The Italian Job! Italian league thread is here!

[RandomGuy.]

Roma - Season 2 review

Absolutely oustanding news, as Brescia have been relegated and Tonali should be available at a much lower price.

We also won the league 

 

Cutrone wasn't great. Pellegrini was.

[FMbeginner]

@RandomGuy. Congrats on winning the league with Roma. What system are you playing and how are you getting the best out of the squad?

[RandomGuy.]

4 minutes ago, FMbeginner said:

@RandomGuy. Congrats on winning the league with Roma. What system are you playing and how are you getting the best out of the squad?

Im not sure, always feel like its just luck that I win things 

[RTHerringbone]

Have decided to pick up Fiete Arp for his £22m release clause.

Most likely player to make way is Douglas Costa as Man Utd are interested. He's currently valued at £78m and is in ridiculous form, but he hits my 30 years of age wall in 10 months, so I might just move him on a bit early.

 

[ParanoidBuddha]

3 ore fa, RTHerringbone ha scritto:

Have decided to pick up Fiete Arp for his £22m release clause.

Most likely player to make way is Douglas Costa as Man Utd are interested. He's currently valued at £78m and is in ridiculous form, but he hits my 30 years of age wall in 10 months, so I might just move him on a bit early.

 

I sold him for 110Mio and bought Hazard for 88 but has been useless even because I want to build my team for a 4312

[RTHerringbone]

Good to know I can get big money for Costa. Will probably spend a chunk replacing Bonucci who's the only player older than 30 in my squad. My FM Serie A table is the same as real life. We drew at Cagliari but won the other 13 and have an 11 point lead 😎

[jonathan44]

So just reached January, top of the league but I'm a bit unsure how. Most games my team doesn't really show up and I grab a lucky goal, but at times Xadas, Puscas and Lucera really show up and hammer teams. Chochev has been a stalwart but I've been incredibly disapointed in Nestorovski, he doesn't score or link up well with the rest of the team. Worried that selling him will cause friction as he's the captain so I'll keep him till the summer. Lucera has improved slightly, he's usually a 10/10 in training, but my ass man thinks his personality gets in his way.

Promoted Santoro to the team as I've really struggled to get Jajalo pulling any strings in midfield, he's getting better but struggles to impose himself away from home.

 

Thinking of bringing in another striker, preferably a target man in the window, any suggestions with <1 mill to spend?

[Steffchenko]

I've actually started the game with Milan twice now. Played for a season and half and decided to restart from scratch, as I didn't pay attention to staff and youth. Some transfers didn't really sit well with me. Anyways, the odd thing is that there were some strange similarities between these 2 saves, especially in the 1st season. So in both games the AI does a terrible job managing Juve. Found it odd that they ended 4th or 5th. In both saves I played them in Serie A and in the cup, so that's 4 games against them, plus the super cup. On both saves, I easily beat them back to back. I've had way more headaches with Torino, Sassuolo and Cagliari than with Juve.

On both save games, before the season starts, Real comes in and hires Allegri, who in turn always gets replaced by Conte. Its ironic, since Real actually tried to get Allegri in real life, but he politely refused the job.

Another strange similarity is that on both saves Liverpool comes and unsettles Suso with a crap offer, right before the season stars. They don't negotiate at all, Suso asks for transfer, won't listen to any interaction and again, on both saves Bayern comes in and gets him for 60m. This has happened exactly in the same way in both save games. One of the main reasons I decided to restart was to make sure Suso stays for the 1st year. So that didn't happen... Pretty much all it takes is for any team to look Suso's way and he's unsettled and wants out. Quite different from reality where he has a bit more loyalty towards the club, but I'll accept it...

The strangest thing that actually happened to me was with Calhanoglu. During the second season, I noticed his Dynamics section saying "Feels time is running out on his manager's promise to assign him to take free kicks". That is after a season and half where he was top choice for all free kicks, left, right, deep, narrow, wide, direct, indirect. Couldn't figure out what else to do. Redid the whole tactics from scratch. He was taking all free kicks and he was still upset that I didn't asign them to him and eventually he said he lost faith in me and want to move to a club where he could trust the manager. I lost him because of this stupid issue. Was wondering if anyone else experienced this?

 

 

 

[themario]

I just finished the second season of Milan and I'm halfway through the third.
It was especially hard in the Champions League (with Borussia in the semi-final and the final with Liverpool - IT WAS PLAYED IN ISTANBUL lol !  ).
Tonali is a beast. A real treasure in the DLP position.

In the third season, Pietro Pellegri put goal after goal. He just can't stop
My goal for this season is to defend the Champions League and try to be undefeated in Serie A.
Some screens:

Edited December 6, 2018 by themario

[Myswikner]

It's kinda sad how terrible Juve is sometimes in this game..... really takes alot of the fun out of playing in the Serie A..

[ParanoidBuddha]

21 minuti fa, Myswikner ha scritto:

It's kinda sad how terrible Juve is sometimes in this game..... really takes alot of the fun out of playing in the Serie A..

At this point I think I'll open a thread. To me doesn't change much because I am using Juventus right now, but isn't realistic that a top constantly between the top 5 in the world gets so bad in just a couple of seasons

edit: that's even the first season, nice  

Edited December 6, 2018 by ParanoidBuddha

[Steffchenko]

I've mentioned this as well just earlier. It was disappointing that Juve was completely mishandled by the AI. So go ahead with that thread. I'm all for it. And I'm a Milan fan...

[RandomGuy.]

Juve won the league first season for me, but have been dreadful since. Third season, 11 games in, and they sit 10th, 11pts behind 1st place.

I'm still enjoying the save though. Lazio and the two Milan sides are incredibly strong so it's a challenge to win the league.

Cutrone has been a huge disappointment, 22 games and 0 goals so far. Will make a decent profit on my £5m if/when I sell him. Signed Mertens and Da Graca in the Summer window so he's fourth choice at the moment.

Decided to see what the top ten transfers in Serie A have been, to see what sort of squad building actually happens, most big signings seem to be loans.

So here's the top ten signings by Italian teams, excluding my signings and pre-arranged ones like Paqueta..

Giovani Lo Celso - PSG to Juve - £39m

Matias Vecino - Quanjian to Napoli - £39m

Jonas Hector - Man City to Milan - £39m

Savic - Atletico to Napoli - £32.5m

Bas Dost - Sporting to Milan - £28m

Gustavo Scarpo - Palmerias to Inter - £23m

Meret - Udinese to Napoli - £20m

Luan - Gremio to Napoli - £18m

Everton - Gremio to Juve - £17.5m

Ivan Rakitic - Barca to Inter - £13.5m

Edited December 6, 2018 by RandomGuy.

[RTHerringbone]

Haven't played for a few days. Beer means that I had made some choices on my last outing, so I've got Saelemaekers coming from Anderlecht for £22m, joining Hamburg's £22m Arp.

To accommodate them I've listed Douglas Costa and Alex Sandro to see what happens. I'll shift Vagnoman to rotate with Sessegnon at left back and Saelemaekers will alternate with Cancelo on the right. It was a toss-up between moving Cancelo and Sandro on. Cancelo has picked up quite a few injuries but he out-performs Sandro regularly, so that made my mind up.

Asensio can start playing on the right, Dybala will drop back to #10 and Arp will rotate with Cutrone.

Club World Championship was a nice win. Beat River Plate without them messing our bus up 

 

Need to work on the Bonucci alternative now. Time to get the scouts earning their money.

[EstebanNero]

5th season for me and Juventus have started to slow in the Scudetto lagging behind Lazio and the Milan clubs. They are in the Champions league quarter final though. 

2022 is a slog of a season btw. Word of warning for those yet to experience the winter World Cup. 

Edited December 6, 2018 by EstebanNero

[CapaJr]

this will be by far one of the most dramatic endings to a season. 

(this is the second season btw) 

[Steffchenko]

11 hours ago, EstebanNero said:

2022 is a slog of a season btw. Word of warning for those yet to experience the winter World Cup. 

meaning? its going to be hell to deal with league games when all your players are away? Personally, I will be playing my youth teams, as all will probably be with their national teams.

[RandomGuy.]

1 hour ago, Steffchenko said:

meaning? its going to be hell to deal with league games when all your players are away? Personally, I will be playing my youth teams, as all will probably be with their national teams.

I think league games get cancelled, so you've to fit a seasons worth of games into a season that's 5 weeks shorter.

I think.

[jonathan44]

24 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

I think league games get cancelled, so you've to fit a seasons worth of games into a season that's 5 weeks shorter.

I think.

I find the Italian league fixture wise to be one of the most easy schedule wise out of the top leagues. My Palermo side play once a week from Jan onwards, end up having to do loads of friendlies to keep the subs fit, I actually would like more games per week!

[CapaJr]

12 hours ago, CapaJr said:

this will be by far one of the most dramatic endings to a season. 

(this is the second season btw) 

second season ended with another unexpected league trophy!

this season we trailed the leading teams for most of the season and some how we got really lucky towards the end. 

as for the next season, we will continue with our homegrown player strategy.. as you can see %80 our players fits that description.. 

hopefully we will win yet another league crown for the 3rd time in a row! 

[Steffchenko]

Just curious how you were able to sign in just 2 years (actually in 1) Barella, Kean, William, Tonali, Corbo, Wendel. Especially on Atalanta's budget and without selling the good prospects. Quite an achievement. You team looks more like an Ajax rather than an Atalanta.

[CapaJr]

13 minutes ago, Steffchenko said:

Just curious how you were able to sign in just 2 years (actually in 1) Barella, Kean, William, Tonali, Corbo, Wendel. Especially on Atalanta's budget and without selling the good prospects. Quite an achievement. You team looks more like an Ajax rather than an Atalanta.

Barella was my biggest signing. paid a lot of money to get him but definitely worth it. 

Wendell was transfer listed just like his countrymen, William and i brought both of these brazilian wingbacks for "funny" amounts thanks to them being listed. 

Tonali and Kean was one of my top priorities as soon as i started the game.. btw, Tremoulinas served his purpose really well for the first season too. 

As for Pellegri and Pellegrini, both were listed on loan.. so i loaned them first with a slightly higher future optional purchase amount. 

Now, the game has sort of a loophole i think.. what i did was.. before using them on the pitch, before their form increased, (this is essential because as soon as the player starts scoring, Monaco says they will use him as a member of first team and its game-over for your negotiation)

i basically offered &re-negotiated the existing terms of my loan with their clubs.. meaning lets say i had an option of 55m or something to buy pellegri for example, but after maybe 8-9 repeated offers (you decrease optional offer to 53, then to 51, then to 48 etc..) at the end, i decreased the optional amount to buy him to 38m, and that was the amount that i just brought him now. I did the same with pellegrini!  

*only when you repeatedly re-negotiate the future fee, it goes down this much... it doesnt work if you immediately ask for a decrease from 55m to 38m 

 

Edited December 7, 2018 by CapaJr

[Steffchenko]

Pellegrini, you can get him pretty cheap after the 1st season. For some reason, Roma don't value him very highly. I made a fluke offer of 6m, thinking it was a good stating amount to negotiate, since he was valued at 4 and wasn't listed for transfer or lown. The immediately accepted it and that was that. Couldn't believe I got him for 6. Probably could have gotten him cheaper, considering they instantly accepted 6.

[CapaJr]

3rd season preparations for our beloved Atalanta is on the way.

To sum up our progress so far, we have won the league back to back for the first 2 seasons, we also have qualified for Quarter Finals in the CL last year. 

This year we have decided to sell our aging central defender Toloi to Juventus- our aim was to get the best fee for him before he started to decrease in value. 

We sold him to Juve for 39m and replaced him with Corbo, who was more of a squad player last season..

we also promoted another 17 years old youngster regen, Di Francesco as another CB alternative. 

But with the likes of Corbo and Di Francesco.. we needed experience too.. so we decided to buy 34 year old Klavan from Cagliari for a season to provide the much needed experience on the pitch and mentoring advantage, although i am planning to use Corbo as a starter, Klavan will be my most trusted backup, i play with 3 CB's so i'll definitely will play him a lot too. 

we we want to keep and even improve the italian dominated core of the team so we brought two young italian regens from Lazio & Roma for a total of 40m.

Edited December 7, 2018 by CapaJr

[RTHerringbone]

So my Bonucci replacement is either going to be Kristoffer Ajer from Celtic for £16.75m, or Dayot Upamecano from Leipzig for £21m.Upamecano is way behind for Anticipation, Positioning and Concentration, but he's a Physical specimen. Ajer is pretty much a midfielder. He lacks the technical defensive skills of Bonucci but Mentally and Physically is comparable. Might actually sign them both as I'll be able to sell Bonucci for more than their combined cost and their combined wages will be about £30k p/w less too….. 

 

EDIT - tempted to pull out of the Upamecano deal as he's a bit crap technically really…..

[RTHerringbone]

Reasonable debut for Arp, came off the bench at half-time.

 

[saosinfan4]

I've had to start a new save completely.. I think my game was bugged. My key players were unhappy when I sold Marrone at the beginning of the second season. 

I just finished my new first 'new' season.

[ParanoidBuddha]

@CapaJr did your scouts suggest you Di Francesco? If not, how did you discover him (like good performances etc)? 

[CapaJr]

15 minutes ago, ParanoidBuddha said:

@CapaJr did your scouts suggest you Di Francesco? If not, how did you discover him (like good performances etc)? 

I did not buy him. he came from the annual youth recruitment. 

so last year it was starter:toloi backup: corbo 

this year it is: starter: corbo back up: veteran klavan & di francesco 

btw, dont just rely on your scouts that much. for some reason they are not really as effective as they should be, instead just roam around all the clubs u18's yourself and then send a scout to those that are interesting.  

let me also give you guys an unrelated hint, after a season ends, i recommend you to spend around 2 real days just scouting profile pages of different players, training, checking the set piece instructions again, planning your u18's for next season, basically carefully plan for your new season.. dont rush..  

Edited December 8, 2018 by CapaJr

[ParanoidBuddha]

1 minuto fa, CapaJr ha scritto:

I did not buy him. he came from the annual youth recruitment. 

so last year it was starter:toloi backup: corbo 

this year it is: starter: corbo back up: veteran klavan & di francesco 

btw, dont just rely on your scouts that much. for some reason they are not really as effective as they should be, instead just roam around all the clubs u18's yourself and then send a scout to those that are interesting.  

Oh I believed he was one of the 2 bought from Lazio and Roma.
You are right but to keep my career more realistic and hard I let my director the control of scouts and I just buy players between the ones suggested from them. I am careful to follow them for longtime before though. For example I didn't buy Tonali or Pellegri because my scouts still didn't tell me anything about them. Can be though just that they don't have an high PA in my career or that they don't want to move in this moment 

[RandomGuy.]

Summer 2020 signings - Roma

Outgoings were a lot of loans. Permanents of note out were Gonalons to Sassuolo for £6.5, Coric to West Brom for £7m and Karsdorp to Atalanta for £11.25m.

Gonalons wasn't needed at all so was happy to let him go. Coric wasn't going to make it with me, and I had to decide between him and Zaniolo in the system I use, and theres only one winner there. I get 30% of his next fee which is handy if he does fulfil his potential in England, he's played 18 games for them so far with 0 goals or assists, though. Karsdorp was wanting first team football, but hes easily behind Florenzi, Ive got young David Bouah looking good, and a young newgen with 5* potential, so Santon will back up Florenzi until they break through.

Incomings

David Raya - £6.25m from Blackburn

Exactly my type of goalkeeper. Will rotate with Cragno until I can find a World Class keeper to make the shirt their own.

Spoiler

Sandro Tonali - £9.25m from Brescia

Been wanting him for a long time in this save now. Six months previous was quoted around £70m for him, but relegation forced their hand. He'll rotate with N'Zonzi for weaker games, but will hopefully become first choice over the course of the season.

Spoiler

Sergi Gomez - £8m from Dortmund

Hadn't planned on signing another playmaker. Periera was superb last season, and I'd planned to keep Zaniolo and Coric to compete. Couldn't turn Gomez down for that price though, could become the best on the planet.

Spoiler

Dries Mertens - Free from Napoli

Had issues with consistent goals from up front and the flanks. Mertens has been consistent for Napoli and is worth a throw of the dice. Will provide cover in multiple roles.

Spoiler

Cosimo Marco De Graco - £4m, rising to £9.5m, from Palermo

Maybe overpaid, almost missing out on Tonali as I'd held off maybe made me rush this. Tore Serie B apart last season and offers something different up front. The moment he breaks through will signal the end of Cutrones time at the club.

Spoiler

 

[EstebanNero]

What a fantastic transfer window! How are you setting up tactically? I'd be tempted to rule possession with Tonali and Gomez. 

[RandomGuy.]

47 minutes ago, EstebanNero said:

What a fantastic transfer window! How are you setting up tactically? I'd be tempted to rule possession with Tonali and Gomez. 

 

On 02/12/2018 at 18:45, RandomGuy. said:

Like this, hard job trying to give everyone game time though. I love had 2 players for every position, and I've got that just now in midfield and attack.

N'Zonzi/Tonali

Pellegrini/Crisante/Pereira/Sergi Gomez

Under/Kluivert/El Shaaraway/Berardi

Maxi Gomez/Mertens/Cutrone/De Graco 

Cutrone just got sent off for me there, so that's his time finished. 25 games, 0 goals, 2 straight red cards.

Shame.

[jaaaws]

Any here who has Eddy Salcedo in the team? Pellegri seems out of reach and I've looked into signing Salcedo who is labeled as a wonderkid.

I am currently with AS Roma after they finished only 10th in the last season after spending three succesful seasons with Brescia. I started with Brescia in the Serie B, won it the first seasons and made two back to back finishes in the CL spots in the Serie A. As you may guess Tonali was the backbone of my team (together with Dimitri Bisoli who played really well and contributed quite some goals).

Now at Roma I restructured the squad and sold off the high earners (Dzeko, N'Zonzi, and some signed by the previous manager like Rolan, Cuadrado) and brought in some homegrown players. I always have a strong bias or that. I signed Vicari and Berella, Stuararo on a free and finally broke the bank for Tonali. Tonali, Cristante and Pellegrini will perform a terrific central midfield.

Still looking for a striker so back to the question: How is Eddy Salcedo?

[RTHerringbone]

Saelemaekers and Arp have made flying starts - straight into the team of the month. Arp (9 goals in 7 starts) is actually beginning to highlight the relative weakness of Cutrone (12 in 21). Might start looking for an upgrade…..

[EstebanNero]

2 hours ago, jaaaws said:

Still looking for a striker so back to the question: How is Eddy Salcedo?

Made a big money move to Inter on my save. Looks a pure athlete, technically not great. 

Tsadjout, Gori and Capone are worth a look. 

[GunmaN1905]

15 minutes ago, EstebanNero said:

Made a big money move to Inter on my save. Looks a pure athlete, technically not great. 

Tsadjout, Gori and Capone are worth a look. 

He's currently at Inter primavera irl, has something like 15mil€ option to buy.

Doesn't look like anything special to me on FM, at least not on my save. Average player, mid-table Serie A winger.

[jaaaws]

Salcedo is labeled as a wonderkid and only 19. I agree that his technical stats need improvement but overall he currently looks better than Capone on my save. I will check out the others. Might take a look at Andrea Pinamonti as well.

 

@EstebanNero

You mean Gabriele Gori? Doesn't look anything special on my save.

Edited December 9, 2018 by jaaaws

[EstebanNero]

How about Marco Da Graco?

2023 European Cup final is at Old Trafford against Juventus. Massive. 

[Gungner]

I'm really tempted to start a save with Inter, as I do every year. This year, it seems like there's really no need to do any buying. They have a really strong squad from the start. Only thing I can think of, is perhaps a back-up keeper and maybe some youngsters for the future. Otherwise the squad seems solid. 

[aandjunaidi]

Any experience with palermo young ster CB so-called Angilery?

On my INTER he plays for venezia and his ability look very good for his age. Best youngster on serie B almost every week.

[aandjunaidi]

1 hour ago, Gungner said:

I'm really tempted to start a save with Inter, as I do every year. This year, it seems like there's really no need to do any buying. They have a really strong squad from the start. Only thing I can think of, is perhaps a back-up keeper and maybe some youngsters for the future. Otherwise the squad seems solid. 

No need to buy, maybe sign some players on loan for the squad depth.

On my inter save, a lot of bargain player. Alberto moreno,darmian,smalling,eggestein leaving for free. At the start of 2nd season lindelof,bailly,casemiro to name a few got transfer-listed.

My best signing probably mickael cuisance from B.Munchengladbach only for 4,3mill ( transfer by request ) because he wants first team football.

[dothestrand]

4 hours ago, aandjunaidi said:

Any experience with palermo young ster CB so-called Angilery?

On my INTER he plays for venezia and his ability look very good for his age. Best youngster on serie B almost every week.

He was excellent in 18. I don't think you can go far wrong with any of the Palermo youngsters. That's why they're always a great team to manage.

[aandjunaidi]

I noticed him when he was best u19 players in serie B ahead of my youngster davide merola

[EstebanNero]

5 hours ago, aandjunaidi said:

Any experience with palermo young ster CB so-called Angilery?

On my INTER he plays for venezia and his ability look very good for his age. Best youngster on serie B almost every week.

I've Just signed Angileri in the 5th season for £27m. Very comfortable on the ball and strong one on one. 

[aandjunaidi]

5 hours ago, EstebanNero said:

I've Just signed Angileri in the 5th season for £27m. Very comfortable on the ball and strong one on one. 

I'm still halfway through the 2nd season, he's on loan with venezia. 18 y/o but his CA already very good

[aandjunaidi]

Maybe this OOT, but i'm a little bit dissapointed about the researcher.

In this case milan skriniar playing consistently and enjoying big games IRL but his important match just only 8. No improvement since fm17

[ParanoidBuddha]

3 minuti fa, aandjunaidi ha scritto:

skriniar playing consistently and enjoying big games IRL

Imo at least atm he's not a ''big game player''

[aandjunaidi]

6 minutes ago, ParanoidBuddha said:

Imo at least atm he's not a ''big game player''

Considering he's only played in italy and not against european big teams , you probably right. 

[ParanoidBuddha]

In questo momento, aandjunaidi ha scritto:

Considering he's only played in italy and not against european big teams , you probably right. 

Well, he played against Juve, Barça and Tottenham and to me doesn't seem he performed particulary well