[Napoli Save] The save game that is saving my life. A wonder tactic that is beating depression

[dllu]

I for one am following and thoroughly enjoying. Not very good at commenting, though - but I know from my own career thread how much a few short comments mean for motivation.

So KUTGW!

[Sydney666]

Thanks! Like I said, if even one person is enjoying it then I will keep going! :D

[deltablue]

Great demolition of Everton

[Sydney666]

What a goal!

Well I played Besitkas for the second group match for the Champions League. The final result was an emphatic 4-1 win against the Turkish champions. Once again I decided to rotate heavily in an attempt to keep everyone happy, but to also get an idea which of my reserve players are capable of performing at the highest stage. Some players have one year deals to cover for my younger guys who are out on loan. Some players have been signed because I thought they would be great additions to the club, replacing players such as Ronaldo and Messi. However a handful of signings, as mentioned before - were signed from the transfer listed market for budget prices in the hope that I could revive their careers and then sell them off for profits. A club is a business after all and I always look at ways of profiting on disgruntled players. Sadly, in terms of making a profit, sometimes emotions take over and you begin getting attached to some players you initially only purchased as a marketing tool for profits.

One such player is Austrian International Valentino Lazaro. Rather than being that player who has failed everywhere he has gone in Europe and signed for a bargain price of 7 million Euros, he is playing as though he were a 40+ million World Class Inclusion. I have added a screenshot of a fantastic goal he scored against Besitkas during this 4-1 victory.

He had picked up a knock and I had just selected him to be substituted. While I waited for the fourth official to put up his number, one last play was being performed. Cristante took a shot which was saved brilliantly. Carlos Saenz picked up on the lose ball, just outside the box - to the far left of where the keeper had made his save. The ball was rolling toward the corner flag, when Saenz turned his man and put in a cross. Amazingly the injured Valentino Lazaro performed an incredible feat of skill and agility to out jump his opponent and perform a bicyicle kick.

It was probably one of the best goals I have ever seen, and all I saw were dollar signs fly into the air like confetti as I am seeing this 7 million Euro bargain begin to not only perform well, but outclass his oponents. Fans are going to quickly forget Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo if players like Lazaro, Saenz and Fernandao keep performing and dominating in the way they have been of late! I thought the transition phase would be difficult, but these young guys - whom on the most part are still teenagers will more than likely give Napoli another decade of dominance in the World of football.

It didn't take crazy spending to bring in these fantastic young guns. All it took was a fantastic scouting web and network of experienced eyes. Many of my scouts were signed from "selling clubs", such as Udinese. I also signed many of the top scouts from Inter, Milan and Manchester United. Sometimes it is better to invest in high wages for scouts, than to overspend on players who won't perform or fit into the club culture. A lot of players were rejected along the way, but the handful of players that make it through our doors, are usually successful footballers.

Match Details

The wonder goal scored by Valentino Lazaro

Unfortunately this was the best picture I could grab of the goal

[Sydney666]

A new Australian star is on my clubs radar

Being an Italo-Australian manager, which means I was born in Australia to Italian parents (thus I have dual citizenship) - I tend to keep tabs on Australian players, especially those who also have European passports. One player who I have purchased in the past was Tomi Juric for 4 million Euros. The 23 year old striker showed great promise. He was quick for his size, he was strong and was a composed finisher also known for his agility. He was also known for performing outrageous bicycle kicks and of course I could not resist bringing in an Australian to my squad.

Tomi Juric Career Stats

He only played 14 games and scored 3 goals, and never settled at the club. I eventually make about 20 million Euro profit on Juric, some profit through loan fees and eventually sold him to the English Premier League side West Ham. He has had a decent career in England, but usually it has been marred with injury and a poor attitude. He is now 30 years old and I have no intention of bringing him back - especially seeing that a lot of his attributes have atrophied.

Since Juric I really have not found any young promising Australian players, until now. A new Australian star, with a Macedonian background is performing well for his country. Sadly Macedonia is not part of the European Union and thus he would have to take up one of the two overseas signing spots - which is an Italian FA Rule.

Christian Naumoff Career Details

26 year old Striker/Left Winger Christopher Naumoff has been dominating in the Australian A-League for Sydney FC and has recently been an integral part of the Australian National side, with 7 goals in 9 caps. He has 56 goals for Sydney FC in 113 games and has shown great loyalty, especially when some offers have come from places such as China and Holland.

I am now interested in "investing" in Naumoff and more than likely if I can purchase him under 3-4 million Euros I could loan him off for a few seasons or even give him a go as a backup winger and striker. In fact my Napoli side is in need of a left winger - so the interest is there. I do think however that I could probably make 10-15 million Euro profit if I were to sign him. I would however have to sell him within 3 years, seeing he is 26 and a players value plummets once they reach 30.

I guess it could be a gamble worth taking - I am certainly thinking about it and might sleep on the idea for a night or two.

[Sydney666]

England taste sweet revenge as their World Cup Qualifying hopes are close to becoming reality!

It was time for me to leave Naples and fly to Greece to meet up with my England Squad. We have won all of our qualifying matches bar one. Our only lost was at Wembley against Greece. It was by sheer bad luck after we had a player sent off and had two injuries in the last 15 minutes of the match, after already having made all our subs. It was a kick in the teeth conceding two late goals in the dying minutes, especially with only 8 men on the park. It was a controversial match, but we decided to take it on the chin and move on.

Greece went on to beat all other opposition leaving us 9 points behind with a few games in hand.

We have since demolished Wales 4-0. Belarus 5-0 and Faroe Islands 6-0 and it was again time to play friendly rivals Greece. If we were to lost this match and Wales were to draw or lose theirs, it would mean Greece would qualify for the 2022 World Cup and we were there to ruin their day.

We had to win this match to have any hope of qualifying as first place in our group, but there was added spice as it was also a grudge match, as we had to grab revenge against Greece for their undeserved victory at Wembley. We certainly did not play well today, and the cause was because I did have a few new faces in the squad, but it was still sweet revenge as we too scored a late winner, amidst of much controversy. Both sides had shouts for clear penalties, and England had two goals chalked off due to offside.

At the end of the day, England got a much deserved 2-1 win - one that I and the players were itching to grab. While we didn't play well as a while, on a positive note we did have an individual standout. 21 year old Marc Butler, the Reading attacking midfielder who has been dubbed as the next Paul Gascoigne is finally starting to shine in the white colours of England. Many people in the media think the youngster is not good enough to play for his country, let alone Reading where he is struggling for game time. I have been thinking of signing him for Napoli, as an eventual replacement for Insigne - that is how highly I rate the youngster.

I guess I can see something in this guy that other's don't and that is all that matters. I did the same thing with Brazil, dropping the big named money makers for young teenagers such as Alex da Silva and Fernandao, whom while were not famous at the time, have now become household names in the Brazil Squad - and both play for my club Napoli - because no one gave them a chance when they were in their mid teens. I guess I have an eye for talent, or possibly I just have the best scouts - who knows!

As a manager for England, I have dropped a handful of ever-present players, mainly due to age, or because they just did not have the attributed to function with my tactic. I also don't select inconsistent players or those who are afraid of big matches - I just don't feel it's worth the risk!

Players dropped were Joe Hart (He is still our 3rd Keeper), James Milner, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Gary Cahill, Nathaniel Clyne, James Ward-Prowse, Isiaih Brown, Andros Townsend and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. I have taken in youngsters (most are newgens) such as Osman Brissett, Marc Buttler, Jordan Rossiter, Patrick Roberts, Luke Garbutt, Jon Flanagan, Sam Johnston and Cauley Woodrow. They are young players, with very little if no experience at International level until I took over 12 months ago. Even after a year, my assistant manager still insists I pick about 40% different names when he suggests his squad. Very annoying!

I have managed 13 matches thus far, with 10 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw. I feel that the results are more than decent, especially since my losses have been due to bad luck or because I was using an experimental side.

Match Details

The next Paul Gascoigne - Marc Butler

[Sydney666]

Another transfer wish - Pim van Eck

This guy has now scored 11 goals in his first 9 caps and has broken numerous records in relation to goals for his country over a period of 12 months. Dubbed as the next Marco Van Basten, he is destined for great things.

He has been on loan to numerous big clubs in England and while playing most games off the bench he has till managed an impressive 43 goals in 101 games. I can't believe I let this guy slip through my radar and only now have my scouts recommended him - thanks a lot - I noticed him as well where he has been scoring braces and hat-tricks. I didn't think much of it first, seeing he was bagging goals against Malta, Liechtenstein and Finland. When I checked the transfer fee, I was shocked to see that Arsenal had only paid 4.6 million Euros to prize him from Chelsea. I don't know what frustrates me the most? That Arsenal only paid 4.6 million for him? Or that Chelsea was dumb enough to sell him for that price or the fact that I did not even realise a player of such caliber even existed.

So I am certainly interested in buying Pim - and I am not afraid to pay - and pay big. I have 119 million Euros just sitting in the coffers and it is projected to be 341 million within 48 months. I should be grumpy, sitting in a castle swimming in my gold coins, ala scruge! However I am just a bit peeved at not buying him sooner.

When I finally got a 2nd and 3rd scouting report, I realised this guy had some outrageous attributes and nothing negative to report, other than he has the courage of the Lion from Wizard of Oz. I just wish I had some red slippers to send him to my home - in Naples.

I decided to compare him to my wonder-kid Fernandao with Pim van Eck and as you can see they are quite similar. Fernandao probably wins out technically, and Pim has the stronger mentals. However Fernandao can play on the left wing, as well as striker. Pim Van Eck can play right wing and striker. Possible I could have a strike force of Fernandao, Saenz and Pim Van Eck - and just the thought has me drooling on my keyboard.

It is a shame that Pim has no intention of leaving Arsenal. However, mark my words. I don't know which club I will be managing within the next few years but one thing I know is that Pim WILL play for me one day.

Pim van Eck Details

My apologies for being lazy and not cropping any of the below pictures

Fernandao vs Pim van Eck

[Sydney666]

Goal difference could send Greece or England to Qatar 2022!

Well I am a little disappointed at our last result with England only beating Wales 2-0. The result sounds decent but with 13 shots on target and nearly all of them clear cut chances, you can understand why I am a little upset.

Goal difference could be the deciding factor between going to Qatar or having to go through 8 more matches against 2nd placed sides. Some of these 2nd placed sides could be France, Turkey, Norway, Russia, Austria, Portugal, Bosnia, Belguim, Serbia, Switzerland, Denmark and Slovakia. What makes it even more frustrating is that Scotland just easily won their group and are off to the World Cup! I mean come on SCOTLAND!

I now have to ensure that I score as many goals as possible in the final two matches vs Belarus and Faroe Islands. I currently have a two goal difference lead against Greece, who have played more games and thus won more matches and have a 3 point lead.

Match Details and Ladder

[glynnbob]

Unexpected result shows that the new look Napoli mean business...!

I rested numerous first team players for the away trip to Everton today for the first round Champions League tie. Debuts were given to Bryan Cristante, Willian and Sami Khedira, while Darmian also made his return in Napoli colours as he made his return to the club after leaving for Man City after having spent four years at Naples.

It was a completely unexpected and devastating result, especially for Everton fans, seeing their club whom were made favorites for the match, dismantled by a fiercely determined Napoli team more than willing to prove that they are not a weakened side, despite losing many of their star names over the summer.

Dybala scored a double, and other goals were scored by Allione, Lazaro, Lacazette and new Napoli fan favorite Fernandao.

Everton 0 - 6 Napoli

Match Stats

Man of the Match

Allione was the man of the match. Once only a promise signed from much lesser Argentine League for a bargain price, Allione has now cemented himself as a fine player and one of the Worlds best impact players. He has an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. I initially signed him with the hope that he would do well enough to be sold for a profit, but now I feel he has become an invaluable asset to my club. Hands off people!

On a side note, are people still interested in my save? I would greatly appreciate comments from any readers just to let me know that they are enjoying the game as much as I do - but if not - then I will stop posting and there will be no hard feelings as I will more than likely keep on playing anyway. I do enjoy posting updates, even for myself as it is quite fun regardless if anyone reads. The only downside is that it can be tiring taking screen shots and writing up interesting things to say. It is also time consuming and I know I could probably play a lot more games in the free time I have. Ha Ha.

Cheers,

Tony

yeah loving reading this mate hope things are okay.

[Sydney666]

Yeh thanks glynnbob, it has been a good week. Have tried to stay positive and enjoy FM every second day where I can. I might update further depending if the wife will allow it.

[glynnbob]

Yeh thanks glynnbob, it has been a good week. Have tried to stay positive and enjoy FM every second day where I can. I might update further depending if the wife will allow it.

I like it mate staying positive!! you want to try being a notts county supporter like me irl. we were voted the most stressful team to support in the country a couple of years ago and last year we were relegated to the 4th tier again!! keep your chin up pal.

loving your story by the way but think it could be time to give some other team lower division a try(hint hint) oldest football league club in the world.

[Sydney666]

Hmm maybe I might try and manage your beloved club to glory - who knows. As for supporting stressful clubs, I know that all too well. Napoli went backrupt in 2004 and we spent nearly a decade in lower divisions until we finally got back to Serie A. While we haven't won the league, we won two Italian Cups and one super cup. We also did well in the Champions League, only losing on away goals to eventual Champions Chelsea.

Football can be stressful, but sometimes we have to go through the bad times, so that the good times mean all that much more. I rather win an Italian Cup, than be a Juventus supporter and win Serie A year after year. We have a saying here in Naples, "1 League title for Napoli is worth 15 for Juventus". We will take our only two Serie A wins anyday over a cheating club with no respect like Juventus! :D That is why I would never manage them, and never have on FM.

Ha Ha Ha - I got all side-tracked. My apologies to any Juve fans out there.

[Sydney666]

The rise of a new Legend - Fernandao

19 year old Fernandao made his debut last week for Brazil, in a match against Colombia. While things did not go to well for Brazil, losing 2-0 with brace from Napoli forward Carlos Saenz, it was still a day to remember - a proud moment for the teenage striker taken from obscurity, scouted in the streets of Belo Horizonte. He made his way through the ranks of Cruzeiro, scoring 32 goals in 109 matches before he was even 18 years old.

Napoli scouts picked him up from the age of 16 and patiently waited for the Brazil FA to allow the player to release from his club once he had come of legal age. Once at Naples he looked as though he had made some remarkable improvements, but was loaned out to Tottenham, purely because players like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were playing their trade for Napoli. While he did not shine at London, he did have a great run during his final few months at the club, scoring 8 goals in 35 matches.

This season Fernandao has found his place in the Napoli forward line, usually playing at Striker but equally adept at left winger or central midfielder. He has found the net 5 times in 7 matches this season, and has also aided with 5 assists. Fernandao looks as though he will have a bright future at the club and to top things off he is a managers dream. He works hard in training, never complains and is always polite with his conversations.

Today was a proud moment as he scored his first goal for his country, but he took it one step further scoring a hattrick away to Peru. He has now been dubbed the next "Pele" and people are believing the hype calling him "King Fernandao".

I just hope that he can continue to play well and be consistent and some how find a place in the forward line, along with Colombian star and positional rival Carlos Saenz. If these two teenagers can learn to play together in Napoli's 4-2-3-1 formation it could be a new golden generation for the club.

[glynnbob]

Hmm maybe I might try and manage your beloved club to glory - who knows. As for supporting stressful clubs, I know that all too well. Napoli went backrupt in 2004 and we spent nearly a decade in lower divisions until we finally got back to Serie A. While we haven't won the league, we won two Italian Cups and one super cup. We also did well in the Champions League, only losing on away goals to eventual Champions Chelsea.

Football can be stressful, but sometimes we have to go through the bad times, so that the good times mean all that much more. I rather win an Italian Cup, than be a Juventus supporter and win Serie A year after year. We have a saying here in Naples, "1 League title for Napoli is worth 15 for Juventus". We will take our only two Serie A wins anyday over a cheating club with no respect like Juventus! :D That is why I would never manage them, and never have on FM.

Ha Ha Ha - I got all side-tracked. My apologies to any Juve fans out there.

haha if you didn't realise notts county are juventus sister club hence why they play in black and white we opened their new stadium against them in a friendly and I was there!!!

[Sydney666]

I now officially hate you and your club glynnbob! (Just kidding) :D

Oh the irony sometimes right?

[Sydney666]

Wow I just realised my transfer target Pim van Eck has a brother, but I did not realise newgens could have brothers...I highly doubt my son has fiddled with the game, cause I did show him the player I wanted to sign. His brother is Sem van Eck and is quite a good defender.

I am completely and utterly surprised - I did not know that feature was in the game?!?

Pim van Eck's brother Sem van Eck

He looks like a tidy defender, surprised he isn't getting any game time. His low bravery, stamina and concentration is what is probably costing him a starting position.

I might try and sign both of them. One is a good striker and the other Sem looks like a decent centre back!

[Sydney666]

Napoli destroy Celtic, with an 8-0 demolition

I rested all my star players today and rotated everyone out from the last Serie A match, in which we were lucky to beat Empoli 2-0 away. I was initially worried throwing in all my young guns and squad players all together, but I was shocked and amazed at the hunger they played with. The only real usual starter that played from the get-go was Gabbiadini who had been injured for 5 weeks and I brought him on to get much needed match fitness.

What amazed me the most were these thumping long range goals, and at time it seemed it were the Harlem Globe Trotters showing off their stuff, rather than a Champions League match. My players were passing it around with ease, backheeling the ball, dribbling their adversaries if they were mere children. The goals were just out of this world. Gabbiadini scored two beautiful long range goals, but I feel the goal scored by Wonderkid Fernandao was probably the best goal of the bunch.

He took the ball from half way with 3 players on his tail. When he got at about 25 yards out, he was basically surrounded by 5 players and usually those kinds of shots get intercepted or blocked, but he hit a rocket from range that left me with my mouth wide open and his team mates in awe, while Celtic players left standing with their hands on their head.

It was a great match and shows that I have great depth and even though Messi and Ronaldo are gone, a new generation of hungry footballers are about to make their name and it might be a struggle to hold on to them, with huge clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona and most of the top EPL clubs sniffing at the door, looking to feast on my squad.

Match Details

Fernandao's super effort

This is the goal Fernandao scored against Celtic. The screenshot was taken just as about the time he fired home the best goal of the match.

The rocket is well on it's way and it's about to devastate it's target.

All goals deserve a celebration and usually things are mute when you scored the 8th goal of a match, but all the Napoli players congratulated Fernandao for a magical goal. What a young superstar he is! I am happy to have him!

At the moment I am only posting any adhoc occurances, my ideas and transfer targets or any big or unexpected results. I will however begin to post the Serie A table periodically, maybe every 10 matches. Right now I have played 7 Serie A games and have a 100% record - so the season is going great!

I am trying to not follow any specific writing style and basically making it sort of like a tweet or a blog. I hope people enjoy my writing style. I know it's not the best, especially having some "mental issues" and memory problems - but I try to proof read everything and make it enjoyable to read.

More info to come...

[mikenevo]

Looks like your still doing a great job at Napoli Whatever happened to possibly leaving for a new adventure?

[Sydney666]

:o:o:oWALL OF TEXT WARNING:o:o:o

Your Opinion is needed on my youth players - Mattia Tanaglia - Lino La Bianca - Federico Becchetti - Vittorio Carbonaro

2017 to 2018 Youth Intake - The best intake in years?

During March 2018, the Head of Youth Development, Gianluca Grava brought about 30 players to the Under 18 youth team and stated that Carbonaro(2018), Tanaglia(2018) and La Biancha(2018) were some of the best youth players we had seen in recent years.

The year prior, in 2017 - Federico Becchetti, whom was not mentioned in having great potential, Napoli scouts stated that Becchetti possessed all the qualities that Gianluca Grava had as a player - and Grava, who was not an international footballer still became a Napoli legend because of his likable character and his never die attitude.

Gianluca Grava was signed on a free transfer when Napoli was in Serie C. He was 28 years of age and had spent his entire career playing at Italian lower tiers and was signed as a backup player, strangely one of our last signings before the season started. It was a jump in level for Grava, and many thought that Serie C1 might be too difficult for him.

Amazingly he kept his spot in the team and played 148 games for the club scoring 2 goals over 8 years. An incredible feat, seeing that he was the the only survivor from our resurrection squad after bankruptcy all the way to Serie A. He played well at the top level and even did a great job in the Champions League, marking some of the worlds best players. For first time in his career he has become a starter in the Italian top tier and the fans loved him. He had determination, courage, a heart of gold and was very loyal and retired at 36 and became the head of youth development. Just imagine, a player who was nearing the end of his career, jump to such a higher quality of football and against all adversity became a legend. He even played at centre-back, when he was originally signed as a right back. At only 5'8'' he some how out muscled and used his anticipation to great affect, cutting out chances, using his weaknesses such as his heading to his advantage. I clearly remember he marking Didier Drogba out of the match once, as well as keeping Mandzukic quiet as well.

Since Federico Becchetti is a defender like Grava and not known to have great potential, I guess this is why they spoke so highly of him. Despite not having near the potential as the other guys, he well may have the mental strength to perform at the highest level, just as Grava did before him. That is why I have not sold him like some of the other players I have developed at the club. There were about 25 to 30 other players whom I either terminated their trials, or I signed and later sold anywhere between 300k to 1.5 million over the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons, all players in their teens.

I am curious to get your opinion on my 4 last surviving Under 18's players from that 2017 and 2018 intake. They are Mattia Tanaglia, Lino La Bianca, Vittorio Carbonaro and as we have already spoken of, Federico Becchetti. When I had my youth intake a few years ago back in 2018, I felt that it was the first real season where I got lucky in terms of possible future stars. Year after year they were mediocre players or the odd champion - such as Alessandro Sacco.

Between 2017 and 2018 was the year that Mattia Tanaglia (Who is currently still in my U18 Squad), Lino La Bianca (Who plays for Newcastle in the EPL and was just called up for Italy but is still uncapped), Federico Becchetti (2017 Intake - Who plays for Empoli in Serie A) and Vittorio Carbonaro (Who is on loan at Slask in Poland) were brought up through the Napoli youth System and signed on a permanent basis and 3 years later are still at the club - the only survivors.

Of all these players, Vittorio Carbonaro was actually dubbed the best player of his generation. He was meant to be the next Napoli legend and I was ecstatic because he was only 15 and had fantastic attributes. However only a few weeks after signing a provisional youth contract he suffered damaged cruciate ligaments and was out of football for 9 months. He ended up missing on an important moment in his development.

Sadly his skills began to atrophy rapidly, and those attributes between 12 to 14 all went down to 10's and 11's and his highest attributes of 15 and 16 dropped down to 13's and 14. It was a sad sight to behold. I now feel his career may have been destroyed at that point. His scouting report touted him as a possible World Class player, but has since changed to just "leading player for Serie A teams". There was a moment where I nearly gave him a free transfer - when I was asked to give him a professional contract. I felt bad because it was his birthday - and I am not an a-hole in real life - so I felt bad in game for the pixel based youngster. :o

He did have a negative side, as he was inconsistent, which was disappointing but not the end of the World. Players like Battipaglia and Sacco were also inconsistent when they were first scouted, but recently it is no longer mentioned. So I guess players consistency improves with age. Anyhow, Carbonaro is now out on loan at the Polish club Slask, and he hasn't been playing too well. His attributes however have risen a fair bit but I am not sure how far higher they will go. I think I might sell him next year - or possibly keep loaning him out and milking the loan fees. What do you guys suggest?

Now to my more promising youth players - of one I honestly like the most is Lino La Bianca - a lot. The 19 year old has had quite a lot of game time over the last few years and he has always played well. I enjoy his running style and his fantastic finishing abilities. He reminds me of Insigne, but I think he is a better finisher and more inclined to pass to team mates. He has scored some screamers from distance and even scored a hattrick in a Champions League match.

I however never seem to get the courage to dump out a more famous name, and put him in their place. I could easily sell players like Allione, Lazaro and Dybala for bazillions of Euros () but I seem to favor foreign talent to my own home grown boys and I sometimes feel that fans feel the same way. It seems La Bianca bloomed early because by the time he was 18, it said he was playing at his full potential, something I had not seen before. It is also a bit of a negative because he could use a bump in his attributes, to turn him into a World Class player - but I now know from my scout reports that what you see is what you get - a decent, possibly good and solid player.

So what's the good thing about him? Well, he is versatile, which is a bonus and as stated he can dribble, he's quick and has a long range blast. He also has a bucket of preferred player moves, because he has been so easy to tutor. He tends to take on board everything that his tutors throw at him and makes good relationships with team-mates. I just don't know if he is good enough to play at the highest level, for probably the best club on the planet at the moment. Lino enjoys big matches and is consistent and is also part of the current Italy squad but remains uncapped. If he is good enough to play for the one of the worlds best national side, in Italy who have dominated Europe of late, and won the Euro Championship, then what is it that makes me not pick him? Again your suggestions would help here.

Finally, Mattia Tanaglia. Funny enough on his debut, which he shared with Lino on the same day - He started in the best manner possible. Lino La Bianca made a run down the left and cut the ball back. Mattia picked up the ball, dribbled the last defender and slotted the ball away. A goal on his debut! Impressive indeed! I tend to see them as twins sometimes, and for the first couple of seasons I used to get them confused, seeing as they have similar attributes. Mattia however just doesn't seem to shine as much as Lino has done. One thing I do notice is that scouts say he can still improve significantly - but how much more can we expect from him? Might he actually surpass Lino La Bianca and finally become a consistent star?

I will post a picture of all four players and would love your input of what you think their future should be....? Should I try them in the first team next season? Or should I loan them out for profit or should I just sell and look for more foreign talent. It seems foreign talent brings in more merchandise sales, yet last year the two players whom sold more shirts were both Italians and homegrown players - Insigne and Battipaglia. Maybe I am wrong - maybe fans love seeing homegrown talent. I know in real life people get more excited by that new Brazilian star, such as Fernandao, but maybe in game it doesn't matter.

Player Profile Pictures

Lino La Bianca

Federico Becchetti

Mattia Tanaglia

Vittorio Carbonaro

[Sydney666]

Looks like your still doing a great job at Napoli Whatever happened to possibly leaving for a new adventure?

I guess I thought I had won it all and wanted a new challenge. However once I sold all of my super stars like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, I thought that the rebuilding process would be enjoyable. It no longer became about winning titles or cups - but I wanted to see if I could bring in young players and promote my youth players to the starting line up and see how I would go.

I also decided to only buy players who were transfer listed and make a bargain side and see if I could perform.

It is early days, but I have won every game this season and it has been great seeing the development of young guys like Fernandao. What a player! I never expected his attributes to bloom like they have done. I guess I enjoy seeing that "fat Ronaldo" style running, as if it were back to his Barcelona days and rockets flying in from a player that reminds me of the once great Brazilian striker.

[Sydney666]

I just realised that I got Federico Becchetti mixed up with Emmanuele Pierini. Pierini is a goal keeper from the same youth intake of 2018, but I was actually thinking of Becchetti whom was actually from the youth intake of the previous year.

I guess I have so many youth players, it gets confusing. I have had over 100 youth players signed over 8 years and still have 36 of them on my books.

So confusing! But I have fixed up my error and updated the story accordingly.

[mikenevo]

I guess I thought I had won it all and wanted a new challenge. However once I sold all of my super stars like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, I thought that the rebuilding process would be enjoyable. It no longer became about winning titles or cups - but I wanted to see if I could bring in young players and promote my youth players to the starting line up and see how I would go.

I also decided to only buy players who were transfer listed and make a bargain side and see if I could perform.

It is early days, but I have won every game this season and it has been great seeing the development of young guys like Fernandao. What a player! I never expected his attributes to bloom like they have done. I guess I enjoy seeing that "fat Ronaldo" style running, as if it were back to his Barcelona days and rockets flying in from a player that reminds me of the once great Brazilian striker.

I suppose it does make things interesting again and it's always great to see youth players blossom into world beaters

[Sydney666]

Napoli confirm new signing - Danish Star Viktor Fischer!

Napoli have today confirmed the signing of versatile Danish forward Viktor Fischer. Fischer had become disillusioned at his lack of playing time at Schalke and had asked to be placed on the transfer list. The 11 million Euro valued attacker was set on the transfer market for a mere fraction of his value and Napoli were quick to snap him up for 4.9 million Euros, which includes agent fees and solidarity contributions. No signing on fees or Loyalty bonuses were part of the deal and agent Jesper Larsen only commanded a small fee of 1.5 million as part of the deal.

It was a deal that took a few contract negotiations to find a common ground for both player and agent alike. It is quite well known that agent Jesper Larsen and Antonio Colella do not get a long, seeing as Larsen does have a number of players under his book such as former Napoli player Winston Reid, who played for Napoli 6 seasons ago. The player decided to leave the club in an acrimonious manner, after contract talks fell through. Colella had asked Reid to sack his agent after numerous contract renewals fell through, but alas Reid did not agree to those terms remaining loyal to his agent. Colella was not happy with being constantly distracted from his duty of managing the club by continuous contract renewal requests and Winston was subsequently sold for demanding too much money - with the biggest chunk of cash being requested not by the player but by the agent himself.

New Napoli man Viktor Fischer, who will join Napoli on the 2nd of January 2022, is known to have a confrontational demeanor and often finds himself on the wrong end of a managers conversation. It isn't quite clear why the Napoli manager has decided to splash nearly 5 million Euro for the 27 year old Danish forward, but some suggest that the deal was a bargain and too good to refuse. If Viktor Fischer performs well at Napoli, and decides to keep himself level headed and accept the backup role he agreed to on his contract - then there should be no problems. Colella however does not take threats or unorthodox requests too lightly - and usually those players who use confrontational methods to ask for first team football or more money tend to find themselves on the transfer list - or on the odd occasion finds themselves on the free transfer list, after a mutual contract termination.

In recent years a number of players, including Winston Reid have found themselves left out in the cold after disappointing Colella with unreasonable requests. Napoli fan favorite Ezequiel Lavezzi was sold for threatening the manager, despite pleas from fans to allow him to stay. Mario Balotelli was also given a free transfer after missing training on two occasions because he thought he was not being played enough. The Napoli club is known to be run with a zero tolerance policy and over the years the club has formed a tight-knit group with fantastic dressing room atmosphere.

It is to be seen if Fischer will get any playing time at a Napoli club already awash with numerous options in the forward half of the pitch, all vying for the same position. Some suggest that Fischer will be loaned out immediately in an attempt to pay some of his transfer fee with a decent loan fee of approximately 250k Euro a month, which equates to 2.8 million a season, or if loaned out in January, the amount will be a little over 1 million.

If Fischer can keep his nose down and work hard, the Danish striker could prove to be a valuable and versatile asset for manager Colella.

Viktor Fischer - Player Details

[Sydney666]

Complete and utter bullsh*t!

Earlier this season, I decided to take one of my former players Matteo Darmian on loan. He spent 4 wonderful years at the club but ever worsening financial issues and a 29 million Euro offer from Man City made it difficult for me to turn it down and thus I sold him, albeit regretfully.

This summer I was looking for a defender who could be very versatile and one that had more experience than my 18 year old French starlet, Jason Seguin. While being a wonderkid and a possible future France star, and despite having already one cap for his country - I decided to loan him out for one last season of development - rather than having him sit on the bench too often.

As one may know, it is rather difficult to find decent left backs, let alone someone who can play centre back and right back equally well. After also selling my other versatile defender Serge Aurier for a crazy 54 million Euros, I began scouring for interested players but I did not want to bring in anyone "too famous" or on long term deals over 3 seasons.

So to my surprise I found Matteo Darmian for sale for a mere 2.4 million Euro. As mentioned above, he was sold to Manchester City 2 years prior and now at 31 years of age he had lost some of his pace but was still a fantastic player! So I decided to take him on loan for a 25k a month fee, and only 10% of his wages. I also selected an option to buy him at any time with an agreed value of what they were asking, 2.4 million Euros. I thought this was a more cost effective way of doing dealings, seeing that I would save 9 million Euros on his wages and only outlay 250k over 12 months and if he did not perform I was not obliged to sign him. Smart thinking, from a smart manager.

Well it turns out I was not so smart.

I had not realised that Man City may have negotiated the deal and while the loan fee, duration and contract terms remain the same - THERE IS NO OPTION TO BUY! and nor it is in any contract details.

Darmian has been so good this season that I surely want him to become a Napoli player on a permanent basis. Since I have had aging defenders in the past who have worked well, such as Maggio and Sequiera - I figured I could easily get 3 or 4 more seasons out of Darmian.

So frustrated, I decided to just put in an offer for Darmian for 2.4 million Euro, which was what he was transfer listed initially when I first decided to purchase him outright, before I decided I would just loan him out for economical reasons. He was only worth 900k when he was transfer listed, but I felt 2.4 million Euro would still be a good offer for a player I know did well for me consistently for 4 years.

My economical dealing has now just turned comical instead. Man City rebutted my 2.4 million Euro offer with a counter offer, of 28 million Euros, plus a 20% profit fee.

Ah what? I thought the Man City Football of Director had just ingested the wrong kind of herbal tea and was slightly on the elevated mental state side of things.

Twenty Eight (28) million Euro - yes you read that right. Darmian's value has gone from 900k to 6 million after a stupendous start to the season that has seen him called up to the Italian national team, after an 18 month hiatus. To top things off, he had a great game for his country where he played, while my best young defender Sacco sat his butt on the bench. Now it seems I won't be able to buy Darmian for the reasonable price of 2.4 million Euros and I doubt he will return the club and be listed for sale or loan in the near future. Especially seeing that on last reports, Man City is looking for a new full back.

Woe is me I guess...? I know it is a rhetorical question, but feel free to answer to it.

My issue is now two fold really. One : I really could do with an Italian squad player for Champions League regulation purposes - which is why I now think twice before selling home grown players, regardless if they were at my club or not between 15 and 21. Two: Every other scouted left back has some sort of defect, despite having the best attributes. They are either inconstant, injury prone or pee their pants prior to derby matches. The ones who have these good traits, then don't have the right attributes. Those who have all the elements required to be a successful football player for my club were either sold before and have retained their high figure so are non feasible, or they are not for sale and finally their name is Darmian.

#headtobrickwall

Complete_and_utter_bullsh*t.

[Sydney666]

Next two matches can already define the Serie A title odds in favor of Napoli- only 9 rounds in!

Well it is only round 9 of Serie A and the halfway mark in the Champions League group stages and everything is going according to plan - actually way better than expected. Napoli are on a 12 match winning streak in all competitions and every team that has faced the Partenopei has been dismantled along the way. Napoli are not just playing well, but they are brutally disposing of all opposition, even those with good records in their respective Leagues. In just 12 matches this season, the young and vibrant Napoli side has scored an incredible 45 goals and have conceded only 2. The squad has been heavily rotated and almost everyone has played an even number of matches, including the goal keepers. Rotating players is not something out of the ordinary - but to have 15 different scorers after only 13 rounds is quite unheard of, especially when half of the goals have come from players under the age of 23.

Napoli have scouted the globe - and scouted incredibly well. Many of the youngsters were either snapped up out of obscurity from nations such as Brazil and Colombia or brought through the ranks at a now well established youth network where Napoli have invested over 40 million Euro over the last 7 years. It seems to have been money well spent, with the Napoli youth team providing the most of any Serie A teams in terms of players playing at the highest leagues of the biggest competitions across Europe. Napoli can be proud to say that they now have a youth development season that rivals those of Ajax, Barcelona and AC Milan.

Incredibly, 18 of the current 23 Italian National team squad are players whom have at least at one stage or another played for Napoli in the last 5 years, with 8 of the starting lineup that thumped Sweden 3-0 in Stockholm all currently playing for the Partenopei. Twelve other Napoli players are Italian Internationals at youth level and one could possibly envision an entire squad of home based players playing for the two Azzurri of Italy and Naples in years to come.

Another strong point over the last 12 to 18 months are the number of players Napoli have signed whom were deemed surplus at their respective selling clubs and have since revived their careers with a rekindled passion for football and have begun to perform well once they have arrived at the harbour city, lingering under the shadow of Mt Vesuvius. One thing is for sure that like the Volcano, the Napoli club had laid dormant for many years, but have now entered the footballing scene with explosive force and all of Europe seem to be the poor souls left behind at Pompei.

Napoli's next two rounds could already potentially decide the title after just 11 matches, albeit morally for their rivals - and not mathematically. It is quite absurd to think that after only 9 rounds they are already 7 points ahead with all teams sharing the same number of matches. One thing that has seemed to be consistent over the last few seasons is the inconsistent performances of rivals such as Inter, Roma and Juventus.

If Napoli can win their following two matches, one away at Turin against giants and historical rivals Juventus, with the other at home to Inter - both title rivals, they could potentially find themselves 13 points ahead of second place. This is a Napoli squad that has only lost 12 matches in the last 8 years, with 4 of those coming against Inter and Juventus. They have finished two seasons undefeated, with the latest being the season prior. One could safely assume, albeit statistically and historically that the chances of them losing a 13 point gap, even this early on in the season to be a very slim chance.

One question is on everyone's lips...

JUST HOW DO YOU STOP NAPOLI?

Head to Head

Juventus vs Napoli

Head to Head

Napoli vs Inter

[Sydney666]

A painful pill to swallow as Napoli fall to old rivals Juventus

Juventus 1 - 0 Napoli

Napoli fans were disappointed today for multiple reasons, with one side watching their club on the losing end against rivals Juventus and on the other, a possible serious injury to forward Alexandre Lacazette. MRI scans will be performed in 48 hours once the swelling subsides, but doctors have stated that while painful and still very swollen the player has full range of motion in the knee and is capable of walking and holding his own body weight. They suspect the injury to be either a bruised patella muscle or a strained patellar ligament or in layman terms, just a strained knee.

Contrary to popular belief Alexandre Lacazette was not injured from a rogue flying boot, possibly kicked from an enraged Colella's foot after a heated dressing room post match spat . He was however every right to be unhappy in the manner in which the team lost today. Firstly he had seen his club dominate the match, with no fewer than 25 shots, three times more than home side Juventus who managed a mere two shots on target with no clear cut chances.

The Napoli strikers had more than a handful of clear-cut chances but squandered chance after chance, purely by rushed shots - a sign that maybe Napoli's young forward line still have a lot of experience to garner. As they did not capitalize on the majority of possession and chances, it played right into the hands of the Juventus side, fully prepared to play direct counter attacking football and hit them with one sucker punch.

The goal game against the run of play at the worst possible time, in the last minute of injury time just before half time. The goal came from a seemingly tame corner, that made it's way to the near post where Digne was guarding. As the Napoli defence failed to clear the ball aerially, it finished at the feet of Lucas Digne, who allowed Bruno Fernandes to easily strip him of posession mere yards from goal. The Juventus midfielder almost appeared as stunned as Napoli fans and players alike as Digne was left red faced as Fernandes easily tapped the ball home.

Juventus parked the bus for the entire second half, barely breaking past halfway and the Napoli squad constantly creating chances while being jeered by the Juventus faithful. The final whistle came all too soon for the Napoli side who gave their all to get back into the match, including entering super sub Allione into the fray and risked Gabbiadini still being nurtured back to full fitness following a 3 month injury which occurred during pre-season. It was not to be as Juventus sent Napoli home with their tail between their legs and some heads to scratch, with a 1-0 win. The Bianconeri win allowed Milan to close the gap to 4 points at the top of the table. Things can turn quickly in football and what was thought could be a one week push where Napoli could pull as far as 13 points ahead, could turn ugly if Napoli were to lose in 3 days time at home to powerhouse Inter. If the lead is reduced to one point, questions will be asked of the young squad and manager alike and many Napoli fans may yet still miss the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, despite their collective ages of 71 and their wages, which were just as high!

It was Napoli's first Serie A loss in 76 outings. It was there second longest run in their history before coming to defeat, with the previous record - which still stands as Serie A's longest unbeaten run of 109 matches.

One thing is for certain is that Napoli can be proud of their achievement and that losses come rarely for a club that is used to playing under pressure and recovering from set-backs. Napoli have not lost back to back matches for nearly a decade and Napoli boss aims to keep it that way.

[Sydney666]

Lacazette out for 5 to 6 weeks with a twisted knee

MRI Scans have this morning revealed that as expected Lacazette has suffered from a twisted knee with no ligament involvement. The Napoli striker was injured during Napoli's away loss to Juventus and it was initially feared that he had possibly damaged his cruciate or medial ligaments. While the news comes as a big disappointment for Napoli fans, there is a sense of releif that the injury was not any worse.

Signed for 20 million Euro from Lyon back in 2016, Napoli fan favorite Lacazette has missed a fair chunk of playing time during his career at Napoli, with no less than 8 exact injuries of the very same knee. Some fear that it is only a matter of time before the forward suffers a ruptured cruiciate ligament injury, which could be devastating for the career of the French star forwards career, especially since he turns 31 in May. Team doctors however suggest that there is no underlining re-occurring injury or structural damage to the knee, but it is rather the players explosive pace and sharp turning motions that cause similar but non related injuries.

[Sydney666]

Napoli sign Colombian defender Luis Perez as backup defender!

Napoli have this morning confirmed that they have signed young Colombian defender Luis Perez as a backup defender, after fellow countryman and Napoli striker Carlos Saenz recommended the player to manager Antonio Colella. Scouts confirmed that the player who was deemed surplus at Real Madrid, but not on the transfer market, would fit perfectly into the Napoli squad and add much needed depth at centre back.

The player, who has cost a reportedly 1.5 million Euro, will earn 3.5 million Euro a season before tax - and it seems it is quite the bargain for a defender who has not yet been exposed to much first team football. There are reports that the Colombian International who has 13 Caps for his country could blossom into a fantasic squad player for the Neapolitan club.

[Sydney666]

Napoli win and AC Milan lose. A 1-0 victory vs Inter enough to see Napoli take advantage of both Milan sides slip up and pull ahead of the pack!

A close victory for Napoli in a very fiery affair with surprisingly few yellow cards, but in which Kalidou Koulibaly found himself getting sent off for two reckless challenges. While the match statistics showed Napoli with 60% of posession and 32 shots to 6 of Inter's the match was much closer than those stats suggested - causing some nervy moments for the manager and fans alike.

Once Wonderkid Fernandao netted his 7th goal of the season by breaking the deadlock just 5 minutes after the restart, Napoli took control of the match by slowing down the pace of their passing, limiting Inter to just a few tame long range efforts. Things were made difficult however once Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off in the final minutes and then it was all Inter on the offensive thereafter. Colella had already made all three substitutes when Koulibaly was given his marching orders for his second bookable offence and with tactical options limited his squad had to work hard to hold on for dear life. A handful of minutes felt like hours as Einsteins theory of relativity was put to the test!

Manager Antonio Colella had his defence to thank, as a number of last ditch blocks in defence by Yuri Kibirov who was playing in an unfamiliar position of centreback, and some great headed clearances by Battipaglia when Inter began resorting in direct long punts into the box for the final few minutes, were what ultimately helped the side earn a much deserved win in front of 60,000 excited fans.

[Sydney666]

Serie A Standings and Player Statistics - Round 11 of 38

[Sydney666]

:o:o:oWALL OF TEXT + DRUNKEN RAMBLING INCOMING:o:o:o

I swear I can write more in one day than J. K. Rowling and L. Ron Hubbard wrote in their entire life times put together and I make as much sense as Sigmund Freud! I can also put up more pictures in one hour than all the Kardashians will ever muster up in a year. I also have more brain cells dying right now due to intoxication, as much as sperm cells are dying in Bruce Jenner's testicles. When I am drunk I am also funnier than Bill Hicks and Louis CK put together and I bet I have consumed more cigarettes during my current FM session, than Bill Hicks ever consumed in his life time - God bless his soul - and I bet I have farted better sounds out of my butt tonight, better than any song Snoop Dog (whom I share a birthday with) has ever mustered in his life.....Oh yes I am being a Tyrant tonight. Prepare for my intoxicated WALL OF TEXT.... ok I am done - lets begin. Oh god that comment was paradoxical in nature - oh man my head hurts already. :o

Napoli Squad Player Statistics - November 2021

Drunken rambling may or maynot contain random and excessive purchases of individuals, legally of course - not a fan of human trafficking - no sirreee!

As you can see from the pic below (you might need to scroll down for 45 minutes or leave a message to your next generation, I dunno), I have spread out game time quite nicely, even though Carlos Saenz is complaining about game time - which is absurd seeing as though he is playing nearly every game and at least 30 to 60 minutes each game. I guess the guy can't count or just isn't very overly bright. I have no idea what the fans see in him to make him a damn club icon. He is a pompous and arrogant Colombian striker with an insane international scoring record, and has 15 goals in 32 matches for Napoli, but only 4 goals this season in 13 games and most of those were full matches. I think he has more offside goals than ones that weren't chalked off.

Koulibaly has asked for a transfer because after 9 years he has achieved all he can at Napoli so I have promised to sell him at the end of the season. Regardless of that he is playing well. Sami Khedira despite being a backup and nearly 35 is asking to play more. I feel he has played just about the right number that someone of his age would, especially as a ball winning midfielder, and part time playmaker.

I have had 15 different scorers, which is just unheard of at such an early stage in the season. I used to get 14-15 scorers by the end of the season but never this early. I also have 19 players that have set up a goal, which I enjoy because it's nice to make a tactic that gets everyone involved. Then again it never really mattered to me, I noticed though that the least goals were spread around the harder I was to beat. The last few seasons less goals were spread around because Messi and Ronaldo hogged so many - especially when Ronaldo scored half my teams goals a few years back, You're talking about a guy scoring half your teams goals, and the team scored 112 goals that year for Christ sakes!

I found that in those years while we didn't have wins too often by large margins, we were so hard to beat. Well actually we weren't beaten at all and went 70+ games undefeated. Sadly I lost that record just a few matches ago - but it was expected to an extent. I have had a lot of injuries, not so serious except for Gabbiadini who was out all pre-season, but also niggling ones for 12 days to 3 weeks type of injuries. Then it takes at least a month for players to get match fitness back and if you rush them they get further injuries.

This season I have scored 7 and 8 goals a few times already and my lowest wins were 1-0 against Inter and 2-0 against Empoli. The rest of my other games, were all 5+ goal margins, yet when it counted we couldn't score. Which shows me that either 1 my young guys still need time to become consistent or that Fernandao needs to play striker for me to score goals, because Carlos Saenz, god bless his soul - is a rubbish striker despite his attributes being similar to that of Fernandao. I am finding myself sacrificing the Brazilian striker to make Saenz happy and his lack of versatility ends up punishing Fernandao who can play Left Wing, Striker, Left Mid, and Cenre Mid - "that kid is a genius I tells ya!"

I don't care what my fans think, I am trying to sell Saenz as of today. I am trying to get 90 million Euros for him - which is a fantasy. However I did sell Bernard my reserve LW/AMC who was 28 for 102.25 million Euros (65 mil up front and the rest bonuses, all paid up, just waiting for 1 more international match to get the final 14.25 ). I paid 42 million for Saenz from Bologna. I spotted him in his first season in Serie A when I saw his name pop up in a hattrick. I watched his goals and he was always storming down one on one after breaking an offside trap. He bagged 10 goals and his attributes weren't the best but all 14's and such. That's his favourite thing, playing on the offside line then rounding keepers.

Then in season two, he bagged 21 goals in Serie A, in 32 matches and the bugger scored a brace against me - after my defender Koulibaly missed a header and allowed him in. At this point I realised that 12 months later his stats had sky rocketed and he was now worth some solid dough ($$$$) - (by the way to my UK and European fans, there are no Euro or Pound key strokes on my racist keyboard, which is black as well - how ironic Mr Keyboard. I am sure my Asian wife would NOT approve.). Anyway, I then fell in love with the kid and signed him for 42 million. It took Saenz a long time to finally get scoring for me. I think he went 13 games before he finally scored a goal, then he scored in spurts, getting braces and hattricks in a series of games. I think at one point he had 8 goals in 5 matches. He ended the season with 18 goals, pretty decent number of goals, especially mostly all tallied from the subs bench.

This year it hasn't been the same and his value has dropped from 36 million Euros down to a mere 23 million, which means he is now worth half what I paid - and not a good idea to sell him at a loss. So I have a great plan - I am going to contradict my own mind ala George Constanza style - do the opposite of everything I usually would do.

I am trying to sell him off NOW, Why you ask? Because I am just not very fond of "Mr Offside", he leads me to yell at my 55'' LED TV (It is a Sony with only 17ms latency - making it the fastest and almost lag free TV for gaming - which is why I purchased it). My TV does not deserve verbal abuse, and Steel Series have already replaced my mouse 5 times for free - those Danish guys are just dandy. Plus a man needs new toys sometimes, and that shiny toy is Pim Van Eck whom I mentioned a few posts back. I will sell Saenz, and grab the man with the cool name and his brother as well. **deviously rubs hands together...with aloe vera cream*** "Nothing dirty here, I am just a man who is prepared for some good transfer market activity and furious activity requires adequate lubrication!"

Anyway, I usually tend to buy players that have no issues if I want to keep them permanently and even if I want to sell for profits, I make sure I never sign injury prone players - unless they are old and just signed for cover - such as Sami Khedira. If they are youth players I tend to keep an eye on them as I develop them and once they get some reputation up, which means their value goes up - I turn them into some other club's physio's problem.

Best player so far this season - Fernandao

I would like to add a slight annotation here. This next section is not as deliriously funny because I was well hydrated with H2O and had only just started drinking whiskey and coke. It was also the first part I started to write. The nonsense written above that "sounds" (the voices in your head that narrate what I wrote - duh) like some one tried to type with both his hands tied behind his head, and was using a pencil to do so - or my toes, like those truly gifted people, including this said annotation was written well after 50% of Whiskey bottle had been consumed, with a pack of corn chips resulting in some really horrific heart burn.

That said, I am a cheap drunk - mainly cause I am jobless and thus poor - I am also legally insane, but thats a whole other story. I think this bottle of whiskey, which is truly tiny - about 3 inches (it's not the size, its how often you use it and how you abuse it - or so I tell my wife), where was I? Thats right, this tiny bottle is actually probably as non alcoholic as lemon and lime bitters. I honestly think it's liquor injector for cake flavoring, but who cares right - placebo drinking is the new thing. All the kids are doing this, along with those bucket challenges of ICE. No idea why kids think putting millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine over your head is going to cure Lou Gherigs diease, but I guess thats why footballers do it - they are all overpaid "besterds" (said in a nice Dutch accent) and have to spend their money on something. I personally would buy myself lots of Filipino women to give me back rubs, like 24/7, but that's just me. OK back to my wall of text. I don't want to try and sound over desperately funny.

As you can see Fernandao, my teenage sensation - well he has recently turned 20 - has astounded many, myself included with an 8.12 average, the highest the club has ever seen in it's history over a sustained period. I hope he can keep it up for the entire season and then most of next season and I swear he might, just might get a sniff for Ballon Dor.

What a find and what a bargain signing. He only had about 30 goals in 100 matches in Brazil before I signed him - but that was all before he was 18. I actually signed him when he was 15 and I just had to wait for the Brazil FA to lift his transfer embargo - due to the child protection laws there. I guess they feel its illegal for grown men to buy young boys from a 3rd World country and take them to a well developed country to teach them to play with balls - I guess it sums up the whole idea behind the law....then again other countries have no problems buying thailand females and bringing them here to teach men in clubs how to play table tennis or ping pong without a paddle.

We live in such an odd world don't we?!?! Rhetorical Question.

I am just a depressed father of 3 who wants to be part of this world. My wife just wont teach me ping pong. I just lay on my back for 45 seconds, while I talk about Football Manager and my wife complains about my performance. I guess my potential ability is a star at best - but I told her "look honey, you can't expect a man to just turn up to the olympics and run a marathon, you gotta give me some daily training, preferably starting at 5:30 am and ending around lunch time, giving her time to cook, clean, take care of the children and do her nails. I call it "my For Me time" , get it? EF EM? FM? I am tricky aren't I, its code for the greatest game on Earth! Football Manager.

Oh yes Fernandao....I just know when I sober up tomorrow this is gonna be so embarrassing to re-read.

When I first scouted him, most of his stats that are now between 15-17, with a few 20's were all between 12 and 13. Some scouts said he was going to be a star player, some said leading player and my best scouts with 20 for judging potential ability told me he would one day be world class and to sign him whatever the cost. I remember the club wanting about 20 million, but after a few attempts at haggling I got him for 11 million Euros. Considering I thought 20 million Euros 8 years ago for Lacazette was a bargain, what do you think I feel when I see this kids outrageous attributes and then see he is now worth a whopping 42 million Euros.

I don't want to jinx the guy or myself, but we could be looking at a possible World Class Player, if he isn't one already! I also don't mean the average kind of World Class...The kind the game thinks they great because of their high current ability and fame levels - such as the hidden reputation rating! The kind of player like my wonderkid Wilco Hol who has 13's and 14's in every attribute, and is worth 40+ mil but I loaned out.

Fernandao, whom I have an FM man crush on, is a player with all the right attributes to fit the role I need for my tactic to work. He thrives on big matches, he is very consistent, has all the right player preferred moves and has 16 for long shots - and doesn't shoot from long range often, like Gabbiadini or Insigne - even though I do love those players. The worst thing is a player who loves taking too many long shots and is not so good at them. I swear sometimes even if a player has 20 for long shots, I still find it annoying that they shoot from 30 yards out when they have better options. Gabbiadini shoots from range about 15 times a game, but if he gets lucky I will see some wonderful goals, that make me cheer so loud that it makes my next door neighbours dog bark - at 3 or 4am mind you - which eventually starts a chain reaction of dog barking in my street that eventually starts a dog barking symphony that reaches Sydney to probably the outback where Dingos begin to reply with howling. I love cheering at the wee hours, I am such a good person.

Now stat wise, I mean Fernandao has it all, he has 15 work-rate as well, and nearly 14 team work. So he won't waste a shot and even if he does and it gets blocked or if a pass goes wrong, his high pace, anticipation, decisions and work rate just makes him react the quickest and then when he realises he did the wrong thing he recoups the ball and then does something that's a better option. It is nice how in FM despite the lack of graphics, the game makes up for in character. The rest our imagination helps and it's a great blend between an insane coding masterpiece, a database of football data and said imagination. I swear if a lightning bolt were to hit my pc during a game, I would probably produce a double D breasted Paul Gascoigne in my room - along with a Ferrari out front of my home.

Now Fernandao, he can even play centre mid - He has 15 for passing and 18 off the ball...did I mention he also has 16 for leadership? As a 20 year old, he is professional and a natural leader. This guy has the hallmarks of a future Napoli and Brazil captain! It is a shame he only has about 10 or 11 vision and low tackling - so playing at MC is a last ditch resort to use when you get in game injuries or get a player sent off at CM and you just can't sub off a striker to fulfill that role. Then Fernandao is your man!

So when I say he is going to be the "real deal world class", I am talking about the 50-60 goal a season Luis Suarez or Neymar or the old Brazilian Ronaldo before his injuries, low libido, odd triangular haircuts and bad posture. This kid has it all. He has 20 determination, so he never gives up and runs all game. His physicals are just out of this world, he has explosive pace but is not good with his head - which is typical of Brazilian players - then again what guy want's to be good at head - eww just eww...

He has powerful lungs, a big heart with great stamina and has balance and agility make him great on the ball. The only thing he lacks is strength and even then at 13, his strength isn't such a bad number. He is only developing and I am sure it might go up to 14 or even 15 as he matures as a man. I am sure after he meets some of the Thai girls that came over with him on his way to Naples, that problem will be solved! :D Dammit now I want Chinese food...that's not racist is it? I just think Thai food is too spicy for me, and Chinese food is the same as Thai food, just without all that really hot stuff. I want to be a multicultural eater, basically I want to eat every kind of animal possible - independant of their country of origin. That is so unfunny but so unintelligent as well.

I doubt he will be as good as Messi or Ronaldo, definitely not at their peak - and quite honestly, not even them at their mid 30's when they played at Napoli, in the imagination land of glory. They were just super dominating and I remember my first year with Cristiano Ronaldo, he was 34 and I thought he might get 10 goals at best and he bagged 52 goals in 52 matches. I did have Higuain score 40 goals in a season once, in all competitions and Lacazette grabbed 34 once - but I clearly recall about 10-15 of those goals came in cup games in Italy where we thumped teams from low divisions 10-0 and put nearly 20 goals against some African sides full of greygens in the FIFA Club World Cup. I hope saying greygens doesn't sound racist - they are just fake grey players. I am sure some vegetarian, femenist anti racial group will probably want my head for saying greygen.

So while Ronaldo scored his goals against tough oppositions as well as smashing tiny sides, so far this season Fernandao has only demolished tough sides like Everton who are a good side in my game and as manager of England I have a handful of Everton and Liverpool players in my side probably half my squad really!

Oh if you guys remember I posted where Fernandao even scored a hattrick for Brazil. It was really fulfilling seeing a 15 year old kid I scouted go from boy to man. I just hope he doesn't hit the Thai night clubs like Ronaldinho Gaucho used to do...Brazilians love their party life - but it does say Fernandao is a role model for younger players. So fingers crossed, and not legs uncrossed...I guess.

So that's it basically. Saenz was the love of my life - but I have found a balder striker with more body fat but better skills. I guess I have a soft spot for bald brown strikers who know how to bulge a net, rather than miss a barn door from 2 feet because he didn't get to even shoot from 2 feet because 30 feet back he was fricken offside, FOR THE TENTH TIME IN 5 MINUTES. Gosh I get so frustrtated watching Saenz play - but then I feel bad cause the kid then scores the odd wonderful goal. I really need to toughen up as a man, I get emotional over pixels. But who says that these fictional players don't have feelings? I know this is a very schizofreudian way of seeing things, but maybe they are self aware and are unaware of our existence. Maybe we are in a simulation? Man this is some deep stuff.

Anyway that sums up the 3 month report! The season is going great, despite the loss against Juventus. I might sell Saenz, I just wish he could co-exist with Fernandao, but I can't sacrifice one players skills just to make another happy - then I lose two players and ultimately 3 points.

Hope you enjoyed the stats and my little open mic session. My fingers are sore, so I better dump them in some ice or my wife will call me lazy tomorrow when I am to perform my husbandly duties. AND NO YOU DIRTY MINDED PEOPLE. I meant doing dishes and scrubbing crayon drawins off the walls cause my kids are kids and do kid things. Plus I need some recovery time, as I have some big games coming up and some NEW SIGNING about to be announced - and he is the best player in the world for his position. Fingers crossed he accepts me and not the other cluhc (wtf is cluhc, I meant club! See I told you I am just messed up, cluhc? Thats reta*ded for "u r drunk, go to bed") chasing him.

I have bad heart burn, I am sobering up and tomorrow I shall have a hangover.

I will probably return and either no one would have commented, or a lot of people will just post something like;

WTF DID WE JUST READ?!?!?! :o

Like I said, I don't have any particular writing style. I just want to grab some laughs, I enjoy having a beer and just having a laugh while playing and typing whatever stupidity comes to mind.

This save game was saving my life and that was before I started sharing my story. Now my depression is fading but I am going to be an alcoholic instead - then I can go to the AA forums and blame FM. I mean, I have literally consumed 60ml of cake flavoring, and it is a slippery slope down from here. Next step I will be eating Nutella or Butter right from their containers with a spoon. Then what kind of a manager can I be to my fictional yet possibly self aware world of "greygens?". Since that word if frowned upon by the anti-bigot parade, lets call them "pigmentation deficient persons" or "PDP" .

Just kidding! I know I am drunk and this is just a game and a pretend (yet 100% true) story littered with terrible, yet very original jokes, with a complete and intentional cliche "drunk manager" story. I love it because so many FM forum readers scorn and sigh at those beginnings. Anyway I do need a shower now, I gotta sober up cause I have about 12 hours of sleep to get to, and I need my beauty sleep. I haven't showered for 3 weeks, and I have clocked more hours on FM than there are actual available hours. NASA is confused at how this is possible, but I am enjoying my computer + FM time, despite me being close to a possible black hole with distorted time. Anyway I hate NASA, mainly because the brain electrodes they use suck, the lines gets tangled with my mouse cable and I end up clicking "Terminate contract" instead of "sell Saenz for profit". Did I tell you the story about Carlos Saenz? He is offside all the time *wife pulls Tony away from the pc*......

Love you guys all.

Hope you enjoyed the read, for those insane enough to read a man's 30,000 words of gorgeous literature, especially when intoxicated with 60ml of fictional cake mixture. Why are you guys even doing that? Drink water kids! It's good for your kidneys and it helps with digestion and avoids constipation.

Ok goodnight I shall be snoring tonight, dreaming of Fernandao. He just turned 20, so it's not weird because dreaming of a teenager boy is just not right. Thank god for that.

[glynnbob]

Complete and utter bullsh*t!

Earlier this season, I decided to take one of my former players Matteo Darmian on loan. He spent 4 wonderful years at the club but ever worsening financial issues and a 29 million Euro offer from Man City made it difficult for me to turn it down and thus I sold him, albeit regretfully.

This summer I was looking for a defender who could be very versatile and one that had more experience than my 18 year old French starlet, Jason Seguin. While being a wonderkid and a possible future France star, and despite having already one cap for his country - I decided to loan him out for one last season of development - rather than having him sit on the bench too often.

As one may know, it is rather difficult to find decent left backs, let alone someone who can play centre back and right back equally well. After also selling my other versatile defender Serge Aurier for a crazy 54 million Euros, I began scouring for interested players but I did not want to bring in anyone "too famous" or on long term deals over 3 seasons.

So to my surprise I found Matteo Darmian for sale for a mere 2.4 million Euro. As mentioned above, he was sold to Manchester City 2 years prior and now at 31 years of age he had lost some of his pace but was still a fantastic player! So I decided to take him on loan for a 25k a month fee, and only 10% of his wages. I also selected an option to buy him at any time with an agreed value of what they were asking, 2.4 million Euros. I thought this was a more cost effective way of doing dealings, seeing that I would save 9 million Euros on his wages and only outlay 250k over 12 months and if he did not perform I was not obliged to sign him. Smart thinking, from a smart manager.

Well it turns out I was not so smart.

I had not realised that Man City may have negotiated the deal and while the loan fee, duration and contract terms remain the same - THERE IS NO OPTION TO BUY! and nor it is in any contract details.

Darmian has been so good this season that I surely want him to become a Napoli player on a permanent basis. Since I have had aging defenders in the past who have worked well, such as Maggio and Sequiera - I figured I could easily get 3 or 4 more seasons out of Darmian.

So frustrated, I decided to just put in an offer for Darmian for 2.4 million Euro, which was what he was transfer listed initially when I first decided to purchase him outright, before I decided I would just loan him out for economical reasons. He was only worth 900k when he was transfer listed, but I felt 2.4 million Euro would still be a good offer for a player I know did well for me consistently for 4 years.

My economical dealing has now just turned comical instead. Man City rebutted my 2.4 million Euro offer with a counter offer, of 28 million Euros, plus a 20% profit fee.

Ah what? I thought the Man City Football of Director had just ingested the wrong kind of herbal tea and was slightly on the elevated mental state side of things.

Twenty Eight (28) million Euro - yes you read that right. Darmian's value has gone from 900k to 6 million after a stupendous start to the season that has seen him called up to the Italian national team, after an 18 month hiatus. To top things off, he had a great game for his country where he played, while my best young defender Sacco sat his butt on the bench. Now it seems I won't be able to buy Darmian for the reasonable price of 2.4 million Euros and I doubt he will return the club and be listed for sale or loan in the near future. Especially seeing that on last reports, Man City is looking for a new full back.

Woe is me I guess...? I know it is a rhetorical question, but feel free to answer to it.

My issue is now two fold really. One : I really could do with an Italian squad player for Champions League regulation purposes - which is why I now think twice before selling home grown players, regardless if they were at my club or not between 15 and 21. Two: Every other scouted left back has some sort of defect, despite having the best attributes. They are either inconstant, injury prone or pee their pants prior to derby matches. The ones who have these good traits, then don't have the right attributes. Those who have all the elements required to be a successful football player for my club were either sold before and have retained their high figure so are non feasible, or they are not for sale and finally their name is Darmian.

#headtobrickwall

Complete_and_utter_bullsh*t.

that is hilarious about darmian mate!!! stop rushing into these deals and make sure all the details are correct before you click okay!! as regards to left backs have you had a look at quality right backs that are left footed??? if so its simple retrain them as a left back problem solved!!

[Sydney666]

Saenz of life?

Gosh I am on a windfall of writing brilliance tonight, It's like winning at the slot machines, but instead of gold coins it's flowing with fantastic witty ideas. Just look at the proof, with that great pun as a heading. After my 30,000 word post above stating how much I hated Saenz and how I loved Fernandao so much I have decided to list Saenz for sale. You know, that's what you do to strikers that are ALWAYS OFFSIDE

So I wanted to show my son how horrible Saenz was and how he is constantly being lazy and standing offside. So my son and I watched the game, he had a cup of cocoa and I had a cup of sodium bicarbonate for the heart burn and the following happens while we watch in horror. :o

I will not say anything else on this post (I wont make promises cause I can't stop typing when intoxicated on non alcoholic cake drinks), but I will put up two in game shots of the first game I managed after my love letter to Fernandao and my breakup text message to Saenz. The whole love triangle thing has left me confused like a 13 year old girl just developing breasts for the first time and leaking unmentionable liquid from unmentionable areas - man god really screwed up on that design didn't he? Seeing how emotionally unstable I am, I might have to start watching Days of Our lives. Well I have seen a few episodes. They are up to season 50. I recently watched episode 232 and I must say it is by far my favorite to date.

As you can see, he scored three goals in one match...now I feel bad for transfer listing him because he may be showing Saenz (signs) of life! Notice I put the pun into parentheses (brackets) so that dummies understand my witty humour and my intelligent writing style. I put the word "bracket" into parentheses just in case people don't know that a parentheses is. If you still don't get it, it's an open and close bracket. Gosh I am very tolerant of dumb people. Good on me!

Everyone happy? Right-o then.

[Sydney666]

:D Is a World Class full back on the verge of signing for Napoli? I think I might say....yes. :D

:oNews now presented in sober vision! However my vision is blurry from lack of sleep and I have a hangover already - I am getting too old for this sh*t!:o

The transfer story

Today I made an offer for one of the Worlds best defenders who plays for one of the biggest clubs in Europe. I had the player on my radar for some time; actually I was following him since 2014 before he was even famous, but for a few years I just lost interest in him. So I kept tabs on him and he improved immensely and ended up at a huge club. At the start of this season I made an attempt to sign him because after losing Siquiera basically because he was 34 and upset at me no longer using him as often and selling Aurier because I had to get my club out of debt. While at the same time Mario Gaspar is about to turn 31 and wont be as effective physically soon, my hand was being forced a little. I needed a World Class left/right back who could defend, pass from the back, and be dangerous when whipping in crosses. Carlos Saenz is a great striker, but he has bad off the ball - so he needs the service or he gets marked out of games. Someone like this new man will deliver a lot of assists.

When I tried and made a VERY reasonable offer - we are talking over 50 million Euro, including incentives, the club totally refused to even deal with me regarding his sale! After we eventually agreed to a talking at a higher fee, they were throwing counter offers of over 150 million Euro because that was his transfer clause (no joke ). Then I hit another brick wall, once we finally agreed on a price (basically in my attempt to gauge what the player wanted for wages), he was just was not interested in joining my club - and I wouldn't blame him either. He plays for a massive club with a rich history and wonderful footballers. Sometimes no matter how many Serie A's or Champions League you can win, or how many billionaire oil tycoons own a club - a club such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man United etc still holds more prestige than a Napoli, even the super successful fictional version in my gaming world. I feel that even a PSG or even a gorgeous club like Chelsea would struggle to compete with these clubs and not at a financial level but at a prestige level.

Then things changed!

Very recently this player has become disgruntled at this club because another fellow countryman has been mistreated - and he put in a transfer request. I thought I would be getting him on the cheap - and I have been following my rule of late of only buying disgruntled transfer listed players and resurrecting their careers (what can I say? It's made the game so much more challenging and fun!). The club agreed to a 50 million Euro deal with approximately half up front and the rest spread out over time.

So I finally get to the contract table and I hit another brick wall. Their financial demands included over the top incentives and bonuses, including an absurd amount of money for a salary. The player wanted 38 million Euros a season and while I could afford that - just barely - it was not something I could agree too. Paul Pogba is my highest earner on 23 million Euro, and I had just sold Messi and Ronaldo who were on 30 million a season each, just to avoid bankruptcy. If I were to offer 38 million a year, then it would trigger Paul Pogba's match highest earner clause. So after some haggling, I gave an ultimatum offer which I thought he would just reject, and to my surprise he accepted a 23 million a year deal and everyone is happy. I guess he really loved that team mate THAT much, if you know what I mean - nudge nudge wink wink.

I basically now hold the virtual contract in my hand - with my mouse cursor sitting on the confirm, delay or cancel button. I am not sure if I am going ahead with it - so I will keep the players name a secret so that if I am to change my mind people won't feel butt hurt or miss a player they might have had. All in the name of a good story in imagination land of Football Manager.

I also wondered, are people who read my story in it to see me fail? Or do you guys become attached to my club and want to see me succeed? Are you fans of my club? That might make me want a new contract - which will run out in 24 months.

Maybe you are a fan of my writing and prefer to read my walls of texts and my witty ways of saying some really naughty things, without saying anything at all - trickery leads to a good story right?

I think - maybe too much right?

...hmmmm. :o

[dllu]

You, sir, may be bats**t crazy (in addition to any number of other medical conditions), but I like your writing. Very much.

[nie jem frytek]

Tell us, tell us, tell us!

[deltablue]

Is Saenz particularly fast?

[Sydney666]

You, sir, may be bats**t crazy (in addition to any number of other medical conditions), but I like your writing. Very much.

Well I am legally insane - so maybe. However when you mix my pain meds with alcohol, you get some crazy writing! To be fair, I don't want to make a sad story or something overly serious. Since I am living with depression, I want to liven things up with some weird writing.

I don't usually tell people this, but I am a freelance writer and like most freelance writers I have never written anything! I have a huge fear of failure and being judged so when I write something it does take a lot of courage. I just wanted to post pictures and just write one or two lines about my performance. However this story, which funny enough is 100% completely true, is evolving - as it did from the beginning. It was just a tactics thread, and then it was a season update thing.

Now I am writing walls of texts filled with terrible humour. I also try not to proof read anything, but I have a habit of going back and fixing spelling issues or grammar. Then that stops me from playing and I begin fixated on the story.

Finally I don't have an alcohol issue - and I know a lot of people with depression do. I also know that quite a few FM stories have fictional drugs and alcohol issues and I remembered one of the top writers on the forums at the time complained about all the alcohol related story lines. I remember he said that he would search for the word alcohol or read the first paragraph and he would instantly stop reading the story - I guess he is a bit of a story bigot. Is there a word for story "racism"? So I like to take the mickey out of it, so it's sort of a little in-joke and I use it on my story. I am just trying to be myself, as weird as I am - and it's expected. My mind has gone through terrible memories and I suffer from PTSD. Being silly is what I do lately, especially being that big ol' quirky dad. I do my best to embarrass my 16 year old son in front of his friends and I guess it is filtering into my FM story. Strangely my son's friends like me and wanna hang out with me instead of my son!

However twice in this story alcohol has been a part of it - and I am a happy and goofy drunk! So either my wife tried to reward me with alcohol - which caused a writing frenzy or my friends caused me to get silly. So as I said my wife got me alcohol last week and then when I thought all would be back to normal, THEN my friends all showed up. I don't have many friends and I see them very rarely - which is why I feel depressed as well. One friend I hadn't seen in ten years even showed up at my door step!

One of my friends heard that I have been sick, and no one knew - so he told everyone - and so suddenly all these friends whom I haven't seen have been one by one coming over with mini interventions - to try and help me kick my depression. They all bring alcohol with them as gifts.

So when you have friends over, it seems that bottles of whiskey, beer and vodka suddenly appear - and one tends to get intoxicated. The other night I was on a high from having 5 mates over at once and I guess that, with alcohol - and honestly - a lot of it in my system resulted in some drunk writing.

I guess I like to drunk write, mainly because I don't have any ex-girlfriends to send text messages to! (I think my wife may have killed them all) Ha Ha Ha Everyone enjoys sending text messages while drunk, and I guess I do it with writing on these forums!

So my apologies for the really weird writing, but I am glad you enjoyed it. I just haven't really read the latest stuff because I feel so embarrassed by it!

I guess it may happen again so my apologies in advance - to everyone

[Sydney666]

Is Saenz particularly fast?

Yes, he is VERY fast actually - I think he has 18 acceleration and about 16 pace but that's off the top of my head.

[Sydney666]

Tell us, tell us, tell us!

I just clicked on either Confirm, Delay or Cancel. In the next post I might reveal the answer.

...by the way I like your user name. I had a cat called that once. He had a huge smile and used to talk in zeros and ones. My doctor said he wasn't real, but he was just jealous I had a cat, because he was a cat person you see but his wife only allowed him to have a dog.

[Sydney666]

Napoli confirm signing of World Class full back Jonathan Silva!!

It was probably one of the worst kept secrets, but it has now been officially confirmed by both the Official Barcelona website and by the Napoli Football Director, Gabin Etchebarne. The drawn out negotiations between clubs, was equally matched by a very lengthy and difficult contract talk. It took approximately three weeks for the club and player to finally reach and agreement, and it was not the first time Napoli had tried to capture their man. Napoli had failed not once, but twice in signing Silva. He had initially rejected Napoli to agree to a 33 million Euro deal with Barcelona, leaving Sporting Lisbon. Napoli had then tried to capture their man while he was in his second season with Barcelona, but again both club and player were not particularity interested.

Finally on their third attempt, Napoli have captured their man and Jonathan Silva was happy to agree to a 10 million Euro a season pay cut from his initial contract negotiation demands made by his agent Sergio Rodriguez. While Silva agreed to a lesser salary, and no signing on fee, Rodriguez instead demanded a much larger agent fee, which was reported to be a staggering 26 million Euros.

Silva will now leave Barcelona and join fellow Argentine Internationals Agustin Allione and Paulo Dybala at the Neapolitan club. While Silva was happy to be at such a prestigious club such as Barcelona, things went sour after fellow Argentine team mate Jonathan Calleri was treated harshly by the Barcelona manager, Ronny Della. The Barcelona manager had been leaving the talented Striker in the lower ranks of Barcelona B, and many players including Silva thought the striker was being treated unfairly. It seems Ronny Della was not happy being dictated as to who he should play, and Silva found himself on the transfer list as were a number of others, including Calleri. It is reported that Napoli has paid approximately 50 million Euros for the player, with bonuses possibly putting the deal to over 60 million Euro. Rumours are also persisting that Napoli is trying to deal with Barcelona to also bring Calleri to the club, in a trade deal that includes Carlos Saenz and 5 million Euro. It seems Barcelona are happy with the deal, but Calleri's agent Nestor Celaya owns 70% of the player and is demanding 42 million for his share of the player. That could put Calleri's value to over 100 million Euro - and Napoli feel that the demands are highly unreasonable for the 28 year old Striker.

Jonathan Silva who has 68 caps for Argentina scoring two goals, stated that although he is a Estudiantes fan, he has followed Napoli as a young boy due to his fathers admiration for Diego Armando Maradona whom was a legend not only for La Albicelsete, but also seen as a God in Naples. He stated that Napoli is viewed in such high regards in Argentina and that many still follow the Partenopei club even though it has been 3 decades since the Argentine hero left Naples. Napoli has recently become one of the forces of world football and that this move could fulfill his fathers dream of seeing his son play for the Azzurri. He also claimed that many of his Argentine team mates, in particular Higuain had told him that Napoli is a beautiful city that resembles Argentina in many ways.

Silva will join the Napoli ranks in January 2022, and will surely strengthen what is already a formidable defensive lineup.

Jonathan Silva Details

Jonathan Silva's contract details that will take him to Naples

As you can see Jonathan Silva is truly a global superstar, with fantastic attributes. He is one of the Worlds most feared attacking full-backs, and is also known to be a very physically imposing left back and a highly reliable defender. He, Michele Battipaglia, Marquinhos, Digne and Mario Gaspar will form a defensive line up that will surely be rarely penetrated by opponents. If by any chance that back line were to let any attackers through, they would still have to face current Italy and England number one keepers Luigi Sepe and Sam Johnston, who are often rotated match by match.

Hope you guys find this to be a great signing, I sure am happy to have finally grabbed my man after keeping tabs on him since he was 21.

[Sydney666]

Fernandao and Carlos Saenz help Napoli destroy Fiorentina 6-0!

Napoli were away this afternoon against a Fiorentina side that were on a 5 match unbeaten streak where they had won 2 and drawn 3. Napoli have been unpredictable of late, and in recent Serie A games goals have been hard to come by. That all changed tonight where Napoli bagged 6 goals in a completely one-sided affair which could have easily ended with a ten goal margin.

Transfer listed Carlos Saenz had something to prove and was surprisingly called to the starting line-up in the wake of his previous match against Celtic where he scored 3 goals with a sensational individual performance. Few people expected that Saenz would follow up another scintillating display of attacking football where he would again score a hattrick, this time against Fiorentina who had only conceded 4 goals in their last 7 outings.

Carlos Saenz was surely helped by Brazilian youngster Fernandao who not only scored a goal of his own, but added three assists and his link up play with Saenz was something beautiful to behold.

Match Details

"Mr Offside" - Carlos Saenz's Player Profile

"Mr Offside" also known as Carlos Saenz has scored 6 goals in the last two matches, and has only been offside 7 times, well done! He is much loved by the Napoli supporters for his explosive finishing, his powerful headed goals and his fantastic running with the ball. Some section of the Napoli fans, including some of the coaching staff, including Antonio Colella may find the striker frustrating at times. He is the number one player in Serie A for being caught offside and sometimes it seems that the referee and his assistants are quick to raise the flag due to his reputation. Sometimes it seems his own explosive pace is to blame where he just sets off too quickly, while sometimes it seems he is called offside when he is perfectly inline - but his speed hinders the linesman's reactions. They say that when unsure, give advantage to the attacking team, but it seems when unsure the referee assistants raise their flag with a bewildered expression on their face. Carlos Saenz is well known for having 4 goals ruled out in one match last season, and still finding the net three times in the same match. It is hard to find any striker to have ever performed such a feat - but it is those actions that have made him a crowd favorite.

If he can learn to time his runs, he can be one of the Worlds most lethal strikers and some say he already is - seeing that he is the leading goal scorer in the South American qualifying section.

When asked about his nickname "Mr Offside", Carlos laughed and said that "people should stop looking to the linesman every time I [he] am [is] one on one with a goalkeeper, and those who look at the statistics after the match should ignore the offside stats and look at the goal scorers charts instead."

[Sydney666]

Fernandao gets a new 5 year deal!

The 20 year old wonderkid had only one year left on his contract and Napoli fans were worried that they might lose their newest star on a Bosman ruling. However their fears have been relieved knowing that Fernandao has committed his future to the club. The player stated that there was never any problem with contract negotiations and that he never had any intentions of leaving.

The player was interviewed by Napolisoccer.net;

"I wasn't really worried about the contract coming to it's last year. I am not in it for the money, as a footballer we already earn a lot of money and it is respectful to the club to not always beg for more money and I make sure my agent knows this. There are people in Brazil earning what I earn in a day what they earn in a year, so I should just be thankful to God that I have these skills that can feed my family at home in Brazil. My main concern is to send money home to my parents and repay them for looking after me and raising me as best as they could with as little money as they had. I am proud of them because growing up, I never felt as though I had anything missing and I am thankful for that.

So my agent and I decided to just see out the current contract and try to prove myself on the field first and then talk about the contract dealings later. Thankfully I am playing well and my Mister feels the same way, which is why Napoli approached me with a contract without me having to ask them. My new contract is very good, and my family and I can live comfortable for the rest of our lives. While I was born in Belo Horizonte, which is a wealthy city area in Brazil, my father lost his job after an injury and we were forced to move to the outskirts of the city and I think we really struggled financially and my father went through depression because he could not find a job. While it was not as bad as the Favelas in Rio de Janeiro of whom some of my old team mates were from, It was still a rough neighborhood with a lot of violence and drugs. A lot of my friends got caught up in that sort of lifestyle, while I just focused on my studies, my religion and my football.

Financially, I am just glad that they [his family] no longer need to live in poorer conditions of Belo [Horizontale] and can move back to the center of such a beautiful city. I am actually thinking of buying them a home in Sorrento, which is near Naples so that they can come visit me and watch some of my games. I would love for them to move here permanently, but they have family there of their own and they are happy in Brazil.", stated the player with a grin on his face the entire time.

Fernandao who was signed as a 15 year old by Napoli, finally arrived in Naples at the age of 18 after patiently waiting for the Brazilian FA to allow him to move clubs once coming of age. The 20 year old spent a season on loan, his last season at Tottenham netting 8 goals in 35 matches with most of his goals coming in the final weeks of the season.

The highly humble striker, whom seemed shy in front of the reporters continued to say; "I learned a lot while I was in London. At first I felt completely out of my depths and the cold was hard to get used to, but in the final matches I felt I was doing a lot better, probably due to the warmer weather. Naples is a lot warmer and it is quite similar to Brazil in that aspect - so I can play with a lot more comfort, even though it is warmer. I did not expect to score so many goals at this early stage, but now I am confident that I can reach 15, maybe 20 [goals] but that is not in my control, God will decide all my fate and I will just do my best and see what happens".

Very few people expected Fernandao to become an explosive attacking force that has been topping Napoli's scoring charts in recent weeks, along with fellow South American Carlos Saenz. He had played Striker for most of the matches at the start of the season, but in recent matches he has been moved to the left wing. He has continued scoring, but has also shown to be a fantastic team player, linking up with Napoli's other young striker Carlos Saenz. The two forwards have been tearing teams apart with their fierce attacking pace and almost unstoppable dribbling and finishing skills. He was asked what he thought about playing on the left wing;

"Naturally, I am probably my most comfortable playing striker. However I enjoy playing out wide because it sometimes gives you more freedom to go back and help your team mates, or come inside to the center of the park which can create not only space for yourself but for others. I guess it gives you more freedom and more chances to lose your marker. The Mister however want's me to cut inside when I am out wide, and sometimes that is difficult for me, because my right foot is not so great. So while I do cut inside, I prefer to pass instead of shooting with my right foot, and it has led to many assists - lucky for me and my team"; he smirked.

"When you play striker, especially as the lone man up there, you are constantly followed and marked, sometimes by two defenders who are pushing, shoving and even pinching your behind just to get you riled up. There are even worse things they do to try and distract you, but I don't think I can mention it here on the radio!"; Saenz stated rolling his eyes.

"I can also play center midfield, a position I learned later in my career, but I am not so effective there. I guess I am a versatile footballer and a lot of managers like that in a player. Quite honestly, I would even play goalkeeper if my Mister were to ask me. I want to do anything to play, because it is something I love and I am blessed to do it as my profession. One has to learn to just accept what your manager wants and to remember that being a footballer is a dream job for probably one billion people. So I have to be grateful and just put my head down and focus. I just want to do what is best for my team, even if playing goalkeeper will probably be a bad idea as I am not so tall!"

The interview ended with the Napolisoccer.net journalist asking what he path he thinks his career would follow and if he dreamed of playing in the English Premier League again. He also asked what it was like to play for Brazil and if he hopes to lead his country at Qatar in 2022.

"I am currently very happy where I am and I signed a 5 year contract and I intend to remain here for that time. I can never say what the future may hold, so I cannot say if I will ever play in the Premier League again. It is a very fast paced and exciting league, but the weather is usually bad and I am not a fan of playing with gloves" ; laughed the young striker.

"I am happy at Naples, it's a great city and more people should respect this place. Also the club is currently very successful, because the owners love the club and have made some very smart investments over the years, making the club wealthy and attract some fantastic footballers like Paul Pogba, and Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the past. With respect to playing for Brazil, it was a very emotional time when I first put on that jersey. It was a match versus Colombia. We lost that game and I probably had a game to forget - but I will be honest - I was so nervous that the entire game felt like a dream, one big blur. My second match, which was only a few days later, I came on with much more focus and I played up front and with Neymar for the first time. He is my idol, so I felt very excited playing with him. He helped me a lot and I got lucky and scored 3 goals. I was blessed by God that match because it seemed every time I shot at goal, the ball just flew into the back of the net. I already have that ball framed at home, it was signed by the entire team, but Neymar would not sign it which worried me, but at the end he said he was just joking"; Laughed Fernandao.

Napoli's next match will be in a fortnights time at home to Udinese and Fernandao should feature again.

[Sydney666]

I might interview Carlos Saenz, but only if people demand for it!

[Sydney666]

Terrible England are a one goal win away from qualifying for Qatar 2022 World Cup

Match Details

What a horrible match. We completely dominated the game and should have won 6 or 7 nil. However we made it so hard for ourselves. The first half in particular was horrendous. It finished 0-0 at half time and I couldn't help but yell at my team. They had about 70% of the possession, yet all they did was pass the ball slowly around in the centre of the park. Then they would pass back to defenders, back to midfielders and again back to the centre backs, never utilizing the wingers and never performing overlapping runs as I have instructed my full backs to do. The most annoying aspect was when they finally got it to the forwards in the centre, the striker Cauley Woodrow who has been in fine form for club and country, just passed the ball all the way back to the defensive midfielders 50 feet away. I just didn't understand why they were so afraid to shoot. Then for a period of 20 minutes before half time, we began to shoot from distance even though we had players available and free all alone in the box. I could have counted about 15 to 20 shots in this period all going over, wide or just softly into the keepers hands.

The only player to save face was Luke Shaw during the first half. He made one run from his own corner flag all the way to the penalty spot of the Belarus side, only to hit a tame shot right into the keepers hands.

The second half was better, as I decided to make two subs right at the start of the second half. Off came Striker Cauley Woodrow and newgen, and Chelsea starlet - defensive midfielder Niel Pinch. I moved Hendersen to defensive midfielder with freedom to go forward, moved Ross Barkley to playmaker and brought on Harry Kane (who wasn't 100% fit) and debutante, Chelsea youngster and U21 superstar Andrew Bowditch (also a newgen).

Only 5 minutes into his debut, after making some nice touches and runs, Bowditch was injured and had to come off. So in comes Raheem Sterling. Now Raheem was a fantastic footballer for Liverpool, then Man City and even for England, but he has just returned from a 9 month lay off due to a horrific injury, one that a manager never wants to hear Damaged Cruciate Ligaments. His stats, especially his technicals have declined horribly. His physicals are still good, but he lost about 2 points off both his pace and acceleration. He is still quick, but no longer explosive. He has only played 14 games in 2 years and he has played 11 matches since his injury and is only averaging 6.98 and has 1 goal and 0 assists. I don't know if I should be calling him up, but I feel the media would have a field day if I didn't. I also don't have many wingers with 12+ finishing. The ones I do have range anywhere from 5 to 10, those being Brisset and Oxlade-Chamberland. I have found a new player, by the name of Patrick Roberts who seems to score for club and recently for country - and he only has 11 finishing - but he was injured.

My England side has a good defence, but the right back spot is up for grabs. The centre-mid playmaker roles are in an abundance, and it is problematic because you want to call them all up - but you can't find spots for them. So I play Ross Barkley on the wings because the centre mid role is filled and I can't play him at AMC, probably one of his best roles because I have arguably Englands best player Marc Butler, another newgen. I also have Jack Wilshere who plays MC and AMC, and if only Butler or Barkley were faster and more versatile, I could have a better side.

Anyway back to the game, we eventually scored through the 32 year old Sturridge, and like idiots we conceded a goal only minutes later, with my own Napoli keeper letting the ball go through his legs - what a horrible mistake. It was his second mistake in as many matches. Thankfully Harry Kane came in and scored the winner, a 2-1 win that was enough - but gosh it was embarrassing. Marc Butler got both assists and he finished the game with a 9.0. He is a really tidy player, but would make a better Deep Lying Playmaker than an AMC, but sadly he can only play AMC and Striker. #facepalm

I am a one goal win away from going to Qatar, and I still have not figured out who will play at right back, defensive midfielder and my entire front three, excluding the AMC role. I want to do well at the World Cup in Qatar, I have won it with Brazil but by this stage I had figured out who my first team was and who were going to be impact players.

I really scratch my head on this one. Unlike Brazil, I don't want to quit after the World Cup - I am enjoying managing England because it's a great challenge and I want to bring through the new youth players. I am worried I will be sacked if I don't pass the group stages or maybe the FA want to win the World Cup, but I have no idea what they have in mind as a realistic goal.

This has been a close qualifying round, so close that all I need is 1 goal against Faroe Islands at Wembley. A single win that will make me go through by goal difference. Yes, mere goal difference.

Anyway wish me luck...the match is in 3 days (probably 1 hour from this post we will know)

The current standings

England just need a win, by a single goal to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar 2022

[Sydney666]

I just want to apologize for the copious amount of text in my posts. This is how I write and this is how my story will always be. I guess I want my story to appeal to everyone, so I do put in a lot of pictures and results in bold text - but in reality I want to appeal to those who are willing to spend the time to read the story and all the comments.

I am starting to add "story elements" to the career save, but only things such as interviews. I won't be adding my personal life into the game or actual novel style fictional writing. What I am trying to do is create personalities to my players and build on areas in which Football Manager lacks, and that's the role playing element. When I talk to players in game, which is often, such as patting them on the back, to team talks - I do get an idea how each guy sort of reacts but I use my imagination to connect the dots, as well as reading their information tab to see what their personality is. I also use their location of birth to figure out if they might be religious, atheists, from a rich area or raised poor. That will form my back story from some players and I have tried that for the first time for Fernandao. He is the religious Brazilian type who has worked hard to get his family out of poverty. I even do research on cities, and on real players - so that my info is actually realistic. It helps me learn as well and that helps!

One thing I do ask is that some of you that do read, to leave a comment or two when I do ask questions in the posts. I would like to get people involved with the career if you like - and tell me if you think it's a good idea. So I will probably ask you guys before I buy someone, or I may ask people to submit questions in which I will use to interview players.

I want to fictionally interview my most annoying player, Carlos Saenz and if you guys want - please submit questions and I will ask "him".

Anyway thanks for reading, I know a lot of you read but don't post - but replies are sometimes needed to know if you are enjoying the story, even if its constructive/negative feedback - I don't mind as it will help me write better. Comments also motivate me to keep on going. I don't plan to end the story anytime soon and I am actually thinking of extending my contract with Napoli too.

One thing that won't change are my walls of text. I like to write detailed info and I personally enjoy that. :o

As an Australian, I also sometimes drink heavily - usually once a week. I want to make sure I post during those drunk moments, because it removes my inhibitions, especially in my writing and some crazy stuff gets written and I honestly think it's stupidly funny when I read back on it, albeit making me embarrassed at the same time!

So yeh! Some feedback would be highly appreciated. Actually as stated, not really feedback - but I want you guys to help me make decisions on who to buy, who to interview and what to ask them!

Cheers,

Tony.

[Sydney666]

Sturridge injured on International duty - more problems for England Manager Colella

Bad news for England with Daniel Sturridge out of the Faroe Islands match due to a thigh strain that will keep him on the sidelines for two weeks. England only needs a one goal win against Faroe Islands to qualify for the Qatar 2020 FIFA World Cup and while it may seem an easy match, missing Sturridge will not only weaken the England attack, but also affect morale and confidence negatively.

Saido Berahino has been called in to replace Sturridge and the Hull forward is keen to impress. Berahino has a fine scoring record since joining Hull City in 2018 for 17 million Pounds from Cardiff. In 84 matches he has netted 40 English Premier League goals, but has yet to score for England in his three appearances. Some say that he is better suited to playing striker, but the England manager has only used him on the wings so far. Berahino is not known for his dribbling skills, but he could add much needed speed up front for England where Kane and Woodrow only offer brute force.

It is to be seen if Berahino starts up front for England, or if Colella will use Kane or even possibly Butler or Sterling in that position. Faroe Islands struggle with speedy strikers, and using Berahino at striker could prove to be a successful move.

[Sydney666]

England thump Faroe Islands 7-0 and are off to Qatar 2022!

The Formation I decided to go with...

The players that I am unsure of...

Brisset is a wonderful footballer, but he has only 5 finishing - but he is a great team player that always grabs a lot of assists both for his club Crystal Palace and his country - but he rarely scores which is a problem with my tactic. If it were 4-4-2, he would be great. Alas I do not play that formation, but he is useful because he links up with Luke Shaw really well and always pops in dangerous crosses, which is basically his main strength. He reminds me a bit of David Beckham, but without the free kicks and good shots.

I played Berahino up front, and he played well and setup a goal - but he wasn't very dangerous and I brought on Harry Kane. Kane quickly scored because he is good in the air and Brisset gave him the support he needed. Sadly Kane is really slow and can't dribble well - and again it's something my tactic relies on.

I played Jordan Hendersen as a defensive midfielder, basically because the opposition is weak and I didn't expect to defend much - so I gave him more freedom than I usually give a ball winning midfielder and this way he and Barkley could work together to give more assists to the front line.

Oxlade-Chamberlain also played, on the right wing - where I usually play Daniel Sturridge. Sadly he is a fantastic player but again he has poor finishing just like Brisset. If he and Brisset had higher finishing, around the 13 to 15 mark - we would have a very deadly strike force.

Jon Flanagan got his 3rd cap - I am picking him lately because basically England have poor right backs. The ones that I like are not getting game time at their clubs, because England clubs usually sign other nationalities in those positions. Flanagan is rather slow for a full back. He has 13 for his pace and acceleration, but he has a good cross on him. I usually play John Stones here, because he is a world class player who is a starter for Chelsea. However he plays at centre-back for Chelsea and while he is faster than Flanagan (he has 13 acceleration and 15 pace), he only has 8 for crossing and that is an issue. I am stuck on right back - I might just pick the guys with the right stats, despite they not getting game time. Nathaniel Clyne is the player I would love best - but after his big money move to Man United, he has only played a handful of games in two seasons, such a waste of talent.

I also played Hart in goals. I am not a fan of Hart because he has bad positioning, is not very good in the air and he is far too eccentric, so he runs out and does odd things like tries to dribble attackers and such. I am losing confidence in Sam Johnstone, even though he is solid for me for Napoli, yet he has made to glaring mistakes for England.

I have a friendly against Australia in a few months and I will try a few different players before watching the EPL closely and decide on a squad of about 35, then eventually 30 for the preliminary squad and ultimately the final 23.

With the game against Faroe Islands...

I will keep this short and sweet. It was a much better performance than the game against Belarus. The guys were hungry for it and it showed. The qualification wasn't as easy as I thought it initially would be, especially when I saw the groups being drawn and I was over the moon! "Wow a bunch of crappy sides, this will be easy!" I was elated to have avoided nations like Russia, Bosnia, Sweden, Turkey, Switzerland, Serbia, Ukraine etc, all who were in that second pot. Some of these second pot sides have stunned some massive nations. It looks like Belgium, Czech Rep and Russia might actually not make it to the World Cup, that is how hard some of those groups were. Italy barely made it to the World Cup, they only won 5 matches in their group and went through by a point.

So I looked at my group and thanked the heavens - I was going to win every game. However after Greece beat me at Wembley, then I realised Greece have some wonderful newgens coming through the ranks, and they have some world class defenders playing in some big clubs. In the end I went through because of goal difference. Good luck to Greece, they deserve to go to Qatar and I wish them all the best.

Now I hope I can figure out how to get the best out of my players and do well in Qatar and hopefully beyond!

I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

[Sydney666]

Small update - Final World Cup Qualifying ladder - Greece qualify as best 2nd placed side!

I thought it was sad that Greece did not make the World Cup because of goal difference, but they qualified as the best 2nd placed team. That means even if I hadn't finished first on goal difference, I would have still gone through. If I had drawn against Faroe Islands, I still would have qualified.

All that worrying for no reason!

Now I have to wait 152 days before my friendly with Australia. There are 205 days until the World Cup in Qatar starts. I shall bring some sun-screen, Elton John sized sun glasses and a large umbrella. I may also try and invent a portable back pack air conditioning unit, that blows air into a skin tight suit. If that cannot be done, I might just "log in" remotely from home in Naples and just manage my England side using a mobile phone. In short terms, I am not a fan of the blazing heat.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that this is just a game and I am NOT going to Qatar... phew! :o

This is the final ladder

Time to focus back on Napoli...

[Sydney666]

Incredible Saenz scores 5 goals against Udinese - Get's a perfect 10

I am utterly speechless. I will just let all the following pictures tell the story, then I will comment. Right now I just need to take a deep breath and think about what I just witnessed.

Match Details

Napoli fans begin to worship the striker like a God, so typical of Naples...!

Five goals and a perfect 10 - never seen before at Napoli!

Last season Saenz scored 18 goals in 36 games. At first he couldn't find the net, and for the first 13 matches - he had about 30 offsides and no goals. Toward the latter end of last season, he began scoring goals. I mentioned how he would score a hattrick, then the next match get offside numerous times and finish with a 6.1 rating. Then two matches later, he would come off the bench and score a double, then for the next 10 matches he wouldn't even have a shot on goal. He scored in spurts which was annoying, but I noticed he was a pretty decent impact player and 18 goals in 36 matches was quite good for a 20 year old.

I noticed a massive improvement in his attributes when he was tutored first by Lacazette, and then more importantly by the legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo. He picked up a lot of PPM's (player preferred moves) from both of these Napoli greats. However, despite his improvements he still had many inconsistent performances and was offside so often that he began irritating me and I dubbed him "Mr Offside". The strange thing was that my scouts say he relished big matches and is a consistent performer. Errrm okay? I wondered, scratching my balding head!

Then a few weeks ago I tried to transfer list him, I wanted to get 50 or 60 million so I could put Fernandao up front, or just try and get Dutch star, Pim van Eck. I think that must have triggered something in his mind. When I listed him, he stated he was "determined to prove his worth to the team" and ever since he is scoring like a maniac. He has scored three back to back hattricks. He scored 3 against Celtic, 3 against Fiorentina and now 5 goals against Udinese.

Just amazing.

No player has ever scored three back to back hattricks - and never 11 goals in 3 matches. Not Cristiano Ronaldo, not Messi - not anyone.

I feel with Fernandao playing on the left - it has really helped not only Saenz but the whole team get more space and more chances on goal. The Brazilian striker literally take 3 or 4 players with him and that gives my playmakers and wingers more time to put in important passes to Saenz. Saenz doesn't have a very high off the ball attribute, so he is basically a penalty box kind of striker - and now he is getting the service needed to explode into one of the worlds best strikers.

Fernandao's runs are giving Insinge more space, and this is allowing him to run at the defence more often and get shots on target - resulting in Saenz getting quite a few tap in goals from the keepers rebounded saves. However not all of his goals have been easy tap ins. Saenz has really enjoyed the great crosses from Digne and Mario Gaspar who have very high crossing attributes. So as stated, Napoli is finally playing with an attacker who is fantastic in the air and can actually utilise the good crossers and playmakers in the team. Saenz is loving the crosses he is getting into the box and he is sure enjoying taking his chances.

The Napoli fans are just obsessed with him now, and he has become a Club Icon already. If he keeps this up - he might end up being a Napoli legend. I am quite certain there's going to be a lot of kids on their dads shoulders with Saenz and the number 31 on the back of their shirts. One thing is for certain, Naples can either hate players at a drop of a dime, or worship them like a God after one good performance. The Napoli fans can get carried away and suffocate the players personal life and follow them everywhere, even to the bathroom. Players such as Ezequiel Lavezzi have left Napoli because of the way Napoli fans surrounded him everywhere he went - basically he had lost all personal life.

Saenz better hope he doesn't wear an expensive watch either, as numerous Napoli players have been stopped at gun point and had their watches stolen. Marek Hamsik has had his watches stolen twice, and so has Dries Mertens. Ezequiel Lavezzi's girlfriend was also robbed at gunpoint and had her purse stolen. Such is the life of a footballer, in a nation that while is beautiful - it also has the Neapolitan mafia, namely the Camorra.

Lets hope the young star is not put on a pedestal a little too early because the last thing I want is for him to get burnt out.

Saenz and his amazing goal scoring frenzy - he was offside only 8 times in 3 games - a great achievement

Do I still hate Saenz?

...Okay, I am starting to like the guy...