MeesterCat Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Awesome slideshow. You've got a really quality squad there; Besson looks incredible! I checked out Ongenda last night and sadly I think I got unlucky with his PA in my save as he is pretty awful looking. I'm not too upset though as I put in a speculative €10m bid for Domenico Berardi (who had just scored 22 goals for Fulham on loan from Man City) and they accepted immediately. I also had a €10m bid for Seamus Coleman accepted, but his agent was a total idiot and seemed to think he was representing Messi. Naturally, talks broke down, so I'm looking for a RB again. Man City have just spent over €35m on a Japanese fullback, so it looks like the market is going to be competitive this summer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
z3n Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Thank you. Yeah he is my midfield destroyer plus he is very creative. In Ongenda's case, he might not be developed yet...Berardi is good too yes. For RB I had Allan Nyom until last year...he was fantastic for me, bought him in 14/15 from Granada for 8.5M€. Highly recommend! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeesterCat Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 I hear what you're saying about Ongenda - he has only made a few loan appearances since the start of the game and I think that is really hindering him. Berardi at just a year older looks so much better. I've got Ongenda on my Shortlist though, so I'll be tracking him. Nyom is a player I've scouted, but he's a Liverpool player already and his value is huge sadly. Another scouting session tonight though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 MC, how about Darmian as an Italian RB? Otherwise, perhaps Corchia or how about some of those that impressed in the WC, like Gamboa, Janmaat, Aurier...or even the American pair - Johnson or Yedlin? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
z3n Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Try Danilo or Peruzzi. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeesterCat Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 MC, how about Darmian as an Italian RB? Otherwise, perhaps Corchia or how about some of those that impressed in the WC, like Gamboa, Janmaat, Aurier...or even the American pair - Johnson or Yedlin? Try Danilo or Peruzzi. Cheers guys for the suggestions. I've got Darmian shortlisted, although from memory I think his attributes are more suited to a more defensive full back role than I'm looking for. Corchia is at Juve, Peruzzi is at Barca. Danilo is a name I keep seeing on my player searches - he's valued at €21m and I don't know if I want to spend so much on a fullback (cheapskate ) I will definitely take a look at those others Jogo, I will admit that I'd forgotten about them. However I'm actually away for 5 days or so, so I'll have to take a look when I return. Edit: Actually, I've done some poking around other FM sites and Danilo looks seriously good and, a possible deal maker for me, can play in several other roles. Hell, I've got €52m to spend, I should go nuts! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeesterCat Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Ok, so.. time for the close season review. As noted before, I didn't want to make wholesale changes to the squad, just strengthen in a few places and streamline in others. Transfers The board gave me €65mil to spend and with the changes I had in mind I figured this would be plenty. Luca Valzania arrived early on for €1m after I'd co-owned him in the previous season. He will provide rotation and injury cover for Ayew and he looks a really promising player. My first big signing was Domenico Berardi. He'd been on loan at Fulham, scored 22 goals and I think €10mil is a very good price for someone who could be my first choice striker for years. I'd noticed that I had a news item saying that Sven Bender had rejected a new contract, so I put in a cheeky €9mil bid to test the waters - to my surprise Dortmund accepted immediately and I have that top notch Anchorman that I'd been looking for since taking over at Inter. Finally, I managed to solve my RB problem by eventually picking up my initial target Seamus Coleman for a slightly over-priced €12mil. (I tried putting in bids for Danilo, but I reached €38mil and Porto still wouldn't even negotiate). Coleman might not be a dazzling, high-profile signing, but he has all the attributes I'm looking for. Leaving the club was Alfred Duncan (€6mil), Yuto Nagatomo (€5mil), Ishak Belfodil (€13mil), Joel Obi (€1.5mil), Oriel Romeu (€6mil) and Albin Ekdal (€1.5mil Co-own bought out). I'd had high hoped for Duncan, but he never seemed to be able to produce consistent performances. Nagatomo was too suspect defensively, Obi was not good enough and Romeu never really settled, but a €5.5mil profit in one season is decent enough. I spent ages trying work out whether to offload Belfodil and Icardi and in the end chose Belfodil. He seemed to blow hot and cold, I'd lose him for the African Nations and Icardi is still potentially available to play for Italy. I think breaking even on spending, whilst improving the quality of the squad is a great summer. I also managed to strip the Reserves and U19s of all the deadwood and now have them down to more manageable sizes. (Mauro Marini is a very promising looking Italian regen). Squad I'm really happy with my squad now. I have a good mix of youth and experience, but most of the players are in their early to mid 20s. I also have good cover for all positions as many of the players are able to play in a variety of positions and roles - something I am always keen on. Goalkeepers: Handanovic / Bardi / Lux WBL: Biraghi / Pereira WBR: Coleman / De Silvestri DC: Juan Jesus / Ranocchia / Burdisso / Spendlhofer / (Malik) DMC: Bender / Pasa ML: Ayew / Valzania MC: Pedro Obiang / Kovacic / Eriksen / Taider / Benassi MR: Guarin / Bello STR: Berardi / Icardi / Ibrahimovic / (Bonazzoli) My aim now that I've overhauled the Reserve and U19s is to try and promote at least one, possibly two younger players to the first team each season. Hopefully they will improve greatly with a first team training schedule and some first team opportunities. They will still be available for the U19s. This year Malik and Bonazzoli are the chosen ones, hence the brackets. Formations & Tactics There are three formations I use and I stick to them pretty rigidly. I will occasionally swap a role or tweak a PI or TI depending on the opposition or the players I'm using but that's about it. I would like to thank The Hand of God for the formations as I've pretty unashamedly stolen them from his Mentality thread in the Tactics Forum (I have made my own changes since, however). Primary Formation I probably use this formation 75% of the time. It relies on fairly attacking, quick passing moves when attacking, but drops deep and retains a shape when defending. The LM acts as more of an IF, cutting in from the left while the RM sits deeper and fairly narrow providing through balls for the AP and overlapping RB. I know it looks disjointed, having 2 attacking roles on the left and two support roles on the right, but with the players (and their PPMs) that I use, it works nicely. I had difficulty joining the STR and the two CMs, but I've found that BBM/AP/DLF works nicely most of the time. Possession Formation I tend to use this formation against either much weaker teams or against sides that are using a 442. The aim is to pass the former teams to death and to use Kovacic/Eriksen in the AMC position to create havoc in the space between the midfield and defence. Defensive Formation This probably gets used the least of the three as it is primarily for killing off games, or for very tricky away fixtures in Europe. It aims to provide a blanket defence with quick, direct counter-attacks when the opportunity arises. I probably use this formation the least, but it does certainly have its uses in key games. And thus ends the giant post. Thanks for reading! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
z3n Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Really nice report! I like your tactics but I cant stand the idea of having just 1 striker. Btw how do you plan to rotate 3(1) strikers in just 1 spot? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeesterCat Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Cheers z3n. I do prefer having two strikers, but I hate the compromises needed to fit them in: I don't like 3 at the back, I generally don't like having no DMC... I tried, early in my management of Inter, to use 4132 variants, even the 4222 Box, and while they did ok in Italy, we were having real issues in Europe with overloading on the flanks. Generally though the 4141 isn't as negative as it initially appears - when attacking it tends to be a 4231 or 41131. As for my striker rotation, I think I can get away with it. Berardi and Icardi are the main strikers, who I will juggle depending on form, opposition, injury/suspension etc. Ibrahimovic is an impact sub mainly now and in case of an injury crisis. Bonazzoli generally won't get many games in the first team, but I wanted him training on a non-youth schedule. He'll be made available for the u19s so he still gets match practice. So I'm only really kind of using 3 or 2 1/2 strikers for the one position. Zlatan's contract expires at the end of 2017, so he'll leave and Bonazzoli will take his place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gungner Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Starting my first season with Inter, and I need a left-back. Nagatomo is virtually the only one in the squad. But I have no idea who to go after, with only a budget of £3 million and a remaining wage budget of around £23k. Any ideas? Any help would be appriciated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeesterCat Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Starting my first season with Inter, and I need a left-back.Nagatomo is virtually the only one in the squad. But I have no idea who to go after, with only a budget of £3 million and a remaining wage budget of around £23k. Any ideas? Any help would be appriciated. Are you able to buy out the co-ownership on Biraghi? He really is fantastic. Also I think Zanetti could do ok there, at least temporarily until you get more transfer budget to play with. Edit: If you don't mind your LB being of a more defensive nature Juan Jesus can do a job there too, just don't expect much from him going forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gungner Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I managed to get Nicola Murru. He seems fine enough to act as a back-up, until he's ready to take over. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gungner Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Game crashed, so started again. Got a transfer budget of £5 million, and an available wage budget of £23k. Asked the board for more money for transfers and wages, and to my surprise, they agreed. Transfer budget was bumped up to £32 million, and the available wage budget was upped to £63k. Still signed Nicola Murru for £2,5 mil, as a back-up to Nagatomo, and possibly as a future starter. I do think that I need a right and a left winger. Currently I'm playing Alvarez on LW, and Palacio on RW. Would rather play Palacio up front, so I do need a right and a left winger. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeesterCat Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Sorry to hear the game crashed Gungner, but cool for restarting again with Inter. You've obviously got a persuasive way with words to get that much extra budget! I'm back from my summer holiday so I can continue my save again. Thrashed AC Milan in the Super Cup 3-0 and have wound up their manager (Allegri) no end. I made a few more summer signings in addition to those above, but they were all regens for the U19s. Really looking forward to the new season and especially the Champions League - we must do better in it this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gungner Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I asked for more money for transfers, and they initially said no. I then said that I needed the money, to not be left behind our rivals, and they upped the budget. Wages they upped during the initial request. So, yeah, either I'm very persuasive or just plain lucky I have played three friendlies so far, all three ending in draws. Two of them were lost on penalties, do to being a friendly tournament. Changes must happen. I have three friendlies left, against teams I don't really know, so three wins should be a target. Still haven't signed a winger, but with a budget of £30 mil, it should be possible. Initially I wanted Affelay, but he's injured for 4 months. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeesterCat Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I've found Andre Ayew to be fantastic on the left wing. I play him as a ML, but his PIs are quite attacking so he gets forward a lot. He was also my top scorer in the season just gone which is fantastic considering the position he plays. He can also play at CM and upfront if needed. You should be able to afford him. I think Affelay is made of glass as he always seems to be injured. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gungner Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Ayew could easily be an option. Might check him out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gungner Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 My scout says that Ayew probably won't have any interest in joining me... Plus Marseille has rejected offers up to £14 mil. Thank heaven that he has a £15,25 mil release clause. But then, that won't matter if he won't join. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeesterCat Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Ach, that's a shame. It might be worth having a go anyway, I've known scouts to be wrong on that sort of thing before... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gungner Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 He wasn't interested, unless I was prepared to make a huge offer. Could only offer £58k pr week for key player, and he wanted loads more. Tried offering £58k plus other add-ons, but no deal. Kevin Volland wouldn't even discuss a contract with me. So now I'm left with £30 million, and no one to purchase. Oh well, maybe they'll come in handy in january, when people see I'm on the road to Champions League Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
z3n Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 You can increase your wages by decreasing the transfer budget. Then you will be able to offer more for wages. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gungner Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I know that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
z3n Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 @MeesterCat: Ongenda is at the end of season 2020/21 worth @71M. Sick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeesterCat Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 That's nuts! Most valuable player in the world? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gungner Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Managed to sign Diego Perotti from Sevilla for my wing position. Nothing spectacular, but he'll definately do... So those are my two signings: Nicola Murru and Diego Perotti. Hopefully I can get some good names in when january comes along. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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