[FM20][FM21][FM22][FM23] Calcio

[john1]

2 hours ago, sedge11 said:

Going to take any players from Atalanta with you?

Good question! Probably no, If I had to take one player, it would be Isak!  but I have taken Cristiano Ronaldo and Mark Chamberlain with me to Juve

[john1]

 
Well, that didn't last long  contradicted myself there   Felt I had to get Pedretti from my old club at whatever cost  my DOF signed Charles de Ketelaere, from Lyon for 38.5M to boost our options in midfielders. 

[john1]

 
Will be interesting if this comes to reality  When I took over, the chairman was looking to sell the club.

[Weston]

2 hours ago, sedge11 said:

Going to take any players from Atalanta with you?

I don't think I've ever loved players more than the two I took with me from Bari > Milan in FM19. Felt like we'd been through everything together haha

[john1]

Just now, Weston said:

I don't think I've ever loved players more than the two I took with me from Bari > Milan in FM19. Felt like we'd been through everything together haha

Haha, my thought exactly  Would love to be reunited with Isak.

[Weston]

8 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Guys I might take up a role in Italy in my current save, can someone shed light on how the non EU stuff works? I read through the rules in the game and was thoroughly confused 

If you have 3 or more non-EU players on your team you can only sign 1 from abroad unless you sell 1 and then you can replace him for a total of 2.

Non-EU players signed from domestic clubs do not count towards your limit, so each season sign 1 non-EU player from another Italian club who is cheap but good enough to resell so next season you can sell him abroad to fill your 2nd slot.

Every season make sure you sign your 2 so you always have people in - I keep good, young, cheap South Americans on my shortlist so if January rolls around and I've still got a slot open I'll sign 1 from that list to send on loan to fill the quota so it's not wasted. If he's not good enough to be useful he can be sold later to free up that 2nd spot in another season.

Besides all that, it's good to sort/scout/search for players from other continents with secondary EU nationalities. Lot's of Italians in South America, for example, and those can be great to sign.

Edited August 9, 2020 by Weston

[karanhsingh]

28 minutes ago, Weston said:

If you have 3 or more non-EU players on your team you can only sign 1 from abroad unless you sell 1 and then you can replace him for a total of 2.

Non-EU players signed from domestic clubs do not count towards your limit, so each season sign 1 non-EU player from another Italian club who is cheap but good enough to resell so next season you can sell him abroad to fill your 2nd slot.

Every season make sure you sign your 2 so you always have people in - I keep good, young, cheap South Americans on my shortlist so if January rolls around and I've still got a slot open I'll sign 1 from that list to send on loan to fill the quota so it's not wasted. If he's not good enough to be useful he can be sold later to free up that 2nd spot in another season.

Besides all that, it's good to sort/scout/search for players from other continents with secondary EU nationalities. Lot's of Italians in South America, for example, and those can be great to sign.

So if I'm getting this correct there is no quota as such and you can keep increasing your non EU contingent by one player each season? 

Thanks for all the clarification. 

[john1]

3 hours ago, john1 said:

 
Will be interesting if this comes to reality  When I took over, the chairman was looking to sell the club.

 

Damnnnnnn.

[Weston]

3 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

So if I'm getting this correct there is no quota as such and you can keep increasing your non EU contingent by one player each season? 

Thanks for all the clarification. 

Regardless of how many non-EU players you have each season you will be allowed to sign at least 1, correct, but he will have to meet the international call-up criteria, etc.

[Weston]

On 08/08/2020 at 11:45, john1 said:

 
Brilliant to see we broke into top 10  

 

On 08/08/2020 at 12:24, Weston said:

I'm #15 now after losing the CL final, which is interesting.

So if the CL group stages are 32 clubs, and 32/4=8, and 15 is between 9-16, then I guess this means I've barely scraped into the 2nd seed, right? Maybe I finally won't get drawn with 2 world class clubs for once...

Was still seeded 3rd despite being the #15 club in the world and finishing #2 in both last year's CL and last year's Serie A! Oh well, I guess I just don't understand how this is calculated, then. Got handed another tough group.

[Weston]

Pretty sure this is the biggest transfer I've ever made in FM ever - it's certainly the biggest in the league this season!

Juve were the biggest spenders in the world last season, and I finished 2 pts behind them despite barely spending at all. Well, this season we're gonna splash the cash and finish 1st if it kills us. Keeping hold of my own players was an equally big achievement.

[Mr_Demus]

How are Parma's finances looking after season 1? All those incoming transfers look to take their toll

[XuluBak]

2022-23 End-of-Season Review

Well, the World Cup playing out in the middle certainly made for an interesting season. Before the break, we were a defensive juggernaut, and occasionally we'd get the ball to Kean so he could bury one in the back of the net. Afterward, we were almost certainly the most entertaining side for a neutral. Despite finishing below 50% possession, and being completely ineffective from free kicks (decent on corners), we'd finish 2nd in goals, and first in chances created and conversion rate. Kean ran away with the golden boot, scoring 26, six clear of his nearest competition. Rafael Leão, our biggest winter acquisition, would tally 10 in 19 (most sub) appearances. Paulinho and Maldini were also fantastic, when healthy; unfortunately, that was nowhere near often enough, especially down the stretch. Chaves would also, somewhat surprisingly, win Serie A Goalkeeper of the year.  Emerson (7.25M) and Dahoud (5.5M) were bargain game changers. 

Spoiler

It also made for some very interesting squad management decisions as injuries, fatigue, and match congestion took their toll down the home stretch as we were somewhat unexpectedly competing on two fronts. Milan did us a huge favor by knocking us out of Coppa Italia in the quarterfinals, before comfortably capturing their second consecutive Scudetto. Parma would eventually beat Samdoria, poaching a European spot from (much) higher up the table. Leaving us, Juve, Inter, Napoli, Fiorentina, and Lazio to fight it out for Europe. After getting by Marseille on away goals and coming back in the home leg against Hertha to reach the Europa Conference League final, I was dreading having to decide between lifting our clubs first "major" trophy or securing Champions League qualification. We were as high as second, but never expected to hold off Inter or Juve, and we wouldn't; fortunately, Napoli collapsed, and the holes Fiorentina and Lazio dug themselves were too deep. So our 3-1 victory against Juve in matchday 37 was enough to clinch 4th, before (unexpectedly) sending Sassuolo* back to Serie B. 

Results

Spoiler

 

Final Table

Spoiler

* Us beating Sassuolo was no surprise. We destroyed them 8-1 earlier in the season. But they only needed a point, or any of Cagliari, Udinese, or Salernitana to drop points against Lazio, Sampdoria, or Inter, respectively. None of those things happened. So they went from 15th to relegated in 90 minutes. (only collecting 4 points in all of April/May didn't help)

Europa Conference League

As previously mentioned, we got passed Marseille on away goals and came back in the home leg against Hertha Berlin to ensure a final against Rangers in Celtic Park...

Spoiler

 

Looking ahead

I'm hoping UCL qualification will allow us to keep our core together, especially at the back, where we've received a lot of interest throughout the season. I think we've just about reached the point where our only room for improvement is by upgrading and replacing the remaining players I inherited. Ciano was still hugely productive (9/16), but he's entering the final year of his contract, and don't anticipate his legs holding up much beyond that. Left wingback remains our greatest weakness and to finally shift into my desired 3313, Dahoud needs a more impactful presence behind him. We need to upgrade our depth, but hoping some of our youngsters can start making their way into the first team to fill those spots.

Edited August 10, 2020 by XuluBak

[john1]

18 hours ago, Weston said:

Pretty sure this is the biggest transfer I've ever made in FM ever - it's certainly the biggest in the league this season!

Juve were the biggest spenders in the world last season, and I finished 2 pts behind them despite barely spending at all. Well, this season we're gonna splash the cash and finish 1st if it kills us. Keeping hold of my own players was an equally big achievement.

Looks very decent but not sure if he does worth forking out 123M euros?? 

[john1]

6 hours ago, XuluBak said:

2022-23 End-of-Season Review

Well, the World Cup playing out in the middle certainly made for an interesting season. Before the break, we were a defensive juggernaut, and occasionally we'd get the ball to Kean so he could bury one in the back of the net. Afterward, we were almost certainly the most entertaining side for a neutral. Despite finishing below 50% possession, and being completely ineffective from free kicks (decent on corners), we'd finish 2nd in goals, and first in chances created and conversion rate. Kean ran away with the golden boot, scoring 26, six clear of his nearest competition. Rafael Leão, our biggest winter acquisition, would tally 10 in 19 (most sub) appearances. Paulinho and Maldini were also fantastic, when healthy; unfortunately, that was nowhere near often enough, especially down the stretch. Chaves would also, somewhat surprisingly, win Serie A Goalkeeper of the year.  Emerson (7.25M) and Dahoud (5.5M) were bargain game changers. 

  Hide contents

It also made for some very interesting squad management decisions as injuries, fatigue, and match congestion took their toll down the home stretch as we were somewhat unexpectedly competing on two fronts. Milan did us a huge favor by knocking us out of Coppa Italia in the quarterfinals, before comfortably capturing their second consecutive Scudetto. Parma would eventually beat Samdoria, poaching a European spot from (much) higher up the table. Leaving us, Juve, Inter, Napoli, Fiorentina, and Lazio to fight it out for Europe. After getting by Marseille on away goals and coming back in the home leg against Hertha to reach the Europa Conference League final, I was dreading having to decide between lifting our clubs first "major" trophy or securing Champions League qualification. We were as high as second, but never expected to hold off Inter or Juve, and we wouldn't; fortunately, Napoli collapsed, and the holes Fiorentina and Lazio dug themselves were too deep. So our 3-1 victory against Juve in matchday 37 was enough to clinch 4th, before (unexpectedly) sending Sassuolo* back to Serie B. 

Results

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Final Table

  Reveal hidden contents

* Us beating Sassuolo was no surprise. We destroyed them 8-1 earlier in the season. But they only needed a point, or any of Cagliari, Udinese, or Salernitana to drop points against Lazio, Sampdoria, or Inter, respectively. None of those things happened. So they went from 15th to relegated in 90 minutes. (only collecting 4 points in all of April/May didn't help)

Europa Conference League

As previously mentioned, we got passed Marseille on away goals and came back in the home leg against Hertha Berlin to ensure a final against Rangers in Celtic Park...

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Looking ahead

I'm hoping UCL qualification will allow us to keep our core together, especially at the back, where we've received a lot of interest throughout the season. I think we've just about reached the point where our only room for improvement is by upgrading and replacing the remaining players I inherited. Ciano was still hugely productive (9/16), but he's entering the final year of his contract, and don't anticipate his legs holding up much beyond that. Left wingback remains our greatest weakness and to finally shift into my desired 3313, Dahoud needs a more impactful presence behind him. We need to upgrade our depth, but hoping some of our youngsters can start making their way into the first team to fill those spots.

Fantastic season Not far off from challenging for the title  Any screenshots of your decent youngsters?

[karanhsingh]

On 10/08/2020 at 03:22, Weston said:

Regardless of how many non-EU players you have each season you will be allowed to sign at least 1, correct, but he will have to meet the international call-up criteria, etc.

I have another question if you don't mind. If I sell a non EU player outside of Italy in the Jan window does that free up an additional slot to make a signing?

EDIT - nevermind, I understand the answer to this is NO.

Edited August 11, 2020 by karanhsingh

[Weston]

6 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

I have another question if you don't mind. If I sell a non EU player outside of Italy in the Jan window does that free up an additional slot to make a signing?

EDIT - nevermind, I understand the answer to this is NO.

No, that's still in the season so it still counts.

[Weston]

19 hours ago, john1 said:

Looks very decent but not sure if he does worth forking out 123M euros?? 

Transfer fees always get pretty inflated, so who knows. I had the money because I invest in transfers to raise a profit, so even though the board gave me very little money I raised it myself.

Ultimately I've reached the stage where the only players that will really improve my team are either massively expensive, already at or past their peak, or both. If I have the choice of spending 100m on someone who's 29 or 123m on someone who's 24 I'm picking the latter every time.

I built this entire squad on cheap transfers, so when I have to splurge I can, I guess. He's scored or assisted in every match he's played thus far, and supposedly his superstar status is selling shirts!

[Weston]

Off to a perfect start! This season, 2028/29, has to be my year, I can feel it. The marquee signing should push us over the edge if nothing else.

That being said, we're not a one man team. Until midway through the last league match our "top scorer" was a NINE-way tie between players on 2 goals.

[karanhsingh]

Hey fellas! Calcio has always been a huge passion of mine and I had an epic save with Genoa on FM19. Somehow on this version I haven't found myself in Italy yet. However that is about to change 

Been reading up on some of your saves and there are some truly outstanding stories in here! Was great fun catching up.

So in my current save with the game being in December 2023, an opportunity came up to manage a historic Italian club that finds themselves in huge trouble as you can see below. And I couldn't resist, especially the challenge of taking on their cross-town rivals who have won every Serie A title since the save began (and indeed since long before as well).

ZERO wins in the first 13 games, but somehow only 3 points from safety. About the club:

And the club vision - couple of new ones in there for me.

And finally the fixtures. Nice easy start - home against Juve and away to table toppers Inter 

 

[karanhsingh]

Here is the squad that I have taken over - as expected weak in several areas and quite unbalanced. There's not a single natural RB in sight 

Key players are Farinez the GK, Cistana in defense, Gagliardini & Verdi in midfield and young Brignani up front. Here he is -

And we have another young new-gen who looks quite promising and is wanted by Lazio & Roma.

We somehow got off to the perfect start - literally the only way we stood a chance against Juve is if they shot themselves in the foot, and Verratti did that by getting sent off mid-way through the first half.

This was followed by a regulation 0-1 loss to Inter which leaves us 18th in the table going into the winter break, 1 point off Pescara.

[karanhsingh]

Guys there were a couple of young Italian wonderkids at Palermo on the last FM (or maybe the previous one) - one was Simone Lo Faso and I cannot remember the other guy's name he was also a winger I think, does it ring any bells?

[Stackalee]

30 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Guys there were a couple of young Italian wonderkids at Palermo on the last FM (or maybe the previous one) - one was Simone Lo Faso and I cannot remember the other guy's name he was also a winger I think, does it ring any bells?

Maybe Kevin Cannavò or Antonino Gallo?

[XuluBak]

On 10/08/2020 at 14:16, john1 said:

Fantastic season Not far off from challenging for the title  Any screenshots of your decent youngsters?

Here are the three with the most potential. Still a ways off meaningful contributions in the first team. We have some lesser prospects, that are further along in their development with less potential that I'll likely end up offloading. One nice thing about Serie A is the large bench allows me to train these three with the first team, put them on the bench, and ease them into the first team with "meaningless" minutes while making them available for U20. 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

[XuluBak]

Not a youngster, but one of our newest additions:

Spoiler

Perfect cover for Emerson and allows us to move Yedlin on for a nice profit. 

[karanhsingh]

On 11/08/2020 at 23:27, Stackalee said:

Maybe Kevin Cannavò or Antonino Gallo?

Found him it was D'Amico. Doesn't look too good anymore though 

[Stackalee]

50 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Found him it was D'Amico. Doesn't look too good anymore though 

Ah I did wonder, would have been a few editions ago that!

Oh no I see Inter was a loan for him. He was a cracking signing then though, shame.

Edited August 12, 2020 by Stackalee

[karanhsingh]

56 minutes ago, Stackalee said:

Ah I did wonder, would have been a few editions ago that!

Oh no I see Inter was a loan for him. He was a cracking signing then though, shame.

Yes I remember a fiorentina save where I picked up both him and Lo Faso from Palermo and had the wings sorted for years 

[sedge11]

So we have reached February of season 5.

We had a relatively quiet transfer window, which exploded into life at the end.

 

Almada was sold for 80 mil to City, which was double what he was worth. His attributes were really good but just wasn't doing it for me. We then had a scramble around on deadline day to replace him. I had numerous offers for players, but contracts were an issue with players wanting more than I was willing to pay. The I spotted Van de Beek was unhappy so jumped on the deal.

This is how the table looks.

Roma who haven't really done anything during the save have been excellent and hold a narrow lead. Ronaldo who is 38 and retiring at the end of the season is having another incredible season.

We have also got an Italian cup semi final against Napoli, and a champs league 1st knockout against Atletico in a rematch of the final from season 3 where we cam out on top.

[kevaggel]

I 'd like to share the formation and starting 11 of my Hellas Verona

https://gyazo.com/6ce9b6f818a3043fec7525e341a09f56
Lots of Italians, i think 8.5 out of 11 (Kumbulla is half italian) is unique for modern football

[Weston]

2 minutes ago, kevaggel said:

I 'd like to share the formation and starting 11 of my Hellas Verona

https://gyazo.com/6ce9b6f818a3043fec7525e341a09f56
Lots of Italians, i think 8.5 out of 11 (Kumbulla is half italian) is unique for modern football

Glad to see my boy Gaetano. Almost surprised you don't have Dimarco too like the rest of us! I feel like we're developing a sort of "greatest hits" of young Italian players that seem to get favored across the board.

[kevaggel]

I think i had Dimarco on loan during the first season but i wasn't happy with his performances (too many mistakes) so i am using Tripaldelli and Pezzella as his backup. 

[karanhsingh]

4 minutes ago, kevaggel said:

I 'd like to share the formation and starting 11 of my Hellas Verona

https://gyazo.com/6ce9b6f818a3043fec7525e341a09f56
Lots of Italians, i think 8.5 out of 11 (Kumbulla is half italian) is unique for modern football

Nice! I love this club ever since I read the Tim Parks book "A season with Verona".

How are you getting on?

[kevaggel]

Quite happy so far in the league, managed to win SerieA in the fourth season plus Europa League and Super Cup in 2022.

[XuluBak]

Coincidentally, Dimarco was one of three free transfers we signed this summer (Maupey and Guehi). The other two offer depth, hoping he can finally provide quality at LWB though. 

Thought we'd land De Paul for a 8M bargain signing, but he decided to take less money to go to Spain and play Europa league instead of Champions League. *shrug*

By far our biggest acquisition has been Mason Mount, on a 1-year loan with an obligation to buy for 23M. Was planning to bring in a DM instead, but the options were fairly underwhelming, and I think I can play Dahoud deeper. My 4th-choice CB can also push forward and offer a more defensive DM option. 

 

[karanhsingh]

3 hours ago, kevaggel said:

Quite happy so far in the league, managed to win SerieA in the fourth season plus Europa League and Super Cup in 2022.

Great stuff! Can you post your full tactical setup? Looks very interesting.

[kevaggel]

21 hours ago, Weston said:

Glad to see my boy Gaetano. 

Here is Gaetano, i had him 2 seasons on loan before signing him

Now i am teaching him the trait to "Try tricks".

17 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Great stuff! Can you post your full tactical setup? Looks very interesting.

I don't know if it is the right section for tactics but my philosophy is to play counterattacking football, i dont want to press high but i want to lure opposition to come out of their comfort zone and then try to steal the ball and counter with long ball towards the target man. In order to achieve fast transitions i am not using any playmaker roles but midfielders who will roam and run forward with and without the ball. I am using opposition instructions to force tight marking for axis players (DM/MC/AMC/STC) this will force my 4 midfielders to stay close and mark in that area aggressively.

Having defenders very good in the air is very important for this kind of approach since i am inviting opposition to cross the ball. I am also rating set pieces very high since i have at least 4 tall and strong players (3 defenders & target man), if i am finding hard to score a goal i am activating the "play for set-pieces" team instructions and it works quite many times. Here is a typical game against a good team (Europa League final):

I am quite happy with low possession % ( i don't want it to go higher than 45%) but i can still achieve a good number of shots on target.

And this is something that i am using for 10-15 minutes if i really want to create chances and have nothing to lose or against some low level italian team who likes to sit and defend very deep.

The thing that changed how the defenders move the ball around was the transformation of a typical MC to a Libero and that player was Marco Carraro, i was thinking to make him a half back but the libero role worked much better for my counter-attacking approach. Here is that player:

Now Juventus wants him...

Feel free to ask anything about tactics and players in my save.

[dido53]

7 dakika önce, kevaggel said:

Here is Gaetano, i had him 2 seasons on loan before signing him

Now i am teaching him the trait to "Try tricks".

I don't know if it is the right section for tactics but my philosophy is to play counterattacking football, i dont want to press high but i want to lure opposition to come out of their comfort zone and then try to steal the ball and counter with long ball towards the target man. In order to achieve fast transitions i am not using any playmaker roles but midfielders who will roam and run forward with and without the ball. I am using opposition instructions to force tight marking for axis players (DM/MC/AMC/STC) this will force my 4 midfielders to stay close and mark in that area aggressively.

Having defenders very good in the air is very important for this kind of approach since i am inviting opposition to cross the ball. I am also rating set pieces very high since i have at least 4 tall and strong players (3 defenders & target man), if i am finding hard to score a goal i am activating the "play for set-pieces" team instructions and it works quite many times. Here is a typical game against a good team (Europa League final):

I am quite happy with low possession % ( i don't want it to go higher than 45%) but i can still achieve a good number of shots on target.

And this is something that i am using for 10-15 minutes if i really want to create chances and have nothing to lose or against some low level italian team who likes to sit and defend very deep.

The thing that changed how the defenders move the ball around was the transformation of a typical MC to a Libero and that player was Marco Carraro, i was thinking to make him a half back but the libero role worked much better for my counter-attacking approach. Here is that player:

Now Juventus wants him...

Feel free to ask anything about tactics and players in my save.

hello ı really want to start a save in italy and ı dont know why verona looks fun to me they use different tactics maybe thats why.Can you share the whole tactic and roles?ı remeber they dont have good wingers so play through middle but u are the expert achıeved great as i see

[kevaggel]

23 minutes ago, dido53 said:

hello ı really want to start a save in italy and ı dont know why verona looks fun to me they use different tactics maybe thats why.Can you share the whole tactic and roles?ı remeber they dont have good wingers so play through middle but u are the expert achıeved great as i see

This is the basic tactic of the 5th season:

Just keep in mind that i tweak the defensive line depth depending on the opposition and i have my wingbacks to cross early and BBMs to tackle harder. Sometimes i like to have the left SS (Milico in the picture) to man mark opposition right back in order to create a different attacking transition since the shadow will behave like a more aggressive inverted winger. 

The target man is very important for this tactic since everyone is looking for him and he is also creating for others due to lack of playmakers, this tall guy used to be my primary target for TM but he went to Chelsea

Edited August 14, 2020 by kevaggel

[dido53]

5 dakika önce, kevaggel said:

This is the basic tactic of the 5th season:

Just keep in mind that i tweak the defensive line depth depending on the opposition and i have my wingbacks to cross early and BBMs to tackle harder. Sometimes i like to have the left SS (Milico in the picture) to man mark opposition right back in order to create a different attacking transition since the shadow will behave like a more aggressive inverted winger. 

The target man is very important for this tactic since everyone is looking for him and he is also creating for others due to lack of playmakers, this tall guy used to be my primary target for TM but he went to Chelsea

thanks a lot mate.ı could try ss at left to mark right and ss right to mark left :)ı am a galatasaray fan ı know vedat murıqı he started pretty good ın real lıfe then went down but ıf target man is important ı need to fınd someone

[karanhsingh]

@kevaggel very interesting tactics and definitely something different from what you normally see. Keep up the good work!

[kevaggel]

1 hour ago, dido53 said:

thanks a lot mate.ı could try ss at left to mark right and ss right to mark left 

Don't do it with both shadow strikers you need at least one to be close to your target man otherwise he will get isolated and have nobody to link  

edit: I don't know if you guys know this young italian defender but he looks promising and decent already, i bought him from Cittadella.. he may become my next libero.

Edited August 14, 2020 by kevaggel

[dido53]

3 dakika önce, kevaggel said:

Don't do it with both shadow strikers you need at least one to be close to your target man otherwise he will get isolated and have nobody to link  

oo ok mate :)how is the academy anybody came up useful after youth recruıtment day?

[kevaggel]

4 hours ago, dido53 said:

how is the academy anybody came up useful after youth recruıtment day?

Quite poor, no player with higher of 3 stars has come out of the academy, hoping now that i am investing to youth coaches with higher reputation to get some better prospects. I had to pay 10M euros to Chievo Verona to a 16 years old midfielder who looks amazing so this is the closest i have to a homegrown so far.

And this is the article that inspired me to make the save and eventually form the current philosophy:
https://statsbomb.com/2020/02/the-best-serie-a-team-that-you-probably-dont-know-are-hellas-verona/

Almost to forget it... the team's DNA are these attributes: Bravery, work rate, teamwork, decisions.

[dido53]

1 saat önce, kevaggel said:

Quite poor, no player with higher of 3 stars has come out of the academy, hoping now that i am investing to youth coaches with higher reputation to get some better prospects. I had to pay 10M euros to Chievo Verona to a 16 years old midfielder who looks amazing so this is the closest i have to a homegrown so far.

And this is the article that inspired me to make the save and eventually form the current philosophy:
https://statsbomb.com/2020/02/the-best-serie-a-team-that-you-probably-dont-know-are-hellas-verona/

Almost to forget it... the team's DNA are these attributes: Bravery, work rate, teamwork, decisions.

thanks a lot mate

[XuluBak]

Our first UCL Draw: PSG, Arsenal, Porto

Europa League here we come! (I hope) 

 

[sedge11]

Season 5 is now finished. 

We had a really tough jan-march. This were just our league results.

Losing 4 in 8 games and playing poor in the games we did win, yet somehow thanks to Roma and Inter dropping points as well, we stayed just 4 points off the the top.

I came back to this save and this Lazio team, as it felt a special team I could win so much more with, it looked like we were going to end trophyless, but the team proved my decision to be the right one, as our form for the rest of the season was relentless. 

Finishing the season with 12 wins in a row and not conceding in the last 8 games. Roma and Inter just couldn't deal with the pressure we were applying and we romped home to our 3rd league title in a row.

We also won the Italian cup for the 2nd time in the save.

What was interesting and something I had never seen before, was that while we were playing in the Italian cup final, Roma had a league game which they lost, and which won us the title. So we won the league title at exactly the same time we won the Italian cup.

Unfortunately we lost in the champs league quarter finals to PSG.

This was the overall player stats for the season.

Zanre cemented his place as our main striker, and is developing very well. Minardi my regen from our very 1st youth intake also had a great season. Davies and Tonali continuing to do amazing.

So onwards to season 6, I love this team but I feel it needs a slight refresh. Immobile at 34 is going to be leaving, he has been excellent and I'm glad I had finally got to use him, Bailly will also be released, I have a young regen cb called Coletta to take his place.

Also I am probably going to sell SMS, he's been good over the 5 seasons but at 29 and with 1 year left on his deal I have decided to cash in, Gabriel will also be one to go. There is also heavy interest in Tonali and Gouiri but I will hopefully be able to keep them.

 

[Ewan0404]

On 14/08/2020 at 13:50, kevaggel said:

Here is Gaetano, i had him 2 seasons on loan before signing him

Now i am teaching him the trait to "Try tricks".

I don't know if it is the right section for tactics but my philosophy is to play counterattacking football, i dont want to press high but i want to lure opposition to come out of their comfort zone and then try to steal the ball and counter with long ball towards the target man. In order to achieve fast transitions i am not using any playmaker roles but midfielders who will roam and run forward with and without the ball. I am using opposition instructions to force tight marking for axis players (DM/MC/AMC/STC) this will force my 4 midfielders to stay close and mark in that area aggressively.

Having defenders very good in the air is very important for this kind of approach since i am inviting opposition to cross the ball. I am also rating set pieces very high since i have at least 4 tall and strong players (3 defenders & target man), if i am finding hard to score a goal i am activating the "play for set-pieces" team instructions and it works quite many times. Here is a typical game against a good team (Europa League final):

I am quite happy with low possession % ( i don't want it to go higher than 45%) but i can still achieve a good number of shots on target.

And this is something that i am using for 10-15 minutes if i really want to create chances and have nothing to lose or against some low level italian team who likes to sit and defend very deep.

The thing that changed how the defenders move the ball around was the transformation of a typical MC to a Libero and that player was Marco Carraro, i was thinking to make him a half back but the libero role worked much better for my counter-attacking approach. Here is that player:

Now Juventus wants him...

Feel free to ask anything about tactics and players in my save.

Doing very good with Verona. I'm looking at a new save and they are one I'm thinking about. 

Also what facepacks are you using? 

[kevaggel]

This is the facepack

https://fierrofacepacks.blogspot.com/2019/08/project-2020.html?m=1

[Swills417]

I've just taken over a Juventus team in 2026, who haven't won Serie A since the first season of the save. Since then they've finished 2nd, 3rd (x3) and 4th (x2) - winning only the Club World Cup in this period. I jumped at the chance to rebuild. 

Having a look through the squad, I think it's obvious what the issue is. The team is riddled with players in the twilight of their careers. There's a lot of players who would be considered world class in 2020. 6 years later, some are still considered solid players, while some are very might due their coaching badges and testimonials. We have in the squad:

*I signed Acerbi, Immobile and Florenzi in 2026. Why not double down for fun?

Other few metrics or statistics that jump out to me:

• Oldest average age of squad in Serie A (28.48)
• Highest average number of international appearances (43)
• Highest average annual salary (£7,656,000 p/a)
• Highest average natural fitness (15.37) 
• 15th in Acceleration, 13th in Pace and 16th in Stamina. 

However, it's more all bad news. We have a first team that has outstanding mental attributes. Just look at the green bars below:

Having seen this and deliberated over an approach to take. A lot of the players might even have a few more years left in them at the highest level. Their solid natural fitness means a decline is not necessarily  a foregone conclusion. I initially took the approach to spend big on a big star forward to paper over the cracks for a few seasons while a gradual rebuild takes place behind the scenes. Mbappe was our top target, a £195m offer was accepted but he didn't want to come to the negotiating table.  

Next on the list was a Dutch regen from PSV who at 20 years old, had 20 flair, 19 vision and a whole host of technical skills and would be perfect center piece for a rebuild. We activated the £69m release clause. Liverpool however gazumped us in negotiations and we lost out. Next up was a Colombian striker from Tottenham who looks set to be one of the best players in the game, however the signing of Fabinho had taken up a non-EU transfer slot. (Reading above in this thread suggests if you sell one non-EU player you can use that slot for another non-EU transfer?). Also have the board trying to negotiate a  Naci Unuvar from Manchester City to occupy that wide inside forward goal threat role we desire. If we are unable to sign anyone for a reasonable price, we are looking at a very odd tactical system of the below:

 

The logic is to play a slow paced possession football. An average or deep line is essential for us to mitigate a lack of pace. Using Bruno Fernandes as our central playmaking hub, with Bentacur and Koulibaly providing runs from deep. Timothy Weah will be an attacking focal point, with Dybala providing the sparkle as a Trequartista. The defensive wingers role will vary depending on opposition, dropping to wing back in games away from home to title rivals, or to wingers when chasing a game or when we are overwhelming favourites. However, this could all change as a result of some good value world class signings. I have also deployed a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 in pre-season.

Interestingly, the wage bill is at an eye watering £244m pr year. Due to drop to £68m next season if all the contracts are left to lapse. Dybala, Icardi, Koulibaly and Cancelo are just a few of the players on over £10m p/a so there is a sense of success at all costs this season. 

 

Have a few aims to stick to this season:

• Scout extensively for young Italians to build towards the future. Currently the club has a roster of 55 players, with 26 being Italian (47%). Will look to bump this up to 55% come Summer 2027 and 75% Summer 2028
• Score more than 50 league goals as a team. Profligacy is fine as long as your defense is good. However, the club has failed to maintain that rock solid foundation despite heavy recruitment. 
• Sign a player from an affiliated club. Would love to introduce Notts County as a UK affiliate due to the history between the clubs. 
• Have a backroom staff of 50% at least ex-players. Currently Ronaldo, Buffon, Tevez and Ibrahimovic have been recruited. The age profile of the first team should help with this. Keep on top of the coaching qualifications and they should be able to transition into the backroom seamlessly. 
• Sign some athletes! The relative paucity of players with strong physicals in a symptom of having the oldest squad. Quickest and easiest way to remedy this is to go to the market.