for the first time in a long time, are also not competing in a European competition this season, which should give you an increased chance at pushing for one of those three Champions League spots. Inter has a huge stadium and excellent facilities although like many (read: all but one) Italian top flight clubs, they don't own their stadium which has an impact on finances. It will take several years before you can rectify this.

Inter have been hugely successful in both Europe and Italy as you can see from their many trophies. Can you add even more?

Finances

This season the Inter board has quite reasonable aims. The minimum is a Europa League spot, which is achievable by finishing just sixth or higher. You are also offered more money for challenging for the Champions League or the title, but I personally would play it safe and aim for a Europa League this first season.

Saphir Taider - Bologna - £4.6m [Co-Own]

Taider joins on a co-ownership deal from Bologna. He's a very promising young midfielder and could form a great partnership with Kovacic.

Mauro Icardi - Sampdoria - £5m [Co-Own]

Mauro Icardi had a breakthrough season last year with Samp, and with between 4.5 and 5 star potential, could be your main striker for the next 10+ years.

Ishak Belfodil - Parma - £6.25m

Belfodil looks extremely promising this year, with great potential and some already first-class stats. Most likely an impact player this season, but once Milito moves on could cement his place as Inters main striker.

Hugo Campagnaro - Napoli - Free

Campagnaro followed Walter Mazzari from Napoli to Inter this summer, and is a great utility player capable of playing all the way across the back. Should be useful for the first and possible second year as a solid back up.

Notable Mentions:

Other incoming transfers: Juan Pablo Carrizo (GK), Rolando (Loan, DC), Wallace (Loan, RB), Diego Laxalt (Loaned out 1st season, ML), Marco Andreolli (CB), Ruben Botta (Loaned out 1st season, AM).

[squad Analysis - GK + Defence]

Goalkeepers:

Handanovic

Handanovic is undoubtedly your number one goalkeeper, and one of the best in the world. He's physically strong, with great reactions and a superb mentality. At 29 he's coming in to his peak and could easily be your number one for years to come.

Carrizo

Juan Pablo Carrizo is similar to Handanovic in that they're both strong, technically good goalkeepers. However, Carrizo is a bit more upredictable with suspect positioning and is not as convincing under pressure compared to Handanovic as you can see by his poor composure and decisions. He is, however, a perfectly good back up keeper, at least until Francesco Bardi returns from his loan spell at Livorno.

Castellazzi

An ageing 'keeper in his fourth season with Inter. He will never be anything more than an insurance/reserve keeper for you and shouldn't play unless you have a serious crisis. That said, he's perfectly capable of holding his own against most Serie A sides. He only has a year to go on his contract, so let him run that down.

Left Back:

I've not placed Zanetti in this section as he would not, under most circumstances, play there normally. I've placed him under the right back section* With Regards to the star ratings for the left-back position I personally would ignore them, as my personal ranking for this position runs in direct contrast to the star ratings.

[squad Analysis - [Midfield]

Midfield:

Midfield is one of Inter's strongest areas, with some exceptional versatile players with great potential.

Defensive Midfield:

Cambiasso

Another example of the Argentine spine that allegedly "runs Inter behind the scenes". Cambiasso has been an excellent servant to the club and still remains it's best defensive midfielder. At 32 he still has a couple of years left in him at top level, although you should seek to address his high wage as a priority.

Mudingayi

Another solid, yet aging defensive midfielder you should seek to rotate him with Cambiasso to ensure they stay fit and don't get too tired. Mudingayi is a tremendous athlete and is assured when defending. If you play with a defensive midfielder, he should be

Kuzmanovic

Less "defensive" than any of the others here, Kuzmanovic is more of a deep lying playmaker who can double as an effective box to box midfielder. If you can find a formation that fits Kuzmanovic, Guarin and Alvarez in, expect to see goals flying in from 30+ yards as all are capable of unleashing rockets from anywhere on the pitch.

Mariga

Will spend the first three months out injured, but when he returns he can be a formidable Anchor man, although doesn't offer a great deal going forward. He's unlikely to push Cambiasso or Mudingayi out of the team but has youth on his side compared to those two, and he won't moan about playing time. A very useful player to have, especially when defending a lead.

**STILL TO DO: ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS**

[squad Analysis - Attack]

Strikers:

Inter are at a bit of a crossroads in this version of the game when it comes to strikers, as you have 4 strikers with 2 at each end of the spectrum. On one hand you have the old hands in Il Principe, Diego Milito (The Prince) and Rodrigo Palacio and on the other hand you have the two new, raw, talents in Mauro Icardi and Ishak Belfodil. It will be your job to manage these players in order to drain the last ounces of usefulness out of Milito and to a lesser extent Palacio whilst giving Icardi and Belfodil enough game time to build upon. It may be worth starting Milito and Palacio in the tougher games, such as Juventus and A.C. Milan whilst giving Icardi and Belfodil games against less able opponents.

Milito

Milito starts the game with a relatively serious injury, although he returns before the season fully gets underway. This will however have an impact on his pace. Milito is the archetypal Poacher. If you give him the ball in the box you can almost guarantee a goal. His main drawback is his massive contract, £145,000 p/w so try to get that renegotiated as soon as possible.

Palacio

Palacio is solid in all the right areas and works very well as a False 9, creating space for players to run in behind him. He's a very effective player with the ball and will get a few assists as well. Belfodil seems a good successor to Palacio, so consider rotating the two.

Belfodil

Belfodil already has the stats to be a main striker for some of the teams in Serie A, although he doesn't quite have the consistency or ability to lead the line at a club who, as Inter should be, are challenging for the top 3 places in the league. Given game time he'll develop in to that player though, and if going against a smaller defence, his physicality could work to your advantage.

Icardi

In-Game Mauro Icardi looks like a natural successor to Milito, given the right training. He has bags of potential and, given his already good stats in the right areas, could develop in to a world class forward.

[Team Formations]

Possible Line Ups:

Tactic 1

This is my personal tactic that i've used so far in the majority of my games. Miltio and Palacio work very well together up top, whilst Kovacic is the main creator and has averaged better than 1 assist/goal per game so far. On the wings Jonathan and Pereira work well bombing up and down the wings, although I occasionally move them down to Wing Back's if I'm protecting a lead. Cambiasso and Guarin combine well in the centre, but equally Mudingayi/Mariga can replace Cambiasso whilst Alvarez can replace Guarin in the centre. Defensively the three at the back works well enough in, they don't seem to get caught out against one or two man attacks.

Tactic 2

This is a more defensive tactic that works by stifling the middle of the pitch and pressing to win the ball back, and then using the trio of Guarin, Alvarez and Kovacic to either fashion a chance for the strikers or going from range themselves (both Guarin and Alvarez are well known for their long-distance shooting).

Tactic 3

This tactic works very well against smaller teams, with just Cambiasso and the central defenders tasked with winning the ball meaning the rest can work on carving out chances. The full backs will always bomb forward, whilst Kuzmanovic and Guarin try to find that killer pass. Icardi often drops deep on a false 9 setting, which allows the two IF's to cut in to that space, often with the full backs overlapping them offering even more width.

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However

Those are just my tactics, feel free to experiment with your own. Inter has a very versatile and deep squad this year, so make sure you utilise that!

[Promising Youngsters]

First off, I'll just list the "obvious" star players (click for their attributes), those in your first team, before moving on to the younger, more obscure starlets.

• Mauro Icardi [Four and a half Stars]
  
• Ishak Belfodil [Four Stars]
  
• Saphir Taider [Four Stars]
  
• Mateo Kovacic [Four Stars]
  
• Juan Jesus [Four Stars]
  

All of the above players are capable of turning in to genuinely top class players given enough game time, and all are capable of being in and around your first team squad from the very first game.

Now here comes the players you may not know about, those that will spend the first season out on loan, or hidden away in your Under 19's.

Marco Benassi [19 - On Loan at Livorno - Four and a half Stars]

Marco Benassi was given a few games at the tail and of last season and has been sent out to Livorno to garner some Serie A experience this season. He should come back after his year at Livorno with some reasonably solid stats but he'll require game time and a lot of work to reach his potential.

Francesco Bardi [21 - On Loan at Livorno - Four and a half Stars]

Fracesco Bardi is one of the most promising 'keepers around the world. He won't be pushing the excellent Handanovic out of the team for a couple of years, but he has the potential to be one of the top goalkeepers in the game within a few seasons.

Alfred Duncan [20 - On Loan at Livorno - Four Stars]

On his second loan spell at Livorno, Duncan is already a solid defensive midfielder and with a year of top flight football under his belt by next season could be ready to challenge some of the established defensive midfielders in your team. Like last year, Duncan has the potential to develop in to a world class defensive midfielder.

Ibrahima Mbaye [18 - On Loan at Livorno - Four Stars]

You are likely noticing a trend here. Livorno LOVE taking Inter's youth players, and Inter don't mind sending them! Ibrahima Mbaye turned in to a monster on FM13 and this year it looks like he could do the same again, with some solid stats in all the right areas.

Marko Livaja [19 - Co-owned, at Atalanta - Four Stars]

Livaja has a reasonably high potential and some already decent stats although it'll take a substantial bid to get him back from Atalanta. Considering the abundance of attacking talent Inter have, it's up to you whether you feel he's worth the expense.

Alessandro Capello [17 - At Inter - Three and a half to Four Stars]

No relation, that I know of, to the famed Italian Manager, Capello looks like an extremely promising young striker. Technically he's already reasonably proficient but he'll require a hefty bit of training mentally and physically - but at just 17 he has time on his side!

Samuele Longo [21- On Loan at Verona - Three and a half Stars]

Although Longo seems to have been downgraded this year (a poor spell at Espanyol last season, I presume), he still looks like he could develop in to a solid striker capable of scoring at will. at 21 he's a little on the older side but depending on how his spell at Verona comes along, you could find yourself with a very strong striker when he returns next year.

Simone Pasa [19 - On Loan at Varese - Three and a half Stars]

Another little known player who's been ever so slightly downgraded from last year, Simone looks like he could still turn out to be a solid ball winning midfielder, albeit perhaps not world class. Three and a half stars is still a hefty potential ability considering in his position Inter have the likes of Cambiasso, Mudingayi, Kuzmanovic and Mariga.

Note: This isn't an exhaustive list, there are still a few others like Patrick Olsen that could develop well also. Likewise, due to random potentials, some of the above may be better/worse on each individual game.

[Potential Signings]

Whilst Inter have a very strong squad, certainly capable of qualifying for Europe with ease, you may want to address certain areas of the squad.

Wingers

Inter usually play without recognised wingers in reality, so it's no surprise that it's an area that they're not too strong on. In the squad you have Belfodil, Palacio, Guarin and Alvarez capable of playing on the wings although only Alvarez is a bonafide winger. As such you may want to look at:

Keisuke Honda

I know I know, not a natural winger! But still, Honda has all the right attributes to play that position and can be picked up for FREE at the start of the game if you're willing to wait until december to get hold of him, or for just £1.5m if you want him in your team from day one. He should also request a lowly £35-40k p/w in wages. He'll also boost your merchandise income from the Asian market.

Yossi Benayoun

More of a squad signing than a first choice winger, Benayoun will still offer vital experience and comes in extremely cheap; free transfer and less than £10k p/w in wages.

Diego Perotti

Working with a limited transfer budget rules out some of the bigger names but you can still tempt Diego Perotti from Sevilla for under £6m, and he'll want less than £30k p/w in wages too! A potential bargain considering his age and experience.

Defenders

If you're not happy with any of your full backs you'll certainly have opportunity to replace them; Pereira, Nagatomo and Jonathan will all be looked at by other clubs and potentially receive offers. Again with a limited budget there are a few options you can look at.

Anthony Reveillere

Whilst he may not be the most exciting full back ever, you can guarantee Reveillere will be solid and dependable. Coming in on a free transfer and wanting less than £10k p/w in wages he could provide excellent cover if you decide to splash your budget elsewhere.

Giuseppe Bellusci

If you don't want to splash out on a new right back, you could always move Hugo Campagnaro out there and fill his place in the centre of defence with this gem. Giuseppe Bellusci will be looked at by most of the Italian clubs but few have the pulling power that Inter Milan have. As such you should be able to tempt him with a bit of around £1.5m to Catania and just £15k p/w wages. From experience he can turn out one of the top Italian centre backs.

Nice intro, glad someones done a thread as Im intending on a long term save with Inter. Really interesting squad this season I think, and Ive got a lot of love for Mauro Icardi.

Yeah, I've got a game going with them at the moment on the Beta. I've not had any real problems so I'll most likely continue this game straight through when the game is released. Kovacic is a monster on this game for me, assists-galore from the AMC position. Mauro Icardi is developing well too!

The guides coming along really well, great work. Any idea how much it'll cost to sign Icardi permanently?

Cheers Gooner, I'll probably get it finished some time tomorrow.

I'm Not entirely sure how much Icardi would set you back, I've had bids of up to £4.5m rejected though. It may be worth trying to wait Sampdoria out, as Icardi is set to play for Inter for 2 years until 2015, then again his value may have risen by then if he improves well enough.

If you're happy with the team and don't want to make any improvements (or are willing to sell to fund new acquisitions) then by all means try to use the starting transfer budget to buy the rest of Icardi's contract.

I'm in...

Started a save with Inter, only made two saves thus far. Sascha Horvath and Eder Balanta.

Currently trying out these tactics. I'll have to see how I get on and maybe tweak a few things.

Both of those tactics look very promising, 3 at the back seems to have worked really well for me too. How's Andreolli doing for you (if you are playing him)? Taider and Kovacic have done brilliantly for me as well.

I'm looking to finish up the guide today if I get enough free time, I'll definitely get the Promising Youth section done, however.

Both of those tactics look very promising, 3 at the back seems to have worked really well for me too. How's Andreolli doing for you (if you are playing him)? Taider and Kovacic have done brilliantly for me as well.

I'm looking to finish up the guide today if I get enough free time, I'll definitely get the Promising Youth section done, however.

I haven't been playing Andreolli that much. It's been a back three of Balanta/Jesus/Ranocchia.

I have been struggling to keep them all sitting back though, it seems they always want to run out and mark a midfielder for some reason, leaving holes behind them. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with the way we're playing.

I haven't been playing Andreolli that much. It's been a back three of Balanta/Jesus/Ranocchia.

I have been struggling to keep them all sitting back though, it seems they always want to run out and mark a midfielder for some reason, leaving holes behind them. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with the way we're playing.

I suppose it depends where everyone else is playing in your tactic. I have a DMC and two defensive wingers which usually covers the centre backs. I've not really noticed them heading too hard forward, my main complaint has been them spreading themselves too wide across the pitch.

I suppose it depends where everyone else is playing in your tactic. I have a DMC and two defensive wingers which usually covers the centre backs. I've not really noticed them heading too hard forward, my main complaint has been them spreading themselves too wide across the pitch.

The season started off rather poor. I wasn't scoring and I wasn't stopping anyone either. Not sure if it's the club learning the tactics or my switch to using wingbacks as opposed to wide midfielders, but we're currently on a tear. Hugo Campagnaro has scored 4 in the last 5 and turned in 3 MOM performances. We're climbing the table slowly but surely now. Big match coming up against Juve...

Ah okay, at least you're pulling it back!

I've been performing solidly so far, I'm top after 20 games although Cagliari are pushing me hard, oddly enough. My only 3 defeats have been Livorno, Verona (in the cup) and Chievo annoyingly whilst I've drawn to Fiorentina, Sassuolo and Milan - so I've done well against the bigger teams, but my record against some of the lower teams has been poor to say the least!

So it's now November and we've climbed to 6th. What's really got me excited however, is that the board has just given me 20 million in extra transfer funds due to an improvement in the club's finances. Good, I've got a few players in mind...

One thing that has helped immensely is changing the roles of my back three. Instead of simply having three centerbacks playing a standard defensive role, I now have two playing a cover role and one playing as a stopper. I'm now noticing that my centerbacks are actually intercepting a lot of passes intended for forwards and they're actually launching quick counter attacks.

Elsewhere things are going well. We've climbed to third in the table only 3 points behind leaders Juve. I used the extra funds given to me to bring in Marco Verratti and Davide Astori. I'm going for a solid mix of Italians and Eastern Europeans in my squad.

wonder how much money Inter will have in the data changes for release day with the new owners in place

wonder how much money Inter will have in the data changes for release day with the new owners in place

I wonder that as well. I've been able to spend a good bit without really hurting the finances of the club, and we've been improving our facilities as well.

Completely forgetting that I have Francesco Bardi out on loan, I signed Mattia Perin (another potential future Italian #1) to a pre-contract deal.

Completely forgetting that I have Francesco Bardi out on loan, I signed Mattia Perin (another potential future Italian #1) to a pre-contract deal.

Hey if you can secure top talent for free don't go complaining!

I'm still top of the league with Juve and Cagliari behind me with 9 games to go. I'm sitting 10 points clear, although I still have to play Juve and A.C. Milan in the next month or so. I'm quite annoyed as my only losses have been to lowly teams (Sassuolo, Verona, Chievo and Livorno) whilst I've also drew to similar teams (including Verona, who also knocked me out of the cup!).

Hopefully I'll be able to close the season out, my finances certainly need it as the board keep recommending I sell players to help bolster the finances - I had to sell Alvarez to Udinese in January. I'm still trying to get Milito and Cambiasso to agree to lower deals as their combined £275k p/w wages is crippling us financially.

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Just managed to help my finances by talking Cambiasso down from his £130,000 per week wage to a more acceptable £33k per week! Now to try and do the same to Milito! I'll definitely need to make a big player sale in summer I think, I'm making a solid loss every month at the moment although saving £400,000 per month on Cambiasso's wages will help me to no end.

Talk about a tense last 3 games!

We've been on a poor (by my early season standards) run of late, winning just 4 of our last 10 Serie A games, drawing 5 and losing 1, but now we face second place Juventus in a title-deciding match - if we avoid defeat we will win the league. If we do avoid defeat we get to parade the title in our next home game, against arch-rivals A.C. Milan before a trip to surprise packages Sassuolo (who looked for most of the season that they might finish above Parma and A.C. to qualify for Europe!).

Lets hope we can repeat/better our draw with Juve earlier on in the season! Forza Nerazzurri!

Wow you've done brilliantly there, and what a great couple of games to have to deal the title!

Who have been your best players? Are you still going with three at the back?

Is the Italian tax issue still fixed. Was such a shame on FM13. I avoided Italy all together, even after the issue was addressed. Shame as I usually love a stint in italy at some point of my journeyman save.

Great help guide! well displayed and described.

Wow you've done brilliantly there, and what a great couple of games to have to deal the title!

Who have been your best players? Are you still going with three at the back?

I've stuck with three at the back for almost every single game (except against, I think, Roma where I had 2 fit CB's so went 4 at the back) and it's paid off as it gives me a lot more width than just two at the back would across the whole pitch.

In terms of best players, FM14 seems to favour defenders so it's no surprise to see Ranocchia (7.69 from 34 games), Samuel (7.60 from 18 games, 2 goals) and Alvaro Pereira (7.59 from 34 games, 6 goals 7 assists) top the list, but personally Mateo Kovacic has been incredible as an AMC with a rating of 7.41 (8 goals 10 assists) from 30 games whilst Rodrigo Palacio has an average of 7.26 but led the goalscoring charts with 14 goals and 7 assists from 35 games.

I've been a little disappointed with Mauro Icardi and Ishak Belfodil though, Icardi hasn't scored a league goal all season in 13 appearances (6 as a sub) whilst Belfodil has just hit a bit of form with 3 goals and 3 assists in his last 10 games, but did nothing in his first 19 games (admittedly 16 games were substitute appearances).

In terms of the tax bug Mattias333 the tax issue seems to have been fixed; I've paid £6.3m in tax on an expenditure of £114m across the season - that seems a little low if anything but I expect a large bill at the end of the season, i'll let you know once I have finished the season.

I've stuck with three at the back for almost every single game (except against, I think, Roma where I had 2 fit CB's so went 4 at the back) and it's paid off as it gives me a lot more width than just two at the back would across the whole pitch.

In terms of best players, FM14 seems to favour defenders so it's no surprise to see Ranocchia (7.69 from 34 games), Samuel (7.60 from 18 games, 2 goals) and Alvaro Pereira (7.59 from 34 games, 6 goals 7 assists) top the list, but personally Mateo Kovacic has been incredible as an AMC with a rating of 7.41 (8 goals 10 assists) from 30 games whilst Rodrigo Palacio has an average of 7.26 but led the goalscoring charts with 14 goals and 7 assists from 35 games.

I've been a little disappointed with Mauro Icardi and Ishak Belfodil though, Icardi hasn't scored a league goal all season in 13 appearances (6 as a sub) whilst Belfodil has just hit a bit of form with 3 goals and 3 assists in his last 10 games, but did nothing in his first 19 games (admittedly 16 games were substitute appearances).

In terms of the tax bug Mattias333 the tax issue seems to have been fixed; I've paid £6.3m in tax on an expenditure of £114m across the season - that seems a little low if anything but I expect a large bill at the end of the season, i'll let you know once I have finished the season.

It's interesting how different our saves are. Palacio has been your leading goalscorer while in my save he hasn't scored once. His play has been so bad that I've essentially dropped him only playing him when absolutely required. Instead I've paired Milito up front with Belfodil who has been superb. Icardi has been hit or miss thus far, but I still stick with him over Palacio.

I didn't even realize there was a tax bug in 13. I played several seasons with Palermo in my journeyman save and never noticed.

On a sidenote, I lost Marco Andreolli for 7-8 months due to viral infection.

It's interesting how different our saves are. Palacio has been your leading goalscorer while in my save he hasn't scored once. His play has been so bad that I've essentially dropped him only playing him when absolutely required. Instead I've paired Milito up front with Belfodil who has been superb. Icardi has been hit or miss thus far, but I still stick with him over Palacio.

I didn't even realize there was a tax bug in 13. I played several seasons with Palermo in my journeyman save and never noticed.

They fixed it eventually so if you started a save late on it may well have been fixed, but for people like myself and, I assume, Mattias the only way to rectify the bug was to go via the 3rd party Real Time Editor route. The bug meant that Italian clubs massively overpaid on taxes each season which crippled their finances, I think it was to due with the pension fund tax, specifically.

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Just won the title! It was a tense game in Turin, evenly matched until Chiellini was sent off in the 59th minute for two-footing Mauro Icardi. After that it was all us, and Wallace put us 1-0 ahead in the 73rd minute with a good finish. That would have been that but for Fabio Quagliarella popping up in the 93rd minute with a header from a corner to give Juventus a draw. That result still meant that we won the title (and recorded our third draw in a row!) but it would have been nice to wrap the league up with a win.

I'd normally be tempted to give younger and fringe players a chance now I've wrapped up the league but considering we've got A.C. Milan up next I'm not sure my fans will allow it. I'm definitely playing the reserves against Sassuolo though as that's a dead rubber tie.

They fixed it eventually so if you started a save late on it may well have been fixed, but for people like myself and, I assume, Mattias the only way to rectify the bug was to go via the 3rd party Real Time Editor route. The bug meant that Italian clubs massively overpaid on taxes each season which crippled their finances, I think it was to due with the pension fund tax, specifically.

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Just won the title! It was a tense game in Turin, evenly matched until Chiellini was sent off in the 59th minute for two-footing Mauro Icardi. After that it was all us, and Wallace put us 1-0 ahead in the 73rd minute with a good finish. That would have been that but for Fabio Quagliarella popping up in the 93rd minute with a header from a corner to give Juventus a draw. That result still meant that we won the title (and recorded our third draw in a row!) but it would have been nice to wrap the league up with a win.

I'd normally be tempted to give younger and fringe players a chance now I've wrapped up the league but considering we've got A.C. Milan up next I'm not sure my fans will allow it. I'm definitely playing the reserves against Sassuolo though as that's a dead rubber tie.

I was lucky! I hadnt noticed the bug on my journeyman save on FM13 when I noticed the italian clubs had dramatically fallen from grace on my save, value dropped etc...(other then Spezia who had a tycoon). By luck the same day as I was considering a move to AC Milan I noticed on this forum the problem. (was a massive thread with 100s of pages!). Despite it being adjusted it spooked me and I kept away from Italy (a country I love).

People still complained it wasnt right but to be fair I felt FM got it spot on in the end.

Finally get a bit of FM time tonight, was going to start at Inter but now there's this staff bug! Have to wait til next week by the looks of things.

Well done on the title, great achievement first year and CL should really boost finances.

What's the staff bug?

Going in to the close season now, managed to renegotiate Milito's contract from £145k per week to just £55k per week so he'll stay for another season. Got lots of offers coming in for numerous players (Pereira, Schelotto, Nagatomo etc.) but all on the low side and teams refuse to up their bids, which is annoying. Sassuolo offered £2.6m for Schelotto but when I asked for £2.8m they walked away, even though he's valued at £3.7m. Odd.

Scouts have found a 5* potential striker in Argentina but Real and Barcelona are also after him. I'm hoping my combination of chatting him up + the prospect of joining fellow Argentines Cambiasso, Zanetti, Milito, Carrizo and Icardi will sway him

Staff bug? sounds new? Got me worried now! Not a bug in Italy again :'( !!!

Yeah sorry guys, since the new update if you try to sign staff in Italy the game crashes. Hopefly it's fixed by release.

Good job I've stuck with the default staff then!

Just hit the dreaded co-ownership decision date, 25 transfers to make!

Thats my only bug bare with italy! The co-ownership rules. Drives me round the bend more than the MLS rules! lol

on a topic related note I hope they fix this staff bug. Gutted to hear of another bug in italy.

Yeah sorry guys, since the new update if you try to sign staff in Italy the game crashes. Hopefly it's fixed by release.

Hmmm, so I need to keep the staff I currently have then I guess.

Yeah it's a very tedious proceses, managed to retain Capello, Icardi and Taider though which is great, although lost out on Romano and Crisetig. The Argentine 5* regen chose Real Madrid ahead of me, unfortunately.

Just had two transfers confirmed though, Vitinho from CSKA on a free (Bosman) and Rodrigo Gomez (£1.2m) have joined. Click their names for attributes.

Both look very promising indeed, although I don't play wingers so they may need retraining. The other alternative is to look at altering my tactics for the next season.

Both look very promising indeed, although I don't play wingers so they may need retraining. The other alternative is to look at altering my tactics for the next season.

I need to hire someone to bring in my youth that favors a 3-5-2. My last youth intake was full of wingers, wingers that weren't suitable to retrained as wingbacks. I have to re-train them as strikers or attacking mids. I did manager to pull in a ML and MR both of whom are 5 star potential. Currently retraining them as wingbacks.

How's Guarin rated for everyone? For me he's our most expensive player at £17m which is unbelievable, he was a solid player but nothing spectacular for me last year. At 28 years old I'm gonna try and cash in on him this season. I'd play Kovacic ahead of him at AMC and in the middle i'm looking to play someone like Taider a bit more.

How's Guarin rated for everyone? For me he's our most expensive player at £17m which is unbelievable, he was a solid player but nothing spectacular for me last year. At 28 years old I'm gonna try and cash in on him this season. I'd play Kovacic ahead of him at AMC and in the middle i'm looking to play someone like Taider a bit more.

Right now he's valued at 10 million. Handanovic and Balanta are valued at 13 million.

Guarin has played fairly well, nothing spectacular. I'll probably do the same and move him on, it'll allow me to play Taider and Alvarez more considering I brought in Verratti who obviously isn't going anywhere.

Finished 3rd behind winners Juve and runners up Napoli. I'll upload some screen shots later, but it looks like I'm going to let Milito walk. I'd love to resign him but in the final push towards Champions League status, he slipped a disc in his back and will be out for several months. He's obviously never going to be the same player given his age so I have to let him move on.

Looks like Cambiasso will leaving as well. He's refusing to sign for less than 72k, and frankly I can give him that kind of money if he's not going to be starting.

Sounds like our games are already differing quite a bit then. Not sure what Guarin has done to deserve such a high price, 3 goals and 6 assists in 27 games is hardly outstanding in my eyes. Handanovic started the season at £15.75m but has dropped to £9m now, not sure why as he had the most clean sheets and lowest conceded total in the league.

Well played in signing Balanta, I could do with him but Porto (who signed him 1st season) want £29m + his agent (20%) wants £9m. Annoying for me but incredibly realistic in that Porto have signed a starlet and are holding out for big money.

When did you last negotiate with Cambiasso? I got him down some time in early April to £33k or so, and Milito down to £55k on his last month of his contract. Well done on signing Veratti, Manchester City bid £13.75m for him on mine and I umm'ed and ahh'ed at signing him but in the end didn't and he's gone to City. I wish I had splashed the cash now though.

Looking at Siquiera (May not be spelled correctly, the Brazilian-Italian left back formerly of Granada and Udinese) whos playing for Benfica in my save but they want £20m+ as he's top scored in the Italy team at the world cup. If I get a decent amount for Nagatomo or Pereira i'd be tempted.

I'm quite annoyed at Monaco, they've put bids in so far for Juan Jesus, Nagatomo, Pereira and Kuzmanovic but all have been way below their values and they don't seem to want to pay more than their initial offer. Odd considering their real life expenditure.

Sounds like our games are already differing quite a bit then. Not sure what Guarin has done to deserve such a high price, 3 goals and 6 assists in 27 games is hardly outstanding in my eyes. Handanovic started the season at £15.75m but has dropped to £9m now, not sure why as he had the most clean sheets and lowest conceded total in the league.

Well played in signing Balanta, I could do with him but Porto (who signed him 1st season) want £29m + his agent (20%) wants £9m. Annoying for me but incredibly realistic in that Porto have signed a starlet and are holding out for big money.

When did you last negotiate with Cambiasso? I got him down some time in early April to £33k or so, and Milito down to £55k on his last month of his contract. Well done on signing Veratti, Manchester City bid £13.75m for him on mine and I umm'ed and ahh'ed at signing him but in the end didn't and he's gone to City. I wish I had splashed the cash now though.

Looking at Siquiera (May not be spelled correctly, the Brazilian-Italian left back formerly of Granada and Udinese) whos playing for Benfica in my save but they want £20m+ as he's top scored in the Italy team at the world cup. If I get a decent amount for Nagatomo or Pereira i'd be tempted.

I'm quite annoyed at Monaco, they've put bids in so far for Juan Jesus, Nagatomo, Pereira and Kuzmanovic but all have been way below their values and they don't seem to want to pay more than their initial offer. Odd considering their real life expenditure.

I tried resigning both of them in the final month of the season, and again after the season finished. I didn't care to resign Milito because his injury essentially ruined him, but Cambiasso would have been nice to keep around. I wound up selling Guarin to Real Madrid and sold Kuzmanovic to Osasuna. I replaced Kuzmanovic with Krsticic from Sampdoria which is essentially an upgrade for a similar price but lower wages. Crisetig, Tiader, and Icardi were all made permanent as I bought the other halves of their contract. Outside of those the 2 biggest moves were bringing Marquinhos in from PSG and Gino Peruzzi from Catania. Marquinhos was unbelievably transfer listed for about 4.5 million. I bit their hand off. I wanted a wingback and initially looked at Alaba who was too expensive. I moved onto Peruzzi who will be my starting RWB for years to come, not to mention he's Argentinian.

How much did Peruzzi set you back though? Catania want north of £20m for him on mine, although he is rated 5* for potential - could be my "next" Zanetti. I still think it's a bit much. Instead I just extended Wallace's loan from Chelsea, he's a solid wing back and I'm still paying him just £18k p/w. I also managed to wangle a £5m future fee which I'll probably use come next season.

How much did Peruzzi set you back though? Catania want north of £20m for him on mine, although he is rated 5* for potential - could be my "next" Zanetti. I still think it's a bit much. Instead I just extended Wallace's loan from Chelsea, he's a solid wing back and I'm still paying him just £18k p/w. I also managed to wangle a £5m future fee which I'll probably use come next season.

Yeah Catania intially wanted well over 20 million for Peruzzi, but I talked them down to 17 million with 4 million spread over 48 months. I also went ahead and bought out Atalanta's share of Marko Livaja because Icardi has missed the entire preseason and hasn't been what I expected, and Palacio has not been at all the player he should be.

Full disclosure here... I'm an Austria Wien supporter and when Aleksandar Dragovic was listed at 6.75 million I had to make a bid. I always look to bring in Austrians (already brought in Lazaro and Horvath last season) and he was one who could actually do a job for me. This created a log jam at centerback but I'm trying to move Juan Jesus who is not as suited for my possession based style of play as Dragovic is.

I spent 50 million pounds, but recouped 30 million from player sales. All in all, not a bad summer for me. I've got young players who can grow with the club locked in at few key positions and we've improved overall.

Edit- I also flirted with the idea of bringing El Shaarawy in as well. He only started two matches for Milan last season, and it wasn't due to injury. My scouts said he'd be interested in coming and he even confirmed that to the media. Unfortunately Milan (as you could imagine) don't want to sell to me. El Shaarawy and Alaba are two long term targets for me, so I'll just have to keep the pressure on. I do have the fact that Milan missed out on Champions League football in my favor.

Javier Zanetti, 41 years old and still scoring goals in the Champions League.