[FM19] The Great San Marino Challenge

[maccataq]

Not played much for some time but recently re-ignited my San Marino save...

To recap:

• We got promoted from Serie D at the 3rd attempt after consecutive 2nd place finishes and playoff defeats
• We won Serie C in our 2nd season after a season of consolidation
• We finished 5th in Serie B in our first season and lost in the playoffs
• In our 2nd season, we finished 8th (although amassed the same points tally as last season) and again lost in the playoffs after a heartbreaking 5-4 defeat to Palermo in extra time. We scored a 92nd minute goal to surely progress 3-2 but Palermo scored a 95th minute equaliser - I was speechless (well, I might have used a few choice words). Palermo scored in ET to make it 4-3 before a 118th minute penalty made it 5-3 and then we scored in the 121st minute to make it 5-4.

So, I went into my 3rd season in Serie B again hotly tipped as relegation fodder and with poor finances we again would focus on loans and free transfers, although I managed to sell my young CB for £600k to Bologna to help with finances and we also eventually had a takeover after an initial attempt collapsed. This cleared some debt and enabled a modest transfer budget so we managed to purchase a new CB. My previous 2 seasons included a Palermo loanee who didn't want to join us for a 3rd season but I managed to find another CB on a free transfer and promoted a half decent youth prospect.

My striker was a loanee for the last 2 seasons but I decided to look for another option and plucked for a hot prospect from Roma. I loaned a RW from Fiorentina that was with us last season as well after a successful campaign but with just 2 loan signings, we were less reliant as I consciously looked to bring in more of our own players and recruit strong characters to lead the squad. One such character I brought in last season was a certain Antonio Valencia but he announced his retirement (now pushing 40) but he was doing so until October so I let him stay on a month to month given his strength of personality and determination.

I managed to sign a great youth prospect on a free from Inter to provide competition up front and a central midfielder from Juventus u23s who was curiously listed with an asking price of £0...so i offered and they sold him to me!

Anyway, our season was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. We started well winning our first 3 and losing only one of our opening 12 games before back to back defeats followed by a mixed December. However, it's a forgiving league and so it proved when we won 6 consecutive games scoring 21 times and conceding just 3, including beating promotion chasing Verona 5-2 in their own back yard.

This was followed by a frustrating goalless draw and then edged out by eventual champions Bologna 2-1 away from home (having thrashed them 4-0 earlier in the season). Including this, we went on a miserable run of 4 straight defeats scoring just twice and sinking down to 5th having topped the league at one point. We put the poor run behind us with 2 frustrating games where we scored very late winners to win both 1-0 (96th and 94th minute goals). We won 3 of our remaining 5 fixtures with 1 draw and 1 loss too. The final league game was away at already relegated Bari and a team that came back from 2 down to claim a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture; we brushed them aside 4-1 even if they were briefly level in the match. With us cruising Frosinone who occupied 2nd were away to already relegated Spezia and fell a goal behind pushing us up into 2nd for much of the game, however, Verona finally broke the deadlock in their game and went on to score a 2nd a seal automatic promotion. Frosinone who sat in the top 3 all season ended up 4th as they fell to disappointing defeat so we claimed over £2m in prize funds which gave us a much needed financial boost however, we would have to face the playoffs, but at least we were seeded!

We drew Carpi after they saw off Crotone - I wasn't overjoyed to face them since they often proved stubborn opposition but in the first leg we blew them away 3-1 setting up a comfortable position for the 2nd leg. We started well without scoring but then my left back decided a 2 footed lunge was in order and we were duly reduced to 10 men. Carpi then grabbed a goal 4 mins later whilst we were having to re-organise but still with the aggregate advantage. It wasn't a great day for left backs as my other left back gave away a stupid penalty in the 2nd half and we fell behind 2-0 with everything all level at 3-3! We managed to see out the game and in all honesty, I thought we would be going through on away goals but the higher seeding came into play and we progressed to the final, where we would face Frosinone! We fell behind early on away from home but managed to draw level 10 mins later and it finished 1-1 but we saw red once more when my midfielder picked up a 2nd booking late on. It might be worth noting that we failed to beat them in league campaign drawing away and losing at home. In the home leg, it started badly, falling behind in the 4th minute but we managed to level in the 16th minute to keep things on a knife edge but disaster struck in the 2nd half when Frosinone scored not once, but twice in the space of 3 mins to seemingly end our promotion chances but at least we had hugely improved on the previous season and pocketed a windfall to help with our finances. But wait, we weren't going to lie down just yet, my striker heading home to make it 3-2 gave us hope with just over 15 mins to go and with us pushing forward to get the equaliser, we worked the ball to my loanee right winger who smashed into the near top corner to level things up and we saw out the rest of the game. The higher seeding helped us again and we won promotion to Serie A!! I reflected on how had Frosinone just managed an equaliser in the final game of the season, they would have finished 3rd and it would be us facing disappointment...

So what I thought would just be a season of improvement and building turned into a big success! Now just the simple matter of building a team for Serie A as I expect a long hard battle of staying up. We have £5m to spend and £110k/week wage budget which feels huge vs what we have been working with but it's not a lot in the context of Serie A. I'd be interested to know if many of you have just got up and stayed up or if you've had to yoyo between the divisions for a few years?

Edited July 10, 2020 by maccataq