[FM23] Ports of Call

[_Ben_]

On 24/03/2023 at 00:45, keeper#1 said:

The Milan job has become available and like @_Ben_ I'm going all in for the job.  If this falls through, hopefully something opens up after the World Cup.

I mean, come on, I've won everywhere I've been.  Gimme me the job, MIlan!

Cracking move! Went all in for it and rewarded with it.

Out of interest - where is this screen from?!

[keeper#1]

16 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Cracking move! Went all in for it and rewarded with it.

Out of interest - where is this screen from?!

Dynamic Manager Timeline. In the lower right corner, there’s an expandable table which read “major trophies/major awards.”  When you click on it, it shows everything that the manager has won. 

[keeper#1]

Reshaping the Milan Roster - Summer 2030 Moves

Milan Roster when I took over

It's an old roster.  10 players aged 30 or over.  Players on high salaries and the younger reserve players are either not good enough for Serie A or not ready for Serie A.  A serious overhaul over the next few windows is definitely needed.

We moved a lot of players out including some of the older players and brought in a lot of younger players in their place.  On deadline day, I brought in a familiar face from Wolfsburg.  There are few more Wolfsburg players on the roster who came over on loan as well.  Roberto Zars is an interesting deal because he's on a loan with an option to buy so I needed to keep some transfer funds available so we can buy him at the end of the season which is why he's included in the transfers in.  What does our roster look like now?

Updated Roster

Now, we only have six players aged 30 or over.  The new blood on the roster is on the verge of breaking out and pushing the older players for a starting place.  It's not a roster built to win Serie A this season but to win it in 2032-33 or later.  This season is about development and growing the young players.  We brought in three Wolfsburg players in on loan.  Christian Mosegaard, a right winger who I really like.  He produces when he's in the lineup.  Just need to stay on the pitch and not in the physio room.  Filip Hottek, a midfielder who can play in a variety of roles.  Brandon Lopez, a true out and out goal scorer.  Three good players from a good team and players that are already familiar with how I play.

Permanent Signings

My strategy, in this window, is to get young overlooked talent from Italian clubs.  

We started with Ivan Jedvaj, a midfielder from Fiorentina.  He is a prime candidate to take over from Bruno Fernandes next season when his 37-year old body finally started to catch up to him on the pitch.  He was probably going to be a rotation option at Fiorentina but he was more willing to take more of a back-up role at Milan because it's Milan.  I'm going to use the pull that this club still has to bring in talent to refresh the lineup.

Alberto Palermo is a left back who is older than Jedvaj but will play a similar role.  He's a player that will be ready to take over for Theo Hernandez should Hernandez want to leave for a club that plays Champions League football.  We should have enough talent on the roster to get us back into the Champions League but sometimes the players don't have the patience to see a project out especially when they are 32 years old.  That type of player doesn't want to be part of a rebuild.

Ryan Bell is a center back who replaces Fiyako Tomori who left us for Aston Villa.  Bell is much younger than Tomori.  While, we take a small step back in ability between Tomori and Bell.  We get a player who is nearly a decade younger and will grow into the player that Tomori is right now.

Goalkeeper Stefano Turati is a direct replacement for Mike Miagnan who left us for Juventus.  Another player who is of similar quality but is a younger player.

Utility wing forward Pascal Pause will be a good depth option for us especially some players like Bruno Fernandes or Lazar Samardzic either get old or want to leave the club in search of higher quality football.

Young center back Ivan Gagic is a highly touted prospect from Paritzan.  He comes to us to play as a reserve center back for next couple years before pushing for a starting role as the current center back pairing age or he slides in as Ryan Bell's center back partner.  A player with a lot of promise.

Quality reserve goalkeeping is a hole for the club.  Alessandro Adessa is a goalkeeper for the Italian U21 team and has a bright future.  Another player brought in to be part of the younger core that I'm attempting to develop at the club.

Midfielder Eyup Aydin is a player that I'm familiar with from my time at Wolfsburg.  He can play in a variety of roles providing us with a lot of tactical flexibility and depth at a position that could rapidly age this season or next.  He's a good bridge player between the older midfielders and the young players coming up into more prominent roles.

 

[keeper#1]

Start of Season-October International Break

Quick update on the start of the season.  Milan is going through a lot of growing pains as the players get adjusted to each other and I figure out which roles work best for the players to play to their maximum abilities.

 

[keeper#1]

2030-31 Midseason Update

After a shaky start, we got our footing and started to string together some results.  I tried to surprise Juventus and Napoli with a switch back to a 4-3-3 formation which has a little more defensive stability than the 4-2-3-1 formation we primarily use.  It got us a surprise result against Juventus and we battled with Napoli but could not find the tying goal that we needed to earn a point.  The most disappointing match was the 2-2 draw against Empoli as we gave away the lead.  That said, we are doing well and starting to build something for the future.

The board wants Champions League football next season.  While, I'm trying to reshape the roster into something of a longer term contender.  Right now, we aren't the Champions League quality team that they desire.  Getting younger on defense has left us a little shaky at the back and we lack the consistent goalscorer to overcome the lack of defense at times.  We are still a very solid team but we are missing a few pieces to make us a Champions League caliber team.  The Europa League is a good goal for us next season.  We should do well there and it would give me a chance to rotate some of the younger players into the squad to get them more developmental playing time.

Defender of the First Half: CB Mario Gila - Gila has been our best defender in the first half of the season.  The opposition can not beat him in the tackle (100% tackles won).  He's a little weak in the air but his tackling ability more than makes up for his lack of ability in the air.  He has had to be strong in the tackle with left back Theo Hernandez missing a good chunk of the season thus far.  A good solid player who should help in stabilizing our Europa League place for next season and maybe push for the Champions League.

Midfielder of the First Half: LW Lazar Samardzic - I've used Samardzic as an advanced playmaker out on the left wing this season.  He has responded by being one of our chief playmakers carving out nearly a chance per 90 minutes while making just over two key passes from open play per 90 minutes.  That playmaking ability has made our top assist man with four in the first half of the season.  I'd like to see that number to be a little higher in the second half.

Forward of the First Half: AM/SS Bruno Fernandes - The 36-year old Fernandes has thrived in the shadow striker role in the first half.  He has scored a team-leading nine goals while leading the team in shots per 90 minutes at just under four (3.93).  He has really surprised me this season.  I was not expecting this level of goalscoring from him at his advanced age.  I was expecting him to provide some senior leadership on the field while creating chances for others on the teams and bagging the occasional goal.  He has been one of the top goalscoring threats in the league.

I'd like to make some improvements to the team but right now those improvements are going to have to involve selling some bench players first and then bringing in younger talent that has loads of room to develop.  We just don't have the finances to make big moves in the winter.

[keeper#1]

After a tactical shift back to my trusted 4-3-3, we stabilized into what looks like a 6th place and a trip to the Europa League next season.  I need to give the 4-2-3-1 tactic a rethink in the offseason.  It was just too leaky for my liking.

[keeper#1]

Meeting Survival

After not qualifying for the Champions League, I got called in for a pair for very tense meetings with the board.  I pleaded that the club needed stability and they agreed.  WHEW!

[keeper#1]

2030-31 Season Review

Even though, I was pleased with the 6th place finish.  It was improvement over last year's 8th place finish and it got us into European competition in the form of the Europa League.  The board and the fans were not happy because it is not the Champions League AND we finished behind Inter Milan on the table.  I had to beg to keep my job three different times at the close of the season.  The only reason I kept my job was I convinced the board that another period of instability, by firing me, would only hurt the club.  They agreed and I'm able to stay in Milan to the start the season.  I know a slow start will only ratchet the heat up on my seat again.  Like a smart manager, I've got one eye on what jobs are available while managing the Milan squad.

I like mentioned earlier, I switched back to the 4-3-3 formation that I used at Wolfsburg because I needed the defensive stability that it brings.  After the switch and the squad got used to the new formation, the results came.  The only losses, in the new formation, came against regional rivals Genoa and league champion Juventus.  The downside to the formation was a lot of draws immediately after the switch.  We had a stretch of 11 games unbeaten in league play but six of those results were draws.  If we turn some of those wins into draws, we are battling Inter for 4th place and a spot in the Champions League not finishing in 6th place and going to the Europa League.

Defender of the Year - CB Mario Gila: Gila dropped off from his first-half of the season form but still did enough to earn the Defender of the Year honors.  A major red flag in his game is his inability to win headers.  He only won them at 63% clip.  I'd like that number to be above 70%.  On the flip side, he is the best tackler on the team winning 89% of the tackles.  An elite level in an elite league.  Defense is one of the bright spots for the team and Gila has the potential to be that veteran voice in a solid backline for the 2031-32 season.

Midfielder of the Year - LW Lazar Samardzic: Samardzic thrived in the switch to the 4-3-3 formation. He created a team-high 15 assists most of which came in the second half of the season.  He did an excellent job of creating just over one chance per game (1.07) and nearly three key passes per game (2.97).  He helped lead an inconsistent and, at times, injury-riddled offense through the second half of the season.

Forward of the Year - CF Rafael Leao: The 31-year old Leao was one of those players who, when healthy, was our best goalscorer this season.  His problem was he scored in bunches.  If he got one goal early, he could be in line to get a hat trick.  If he didn't score early, he was an aimless leader of the forward line.  His other problem was injuries.  Nothing major but the type of injury that would keep him out for two to three weeks at a time.  A good player who had the potential to be a great player.  Much like Milan over the past couple of seasons.

Summer Transfer Thoughts

After a second straight season not playing in the Champions League, some of the players are wanted to leave the club to go play Champions League football.  I'm not going to actively transfer list them but I'm not going to stand in their way should an offer come in for their services.  My reasoning: they are still good players who can help the club in our goal of reaching the Champions League and they are on high wages so I'm not expecting teams to beat down the door for their services since they don't want to pay their wage bill.  On the incoming side, I'd to upgrade the midfield since we lack depth at that position.  I'm going to make the loan deal for Roberto Zara permanent because he's Italian and will help our nationality/home-grown numbers there.  I'd like to Christian Mosegaard but that is not likely due to finances.  I've got some similar players who had a successful season out on loan last season so I'd like to give them first crack at the position before going to players from the outside.  Should we get some player sales, I'll be more active in the incoming transfer market but, at present, we need to sell before we can buy. 

[keeper#1]

And I've survived a fourth meeting with the board since the end of last season.  I will seriously be looking at the job market as the season goes on.  These meetings are getting very frustrating.

[keeper#1]

It just never clicked for me at Milan.  I stepped down in-season before a fifth board meeting could be called.

[keeper#1]

New Job.  Familiar country.  

The town of Leverkusen has a small river port (can moor up to five cargo ships).  Perfect for a manager looking to restabilize his career and hoping that a bigger port will come calling for him again.

[_Ben_]

Oooh! I was about to ask earlier where you had eyes for! The absolute right call to move on if you aren't enjoying life there. How have Bayern fared since the game started?

[keeper#1]

39 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Oooh! I was about to ask earlier where you had eyes for! The absolute right call to move on if you aren't enjoying life there. How have Bayern fared since the game started?

Bayern have won six of the nine possible titles.  Leipzig two and my Wolfsburg squad has one.  Dortmund have been the massive underachievers in this save.  Hertha spend a lot of money but don't have thing, domestically, to show for it.

[rich ruzzian]

Interesting move. Really invested to see what the AI has made of the squad. 

[keeper#1]

No updates until at least April 16.  Going on a Easter holiday.