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

[Shen]

Just finished 6th in my first Serie A season with Legnago. I'm shocked on one hand and yet I don't feel I should be surprised.
I had good starts in Serie C/B and Serie B which I thought would taper off - and they did in some ways with typically indifferent form during January/Ferbuary, but both times I finished strongly while the competition completely implodes.

It happened in Serie A too. A ridiculously difficult schedule from the off (Lazio, Roma, Inter, Milan, Juve in the first 9 games) had me in 14th. In both the previous promotion seasons I was struggling badly to make my narrow 4-4-2 solid defensively. I learned during that tough start that playing cautiously was not going to work - they only knew how to play with high-pressing counter attack, so I actually played more than half my remaining games with a very attacking mentality - and it worked I was top half for the rest of the season. So many games would end up 3-2, 2-2 etc with an unreal amount of late goals scored - and conceded. Lots of euphoric and heartbreaking moments - not recommended for people with weak nerves!

But like in Serie C and B, the competition was weirdly falling short and 63 points was enough to keep Sassuolo, Napoli (!) and Atalanta behind me. This is easily top 5 of my biggest overachievements in FM. Wage total of £80k per week with £50k of them spent on loanees. I mean, I would struggle with that budget in League One, but it's good enough for Europa League in Italy...

[JRS192]

I've made it to January in my 4th season, so figured it's worth posting a proper update. 

Serie A
Currently top of the Serie A after 15 games. We've, quite ludicrously, only conceded three goals in the league this season.

• It's Juventus' turn to push hard this year. After scraping top four the previous year, Jorge Jesus spent big on Nathaniel Nandez and Nelson Semedo - the pair forging an impressive partnership on the right-hand side of their aggressive 4-2-4 system. You typically don't see a team this aggressive in Italy!
• Joachim Low's Napoli remaining fairly consistent, despite losing key defender Koulibaly. They've replaced him with Nestor Araujo and he's not missed a beat.
• Roma still up there, having lost Nandez to Juventus, and Veretout to PSG. They spent big on Ezequel Barco and Jason, but it's Lovro Majer who's stepped up to be their key midfielder. 
• Last year's rivals Inter have made a much slower start despite adding quality to their squad in the summer.
• Lazio have spent a small fortune rebuilding their side, with Hateboer, Roca, Berardi looking the key additions.

Champions League

We topped a fairly straight-forward Group A. Regular contenders Man Utd providing the only threat - rocking most of their typical squad along with quality such as Kimmich (World XI RB despite playing midfield) and goal machine Haaland.

Next up is our annual tradition of playing Carlo Ancelotti's Barcelona in the first knockout round. They're still hanging onto the old guard such as Messi, Busquets, Pique and Alba, but they're now very much built around Griezmann, Rodri and some incredible young talent in Moriba, Fati, Kulusevski and Pedri.

Cups
We won the European Super Cup for the second time in three years with a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich. Italian Super Cup is yet to be played, and we've been drawn against Claudio Ranieri's Sampdoria in the Italian Cup.

Awards
Me! - Serie A Manager's Manager of the Year
Gianluigi Donnarumma wins World Golden Glove, World Goalkeeper of the Year (his third consecutive year winning both awards!)
Donnarumma and Zaniolo both made the World Team of the Year (Quite interestingly, Sergio Ramos and Ronaldo are both in there aswell - both 38 years old, both at Real Madrid. Absolute machines!)
Bennacer makes the African XI of the Year, coming third in the midfielder of the year behind Salah and Mane.
Tomiyasu wins Asian Footballer of the Year

Squad Update
The squad has proved fairly stable since my update at the start. 

• The Goalkeeping situation is as per, Gianluigi Donnarumma is continually proving to be the best goalkeeper in football. Sirigu has been used in club competitions and has been largely solid when called upon. Antonio Donnarumma remains third choice keeper, starting for the U20s. Younger options Bianchi (4.5*), Jungdal and Plizzari are all gaining minutes out on loan. 
• At Full Back, Tomiyasu and Calabria are still duking it out for the RB position. At LB Pellegrini has taken Hernandez' mantle as an absolute force of nature - racking up goals and assists. His understudy, Calafiori isn't doing badly either. 
• Centrebacks, Papetti and Romagnoli remain the first choice, backed up by Ahmedhodzic. Papetti in particular has impressed, becoming a regular in the national team's back three. 
• Midfield is as solid as ever; Bennacer, Tonali and Kessie remains the first choice but Locatelli and Rovella are rotated in heavily. Gagliardini is used when a specialist ball-winner is required. As mentioned, youngster Claudio Pinato has looked very impressive when called upon.
• In Attacking Midfield, Zaniolo has really stepped up and is proving himself to be a World Class footballer. Castrovilli, Maldini and Vignato are battling it out for the other spot, with veteran Gomez being called upon as an impact sub.
• Up top, we suffered a blow when Belotti was ruled out for seven weeks, requiring me to call upon youngsters Colombo and Pellegri. Colombo has generally impressed, working his way into the National Team but I feel he's better in a pairing. Bargain bin signing Pellegri has proved a great addition, popping up with goals as a starting striker in low pressure games and off the bench in league games - he seems more suited to the lone striker I typically use. 

No apparent transfer plans for this window, but several players are drawing interest from the Premier League, La Liga and PSG so I have to be cautious.

[stgahoy]

Finished my 2nd season, and damn it was a dream season!

 

Serie A:

An incredible season, we've equilized Contes point record, which of course allowed us to win the league.

Milan proved a tough challenge through the year, they started to loose points at the end, but most of the season they were really really close. Inter and Atalanta missed the CL to Fiorentina which is quite a surprise.

Champions League

Went really smooth through the group

First Knockout stage vs Bayern

The team that eliminated us last  year, and we've came for our revenge - first game at Munich in which we've managed a win 2-1, and then at home we've had our best game of the season (well okay the 2nd best game)  trashing them 6-2 funnily enough I've scored like 4-5 corner goals throughout the league season, and here Demiral scored two in just one game.

Quarter Final vs Lazio

Finally some draw luck and we've picked up Lazio who seemed the easiest rivals from the last 8 pack. And so it was an easy 4-0 followed by an away draw moved us to the semis.

Semi-Final vs Liverpool

We've faced the last years winners Liverpool, and by far this has been the best highlight of the season, we've played our best game of the season, winning 3-0 at home first leg. The trip to Anfield felt like a formality, but it really wasnt. We had a safe 0-0 at the half time, and after the break Liverpool really stepped up, getting 2-0 up, and as I felt phew we've made it despite the lose, Mane scored the 3-0 goal in the 93th minute, a really heartbraking goal which saw us in an unfavorable situation at Anfield, Son made it even worse as he scored the Liverpool fourths in the 102th minute. But we came back!! A goal by Dybala made us go through by away goals, and as Liverpool opened up to score once again we've managed to finish a counter by Morata, and we've secured the spot in the final! By far the greatest game this season, despite it has been a loose.

 

Final vs Real Madrid

We've faced Real in the final, the bookmakers did rate it pretty tight without a clear favourite, and it was a closed game, not many situations. Real did go in-front by a Vinicius goal in the 2nd half, but once again the set-pieces came to the rescue. De Ligt converted Dybalas cross from a free kick in the 80th minute, and when I've started to think about substitutes in the over-time Demiral scored from Dybalas corner cross! Felt like Manchester United 99. Crazy! De Ligt lifted the trophy

 

Coppa Italia

To make things even better we've won the Italian Cup. We've eliminated Virtus Entella (6-0), Milan (3-2), Inter 3-1(H) 1-2(A), and beaten Lazio in the final:

 

So a crazy crazy good season.

 

Transfer Window

 

Transfer Ins:

Chiesa transfer became obligatory after he played the required number of games - and as of the new patch the fee is set at €4M for some reason, so after he played 50 games for me, it just activated. Dimov is a promising LB newgen from Bulgaria which my scouts advised to sign so I took the risk. And signed Marco Kana in the end for €35M with €5M after 50games addon. Now off to the mission of retraining Marco to RB . Singo went to Atletico for €40M, and well taking the risk the experiment. But as you can see I rather kept the window silent on my end.

Transfer Outs:

As of sellings I've offloaded Danilo for €42M as he demanded a new contract and was asking for €200k+, and at 30 years old I think this was the last possibility to cash on him, pretty much the same with Alex Sandro who went out at €47M, I'm promoting the Italians - Pellegrini and Ruggieri and well the 31 year old Brazilian brought some good money to the club. Apart from that I did let Pessina go for €32M, as I'm having Rovella coming back from the loan at Genoa and he looks like a good prospect.

Transfers around the world

A lot of clubs did spend a lot in this window, and some big  names started to move (mln is M, forgot to take this screenshot before, and already changed to my native language in game )

The window is still open as I'm at 29th July~~

The club

It will be incredibely hard to repeat such a great season, but we'll do our best. As of the plans I did extend Ronaldo for one more year with me having an option to extend for one more, he went down with his wage to €425k which was acceptable. Depending on his performance I'll decide if I'll extend it or I'll probably chase Leroy Sane who I really really like . Apart from that I think the team is really complete, would want to get rid of snake Bonucci but he's still on contract for 2 years till 2024, so most likely he will rot on the bench till he wants to leave himself. Apart from that I'm excited to watch Marco Kana experiment in retraining him to RB, I'm still having Cuadrado in that spot, but he's starting to decline now, so hopefully the Belgian can become natural in that position within the season.

 

[JRS192]

This isn't what you want to see going into a January transfer window. 

Already had a few complain because they want to leave for the 'big clubs' as if I'm not the current European Champion, and I haven't spent the last few seasons battering these clubs...

[Jogo Bonito]

9 minutes ago, JRS192 said:

This isn't what you want to see going into a January transfer window. Already had a few complain because they want to leave for the 'big clubs' as if I'm not the current European Champion, and I haven't spent the last few seasons battering these clubs...

Not good news at all and unlikely to happen like that IRL if you were continuously successful.

[JRS192]

Liverpool have moved for Tonali and Calabria - both were unhappy when I negotiated to stupid prices. Thankfully, I've been able to send Andrea Belotti to beat them up and now they're happy to stay (until another offer comes in). 

EDIT: Now Tomiyasu aswell. Andrea Belotti's superb.

Kessie's (EDIT: and now Bennacer) not happy that I rejected Barcelona. I don't get why they think I'll let my key players leave in the middle of a season. 

Edited March 14, 2021 by JRS192
Just gonna keep editing this while Europe's 'elite' try and rob all my players.

[stgahoy]

In general its way too easy to unsettle a player in the game, both yours and opposition, and the way it happens its also quite funny. Player becomes unhappy, he immediately stops to perform in training, etc. it just really sucks. Espescially when it comes to a player like Calabria in your case - home grown, probably has Milan in his favourite club, is a team starter winning the league  and  Champions League, and FM wise he wants to leave for Liverpool who probably dont perform, because probably some reputation numbers tell him that 9200 is better than 9100. It's just unrealistic, in my case after I won the triple this season I did drop in the global rankings from 3rd to 5th and got overtaken by clubs who won nothing, dont understand this magic.

[JRS192]

Calabria's a great example. How often do you see the big Italian players leave for the Premier League, or La Liga? I can maybe count a handful - and even then the main driver of that was when Juventus were relegated following Calciopoli. FM sees it purely in terms of 'bigger leagues' ignoring their current club's achievements, it's mind boggling. 

I'm determined not to lose anyone this window - the only immediate risk is Tomiyasu who has 18 months left on his deal and won't sign a new one. Liverpool had the gall to offer £20 million for a £45 million rated defender - less that what I payed for him!

I do need to start planning for losses in the summer though. I'm expecting to lose at least one of my starting midfield trio. I'll need to review RB options. 
Luckily my forwards, other defenders, or Donnarumma have drawn any offers :')

[LucasBR]

These are the transfers after the end of the transfer window, I tried to get rid of Diawara and Cristante but just got ridiculous bids for both of them, they'll stay at the club but will play much less than last season, Tonali will be starter and I want to play Milanese as much as I can. This might be a problem in the near future.

Riccardi wants a new contract but he's demanding a playing time and wages that doesn't make sense at all, the squad complained about me not giving him a new contract, I tried.

And this is the "new" tactic I will use this season, just changed the BBM to a Mezzala (S), changed the mentality to Attacking and I'm not using the instructions to pass to space and work the ball to the box anymore, played twice already and won both but I played the recently promoted Monza and Benevento.

[Daws88]

On 15/03/2021 at 09:49, LucasBR said:

These are the transfers after the end of the transfer window, I tried to get rid of Diawara and Cristante but just got ridiculous bids for both of them, they'll stay at the club but will play much less than last season, Tonali will be starter and I want to play Milanese as much as I can. This might be a problem in the near future.

Riccardi wants a new contract but he's demanding a playing time and wages that doesn't make sense at all, the squad complained about me not giving him a new contract, I tried.

And this is the "new" tactic I will use this season, just changed the BBM to a Mezzala (S), changed the mentality to Attacking and I'm not using the instructions to pass to space and work the ball to the box anymore, played twice already and won both but I played the recently promoted Monza and Benevento.

Did Florenzi join Paris or did he come back? He didn't sign for them on my save and his wages are on the high side, so looking at selling him to Barca in January 2nd season. Worried what it will do for the squad though as he is a big character in the team. 

[LucasBR]

3 minutes ago, Daws88 said:

Did Florenzi join Paris or did he come back? He didn't sign for them on my save and his wages are on the high side, so looking at selling him to Barca in January 2nd season. Worried what it will do for the squad though as he is a big character in the team. 

He came back, PSG offered 8,5M for him which is completely non-sense since there was a clause in his loan contract that I was obliged to sell him for 9,5M. 

He started the season playing on the starting eleven but got injured and lost space for Klostermann. I will try to sell him, Smalling and El Shaarawy since their contracts will end soon, tried to renew with Dzeko but he demanded A LOT of money and a long contract, for a 36 years old player it's not worth it.

[Daws88]

2 hours ago, LucasBR said:

He came back, PSG offered 8,5M for him which is completely non-sense since there was a clause in his loan contract that I was obliged to sell him for 9,5M. 

He started the season playing on the starting eleven but got injured and lost space for Klostermann. I will try to sell him, Smalling and El Shaarawy since their contracts will end soon, tried to renew with Dzeko but he demanded A LOT of money and a long contract, for a 36 years old player it's not worth it.

20 million for him from Barca makes sense to me then. Klostermann is transfer listed so may work as a replacement. 

Dzeko has performed well for me in this save, will see what he wants for an extension. I loaned Edouard out after a poor first season and resigned Schick who hasn't been that good to be honest. 

Smalling isnt happy with game time so he is another one I will look to sell and bring Ahmedovic into the squad. 

[LucasBR]

35 minutes ago, Daws88 said:

20 million for him from Barca makes sense to me then. Klostermann is transfer listed so may work as a replacement. 

Dzeko has performed well for me in this save, will see what he wants for an extension. I loaned Edouard out after a poor first season and resigned Schick who hasn't been that good to be honest. 

Smalling isnt happy with game time so he is another one I will look to sell and bring Ahmedovic into the squad. 

I honestly don't want much for Florenzi, he's getting old and his wages are high, Klostermann has been playing tremendously well, 7.18 avg rating assisted 11 times so far.

Dzeko was pretty good on my first season too but this second season he lost space to Arezo due to injuries, and I can't bech the Uruguayan, he's incredible.

 

[stgahoy]

 

Took him the whole season but he's a green RB now

[Adzke]

I'm having a really hard time deciding between playing as AC Milan, Bologna, or Fiorentina. I want a young, talented squad, and I really like the historical significance of Fiorentina and the fact that they don't play European football the first season. Milan seem to fit perfectly, had it not been for the European games, and Bologna seem like a really exciting squad. Any and all recommendations are most welcome!

[LucasBR]

1 hour ago, Adzke said:

I'm having a really hard time deciding between playing as AC Milan, Bologna, or Fiorentina. I want a young, talented squad, and I really like the historical significance of Fiorentina and the fact that they don't play European football the first season. Milan seem to fit perfectly, had it not been for the European games, and Bologna seem like a really exciting squad. Any and all recommendations are most welcome!

I think all depends on how much of a challenge do you want. Milan is a good team already, Fiorentina and Bologna seems to have good squads but nothing for the first places of the league.

[Muttley84]

3 hours ago, Adzke said:

I'm having a really hard time deciding between playing as AC Milan, Bologna, or Fiorentina. I want a young, talented squad, and I really like the historical significance of Fiorentina and the fact that they don't play European football the first season. Milan seem to fit perfectly, had it not been for the European games, and Bologna seem like a really exciting squad. Any and all recommendations are most welcome!

I would rule Milan out, seems a bit to easy with them. Out of the remaining two I would suggest Bologna - historically used to be a big team, large stadium and the perfect combo of promicing youngsters and experienced veterans. Some pretty cool kits also.

[stgahoy]

Paulo is having a craazy start to season 4. 11 goals 3 assists in 7 games from AMC

[Adzke]

On 20/03/2021 at 22:34, Muttley84 said:

I would rule Milan out, seems a bit to easy with them. Out of the remaining two I would suggest Bologna - historically used to be a big team, large stadium and the perfect combo of promicing youngsters and experienced veterans. Some pretty cool kits also.

Bologna do seem like the team for me. I just like the thought of bringing back Fiorentina. And also the thought of having Gigio Donnarumma from the start of the game. But I fear Milan will alas be too easy of a save, as you say. I will give Bologna a chance.

[bestbrother]

Gone Bari and ive been able to manipulate the wage budget to allow the club to spend £38,500,000 in the summer

Ive also £51,000,000 committed on players who will join in 2021 as they currently reside on loan elsewhere right now.

Its a gamble to get Serie B football back to the club asap!

 

[bestbrother]

Simone Zaza at Bari in the first season! What a January signing, we have committed £107,000,000 this year... it still might not be enough as we are 2nd atm, but its close enough that a final push could get us in B.

[bestbrother]

Final day promotion! We somehow sneak up thanks to a comeback 2-1 win infront of 18 thousand Rabid 'Barionians'

 

[Muttley84]

9 hours ago, bestbrother said:

Simone Zaza at Bari in the first season! What a January signing, we have committed £107,000,000 this year...

Are we talking about the same Serie C Bari or in your game world things look different? I am very interested to know how you can "manipulate the budget" in that manner and also convince Zaza to drop that down...

[bestbrother]

1 hour ago, Muttley84 said:

Are we talking about the same Serie C Bari or in your game world things look different? I am very interested to know how you can "manipulate the budget" in that manner and also convince Zaza to drop that down...

Zaza i have no idea why he dropped. He was listed and i got his former team to pay 50% of his wages.

As for transfers, its all paid on tick 

[bestbrother]

Promozione La Bari!

Made it up to A, it wasnt pretty and after coming 4th we managed to edge SPAL then Cotrone to do it via the playoffs.

Financially clearly things were off the boil a bit. For some reason Serie B has a small wage cap, so our spending was limited to £42,000,000.

Its come back to bite us a bit in Serie A as a load of promotion wage rises are kicking in and we are now at our limit of just over £400,000 per week. So funds are tight, we are probably going to sell Zaza as he earns £45k per week and thats money we can divert elsewhere.

Cutrone should be signing with Wolves picking up a healthy tab of his salary (We will pay him 7.5k per).

The Chairman has loaned the club £63,000,000 to clear a bunch of the debts, that along with the Serie A money has us on an even keel atm. I think A will be tough, we have a great bunch of Italian youngsters in the squad, so if they gel it could be something special.

But if things go off the boil then we may struggle. Should be enough to stay up, but anything more will surprise me.

Edited March 23, 2021 by bestbrother

[bestbrother]

Going to be comfortably safe this year, started out very rough but 6 of our opening 8 games pitched us against the Milans, Juve, Roma/Lazio and Napoli. After that we picked up nicely against the middling clubs in the league.

Same as we turned the half, nothing from the big boys, but enough to tick by from the others. With 8 to play, we are 10pts clear of the drop and with an easy (on paper) run in, could well ease into the top half.

Spent just £47m this year, breaking our club record for a 17y/o called Pietro Poggi from Fiorentina. We raised £14m from sales, whilst sadly Cutrones stint will end this year as he signed just 1 year contract and is off to Bournemouth to chase big money in England once more.

 

[Adzke]

I've started my Bologna save, and already no more than a week in, I have a €25M bid from Chelsea for Orsolini and a bid from Roma for Jerdy Schouten. I could sell them, but sometimes I just like having the real players available to me. On the other hand, I doubt Bologna would decline these offers in the real world. What dio you guys do? I fear ending up with already having a squad of random players I've bought myself from the get go, and I don't like that.

[LucasBR]

53 minutes ago, Adzke said:

I've started my Bologna save, and already no more than a week in, I have a €25M bid from Chelsea for Orsolini and a bid from Roma for Jerdy Schouten. I could sell them, but sometimes I just like having the real players available to me. On the other hand, I doubt Bologna would decline these offers in the real world. What dio you guys do? I fear ending up with already having a squad of random players I've bought myself from the get go, and I don't like that.

It's always a risk to not sell players to bigger clubs, imo is better to have a random squad than to have an unhappy squad 

[skybluedave]

Bologna are a really good side on this FM. 

Hickey, Tomiyasu, Orsolini and Nicolas Dominguez are super prospects that will be main stays of the team forever. Skov Olsen, Schouten, Svanberg, Vignato, Musa Barrow are all really good prospects too if maybe a notch below the first lot. 

The problem is holding on to them. 

[Muttley84]

On 23/03/2021 at 10:53, bestbrother said:

Zaza i have no idea why he dropped. He was listed and i got his former team to pay 50% of his wages.

As for transfers, its all paid on tick 

To each his own I guess... I would find that hard to happen in real life, a team in Serie C spending all that money or Zaza joining a 3rd tier team.

But if you are enjoying it and having fun its all that matters.

[bestbrother]

1 minute ago, Muttley84 said:

To each his own I guess... I would find that hard to happen in real life, a team in Serie C spending all that money or Zaza joining a 3rd tier team.

But if you are enjoying it and having fun its all that matters.

Of course, lets be honest FM isnt 'realistic' unless you restrict yourself. Its as close as you can get, so like you say, enjoy it and have fun 

[Jumping Jack Flash]

Anyone got any bargains they always go for after the winter update?

Arezo, Gnonto and Ahmedhodzic for me!

[stgahoy]

Grabbed some crazy looking regens!

Aitor Vidal from Osasuna, his contract was running out, and my scouts rated him 5/5, so I just couldnt say no, had to offer him a fairly high contract to get his signing, while beating Man City, PSG, RMadrid Atletico and some other top tier clubs, a really exiting AMC playmaker.

 

And this monster from Atalanta, the Italian version  of Harry Kane, looking awesome, had to pay €22M for a 17 years old, but I just love players with great mental stats, and this fella looks like he'll become a monster in mental attributes.

[LucasBR]

On 28/03/2021 at 13:07, Jumping Jack Flash said:

Anyone got any bargains they always go for after the winter update?

Arezo, Gnonto and Ahmedhodzic for me!

Arezo was always a bargain, even before the winter update. He's simply amazing.

[stgahoy]

Hahahaha this got me I reached 1st April in game on 1st April IRL, after clicking "accept"

[stgahoy]

Busy summer 2024

 

[Vizzini]

Had a crazy last season where Empoli won the league! It was like watching Leicester under Ranieri all over again. Has anyone else had a surprising league winner like this before? On paper they are basically a mid- to lower table team, but it seems like everything just clicked for them. Also, the previous season Lazio were relegated, so it is a really interesting save so far. This year, Empoli is struggling at the bottom of the table, but still qualified from their CL-group. Hope Roberto De Zerbi can cling on to his job.

[WilsonJuve]

16 hours ago, Vizzini said:

Had a crazy last season where Empoli won the league! It was like watching Leicester under Ranieri all over again. Has anyone else had a surprising league winner like this before? On paper they are basically a mid- to lower table team, but it seems like everything just clicked for them. Also, the previous season Lazio were relegated, so it is a really interesting save so far. This year, Empoli is struggling at the bottom of the table, but still qualified from their CL-group. Hope Roberto De Zerbi can cling on to his job.

 

 It's always amazing to see something like this happen the Lazio relegation makes it even better. Would love to have attempted the rebuild. We are enjoying our first season back in Serie A and Ricky-Jade Jones has continued his tremendous form into the top flight. He seems to be one of them players where stats don't really matter. He has pace and acceleration that's all that matters the number of chances he gets is unreal. Two goals against Milan in the season opener set out his intentions for the season.

[WilsonJuve]

Well this season is going pretty well so far I have hid the league position for now until the next update. But I have been singing Ricky-Jade Jones praises for a while now and that praise has been well and truly merited as he has just won the European Golden Boy. 

[oze07]

Thinking of doing a fiorentina save? Anyone else done one? Any good?

[anorthernboy]

Hello everyone. I've finally taken the plunge into the murky waters of Italian football with the intention of a long term Pro Vercelli save.

Does anyone have any first hand experience down in the lower league and know of any good players that I can take along for the ride?

My knowledge of Italian football peaked when watching Football Italia on CH4 and playing Champ Manager Italia as a youngster.

[Gungner]

I haven't played FM21 in ages now, and I feel like getting back into the groove.

I also haven't touched Italy this year, and hence that might be my next save.

I'm considering Parma & Atalanta as possible teams, two teams in different ends of the table. Anyone have any experience with either that might convince me?

Usually, I go with the more "boring" Inter or Milan... 

[sedge11]

2 hours ago, Gungner said:

I haven't played FM21 in ages now, and I feel like getting back into the groove.

I also haven't touched Italy this year, and hence that might be my next save.

Same here, haven't played for a few weeks, and before that I was doing a save I was really struggling to get into, so haven't played properly for 5-6 weeks.

After a great and fun Lazio save on fm20, I had planned to do another on fm22, but I'm gonna do it now instead I think and see if I can repeat my fm20 success with them.

[WilsonJuve]

On 19/06/2021 at 18:35, Gungner said:

I haven't played FM21 in ages now, and I feel like getting back into the groove.

I also haven't touched Italy this year, and hence that might be my next save.

I'm considering Parma & Atalanta as possible teams, two teams in different ends of the table. Anyone have any experience with either that might convince me?

Usually, I go with the more "boring" Inter or Milan... 

Downloading one of the updates would be fun with Parma back in Serie B but Buffon back at the club!

[Raymond85]

Il 22/6/2021 in 18:11 , WilsonJuve ha scritto:

Downloading one of the updates would be fun with Parma back in Serie B but Buffon back at the club!

Love to see someone else giving Udinese a go. It’s my first save every year.

this time it took me until now to get into the game, i’ll post my first update this afternoon

[Raymond85]

As promised, here is my first update.

 

I know Udinese inside out, so i decided to go on and play their strong traits: good defence and fast and lethal counters:

 

This is our base tactic, so i can make use of our main quality players (De Paul, Pereyra, Deulofeu and pussetto and Braaf fresh from the bench. Also youngster Palumbo is getting a lot of playtime. I also have a couple of variations in a 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 depending if needed during the match.

 

Mind i play with first transfer window turned off, i like to make do with what i have and get a feel of the team.

 

Well, first half of the season seems to be proving our strategy right: we are very solid and managed some great results, highlighting Juventus' nightmare trip to Udine, where they just came at us and we battered them, De Paul scoring 3 and missing also a penalty.

 

 

I'm delighted with this season, i hope to keep up and see if we can sneak in europe somehow, but i'll be fine with a safe mid table position while we rebuild an ageing and poor squad.

 

 

Now on to the winter transfer market, i'm planning on getting rid of our old backup players if i can get some interesting loans and bargains (mostly loans to buy, as there is no money), until our army of loanees comes back in summer (we have about 30 players out on loan).

 

[Gungner]

2 hours ago, Raymond85 said:

As promised, here is my first update.

 

I know Udinese inside out, so i decided to go on and play their strong traits: good defence and fast and lethal counters:

 

This is our base tactic, so i can make use of our main quality players (De Paul, Pereyra, Deulofeu and pussetto and Braaf fresh from the bench. Also youngster Palumbo is getting a lot of playtime. I also have a couple of variations in a 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 depending if needed during the match.

 

Mind i play with first transfer window turned off, i like to make do with what i have and get a feel of the team.

 

Well, first half of the season seems to be proving our strategy right: we are very solid and managed some great results, highlighting Juventus' nightmare trip to Udine, where they just came at us and we battered them, De Paul scoring 3 and missing also a penalty.

 

 

I'm delighted with this season, i hope to keep up and see if we can sneak in europe somehow, but i'll be fine with a safe mid table position while we rebuild an ageing and poor squad.

 

 

Now on to the winter transfer market, i'm planning on getting rid of our old backup players if i can get some interesting loans and bargains (mostly loans to buy, as there is no money), until our army of loanees comes back in summer (we have about 30 players out on loan).

 

I was actually considering Udinese as well, but decided against it... So I'll be following your progress with great interest. 

[Raymond85]

11 ore fa, Gungner ha scritto:

I was actually considering Udinese as well, but decided against it... So I'll be following your progress with great interest. 

It's the team i support, and this year it's a real challenge: no money, some great quality and a huge chunk of deadwood over 30 as rotation players and sometimes starters.

[Raymond85]

So when you have no money, you need to get stuck into some creative transfer market deals:

 

 

From Tjaland and Prodl down are January moves. We managed to ship out all useless players, bringing in fresh blood on loan, only capradossi with an option to buy if he impresses me (and i still have to make up money for Bonifazi and Braaf in the summer, no idea where that's coming from)

 

And some future transfers to sort out the problems we had with ageing strikers and not only. Musiala was a mistake, didn't know his loan would go out only when 18, but will be useful nonetheless, i'm sure.

 

In the meantime, i managed to save this cracker of a goal that shows exactly the playing style we're going for:

 

https://i.gyazo.com/c0de7e97f9181210ea4432b1e5592676.mp4

Edited June 25, 2021 by Raymond85

[john1]

Good progress with Udinese @Raymond85  How Palumbo progressing?