FM10: Official u.c. Sampdoria Thread

Brief History

Unione Calcio Sampdoria (commonly nicknamed Blucerchiati, blue-ringed) is a football club based in Genoa, Italy. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria. Both the team name and jersey do reflect this, the first being a combination of the former names, the second incorporating the former teams' colours (blue-white and red-black) in a single design.

Sampdoria currently compete in the Italian Serie A. The team's colours are blue with white, red and black hoops , hence the nickname blucerchiati. Sampdoria play at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, capacity 36,536, which it shares with Genoa's other club, Genoa Cricket and Football Club. The derby between the two teams is commonly known as the Derby della Lanterna.

Sampdoria have won the scudetto once in their history, in the 1991 season. The club has also won the Coppa Italia four times (1985, 1988, 1989, and 1994). Their biggest European success came when they won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990. They also reached the European Cup final in 1992 only to lose against the Spanish side FC Barcelona with an 1-0 score after extra time.

in May 1999 Sampdoria were relegated from Serie A, and did not return to the top flight until 2002. Around this time Sampdoria was acquired by Riccardo Garrone, an Italian oil businessman. Two of Garrone's most important initial moves were to inject new cash into the club and to appoint Walter Novellino as new head coach. Sampdoria returned to Serie A in 2003 lead by talisman Francesco Flachi, and ended their first season in eighth place. In the Serie A 2004-05 they lost a spot in the UEFA Champions League to Udinese in the final matchdays of the season, ending in fifth place. This was followed by a poor season; despite this, Novellino was confirmed for one more season and Sampdoria ended the 2006-07 Serie A campaign in ninth place. As the 8th placed team in Serie A were not granted a UEFA licence, Sampdoria was able to enter the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2007 as a result. Novellino announced his farewell to Sampdoria soon after, with Walter Mazzarri unveiled shortly after as his replacement.

The 2007-08 campaign started very early for Sampdoria, which defeated PFC Cherno More Varna in the Intertoto Cup and Hajduk Split in the second qualifying round of UEFA Cup, before being eliminated in the First Round proper by AaB on away goals. The club took actively part in the transfer market, persuading Vincenzo Montella to make a comeback at Samp and signing Antonio Cassano from Real Madrid on a loan basis. Having had such a successful loan period, Sampdoria have made the move permanent from the 2008/09 season. Sampdoria ended the season in sixth place of the Italian Serie A and qualified for the UEFA Cup 2008-09.

U.C Sampdoria supporters come mainly from the city of Genova. The biggest group is Ultras Tito Cucchiaroni, named after an Argentinian left winger who played for Sampdoria. The group was founded in 1969, making it one of the oldest ultra groups in Italy. Ultras Tito Cucchiaroni are apolitical, although there are smaller groups like Rude Boys Sampdoria, who are left wing. The main support with flags and flares comes from the southern Curva, Gradinata Sud.

2009-10 Serie A is 62nd Serie A season in Unione Calcio Sampdoria's history. Sampdoria also participates in Coppa Italia 2009-10, starting from 3rd round. Sampdoria finished Serie A 2008-09 in 13th place, so they failed to qualify for any of the European competitions for 2009-10 season.

Stadio Luigi Ferraris

Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, also known as the Marassi from the name of the ward where is located, is a multi-use stadium in Genoa, Italy. It was originally a private property of and built by Genoa C.F.C. in 1909. In 1933, the stadium got its name thanks to the former Genoa captain, Luigi Ferraris. In time, during WWII, it was passed under city public administration and property. It is currently used for football matches for Genoa and (since 1946) Sampdoria. It also plays host to rugby union matches. It holds 36,536 spectators. It has been reported by the BBC and others that the Italy national rugby union team will move to the Marassi if the Stadio Flaminio in Rome is not upgraded. It is hoped that they will get bigger home attendances because almost all the main teams are in the north of the country and the stadium is bigger. However, it is also thought that many away supporters might find a trip to Genoa less appealing than a weekend in Rome.

The stadium was inaugurated on January 22, 1911 with a football match between Genoa and Internazionale, and had a capacity of 20,000. It has also hosted the 1934 World Cup match between Spain and Brazil, and by then its capacity had been expanded to 30,000.

The stadium was demolished and rebuilt for the 1990 World Cup, during which it hosted four matches.

2009/10 Real Life Starting Eleven

GK - Luca Castellazzi - joined U.C. Sampdoria on a free transfer, signing a 2 year deal. He received the no.1 shirt from Luigi Turci. The first season he was the backup of Francesco Antonioli, and Castellazzi only played the 3 games that Antonioli missed. In the second season, he finally earned a regular place, and in January 2008, he signed a contract extension again which would run until summer 2010.

DR - Marius Stankevičius - is a Lithuanian professional footballer currently playing for the Italian Serie A club Sampdoria. He stands 190 cm tall and weighs 83 kg. Stankevičius plays also as a defender for Lithuania national football team. In the past, he has represented Lithuania at the under-21 level.

DL - Reto Ziegler - despite being just 18 years old, Reto has already played for a various number of clubs including Tottenham, Wigan and HSV, Sampdoria being his third official club, and was signed in 2007 on loan, and then was made permenant. made his full debut for Switzerland in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification game against France on March 26, 2005.

DC - Daniele Gastaldello - in 2007 Gastaldello was bought by Sampdoria, by Juventus buying Siena half for €650k and sold to Sampdoria for €1.25M. And has since found himself a regular at the heart of the Sampdoria defence winning 63 caps since his arrival.

DC - Marco Rossi - is a very gifted young centre back, who actually plays for Parma but is on loan at the club in a season long exchange deal with Mirante going to Parma for the season. He has been capped at Italian youth level, but is nowhere near the stage of the step up to the full Italian team. Has also found himself a regular at the base of the Sampdoria team, playing alongside Gastaldello.

MR - Daniele Mannini - In January 2009 he was handed a one year suspension along with former teammate Davide Possanzini from WADA for being late for a drugs test following a Serie B match between Brescia and Chievo in December 2007. Later the ban was frozen by Court of Arbitration for Sport due to appeal process. In July 2009, Mannini joined Sampdoria in co-ownership bid and has since become a favourite among the teamsheet, playing 17 of the 18 Serie A games this season.

ML - Franco Semioli - in August 2009, it was confirmed that Semioli signed for Sampdoria an a three-year deal with the appointment of Marco Marchionni. On 16 August 2006, Semioli made his Italy national team debut against Croatia, then Semioli was recalled to the Italy squad for the final Euro 2008 qualifier with Scotland.

MC - Angelo Palombo - moved to Sampdoria on free transfer after Fiorentina's bankruptcy in 2002. He is regarded as in inspirational character on the pitch, very much in the same mould as Gennaro Gattuso. Palombo is fierce in the tackle and never gives up a lost cause. He has a powerful shot. He is also a good playmaker with a good insight into the game. The combination of his tenacity, body strength, tackling and reading of the game is only rivalled by Gennaro Gattuso in Serie A.

MC - Andrea Poli - was signed by Sampdoria in join-ownership bid in 31 January 2007, but immediately loaned back to Treviso until officially became a member of Sampdoria in summer 2007. He took part with the Italy U-19 squad at the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, where he scored two goals. On February 11, 2009 he made his debut with the Italy U-21 squad in a friendly match against Sweden. He has really found his feet this season and has been playing as more of a playmaker, like a younger Pirlo if you must, but has a long way to go before he can play at the same quality as Pirlo.

ST - Giampaolo Pazzini - found the back of the net for the first time with the blucerchiati against Udinese in the Coppa Italia. He scored his first goal in Serie A with his new team on February 1, 2009 in the match against Chievo, finished in a 1–1 draw. His rejuvenated form continued when he hit his first brace with Sampdoria in a 3–0 hammering against Italian champions Internazionale in the Coppa Italia, and his second consecutive brace arrived in the Serie A encounter against Roma (2–2). Has been in brilliant form this season with 10 goals in all competitions.

ST - Antonio Cassano - in his second season at Sampdoria, he said that his temperament had improved and also became vice-captain for the team behind Angelo Palombo. Chose the number 99 shirt, as a tribute to Ronaldo, who was wearing the same number with Milan at the time. Cassano can easily be classed as the star of the team, every team has one. With his dribbling skills, eye for a pass and techniquely gifted, he was a perfect partner for Pazzini.

Football Manager Information

Nation - Italy

Year Founded - 1946

Status - Professional

Reputation - National

Chairman Status - Loves the club

Legends – Vujadin Boskov, Sergio Volpi, Riccardo Garrone, Marcello Lippi, Guiseppe Marrotta, Angelo Palombo, Antonio Cassano, Gianluca Vialli, Giovanni Ivernizzi, Vincenzo Montella, Attillio Lombardo, Francesco Flachi, Domenico Arnuzzo, Edoardo Garrone

Icons – Toninho Cerezo, Roberto Mancini, Walter Mazzarri, Enrico Chiesa, Salvatore Asmini

Favoured Personnel – Gianfranco Bellotto, Marco Lanna, Sven Goran Eriksson, Fabio Bazzani, Walter Alfredo Novelino

Fierce Rivals - Bologna, Udinese, Torino, Genoa, Roma, AC Milan, Inter

Other Rivals - Juventus, Fiorentina, Lazio, Vicenza, Palermo, Brescia, Napoli

Finances - Secure

Average Ticket Price - £13

Average Season Ticket Price - £243

Season Ticket Holders - 19800

Estimated Value - £31.5m (Loan Debt: £61m)

Continental Competition - None

Media Prediction - 11th

Stadium - Luigi Ferraris (Genova, 36536 all seater)

Training Facilities - Top Training Facilities

Youth Facilities - Excellent Youth Facilities + Youth Academy

Expections - Mid-table finish, Top half finish, Continental Qualification, Title Challenge, Winner

Transfer Budget - £4.3m for Mid-table, £5.75m for Top half finish, £6.25m for Continental Qualification, £6.5m for Title Challenge, £7m for Winner

Wage Budget - £450k-£550k (£317,828 being spent)

Kits

Full Squad

This is the First Team squad that you are given at the start of the game.

# - Squad number

Luca Castellazzi - GK - 1

Vincenzo Fiorillo - GK - 90

Matteo Guardalben - GK - 21

Stefano Lucchini - D RLC - 6

Luciano Zauri - D RL - 8

Marius Stankevicius - D RLC, WB/MR - 23

Pietro Accardi - D LC - 5

Marco Rossi - D LC - 13

Daniele Gastaldello - DC - 28

Reto Ziegler - D/WBL, M LC - 3

Marco Padalino - WB/AMR - 20

Angelo Palombo - DM, MC - 17

Andrea Poli - DM, MC - 16

Fernando Tissone - DM, AM C - 12

Daniele Franceschini - M LC - 19

Daniele Mannini - AM RL - 7

Franco Semioli - AM RL - 77

Antonio Cassano - AM LC, FC - 99

Claudio Bellucci - ST - 11

Giampaolo Pazzini - ST - 10

Nicola Pozzi - ST - 9

Squad Analysis

Goalkeeper

In the goalie department, you have the known trusted Luca Castellazzi who in my own opinion is a decent goalkeeper for the first season, as you haven't got Champions League or Europa football to contend with. He is still on the right side of 35, so even if need be, he could be good enough for a couple of seasons, all depending on your first year acheivements. In the backup department, you have the young Fiorillo. He is a class act in real life, and has massive potential in the game, with a boost of stats from last year, makes him actually playable from the start against weaker teams and in the cup if you are not overly worried by it, I would reccomend keeping him as he is great backup and one for the future as one of your other goalkeepers are nearly twice his age! Also if need be you have Guardalben, the 35 year old italian, in truth he is not needed at all, and shouldn't really be playing him over the other two. You also have another goalkeeper on loan, Constantino, first thing to do is either shove him in your reserves or just cancel the loan, I would reccomend cancelling it just so you don't clutter up your squads with needless players. If you really are after a Goalkeeper though, I would suggest Federico Vilar from Atlante, cheap great goalkeeper who would be fine for 3-4 seasons.

- Target: Federico Vilar, Vincent Enyeama

- Youth Target: None needed

- Youth Prospect: Vincenzo Fiorillo

Leftback

The joy for Sampdoria is that there is a whole host of players in the squad that can play this position, five to be precise, but some are better than others, and a couple really shouldn't even play there! Ziegler you think would be the first option to play here, but I wouldn't reccomend it, his defensive side of his game is a shambles, it would be like player Robinho at leftback. So in my opinion Ziegler should be further up the pitch. Rossi and Lucchini can also play on the left fullback position but again, I feel that this would waste them being there, so it would be better if you played them in the centre of the defence. Accardi does have the speed for the wings, but his attacking side of his game like crossing and dribbling isn't quite as good as his amazing defensive qualitys, but if needed, I would choose him to play here for cover otherwise, he is best suited in the middle. So that leaves us with the fullbacks (who can both play down either side) Zauri and Stankevicius (Stanky as he is sometimes reffered to as). Out of these two, I would play Stanky down the left, due to his complete versatility, and he has played this position for Sampdoria in real life too. If you really wanted to improve this position, in my opinion in the first season it is really not compulsory, but Mario Silva is available on a free and would be good enough to slot in.

- Target: None needed

- Youth Target: Diego Renan, Emiliano Insua

- Youth Prospect: Gianluigi Bianco

Rightback

The rightback is a position that I feel that needs strengthening, as there is no real star that shines out to me. You have Padalino who is alot better going forward so would be better at MR/AMR due to his speed and crossing ability. As said before, Zauri can play here but his advancing age of 31, would set alarm bells ringing in my head. Again Accardi can play here, but would still prefer him playing in the centre of the park. Stanky can play here if you spent the money on a left back, but lets say you don't for finding targets sake, there is alot of a talent on the market interested in you, but alot of them are out of reach due to Sampdorias small budget. A one year option could be Salihamidzic, due to him being 32 he coudn't last forever, but at the moment has the stats to be at a massive club. He can be bought for £2.1m over 48months, so thats just little over £500k a season! Another player is the dual flank Ansaldi, he can be picked up for around £3m mark, and can play down either side if needed and is a great player to have. But if you are looking for a long term investment, for around £4m you can get 21 year old Gregory can der Wiel who would easily slot straight into the first team and on the team sheet. I would reccomend looking at him.

- Target: Salihamidzic, van der Wiel, Ansaldi, Renan (Again)

- Youth Target: van der Wiel

- Youth Prospect: None

Centreback

This is one of them positions where you think, should I, shouldn't I improve.

You have great abunance of players, but no real class at the back, your only real player that could compete in Europe next year if you qualify is Accardi, and possibly Lucchini.

Well, It wouldn't be a bad idea bringing in one experienced, quality centreback. Jorge Andrade is available on a free at the beginning and I would highly reccomend him, he is proven at top division football and hasn't been injury prone at all on the game as I thought he would be. There is always the forum favourite Otamendi available for £3m mark, and as everyone knows, he becomes one of the best centre backs in the game and in some teams is capable of getting straight into the first team, and I believe that is the case again. Kryvstov is a great youth option who is very much capable of playing in the first team, but I wouldn't throw him straight in at the deep end, he is available for around £2.5m.

- Target: Jorge Andrade, Otamendi, Juhasz

- Youth Target: Sergiy Kryvstov, Gale Agbossoumonde

- Youth Prospect: None

Defensive Midfield

Probably the strongest part of the squad, as you have the world class Palombo in the middle of the park. He should be the first person on the teamsheet, every week with fail. But if he was to get injured, I am not too sure how far Sampdoria go as far as cover. They have Poli, who can play DM, but isn't too convincing with the defensive attributes and would probaly be better off playing CM. It is the exact same case with Tissone, he can play their but I wouldn't reccomend it. But of course, I don't really see you need to spend money here unless you really really have to, or of course want to. There is one real option here, and that is to bring in Anthony Annan, great player, as possibly my favourite player on FM10. He will sit in the whole and do the same job Essien does, well.. they do play with each other at International level, you can pick up Annan for £2.5m and this can even be over 48months to save money! As for youth prospects, there isn't anyone in the squad except Poli that is ever going to be good enough for Sampdoria. So it would be a good idea to bring in a youngster you can get Palombo to tutor and turn into a miniture one of himself, I suggest looking at Tinga, brilliant little brazilian who has potential to be up their with the best!

- Target: Anthony Annan

- Youth Target: Tinga

- Youth Prospect: None

Centre Midfield

Couple absolute great players in the centre of midfield, but that is it. Palombo is the stand out player, but there is no-one of the same calibre as him in the centre, if playing a 4-4-2, then Poli would be a good attacking playmaking partner for Palombo, but if you was going for a defensive midfielder and two centre midfielders, then I would suggest investing here in another centre midfielder, and there is a couple of very good players available for the cheap.

Fernando Gago is available from the start, transfer listed for £4.8m, and of course, they will accept that all over 48 months, meaning that in the first year, Gago would only cost you £1.2m, Not bad ey for a world class player? I would heavily suggest buying him! Patrick Viera is also Transfer Listed for very little and would be a fine for a years worth of football for £1.3m, but only offer him a year contract, as he does want a lot a week.

Possibly youth targets could include David Alaba, Fabian Delph. David Alaba becomes a world class player, and can be picked up very cheaply at the beggining, I would suggest looking at him over Delph, due to Delph's hefty price tag he has.

- Targets: Fernando Gago, Patrick Viera

- Youth Targets: David Alaba, Fabian Delph

- Youth Prospect: None, Again!

Attacking Midfield Centre

Two players can officially play here, and both at the beggining you wouldn't really play here.

Antonio Cassano is the only player in the squad that you would even think about playing here to be truthful but I would much rather put him upfront. Tissone can fill in if you play an attacking midfield centre, but I would look to invest if you are going to play an AMC.

Pablo Piatti would be a great player to bring into the Serie A, kind of like Messi in ways, and I love him in the FM series. Playing just behind the strikers brings him into his element. May be a bit pricey but try offering clauses as well to get it down as low as possible. Another player if you can raise the funds is Carlos Eduardo, great little player to have on your side, and will most of the time.. make something out of nothing. Try percentage of next selling fee, money after apps and stuff like that to get his price down as much as possibly.

Sergiy Krivets is a cheap option, and can be picked up for £700k, and can play all across the attacking midfield area but is better in the centre. Marco Verratti is one of them gem players of FM10, if you haven't heard of him, go have a look. He can be picked up for around £500-650k, and becomes one of the best on the game, and has the stats for a 16 year old to start Serie A games.

- Targets: Carlos Eduardo, Pablo Piatti, Krivets

- Youth Targets: Marco Verratti, Jonjo Shelvey

- Youth Prospects: Mmmm, Again.. None!

Left Wing

No real attacking left footers in the squad is a real dissapointment, Ziegler is capable of playing on the wing but his lack of dribbling skills worrys me. He is a great back up choice though. The other left footer in the squad, is the 33 year old Franceshini, who to be honest, isn't going to be the most effective player in the squad so unless your playing inside forwards (tactics will come a bit later) than I suggest getting a left footed winger, this would be one of the main priorities. I like crosses coming in on their natural foot.

So as said before, Carlos Eduardo is a great player to have in the squad and he can play wide left if you wanted him there. For a real physical presence, have a look at his team mate, Demba Ba. Has a real physical power on the wings with pace, strength, agility and balance, and even has the technical and mental attributes to make these physical attributes go to waste, will be pricey, but definitely worth it. Going for another forum favourite now, but Angel Di Maria would be a brilliant addition to the squad, he is only £3.1m and has the pace to tear apart most Serie A teams, definitely look into him. A youth target would be Douglas Costa, a very good attacking midfielder very similar to Carlos Eduardo, but not quite as well developed. Making him perfect to turn into a class player!

- Targets: Angel Di Maria, Carlos Eduardo, Demba Ba

- Youth Targets: Douglas Costa

- Youth Prospects: Take a guess!

Right Wing

The right wing is quite strong in all fairness, you have got Semioli with devestating speed and crossing ability. Then for back up you have the reliable Mannini, not as good in the game as he is performing in real life at the moment.

If you really felt like you had to improve this side of the field, Krivets as said before will do this quite comfortably.

But if you really want a bargain, have a look at Alejandro Dominguez, absolute bargain. You can get him for free at the beginning of the game, with a small signing on fee, I feel he is an absolute must. Not as good, but another free right winger which you can pick up straight away as he is a free agent is Karytska.

I struggled to find any real great young targets that would be interested in joining, so if anyone can help out, that would be awesome.

- Targets: Dominguez

- Youth Targets: None

- Youth Prospects: None

Forwards

The glory end of Sampdoria, they are bit top heavy with world class.

They have Cassano, probably the most vital player in the squad, with the ability to change any game with his skill. Along side him you have the well rounded Pazzini, the goalscorer of the two. These two will win you games if played right, I would suggest starting these two, you would be foolish not too in all honest. I mean you can play Cassano as an inside forward, or AMC, but that all depends on the formation you play. Alongside these two you have the veteran Bellucci, who isn't really going to be that effective anymore upfront and to be honest, has attributes that suit a winger rather than striker. Other than that you have Pozzi, an on loan striker who is good enough for back up, but to be honest, I would look to find another back up who could actually make a real impact on games.

If anything you don't really want a too much of a experienced player as he wont be getting many games over Cassano and Pazzini, so maybe look towards younger players such as; Welliton, Obasi or even Roberto Palumbo might be worth a stab at only £30k, yes that is a real price and what a bargain! Another cheap player would be Matias Vuoso you should look at, another goalscorer who would be a great impact sub.

Young targets can include Iker Muniain, Yannis Tafer, Neymar or even Eduardo Salvio. All fast players that can come on as a sub and tear tired defences down in the last 20 minutes.

When Marilungo comes back from his loan spell at Lecce, I would definitely reccomend using him. Has brilliant attributes.

- Targets: Welliton, Palumbo

- Youth Targets: Iker Muniain, Yannis Tafer, Neymar

- Youth Prospects: Marilingo, Henri Anier (Yes, finally a prospect!)

Transfer Tip

If you adjust budget at the beggining, you can get up to £14m more transfer budget which works wonders, as you have a massive wage budget. I would suggest only going to £11m though. This can be made into £44m over 48months though, so you have plenty for transfers and new faces, remember to let your team gel and get use to each other before expecting miracles from them.

Star Man

It wasn’t too hard to guess who this was; Antonio Cassano is the man you want to base your attack around. The fella has all the attributes to be one of the best attacking players in the game, your first target is to not let him go, especially as Chelsea will come sniffing from day one. You can utilise him in many positions including striker, inside forward on the wings and he can be a brilliant trequartista sitting behind the forward. Cassano has fifteen caps and three goals with Italy. His début came in November 2003 against Poland, in which he scored his first goal. He was part of Italy's UEFA Euro 2004 squad as a reserve, but after Totti was suspended following a spitting incident with Christian Poulsen in a group match against Denmark, Cassano was inserted into the starting line-up for a 1-1 draw with Sweden in which he scored. He also netted a last-minute winner in a 2-1 victory over Bulgaria, but Italy were eliminated in the group stage on goal difference.

Cassano was left off the final roster for the 2006 World Cup, but was called up for two Euro 2008 qualifying matches in September 2006. He was part of the finals roster and went scoreless in the tournament as Italy was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Spain after a penalty shootout.

Reccomended Formation & Line-Up

I feel the best way to get the best out of Cassano is to play him behind the forward, in this case Pazzini. He often scores more here for me then actually playing upfront, he obviously racks up the assists as well, giving alot of support to Pazzini.

A great starting tactic would be this simple 4-1-3-1-1, okay not as simple as thought, but the football played in this formation is brilliant, and is focused on Cassano (Trequartista) getting the ball from Poli and either going himself or threading through Pazzini. Palombo is set as an achor man to cut out anything coming through the midfield. It is like below;

Another great formation would be this wide attacking 4-1-2-2-1. And is a bit of a favourite with me.

It has Cassano on the left wing, cutting inside as obviously an inside forward. Palombo again is an achor man sitting behind a two man midfield with Poli as a supporting deep lying playmaker, and Tissone as a box to box midfielder. Pazzini is set up as a complete forward as he is upfront by himself, and this way he will look to do more things to get more goals. This is looks like this;

The final formation is what I call, the 5 star, I would probably use this against the big teams in Serie A, a more defensive, solid tactic. It has Cassano behind Pazzini upfront in the attack with Cassano as a trequartista again and Pazzini as a complete forward again, he finds himself in a lot more space in this tactic, great for Pazzini getting goals.

You have Tissone as a normal supporting defensive midfielder and Palombo yet again as a destroyer in the anchor man role. The wide midfielders as supporting, as you will be looking for them to get back as much as possible, hence why I went with Ziegler in this formation, who is use to this sort of role. This formation looks like this;

In Conclusion

Without a few better players in the Sampdoria squad, you are going to struggle and find it a hard first year. You do get a bit of money and it can treble with the adjust budget button as spoke about, and would suggest start looking for cheap talent straight away, remember.. the younger the better, but if you go for age and experience, then I wouldn't give them large contracts. Please feel welcome to post all your experiences, suggestions and what not in this thread, more the better!

Special thanks goes to Arsenal_2111 for his brilliant thread, for what I based this upon.

Reserved for further analysis of future patch

i am impressed mate

If things are going to be done better to do them properly!

Aye true, pretty excellent thread, makes sampdoria seem mouthwatering Ahl cye in a bite mate

Very nice OP Tyol, I played with Sampdoria on the demo, and even thought Chelsea nicked Cassano, I still ended up 4th at the end of the demo, I might even carry it on.

Very nice OP Tyol, I played with Sampdoria on the demo, and even thought Chelsea nicked Cassano, I still ended up 4th at the end of the demo, I might even carry it on.

The only thing that stops me from carrying on the demo games is the lack of leagues

Start a fresh Glad to hear top 4 is acheivable with Sampdoria though!

Will do a season update when I find the time, and hopefully get people interested in doing a save with Sampdoria

Nice OP.

AT LAST AN OFFICIAL SAMPDORIA THREAD !!!!!!!!! i done a temporary 1 im Just about to start second season finished 7th last season but roma got uefa cup spot cos they won the cup. Got good squad no with some wheeling and delling brought in affelay from psv he plays behind my front 2 of cassano and pazzini brought drenthe from real madrid got him out left mid with polombo in the middle hes quality and diaby from arsenal back up 2.5mill from arsenal also maggio from napoli right mid currently have bid in for sun ji park who will go right mid if he accepts contract defence needs bit of work but got fabio auerlio left back ansaldi right back and nicolas otamendi from velez 2 mill and omer toprak from freiberg germany 8.5 million at center back both got potential got paul scharner from wigan on a bosman as back up to and forren as back up in goal i signed guillermo ochoa 8 million the mexican keeper hes world class needded a keeper as last season i conceeded 2 many goals im confident going in to my 2nd season i will be top 6 thats what board expect aswell still got 20 million transfer budget to play with aswell but gonna see how i get on first and wait for the right buys and not wasting money on mediocure players ! Gotta say cassano is world class 35 goals for me last year pazzini not that far behind but cassaso contributed with 20 assists aswell so put him as captain this season as he has influence raiting as 20 and leader in his personel profile so put polombo back to vice captain this season so here we go lets see how we get on as long as i finish higher than my m8 in our network game that will do me hes napoli !

Trying to get macheda from utd. Im on transfer deadline day shall i or not they want 16 million thats all my budget cos i had 20 million but just signed sun ji park from utd for 4 million of the transfer list. I got cassano and pazzini who im happy with but thats it upfront. Macheda would be perfect as future prospect and sub or can also come in and cover for injurys to them 2. What shall i do hes got potentia 4 stars !!!!

Tyoldinho

How are you going to have enough time to do this season and your Pompey one?

Standard_liege!

I have already done this save I did it before I started my Pompey one. I have to alternate a lot to save myself getting bored you see.

Pompey one obviously has priority and I am really enjoying it on the new 10.2 patch !

Tyoldinho

Thanks mate ..very impressive ,

Samp is always one of the teams I choose for one of my saves ...always in between my Ajax games.

Cheers and thanks once again ..I know what game I will be playing for Christmas now !!!

Trying to get macheda from utd. Im on transfer deadline day shall i or not they want 16 million thats all my budget cos i had 20 million but just signed sun ji park from utd for 4 million of the transfer list. I got cassano and pazzini who im happy with but thats it upfront. Macheda would be perfect as future prospect and sub or can also come in and cover for injurys to them 2. What shall i do hes got potentia 4 stars !!!!

That is alot of money for a 18 year old, I don't think you should do it to be honest. But he is Italian, always good to have Italians

Tyoldinho

Thanks mate ..very impressive ,

Samp is always one of the teams I choose for one of my saves ...always in between my Ajax games.

Cheers and thanks once again ..I know what game I will be playing for Christmas now !!!

Cheers buddy Keep us updated in this thread on how you get on and stuff.

I second Ty, 16 mil for macheda is very expensive, even though he is italian, try and grab stephen makinwa ( sp ) plays for palermo, stats are decieving for a st

Also may aswell try Cardozo or Milevski unless there is no non eu spots in your squad

Keep an eye on Jo btw, stats are deceptive but he is an incredible striker with a phenomenal scoring rate, as a deep lying playmaker

Gilardino surely will come up soon hehe, or Marco Boreillo ( sp ) from AC Milan

Seriously look at buying Mattia Destro as your back up striker Turns into one of the best strikers on the game if your lucky, and normally becomes a great striker anyway! Best part is he is Italian.

Here take a look; Mattia Destro

Afternoon Ty,

Keep an eye out for italian regens coming through, there seems to be alot of good ones in this patch, aswell as french ones

i cant sign anymore non eu players already signed ochoa (gk) and otamendi (dc) so need eu player or someone with eu passport.i was thinking macheda to keep the italian feel upfront i can take him on loan for 2.5million with view to permanent fee of 12.5 million and see how he gets on but if he does well he mignt not want to discuss terms then. its a risky 1 also i will look at that mattia destro as recommended in previous post also ive been recommended munian from bilbao who also has 3 million release clause. any way im about to go on my game decisions decisions . deadline day today ill come back tommorow let you know what i done.im also buzzing at when i signed sun ji park they said i will get a massive merchandise windfall from south korea because i signed him ill have to check that out over the coming months !!!!!!!!

also reply to previous post i got no chance of signing gillardino from florentina hes not interested and way to pricey for my budget

Surely you cant buy Ji-Sun Park if you already have purchased 2 non EU players?

hes just gained english citerzenship about 2 weeks before i signed him thats the only reason i could sign him i tried before that and coudnt get him, had a look at his profile it said awaiting paperwork so waited week or so went back and he became engish citizen as a second nationality buzzing

signed macheda 15 million 5 upfront then 10 over 48 months im 7th in league at moment macheda hasnt scored yet out of 7 substitute appearences cassano out for 2 months aswell wounded got a guy called marilingo he was out on loan to another team last year hes italian u21 hes filling in for cassano as hes naturally left footed with pazzini next to him, only till cassano comes back with macheda coming on every game around the 60/65 minute mark that marilingo is worth 5 million now hes quality bayern munich sniffing around him already hes got me 5 goals this term from the bench and a handful of first team starts. im ****ed off though as pazzini wants to go to a bigger club and man utd sniffing round all the time dont help but not gonna let him go because hes quality and no money can replace his goals. also affelay who i signed in the summer to play behind front two can't settle in area and is affecting his performances but gonna stick with him and hopefully he changes his mind. i was wondering if you give the player a leave of absence when they cant settle in area do they come back happy or not ????????? never done it before ???? any way gotta keep the momentum going got florentina next gotta achieve europa league this season as board objective should be done, when i get cassano back its all systems go im a different team when he plays hes world class, a player to buy whatever team you are hes my captain aswell runs the show when he plays !!!!!!

How would you use Cassano, im playing him on the wing i bought him for Juventus just wondering how to use him best? "inside forward maybe"?

Yeah inside forward would be the best if you want him on the wing.

Have you used him before HoPey?

Well I didn't use him on the wing but I've had him once, yes.

So would you say using Giampaolo Pazzini as a complete forward (support) is ideal if you play him by himself?

If he gets the right service yes, I used that role with Lisandro as a lone man and he got me 45 goals in 35 goals so...

45 goals in 35 goals HoPeY

Was thirty-eight games, just checked. No points for your pedantry though!

Lol if i knew what pedantry was, id probably laugh

Haha google definitions, that was actually amusing

Another Minute observation.....Championship football

So if i have a attack of:

Giovinco-----Diego-------Cassano

---------------Pazzini----------------

Would I play him as a "complete forward" if so do i tick him as target man in the team instructions? And if so do i put supply to feet, head or mixed?

And i have Cassano in the middle at the moment what would his ideal role be, cant be Treqrestista as Diego already is.

If you want Pazzini with TM then supply would be run onto ball or feet, you don't have to have TM ticked though. Cassano in the middle? Attacking midfielder or playmaker I'd guess.

Thanks mate

Good Afternoon All

First post so bare with me..

Just finished my first season with Samp finishing 2nd (belive me I was surprised) the only players I bought were Di Maria (10m) and Ochoa (4.5m). Really happy with the season but now comes the hard desicion, as I been given 24m to spend in the close season, do I spend big for the Champions League or do I stick with the team that did well????

My current team is: 4-1-1-2-2

GK - Ochoa

DR - Stanky-Zauri

LB - Accardi

CB - Lucchini

CB - Rossi

DM - Palombo

CM - Tissone

AML - Di Maria

AMR - Semioli

ST - Cassano

ST - Pazzini

I have Rossi being made permenant (free) and Burdisso (free) coming in with some good squad players coming back from loan (Dessena, Sammarco, Marilungo and Mirante) so I'm not bad all round but the temptation to go and spend is very appealing!

I'm just very cautious as I have ruined games before by spending a lot in pre season buying for the sake of it.

Any suggestions.....

P.S Will post a more general article in the forum but wanted the opinion of some people with experience of Sampdoria.

You should spend money wisely, take your time and improve your side. No need to rush.

I had forgotten about my beloved Samp thread spent hours doing this.

I had forgotten about my beloved Samp thread spent hours doing this.

Well it is quality, Good Work. I'm surprised there isn't more activity with them tbh. I always like playing with Samp, maybe we are in the minority!

With those transfers we have managed to end in the following league position. After the first season, we have brought some new players are managing the following squad. Oh yes, I almost forgot, this is our current first choice goalkeeper

I hope I have done a good job and this thread will be more active.

Just started a game with Sampdoria... The most fun I have ever had with a game on FM!

Gonna give Samp another go. Stuck for a game, and really enjoyed playing as them on the demo.

I had completely forgotten about my Sampdoria thread I made

Again!

And you were going on about having only done English saves. It's a good OP, but I'm going solo

Yeah, is that twice or three times now I have forgotten about it!

To be honest, when I get my laptop back.. I will start a Pompey save and Sampdoria save!

Sold Padalino and Franchesini for £5m

Bought in Michael Bradley, Sambou Yatabare, Stefan Radu, Urby Emmanuelson, Konstantin Rausch, Abdel El Kaoutari and Daniele Ragatzu for £33m.

Playing an asymetric 4-1-3-1-1.

Scratch Ragatzu, I ran out of monies. :o

i finished 3rd in my first season with major transfers kiko femenia, sergi, buonanotte, ruben amorim, marc mateu and eder luis.

I joined Samp from QPR (whom I took from English Championship to Premier League) at the end of the 2010/2011 season, with five games remaining. We ended a disappointing 14, the position the club was at when I took over. This season, we started off brightly, climbing to fourth, before hitting a rough, goalless patch and sliding to eighth, mid December 2011. However, we just recorded an overdue win, so I'm hoping that we can progress back to our early season form.

Transfers in:

Tissone, Rossini, Koman, Fiorillo, other minor co-owned players (purchased full rights)

DC Loic Nestor - Havre AC - $2.9m

DL B Chitou (regen) - $3.8m

ST Jo - Man City - loan $3m

CM Albin Ekdal - Juve - loan $2.8m

ST German Pacheco - Atletico Madrid - loan $2.7m

DM Ignacio Camacho - At Madrid - loan $875k

DC Sidnei - Benfica - $11.25m

DC Danny Wilson - Rangers - $11.25m

GK Ochoa - America - $5.5m

AM Kakuta - Chelsea - loan $3m

Notable Transfers out:

Fornarolli - $6.25m

Ziegler - $7.75m

My first task at the start of the season was to offload so many of the worthless co-owned or reserves players who were truly atrocious and had no place in the squad. Total transfer spending in was $55m and $32.5m out (as of Dec 12 2011). The squad was lacking in strong DCs, and Accardi is far and away the best LB I had available - and no suitable replacements were available for reasonable fees.

Starting lineup:

Pazzini has been good but is out for 3 months with a hamstring tear. Camacho provides solid backup for Palombo; Ekdal, Tissone, and Poli rotate; Wilson also can play LB should my regen youngster and Accardi be out; Jonathan Quarterly and Sindei round out my CB rotations; and Pacheco is a rather clinical forward who now sees regular sub duty with Pazzini out. Marilungo and Sammarco give some depth out wide.

Despite a good start to the season, Jo had cooled off until he broke his goal drought in our last match. Cassano as well. I had tried him in many positions, but he always failed to perform, though last game as an AM trequartista behind Jo he got a goal and an assist, so hopefully he improves. If not, I'll sell him off at this season or at the end for a nice chunk of change.

I'm not sure what the debt situation will be, we're running $18m in the red, so I'm concerned that if I don't make European football there may be trouble next year. Who knows, I may be on the move again (I left QPR, whom I had taken to the Premier League, because they were too close to relegation and I was unsure what funding would be available. I guess I jumped ship; they did manage to avoid the drop though).