[FM22] Parma, reviving the Gialloblu

[KlaaZ]

After reaching what I feel was my limits in my Norwegian adventure, I was looking for something in a bigger league, more to the south. Italy has a lot of great clubs that have been financially mismanaged in recent years, and Parma is one of them. After enjoying a great spell between 1989 and 2004 with a runner up place in the league in 1997 under Ancelotti, three domestic cup wins and two European cups. Unfortunately, the club went into administration in 2004 and although it seemed rehabilitated at some point, went bankrupt in 2015. The situation was so bad that the administrators even had to put up some of the hard earned trophies for sale. 

Parma restarted in the Serie D in 2015 and after skyrocketing back to the Serie A, unfortunately got relegated in 2021. This makes them the favorites to become Serie B champions and take back their rightful place on the highest level.

The squad, after a first assessment, actually has an amazing mix of experience and young talent. With Buffon (born leader), Pandev (model professional) and Danilo (perfectionist), they have three very strong personalities in their ranks. At the other end of the age list, Botond Balogh, Vasilis Zagaritis, Simon Sohm and Lautaro Valenti are youngsters with a lot of potential.

I haven't managed in Italy since FM15 or 16, when I took over Roma in a journeyman save, so this will be a very new experience for me.

[KlaaZ]

Season 2021-2022: Transfer news

Parma have already done a boatload of transfers at the start of the game, for a wopping 23.5M in total, which left me with about 4M in transfer budget. Because of a very pessimistic forecast which would see us in the red before long, I decided to be very conservative with that money. We bring in one midfielder, Romain Amalfitano, on a free transfer after he was released by Al-Faisaly, as we are short on attacking profiles in the central midfield. And after the transfer market closed, we also arranged the future transfer of my former Bodo/Glimt favourite, Tomas Araujo, in a deal that can run up to 2.9M. 

 

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[KlaaZ]

These kinds of games are really starting to annoy me, I dropped points at least six times in this fashion, and now it's an early cup exit. Might as well play without a goalkeeper, Buffon's been surprisingly embarassing so far and Colombi, his backup, isn't faring any better. 

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[KlaaZ]

Season 2021-2022: Mid year review

Serie B

We're halfway, and after a shaky start things are looking up. The good news is that we were unbeaten in the first five games but the downside was that three of those games were draws. Indeed, we were not finishing off the games where we were the better team, dropping quite a few points in the process. To make things worse, we lost two out of the next four games, at home against Lecce (again dominating the game) and away against title contenders Benevento who scored the winner in the 91st minute. 

Things have picked up after that and we even managed to keep a clean sheet in our four last league games, grabbing 25 points from out last ten games before the break. This leaves us in third place, tied with Benevento for second and two points behind Brescia. 

The good news is that our new signing, Amalfitano, has been excellent as a Mezzala. Our youngsters are also doing very well and it's surprisingly a few older players (Pandev, Buffon) who are playing below expectations. Vazquez was in the same boat but is improving now that I've moved him to the right wing.

Coppa Italia

We narrowly beat Lecce 3-2 in the first round and then completely played Sampdoria off of their own pitch but didn't get the reward we deserved. 

[KlaaZ]

League table

 

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[KlaaZ]

2021-2022: January transfer window

As confirmed earlier, Araujo joins the club. He replaces Danilo, who leaves for Pumas as he wasn't playing much. We also sign the son of an infamous defender, Daniel Maldini, with the prospect of making the move permanent for a fee of 5.25M. They do have the option to buy him back though. 

 

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[KlaaZ]

If I'm losing out on promotion to the Serie A, it will be because of these games (and we've had a LOT of them so far). 

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[KlaaZ]

2021-2022: January transfer window

Some more transfer news! Drissa Camara moves to Ulsan for 575k and a percentage on future sale, Sprocati moves to SPAL for 675k. We spend the money on one newcomer, a creative midfielder. Jaime Seoane is a 25-year old Spaniard who comes over from Huesca for 1.1M.

 

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[KlaaZ]

Season recap coming somewhere today if all goes well.

[KlaaZ]

2021-2022: Season review

Serie B

We had a very average start to the season. We narrowly won our opening game against Vicenza but then drew three out of the four next games (breaking this run with a great 3-1 victory over title rivals Brescia, which would prove crucial at the end of the season). We then went on to win three and lose two, leaving us in fifth position after ten games, already five points behind surprise leaders Cremonense.

After a bit of a mixed bag in early november, picking up two wins, a draw and a loss, we did a bit of tactical tinkering and won the last five games before the winter break, seeing us move up to third but still seven points behind Brescia who were on top.

January and the first half of Feburary started off terribly. In five games, we lost away at Vicenza and Brescia, and at home against Perugia, drew at home against Pordenone and only managed a narrow 1-0 win against Ascoli. And just when I thought direct promotion was out of the question, things clicked (also thanks to some solid advice from the tactics part of this forum). We moved Vazquez to the striker position and he thanked us by scoring eleven goals in the final thirteen games. 

Even more impressively, we went on an unbeaten run. Nine wins and a draw moved us to second place, one point behind Brescia. Our first chance to overtake them came four games before the end of the competition when they drew away at Monza, but we didn't hold our nerve and did the same thing in Cremonense. Ironically, Brescia dropped two points again two games later in the prelast game of the season against the same Cremonense and this time, we did our job away against Como, moving us into first place, one point ahead of Brescia with one game to go. 

In the final game of the season, Brescia went up 2-0 fairly quickly against Alessandria but it was once again Vazquez who put us ahead against Crotone and when Cassata scored a second goal in the 81st minute, we sealed the title on the final day of the season.

 

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At the start of the season it looked like Benevento would be our main opposition, but they complete collapsed in the second half of the season.

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Coppa Italia

We beat Lecce in the first round, 3-2, and then went out completely undeserved against Sampdoria, who were clinical. A screenshot of that defeat can be found a few posts back for those that are interested.

Player performances

A very mixed bag here. Buffon was appalling, losing his spot between the stakes to Colombi halfway through the season. Although he's a very important figure in the dressing room, I'll probably try to move him on as he's on a big contract. We already have a replacement that will join us during the summer. Pandev didn't fare much better. Luckily, his contract is running out and he'll be joining AEK next season. I was hoping to keep him around for another year to have him mentor some players but it is what it is. Roberto Inglese, our second choice up front, also performed below expectations, bagging only one goal in 8 starts and 14 off the bench games. 

On the other side, we have a few (younger) players who performed very well. Lautaro Valenti was the main man in this regard, becoming our rock at the back. The Argentinian will be very important next season if we want to stay up. Next to him, both Araujo and young Balogh did very well, so I'm happy with things in defense. With Zagaritis we have a great left back prospect that also showed glimpes of his quality. And finally, vice captain Schiatarella was a pivotal figure in the midfield. Turning 35 at the end of May, he'll be very important for us for at least one more season.

Youth intake

Not terrible, but not great either. There's one player, young striker Matteo Mele, who might be special in due time. He has some work to do on his physicals but the potential is there. In midfield, Rossano Ermini could perhaps become our main Mezzala one day, but I'm a bit worried about his personality. 

 

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Finances and facilities

Financially, we're not in the best spot, almost eleven mil in the red because of a very high wage bill for the Serie B. Because of this, we don't get a transfer budget and our wages are limited to 600k. Looks like we'll have to wheel and deal in our first season with the big boys and just pray that we can stay up. It's possible that we'll get something to work with at the start of the season though, fingers crossed.

To make matters worse, our training facilities got downgraded as well.

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[KlaaZ]

This was a bit weird, considering our financial downwards progress. 

 

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[karanhsingh]

Well done, good start to the save. 

[KlaaZ]

9 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Well done, good start to the save. 

Thanks! Had a very rough time during the first half of the season, really worried that I wasn't going to get promoted which would have made this save a whole lot harder because of big wage players returning from loan. Also means that I'll have to be very creative in my first season in the Serie A. 

[KlaaZ]

2022-2023: Summer transfer window

We're at the end of July and it has been a very interesting transfer window, to say the least. As mentioned earlier, I didn't get a transfer budget and my wage budget was limited to 600k. I figured I'd bring in some free players, maybe some loans, and cut some dead weight on the other side. What I didn't take into account, however, was the fact that I had a boatload of players returning from loan on very high wages. Once they did, I was spending a whopping 900k on player salaries which meant that from that point onwards, I couldn't bring anyone in. To make matters worse, my two main right backs left the club. Del Prato was on loan from Atalanta and I was planning on signing him permanently but I failed to notice his contract was running out so Sampdoria already picked him up instead. Andrea Rispoli, his backup, turned 33 and was already declining to a point where he would be useless.

Luckily, I already had a few transfers arranged before everyone got back from their loan deals. Pietro Beruatto joins on a free from Juve and will cover for Zagaritis in the left back position. Frederik Jäkel is a young German central defender who was released by Leipzig, and Javier Belman will provide some cover for Colombi between the stakes. We also loan Lennard Hartjes from Feyenoord, with the idea to sign him on a free in 2023 if he makes sufficient progress.

As I'm supposed to sign players under 23 for the first team, this also pleases the board as a side effect.

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On the outgoing side, I tried to cut as much deadwood as possible to reduce the wage bill. Twelve players leave the club, for various fees. Usually less than what I could have gotten, but I really needed to lose some salaries. Among them are Pandev, Juric, Sepe, Karamoh, Brugman and Osorio. This way, I managed to cut our wages back to 677k per week, which is still a bit overkill but it may be possible to do a deal or two in January now.

[KlaaZ]

2022-2023: July

We're off for a special start on our return to the highest level as we open the league against reigning champions Juventus, in a sold out Ennio Tardini. Because of our transfer issues youngster Busi will start in the right back position after an unsuccessful loan spell at Reims last year. On the other end of the pitch, we'll be counting on Vazquez to continue his good form from the end of last season. On the left, Brunetta will be replacing Maldini as we can't get him to join us because of the wage limits. 

I'm not sure if it's because they underestimate us, but the Old Lady doesn't start off too well and we're easily able to keep pace. To make matters worse for them, Chiesa is forced off with an injury after only ten minutes. In the last quarter of the first half, they start pushing forward a little more, but we manage to go to the dressing room with a 0-0 score.

Only two minutes into the second half, it happens. Vazquez gets into a one on one position against Chiellini, with Man coming up on the right side.

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He plays the ball square to the latter, putting him against Sandro. Instead of turning to his left foot as everyone would expect, he swings in a right footed cross to the back post, reaching an unmarked Brunetta because Cuadrado moved inside to cover the central area against the infiltration Cyprien.

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Brunetta pulls off a great control, takes a touch to reach the byline and plays a square cross to the center where Vazquez is present to tap it in. 1-0!

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In the 65th minute, Schiattarella takes a corner from the right hand side. He curls it to the penalty point, where Vazquez attacks the ball from deep to head it high into the net, making it 2-0.

We run into one more scare when Vlahovic hits the bar, but apart from that easily protect our lead. The fact that Juve doesn't manage a single shot on target is very telling. 

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We're on a high and on the last day of the month, we comfortably dispatch of Sassuolo on their own turf with 1-3. Brunetta scores a brace, and after they draw one back, Cyprien scores his first of the season to bring home the three points. Two games, two wins, what a start to the season!

Edited May 14, 2022 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

2022-2023: August

Transfers

One more new guy! Samuele Mulattieri joins us on loan from Inter, as we don't need to pay his wage.

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Serie A

We only pick up one out of six in two home games against Bologna and Empoli. In the former, they score a penalty to win the game and against Empoli, we drop two points through silly own goal, as they didn't manage to hit the target even once.

We pick ourselves up again afterwards, first with a very important win away at Brescia, with Vazquez scoring another brace. We then go on to completely demolish struggling Sampdoria in their own home 0-4 in what was actually a very even game. Another brace from Vazquez, and two beauties (from Brunetta and Cyprien) secure a very important result.

This moves us into a very satisfying third place in the league, ten points off a relegation spot. We won't get ahead of ourselves though.

 

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Coppa Italia

I rotated a bit in the first round against Ternana and it almost cost us as they were surprisingly good but a brace from Mulattieri on his debut and a goal from Mihaila are enough to see us through to the second round where we'll face Verona. 

[KlaaZ]

Buzzin'!

[KlaaZ]

Season's done, will try to squeeze in an update before I leave on holiday tomorrow.

[KlaaZ]

2022-2023: Season overview

Transfer news

We made one additional signing during the winter break. Mickaël Malsa joins us on loan from Levante to provide some more depth in midfield, with an option to buy.

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Serie A

Our great start dips a little in September, where we pick up two wins and two losses, and october, with seven out of fifteen points. Highlights are a 3-1 home win against Roma and a holdup in Napoli. However, it's becoming more and more clear at that point that we struggle against the bottom teams. We already lost at home to Bologna, but we also lose at home against Cagliari, draw away at SPAL and only narrowly beat Spezia.

There's an early winter break because of the World Cup in Quatar, which makes us lose momentum completely. Our form keeps up a little in February but afterwards, we start racking in the results of a team that's meant to go down, which sees us fall down the table. Four games until the end, we're in a comfortable 11th place, six points ahead of Sampdoria and Udinese, but we still manage to drop to 12th and only barely avoid 13th on the last day of the season by beating Udinese 3-1 at home in a head to head duel.

 

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The games against the smaller teams were really worrisome. Lost twice against Verona and Bologna, drew twice against SPAL and Empoli and only beat Genoa once. We snatched two wins against dead last Brescia, but even those were on a one goal margin.

That said, I think we overperformed. The media predicted us to be 16th, and we pretty much played the season with last season's squad, players returning from loan and a few freebies. 

 

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Coppa Italia

We beat Ternana and Verona in the first two rounds to exceed (board) expectations, and are wipped in the next round thanks to a narrow 1-0 loss away in Roma.

Youth intake

Three players standing out in this intake. 

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Finances and facilities

Thanks to the promotion, TV money from the Serie A and cutting our wages down but moving some dead wood, we managed to clear our precarious financial situation. We're now a healthy 2.8M in the white, and that it after two investments were recently made into both the training and youth facilities. 

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It also resulted in a better wage and transfer budget. We started out with a 1M wage kitty and about 900k in the transfer pool, but after some moving around went with a wage budget of 884k and a transfer budget of little over 9M, which should be plenty to strengthen the team.

About performances and the squad

I think we can be happy with how our back line performed during our first season back among the big boys. Zagaritis, Valenti and Araujo would be first team regulars in most Serie A sides, and on the right Busi has done surprisingly well for a player with limited ability. Between the stakes, Colombi took over from Buffon who will retire.

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In the midfield, it was more of a mixed bag. Schiattarella was probably our best player there but will be leaving for Sturm Graz at the end of the season. Together with Buffon leaving, this means both our captain and vice captain are out the door. I'm very curious to see how this will affect the team. Seoane had a very difficult start but his form picked up near the end of the season so I have some hope for him. Cyprien was ok as well, and Grassi a bit of a disappointment. 

Up front, Vazquez had a very good first half of the season but then mostly fell away completely. He turned 34 and his physicals are going down fast. His replacements, Inglese and Mulattieri, were even worse, with both not scoring a league goal this season. Even worse, Inglese has been on a dry spell for at least sixteen games. On the right wing, Man was good in most games, but we'll be looking at some more competition for the left flank als Brunetta and Tutino didn't live up to expectations.

The good news is that most of our transfer work is already finished. We're still in the market for a replacement for Schiattarella, and maybe a left back as we just missed our top prospect, but apart from that we look good. More on that later though!

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Apart from Schiattarella and Buffon, nobody is leaving so far, with the exception of a few youth players that are deemed not good enough. There's a lot of movement on the incoming side though.

On the left hand side, we unfortunately missed out on Gianluca Frabotta. He would have been an excellent fit: Young, Italian and free. He signed for Lens instead, where he was promised more playing time. They also signed Jonathan Silva though, so I'm hoping he'll become unhappy and will maybe be available during the winter window.

 

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We were more successful on other fronts. At the back, we signed a promising Italian centre back, Riccardo Capellini, on a free from Juve and did the same on the right with Gabriele Ferrarini from Fiorentina. Our central defense is well stocked now, but we'll be on the lookout for another right back if possible.

 

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In midfield, we managed to do a real coup by snatching André Anderson, a 23-year old Brazilian, from Lazio on a free. Great personality, Italian as a second nationality and very versatile. We also arranged the transfer of a very promising Croatian kid from Hajduk. Stipe Biuk cost us 3.9M, but with the performances of Brunetta and Tutino in mind, he'll be a very welcome addition to the squad. We'll try to add another defensive minded midfielder to the list.

 

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Our biggest transfer target is up front. This boy has been on our radar for well over a year, but because we didn't have any transfer budget last season, there was no way to swoop in and grab him. Now, we faced competition from a few other teams so we moved quickly to secure his signature. 22 year old Lorenzo Lucca was transfer listed at Pisa for a mere 3.3M. He'll take over from Vazquez, and hopefully reward that faith with a boatload of goals. 

 

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[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

It's the end of July and I feel our homework is done. We're still on the lookout for an additional left back but this does not take priority. We do sign three other players.

Nadir Zortea is another right back. He just turned 24 and is Italian, which makes him an ideal profile. He's also quite versatile as he can play all positions on the right wing. He joins us from Frosinone for 1,5M.

 

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Next up are two midfielders. I was actually torn between them until I noticed that I could actually sign both. Matheus Henrique joins us from Sassuolo in a deal that can run up to 2.8M. Roque Mesa brings a wealth of experience and will be the main replacement of Schiattarella. At 34, he's still looking ok physically and he has great mentals.

 

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On the outgoing side, after some dissappointing performances we decide to offer Mihaila out. In the end, he goes back to Romania, joining Cluj for 4.8M. There may be another outgoing transfer, which would mean us going back to the transfer market, as Dortmund and Roma are sniffing at Man. I've agreed a 15M transfer price with him, so we'll see what happens.

[karanhsingh]

Solid first season in Serie A and important to get the finances back in the black. Keep it up!

[KlaaZ]

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Solid first season in Serie A and important to get the finances back in the black. Keep it up!

Cheers! Finances are still a bit of a challenge, will probably take until I can get into Europe for some extra cash inflow. I'm also looking to buy younger player cheap and perhaps move them on for (big) profits later on. Araujo is already generating a lot of interest so he might be the first one in this system over time. Although I'd rather build my defense around him.

[KlaaZ]

Back from a well deserved holiday and been playing a fair bit, so I'm expecting to post a new update next weekend. Maybe a january transfer window as well, if anything interesting were to happen. 

The one thing I can already give away is that Lucca is downright amazing. What. A. Striker. And for only 3.3m too.

[KlaaZ]

2023-2024: Season review

January transfer window

Not too much activity this window. Grassi wants more playing time and leaves for PAOK for 550k. We fill up the squad in his absence with the loan of Maxime Gonalons. We also complete the signing of young attacking midfielder Moreno-Manzanaro (what a name!) for a mere 50k, from Juventud Laguna. 

Apart from that, four players leave on loan.

 

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Serie A

With the new additions to the squad, I'm aiming for a stable mid table finish this year. With Maldini, Lucca and Anderson, I believe we have a lot more firepower up front to achieve this.

We start off well enough with a six game unbeaten run (3W, 3D) before running into a heavy away trashing from Juve, 4-0. A week later, we manage to draw against Inter at home and then we go on an amazing seven game winning streak, which ends only just after the winter break. Highlights are three 4-0 wins (Salernitana away, Ternana home, Empoli away) and a narrow 3-2 victory over Napoli.

Our run ends abruptly (and undeservedly) at home against Roma, when we lose 1-2. We bounce back with a win over title pretenders Milan, 2-1, and follow up with three narrow away wins in a row. We remain unbeaten for the next five games (3W, 2D), after which we go behind at home against Juve but manage to completely turn the game around, winning 2-1. All of this moves us up to a second place, within a shout of league leaders Inter. But three draws in a row (away at Lazio and Inter too though, so I was happy with them) put an end to any title aspirations we might have. We bounce back with an away win in Naples (1-3) and two more 3-0 victories, but we start stumbling right before the finish line.

Drawing last placed Empoli at home 1-1 and losing in Udinese sees us in danger of losing our second place to both Milan and Juve. We convincingly beat AS Roma in their own ground 3-0 and follow up with a 4-0 victory over Torino.

On the prelast day of the season, we play away in Milan, with second or third place at stake for both teams. Winning would put us in pole position for second place, a draw would keep Milan behind us and a loss would make it that we're depending on Juve and Milan to slip up if we want to stay in the top three. A very even game is decided by a very disputable goal, when Colombo scores what looks like a clear offside goal in the 91st minute but isn't overruled by the VAR. 

 

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Our last game of the season is one to remember, when we trash Fiorentina at home 6-0, with four goals from Lucca. It isn't to  be however as Juve and Milan both win their games, leaving us in a very impressive 4th place overall, securing Champions League football. 

 

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Coppa Italia

Another short adventure here. We beat Cosenza (2-0) and Spezia (on penalties) to reach the third round, where we played the reserves against Napoli and lost 2-1.

Youth intake

Was promised to be excellent, turned out to be very mediocre. Nothing to be chuffed about really.

Finances and facilities

The improvements to the youth and training facilities were completed mid season. Apart from that, we managed to sneak in an improvement to the youth recruitment, but that's about it. We were about 14M in the red at the end of the season, which was pretty much offset by the league prize money we gained. The CL money will be very welcome next season, because we only got a 3.8M transfer kitty and little room in the wage budget. We'll probably increase this with an outgoing transfer thoug, as Man is out of contract at the end of next season and his demands are just ridiculous. There's a 40M ticket on his head, with quite a few clubs showing a lot of interest.

About the squad and performances

Most of my transfers were pretty much bullseye. Lucca scored 33 goals in the league and managed an average rating record of 7.87. André Anderson was the other standout player offensively, scoring 16 goals in 32 appearances from a central midfield role. Man also was excellent on the left, winning the most assists award.

At the back, Araujo and Valenti are sheer quality at the heart of the defense.

 

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[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Well, the inevitable has happened. Man was asking ridiculous money and as he was entering the final year of his contract, we decided to cash in. There was a big list of clubs interested, but not many offers. He rejected a 40M move to Leeds and in the end moves off to Benfica for 34M + 25% on his next transfer (which hopefully will be a big one). 

As 45% of our revenue is added to the budget, this means we have something to work with now. First job will be to replace him, but we're also in the market for one or two midfielders. As Colombi also wants to leave, we'll be looking for a new goalkeeper as well.

[karanhsingh]

Well done, 4th place is amazing! At least you managed to hold onto Lucca as well...

[KlaaZ]

43 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Well done, 4th place is amazing! At least you managed to hold onto Lucca as well...

Surprisingly, there's no interest in him so far.. but it's still early as we're only halfway through July. I did manage a few incoming transfers, which I'll talk about when I get home from work. Got a (future) right winger, a midfielder, and I'm in talks with another midfield player. We also signed a central defender on a free.

The biggest hurdle will be the goalkeeper. My top target chose Fiorentina over us, and number two on my (very short) list would be a loanie but can only join us when he turns 18 in October.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

The departure of man leaves us with quite a bit of budget. Which is good, because we're trimming the squad quite a bit. Vazquez, 35 now, leaves on a free to Boca. Bernabé signs for Napoli. Cyprien, Tutino and Brunetta leave for River, Salernitana and SPAL for a combined fee of around 6M. 

On the incoming side, we've already arranged for some transfers before Man improved our budget considerably. Our first addition is the (future?) replacement of Man. Haidar Ali Kadhim is a Swedish-Iraqi kid who came through the youth ranks at Djurgardens IF who receive 2.4M for this move. A traditional left winger, the 18-year old will be retrained to play on the other flank instead. Kadhim will be a stand in for Jessy Deminguet, a 26-year old Frenchman who was already on my radar a few years back, but unattainable at the time. He's a left-footed central midfielder, but will also be retrained because he really fits the profile of an inverted winger on the right. He joins us from Rio Ave for a mere 425k, a steal in my opinion.

Our third signing so far is a free transfer. Romain Saïss is worth 34 years of experience in the French leagues, the Premier League and the Serie A. He was released by Sassuolo, joins us on a very cheap contract (9.25k p/w) and will provide a solid backup option in central defense. This also means that Jakel will probably leave the club, if the right offer arrives.

Our final signing is a loan from Juve. Fabricio Diaz doesn't come cheap, but he's a great all round option in midfield, with room to grow. We also get an (expensive) option to buy, with Juve having a buy back clause of several millions higher.

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As stated earlier, we barely missed out on Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool, but he chose Fiorentina instead. Although he would have been a great signing, his wage demands were very much in the high side for us, and he would have cost almost 10M. We're also still in talks with a central defender and a versatile midfielder (where we face competition from Wolves), in an attempt to broaden the squad a little for the upcoming European campaign.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Three birds landed in one day! 

First up is our new central defender. Soren Trier is definitely one for the future, but he already has a few standout qualities: Great aerial presence, and some very promising mentals. We paid Viborg FF 2.1M for his services.

 

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Our second signing is someone we known through and through. After two successful loan spells, Maldini joins us on a permanent basis for 4.7M. Young, Italian and can play in multiple positions. What's not to like?

 

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Our third signing is probably the biggest fish. Facundo Farias rejected Wolves and the Premier League to join the Gialloblu! He doesn't come cheap at 7.5M but brings boatloads of technical ability to the club, and has a lot of potential to improve left. 

 

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[DavidBeckham]

Excited to see how Trier develops for you! Looks a great prospect! And Farias looks like an excellent number ten!

[karanhsingh]

You couldn't resist a nice Scandinavian signing could you

[KlaaZ]

3 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

Excited to see how Trier develops for you! Looks a great prospect! And Farias looks like an excellent number ten!

Thanks! I'm just looking at how to best fit Farias into my team. I'm playing with a flat five in midfield, so he'll probably phase out Henrique on the right and occupy the Mez(S) slot there. But it's not set in stone yet.

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

You couldn't resist a nice Scandinavian signing could you

Haha, two even! 😎 they were somewhere in the 50 next wonderkids, which is a list I tend to keep a close eye on. 

The real shame is that after I signed Farias and Trier, a scout report popped up for an 18-year old defender from River who looks downright amazing. But due to lack of budget and the fact that I can't bring in another non-EU player, I missed out. He's currently under bid from City.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Two more players leave the club. Goalkeeper Belman, who we signed for free as a backup, moves to Lazio for 300k. Youngster Dario Sits, who has no future at the club, joins Cagliari in a deal going up to 2.2M.

On the incoming side, we arrange a last minute loan deal for Lukas Schneller, a 22-year old German who seems surplus to requirement at Köln. He's in his final year of contract so if he impresses, we'll offer him a permanent deal in January.

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In other news, the Champions League draw has NOT been kind to us. The money's welcome though, and we now sit on a healthy 35M balance.

 

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[KlaaZ]

The perfect coup.

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[KlaaZ]

Wanted: Goals!

We're still scoring, but it's mostly dead ball situations and penalties. Anderson has yet to hit the back of the net this season, and Lucca is also snatching at his chances..

 

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[KlaaZ]

On 03/06/2022 at 11:04, KlaaZ said:

The real shame is that after I signed Farias and Trier, a scout report popped up for an 18-year old defender from River who looks downright amazing. But due to lack of budget and the fact that I can't bring in another non-EU player, I missed out. He's currently under bid from City.

Transfer news

Scratch the above, we have a deal! The board approached me with the suggestion to improve next season's transfer budget (which was set at 1.7M guarantueed), and I obviously agreed. They gave me 16M to play with for the next campaign, so I went in and made an offer for this fella with his transfer being arranged for next season. Long story short, we can officially welcome Mateo Obregon to the club!

18-years old, but Mateo will go straight into the first time. Either this means that I'll have to start fiddling around with a three at the back system, or someone will have to go. The only downside is that he wanted a release clause, but with it being set at 89M, I'm fairly happy to say that this kid will either stay for a long time (contract until 2029) or make us a boatload of money.

 

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[KlaaZ]

Youth intake preview

Trying to stay calm but holy moly, this actually got me excited. Look at all those A's! Especially happy with the goalkeeper an full back prospects.

[karanhsingh]

Wow Obregon looks great! Excellent find. 

[KlaaZ]

January transfer window

Karansingh will be happy that we once again dive into the scandinavian market, directly and indirectly. 

Our first signing is a relatively risk free one. Daniel Iversen, who was transfer listed at Leicester, joins us for a mere 250k to provide a little more depth in goal, as I'm not entirely sure about Schneller. 

 

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We also manage a real coup as we loan a young German-Greek midfielder from Bayern, with a bargain option of 3M to reign him in permanently. The lad goes by the name of Argyris Katsamakas and could be the natural follow up for Anderson in a few years time. 

 

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Finally, we also make a move for a Danish right winger, fighting off the likes of Valencia and Leipzig in order to secure his signature. Hallvard Rindsem will join us next season from Rosenborg and will probably go straight into the first team. 

 

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[karanhsingh]

Rindsem 

[KlaaZ]

It's not going to happen, but that won't stop them from trying. Both were unhappy at the rejections but I managed to talk them out of it, luckily. Mele is a the biggest prospect form our first youth intake, only 18 but already getting some game time when Lucca is tired. He needs to work on his physicals though.

 

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[KlaaZ]

Not bad. Rindsem and Obregon are also in the top 20.

 

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[john1]

On 04/06/2022 at 22:34, KlaaZ said:

Youth intake preview

Trying to stay calm but holy moly, this actually got me excited. Look at all those A's! Especially happy with the goalkeeper an full back prospects.

Wow Vincent Kompany your HOYD?

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Wow Vincent Kompany your HOYD?

Yeah, forgot to mention that. I first assigned another Belgian, Caers (who is a perfectionist) but when Kompany became available after getting sacked by Anderlecht..

[john1]

11 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Yeah, forgot to mention that. I first assigned another Belgian, Caers (who is a perfectionist) but when Kompany became available after getting sacked by Anderlecht..

What a signing tho Hopefully few Belgian via intakes

[KlaaZ]

30 minutes ago, john1 said:

What a signing tho Hopefully few Belgian via intakes

Will probably do a youth team blog separately after this season, to elaborate a little about the setup and the biggest prospects.

[KlaaZ]

Season's finally over and I for one am glad it is. Update coming soon.

[KlaaZ]

2024-2025: Season overview

Serie A

We started off very well with a six game unbeaten run, five of which were wins, and five cleans sheets. October and November had us tripping though. October was a very nasty month with three league games, away at Roma and and Juve and at home against Inter. We picked up a point in Turin, ironically in the only game of the three were we were not at our best, but lost in Rome and against Inter. Both games were even in terms of xG, but in the end it's only the three points that count.

We had only two league games in November. We stumbled over Bologna at home with a 1-1 draw (in another game we should have won based on the chances), and barely beat Spezia away, once again despite dominating the entire game.

December was a very good month, where form picked up against and we won all of our five games. We ended 2024 on a high, demolishing Lazio 4-0. 

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The winter break came at a very bad time and January was a lot more mixed. We again lost two very even games in Milan and Naples (where we dominated, but again...), beat Torino and Verona at home and picked up a point in Salernitana. February was ok with two wins and two draws, which gave us a comfortable lead over the teams that were chasing us (Lazio, Roma and surprise package Sassuolo). 

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But then we started collapsing... March saw us losing two games, at Inter and at home against Juve, beat Spezia and then draw again against Bologna, again in a game where we played them off the pitch. After losing the next game in Cagliari, we did pick up with three wins in a row. I figured we secured fourth place now but we completely lost it right before the end. We lost against hopelessly last placed Benevento, then lost again against Lazio. A very narrow win against Torino was a relief as our last two games were at home against Milan and Napoli..

The Milanese beat us in what was apparently the game where they could seal the title. This meant that on the last day of the season, we were trailed by three teams who were one or two points behind us. Sassuolo and Lazio played each other, while Roma had an easy game against already relegated Benevento. 

For about 20 minutes, we virtually dropped to sixth place. Sassuolo went 2-0 up against the Romans and AS Roma lead comfortably against Benevento. We were having a hard time against Napoli in a very even game. It took over an hour before Maldini put us ahead right after Lozano missed a one on one with Iversen. When Lucca scored in the 74th, I figured we were good but Lozano pulled one back four minutes later. Luckily, we held on to the narrow lead and secured fourth place, which means another season of European football at the highest level.

 

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Coppa Italia

Better news from the cup. We beat Venezia and Napoli to meet Juventus in the semis. A very impressive 0-3 win in Turin set the basis for a cup final, and we finished it off with an (undeserved) home win as well. 

In the final, we were unlucky to come up against Inter, a team that had been scoring for fun and exceeding their xG all season. We lost 4-1 in a game that was, again, deceptively even. 

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Champions League

Our Champions League debut saw us draw a very tough group with Sporting, Real Madrid and Chelsea. To make matter worse, we lost our opening game against the Portuguese in another absurd fashion (story of the season, right).

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Luckily, we did a complete holdup in Bernabeu to bring home the three points and also picked up a point in London, losing the two other games. This meant that a win in Portugal would see us in third place. A hattrick by Lucca set us up for a narrow 3-2 victory.

We then went out against Borussia Monchengladbach in the first knockout round of the EL, on penalties despite being the better team in both games.

Finances and facilities

Good news on this front. The European campaign puts us well in the green, we're sitting on a 49M balance. We also improved our facilities and managed to convince the board to spend more on junior coaching.

And finally, after having an almost perfect attendance record for two seasons, the board agreed to expand the stadium with a bit over 5.000 seats.

About the squad and performances

Although I should be happy with the campaign, I feel there was more around the corner. We picked up twelve less points than last season, and our goals scored dropped from 79 to 65. Coupled with six goals more conceded, this flat out means that we declined compared to last season, despite being a stronger team. 

Lucca did very well but didn't live up to last season's performances, 'only' scoring 19 times in the league. Anderson saw his goal tally cut in half as well, down from 16 to 7. At the back, Valenti and Araujo also performed slightly worse than last season. And finally, Farias also didn't really live up to expectations. To top that, one of our coaches suggested that he may be having trouble with the pressure of playing professional football. He's also reacting badly when I fine him for poor performances.

All of this means that we may have to reinvent ourselves tactically. But there's also good news. Our young Swedish winger Ali Kadhim did well enough on the left flank and has been improving significantly. Trier has been a mixed bag in terms of improving, but his performances were good. Jessy Deminguet, signed for only 425k, has been excellent on the right wing as a replacement for Man, and we also have a young player from the academy slowly breaking into the first team.

Next up will be an overview of the youth setup, the last intake and the best prospects, both from the academy and the ones we picked up from abroad.

[KlaaZ]

Sad news, but he really wanted to leave and considering his influence on the rest of the group, I had no choice. I'll be looking to bring a replacement in or, if that doesn't work out, change the system and play Farias up front.

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