Fantasista10

Unbelievable run in the UCL mate, very unfortunate to lose on penalties. Perhaps it was just one big team too many. But can take a lot of confidence and belief from those results and performances though, certainly something to build on! Congrats on sealing another top 3 finish too. For a club like Vigo, it’s a huge achievement. And a decent size transfer budget for next year, I’m interested to see who you bring in!

Fantastic results against Real Madrid! Couldn’t help but notice João Rêgo scoring the winner in the away leg - he has established himself as a big game player for me. He seems to be humming along nicely for you looking at his stats as well. And Bartesaghi looks to be developing superbly at left back, what a player. Keep up the good work mate, you look on course to have another successful season in the top 3, and maybe, just maybe, you can cause another upset vs Liverpool! I’ll give you my notes on how I beat them if you like (kidding, because just like you, I’ve no idea how I did it )

The Run In May 2026 We kicked off the Run In with a convincing away win against Empoli, albeit it was a 1-0 scoreline but we really hammered them. A nice confidence booster going into the big fixture… PSG (A) - UEFA Champions League Semi Final 2nd Leg Absolute heartbreak in Paris. We narrowly lost 1-0 on the night, with PSG’s goal coming courtesy of a moment of brilliance from Ousmane Dembele, but with the scores still level on aggregate, we took them to Extra Time before falling at the final hurdle: the penalty shootout. The stats will show that PSG were marginally better than us, but to be honest we held our own. Of course I am disappointed with the outcome, especially to lose it on penalties, but I’ve got to be happy with our UCL campaign. We didn’t win it, but we still made history by getting this far. And we had some memorable victories at the Gewiss Stadium, beating both Liverpool and PSG. The boys had to put the Champions League heartbreak to one side and pick themselves up again as we were still in the hunt for the title. Roma (H) On paper this had the potential to be a bit of a banana skin. Roma, although hovering around mid table, still have some top players who can cause problems for any side. Luckily for us however, the likes of Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini were completely omitted from their squad for this game - no idea why! That certainly made things a little easier for us, but I wasn’t expecting to batter them in this manner… Scoring four goals and restricting the opposition to just 0.11xG is very satisfying. Unfortunately for us though, Milan’s thrashing of Palermo meant that they were now just one win away from clinching the title. Look away now @El Payaso... Poor old Palermo have been hit for 10 on two occasions this season now. Our record victory lasted less than 5 months! This once again show the powerhouse that we are having to compete with at the moment. Will Milan drop points in their final two games? And more importantly, can we take advantage if they do? Here we go then, the penultimate day of the season and Milan are out to clinch the title away to Hellas Verona. If you were a betting man, your money would certainly be on Red & Black. It would be pointless thinking about their game however, as we had a pretty big battle of our own… Inter Milan (A) It was 3rd vs 2nd in the league but with Inter now seven points adrift of their city rivals, they were playing for the runners up spot. For us, it was simply about winning our game and hoping Milan dropped points. Adamo Nagalo bagged a rare goal, from an indirect free kick, to claim all three points in what was a pretty tight game. Overall I was pleased with the performance away to such a strong defensive team. So we held up our end of the bargain but, and to be honest this was really annoying and demoralising, Milan actually played BEFORE us, and therefore I already knew the outcome… and of course, they had beaten Verona in the earlier game. The dream of a back to back Scudetto was over then. I can’t say I’m surprised, as we never really looked or felt like a title winning side this season. There was far too much inconsistency in our performances and you can’t have that if you are competing with a team as good as Milan. In a way it feels like trying to compete with Manchester City in the Premier League. How close have the likes of Liverpool pushed them over the years, and only won the title once! At least the victory over Inter confirmed our 2nd place finish in the league, which means we have finished in the top two in all three seasons of this save so far - not bad going. The final day of the season was no longer an important game, but a good chance to give some other players an opportunity. Torino (H) Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side have proven to be a tricky opponent on occasion, so it was satisfying to beat them pretty convincingly here and give the likes of Pafundi and Arda Guler starts. Pafundi took full advantage of his opportunity, with his fierce shot from outside the box sealing the victory for us. Another dominant performance at home, restricting the opponent to just 3 shots, worth a total of 0.27xG. The results from this month show that we did all we could, unfortunately Milan did just as well and kept their noses in front. —— All in all, Season 3 was a good campaign. Of course I have bemoaned our inconsistency, but our performance in Europe is what has given me the greatest encouragement. It is of course disappointing to finish the season without a trophy, for the first time in this save. However, we reached the Semi Final of the Coppa Italia, losing on penalties. We finished 2nd in Serie A to a great Milan side. And we reached the Semi Final of the Champions League - a record for the club, again losing on penalties. I can’t be too harsh on the team. Focussing on our domestic campaign, here is the final league classification: We finish the season with 87pts, just three shy of the league winners. The most interesting stat that jumped out to me is that we only lost 3 games. The fewest defeats in the league. Even more surprising, it was one less defeat than our title winning campaign last season! The difference being last year we only drew 4 games, winning 30, and this time around we drew far too many, 9 in total. We had the 2nd best attack, and the 2nd best defence, so I guess we can’t complain about finishing second best. Milan dominated in pretty much every metric, unsurprisingly. From a player’s perspective, there could only be one player who topped the charts: the born again Advanced Forward, Gianluca Scamacca. What a season he had, after torrid start too. The change of his role, and simplification of our tactical setup, really helped us to get the best out of him. Gianluca also finished the season with 12 assists in all competitions, making his total G/A 42 in 51 appearances. The only other player in the squad to hit double figures for both Goals and Assists, is without doubt our signing of the season, João Rêgo. The Wonderkid added 10 goals to his 13 assists, leading the charts for that metric, in a really impressive debut season. Given the fact 23 of his 45 appearances came off the bench, I’m even more impressed. He demonstrated that he can deliver from the start, as well as being a useful impact player. Taking a look at some stats and performance metrics, the General Performance view shows that we were considerably better than the league average where it matters: putting the ball in their net, and keeping it out of ours. I’m happy with our Non Penalty xG being considerably higher than our xG Against - a hallmark of any good side. Some of my favourite metrics from the Data Hub can be seen below. The one which I keep a keen eye on is Pitch Tilt. Basically a chart that measures your territorial dominance. It shows that we play lots of passes in the opposition’s final third, while allowing very few passes in ours. If you have a high Pitch Tilt, chances are you are dominating the majority of your football matches. Overall, we look to be performing well across a number of important metrics. The season review picked out a few moments to remember, most notably that emphatic win over Palermo. It’s just a shame Milan went and beat them 10-0! Both our leading goal scorer and leading assister broke club records this season, with Scamacca also winning the most Player of the Match awards. No surprises that is was a Milan player who won the Serie A Player of the Year Award. Chukwueze contributed to 22 goals in 29 league appearances for the Champions. It was our goalkeeper though, Carnesecchi, who won the ‘keeper award. I was actually surprised he only made 26 appearances, but then I remembered I was rotating between him and Juan Musso at the start of the season, before selling Musso in January. And of course he also picked up an injury around Feb/March. We did manage to get two players in the Team of the Year, Caleb Okoli had a very solid season at centre back. He’s improved immensely, especially the technical aspect of his game, and physically he has to be one of the quickest and strongest defenders in the division. —— Next Season As I write this, my mind is already thinking about how to approach next season. The objectives lined out by the board are attainable. I can definitely see us challenging again next year, of course I’d like to go one better and win it again, but as a minimum we need to be in the top 2/3 positions. But aside from breaking the bank to look for ways to improve an already strong squad, how can I go one better? Maybe it’s time for a tactical change? I don’t mean another little tweak to my 4-3-3 setup, but maybe something a little more drastic this time. It’s not necessarily because I’ve lost faith in the 4-3-3, it’s still been successful. But I am getting a little bored of it, and somewhat frustrated with it as a defensive shape. So if you can’t beat em, join em? Unai Emery has had great success with his 4-2-4 shape, pushing us almightily close last year in his first season, and winning it quite comfortably this year. Given that Milan had wrapped up the title before we even played our penultimate game away to Inter, I had a “what do we have to lose moment” and changed it up for that massive fixture: So our shape resembled Milan’s 4-2-4, both in and out of possession. They also deploy an IFB and IWB, and this is something we have done for some time now in our 4-3-3 and I wasn’t prepared to move away from that. Therefore our in possession principles remain largely intact. We create a 3-2-5 shape using the exact same roles and duties for the 3-2 base. It’s the construction of our front 5 that has changed completely, though. Where Fagioli or Ederson would have previously lined up as a MEZ(S), we now drop them into the DM strata, but as a Segundo Volante, which will move further forward and join the attack. To the left of the SV, we have a Winger on Attack, providing the width on that side as the IWB tucks in. Ahead, there is a DLF on Support, who will drop in and link up with the SV, and should have plenty of space due to the winger on that side stretching the defence. It is here, on the left side, where will probably create the majority of chances from. There is an intentional overload created here, with the IWB, SV, DLF and Winger all combining on this side, with the hope of dragging defenders over, before we play a pass into our Advanced Forward who should hopefully have fewer defenders to deal with. On the right, I will use an IW on Support, with the added instruction to stay wider. This should open up more space for the Advanced Forward - our main goal threat. This isn’t strictly just theory, I’ve used it in the games against Inter and Torino, and was pleased with how it worked. I won’t ditch our 4-3-3 entirely, it will most likely still be trained in one of the three tactics slots, but I do plan on giving the 4-2-4 some more game time during Pre-Season. —— Looking ahead to the future… Of course building a new stadium should be seen as good news - but spending 76m on a ground which has only 9,000 extra seats (roughly), doesn’t seem to make much sense? I’d imagine the new stadium will be built with the option to expand it further, how much I don’t know, but I do imagine that in the interim, our purse strings may be a little tighter than before. —— Thanks for reading and engaging in this thread. Next time it’s Season 4, and the Goddess wants her crown back! #GoAtalantaGo

What a reaction to the Madrid and Barcelona games. Benfica aside, it seems like you’ve been pretty much flawless. There is something weird about facing 10 men at times. The same happened to me on my save when I played Milan. They were 1-0 up, went a player down, we equalised, but they were still the better side! Maybe the game requires us to be more aggressive in those situations. Not sure what you did, but I didn’t really change anything as I just imagined the extra man would make a difference. Impressive UCL campaign too, hoping for a favourable draw if you go via the Playoffs.

Thank you! Sure, here is the current Palermo squad with my DNA view. Not sure how helpful that is since I don’t have full scouting knowledge on all their players. If you prefer, this is the General Info view. Good luck with your save. They’re battling away in the relegation places in mine, but their squad isn’t the best as you can see.

Thanks! I think the story around Atalanta is what made this save so attractive and you're right about the players. For example, if I hadn't been able to trigger De Ketelaere's option to buy, who knows where this save might have gone! Thank you mate. It definitely feels like we are working towards something big, but the inconsistency has been a source of great frustration for me. Certainly not giving up, this team is young and has the potential to dominate for years to come. Thank you! You may be right actually. He didn't do great initially as an AF in Season 1, but that could have been down to loads of factors such as Team Familiarity etc. Right now though, he's banging them in so I certainly won't be changing the role! Thanks mate, and welcome back btw, looking forward to the updates on your thread It is incredibly difficult. I'm having to give players 1-2 days rest from training after each game. Scalvini, Okoli and Scamacca have been in need of rest for about 6 months...you can rest when you retire, lads! But it's to be expected if we run out of steam, I do have a good squad but it's not as deep as Milan's - who are now out of the UCL and Coppa Italia, and Inter do not have any European competition this year so have benefited from playing one game a week basically (which I forgot to mention in my post, so thanks for reminding me of that!).

Wow, he is developing into a beast! Don't you just love those green arrows Do you tailor training plans out of curiosity? I'm sure playing regular football at this level is a key driving force for his progress too.

I think your assessment here is completely understandable, and after all, you watch the games and can come to this conclusion. But if I can add my two cents: I think you've had a great first half of the season, purely based on where Palermo should be. Sometimes stats, especially midway through the season, can be misleading and don't tell the full story. My only piece of advice is to be wary of changing too much as it can have an adverse affect on performances/familiarity but I'm sure you know this already. If you were to stick with the same system (and principles) you may find performances improve to match the results and over achievement to this date. Errors are part of football, even from top players, so it's something promoted sides will always have an issue with unfortunately. Over time try looking for players with high levels of Concentration and Composure, and avoid those who 'Dread Playing in Big Matches'. Superb work though, mate - I'm really enjoying this thread and your graphics / presentation makes it a beautiful read!

Just catching up on this - a great job as always, especially with the transfers. It's not easy to lose your best players year after year and maintain that consistency, so to be where you are still in the league is very impressive... and after that brutal month you just had too. Bartesaghi is a player I had an eye on in my save at one point, but a bid didn't materialise in the end. So I'm all the more interested to see how he does for you. Keep up the good work!

Dare To Dream? February 2026 The shortest month of the year packed the most games in as we played every three days in February across all three competitions. Despite that challenge, it proved to be a really successful month. We started with a comfortable victory over Roma in the Coppa Italia. The Giallorossi didn’t lay a glove on us and it felt like we barely had to get out of first gear, courtesy of two goals from the in-form Scamacca. Another 2-0 victory followed, with a nice win on the road against Verona. Scamacca was the hero again, with another brace in this one. He really is thriving in his new role. Speaking of new roles, as I prepared to take on Verona’s stubborn back five, I had an idea of changing the IFB role to a slightly more adventurous, Full Back on Support. No added PIs, just letting him pick and choose his moments to tuck in, sit back, or go on the overlap. And it worked a treat. It’s probably the closest you can get to an IFB, whilst also providing an extra body in attack against a parked bus. Our average positions (above) at half time resembled a 2-3-5 albeit #5 (Full Back) is a little bit wider, but this is good - I want him to play closer to the Winger on Attack, and create a 2vs1 against Verona’s wingback on that side. It’s a little bit like what Ben White does for Arsenal, supporting Saka with overlapping runs, but not exactly an out and out wingback either, and capable of tucking in to create a back three or midfield three depending on the situation. In the Champions League Play Off Round, we were drawn against Bayer Leverkusen, the team who FM’d us (undeserved 1-0 win) not too long ago in the League Phase. Revenge was on the cards, and in the end it was a humiliating 5-1 defeat for Xabi Alonso’s side. There was some bad news during this impressive win, however. Our No.1 keeper broke his hand during the game, and would be sidelined for 4-5 weeks. We just sold Musso, and I opted to sign an average keeper to play backup, since I expected Marco to play every game, and he gets injured. Typical isn’t it? Plizarri will now have to prove his doubters wrong, and show he’s more than just a backup. Returning to Serie A action, there was a big game to be played at the Gewiss, with more revenge on the cards. In the pre-match press conference, a reporter reminded me that we have failed to score against Alex Meret in our last three outings. Our record against Napoli, not just their shot stopper, has been woeful since the start of this save: September 2023: Napoli 1-0 Atalanta January 2024: Atalanta 1-1 Napoli August 2024: Napoli 1-0 Atalanta February 2025: Atalanta 0-1 Napoli September 2025: Napoli 1-0 Atalanta In a total of five games against them so far, we have failed to win any of them, and only scoring once, in a draw, having lost the other four games by the same 1-0 scoreline. We had our customary 1-0 away defeat earlier this season, so it was incredibly pleasing to be able to enact some revenge on Gli Azzurri - despite the referee doing his best to ruin the spectacle. My entire backline were booked in the first half, with five fouls resulting in four yellows, whilst the Napoli players escaped without a single booking. The scoreline reflected our excellent performance, even if the stats do not do us justice. We truly dominated them, creating some really good chances in the process, with three beautiful open play goals. Ederson was terrific, he bagged himself two assists along with 11 progressive passes. Most of our good attacking play went through him, and he is making the most of his opportunities after complaining about a lack of game time. I’ve no idea how they managed to amass an xG of 1.21, they never really threatened and 6 of their 10 attempts were from distance. A huge win, and hopefully a turning point in this rivalry, which will give us even more confidence and belief in this difficult title race. More good news for us was that Milan dropped points after a 3-3 draw away to the 10 men of Bologna. Robbie Keane’s men are proving a tricky side to play against. This allowed us to leapfrog them in the table. However, we remained in 2nd due to Inter having played two more games than us at this point. Next up we had to go to Germany and play the 2nd Leg against Leverkusen, which was tough. As expected they came out the blocks and gave everything. However, we were fairly comfortable, after going 1-0 down we responded well in the 2nd half, before two late goals sealed victory for them on the night, but it wasn’t enough for Xabi’s side. So for the first time in this save, we go through to the Last 16 of the Champions League! The draw, however, was not particularly kind to us: The defending champions, Liverpool, were another team which we came up against (and failed to beat) in the League Phase. Returning to league action, and Lazio away felt like a tough game on paper, particularly with little recovery time from the midweek UCL game. Even though we were able to rest 2/3 players, the boys were getting a little leggy. Several players starting to get fatigued and in need of rest, so I was fearful that Simone Inzaghi’s side could take advantage of that. In the end, it was another superb away performance. Yes, they had 13 shots and in the end amassed 1.14xG but we were very good value for the win. As much as I’d love to restrict all my opponents to less than 0.50xG a game, it’s simply not realistic. The good news is we are creating chances for fun, and CDK is becoming our very own Cole Palmer, tucking away every penalty with supreme confidence (I’ve probably jinxed him now). The Quarter Final of the Coppa Italia put us up against Napoli (in typical FM fashion, having just recently played them in the league). It was another comfortable victory over Brendan Rodgers, that’s now two wins from two against his Napoli side. Given how comfortable we were in the 3-0 league win, I opted to rotate my entire back line, with Ranieri, Renan and Djimsiti coming in, and Nagalo rotating with Holm at right back which has become a regular occurrence. Scamacca of course continued his fine goal scoring form. He is on course to have his most prolific season for the club, being just a few goals shy of his best record, and we’re still in February! Up next was the second most difficult fixture on the calendar after Milan away… Milan at home. A bizarre game, but the 1-1 result was difficult to argue against. They went 1-0 up early on, Rafa Leao bending a shot towards the far post from the edge of the box. Plizarri didn’t cover himself in glory, as we appeared to be sorely missing our first choice keeper. It didn’t take us too long to find the leveller, a nice passing sequence which saw João Rêgo put it on a plate for our in-form striker, Scamacca to beat Maignan in a 1v1. And then suddenly Milan were down to 10 men after just 26 minutes - Zaniolo, who we came so close to signing, completely losing his head. Unfortunately we couldn’t capitalise on the man advantage, and Milan’s change in shape after the red, going from a 4-2-4 to a 4-2-1-2 actually caused us more problems, particularly on the counter attack, with direct balls over the top to their pacey strikers. A draw was a fair result, we may have had more shots and accumulated a higher xG but we didn’t do enough against 10 men in my opinion. Unai Emery was certainly the happier man on the dugout at full time, an impressive away performance considering their circumstances. So we dropped points in our three-way fight for the title, with Inter Milan the real winners from this one. We have a way to go still, but this title race is starting to resemble the one we are currently seeing in the Premier League IRL with Arsenal, Liverpool and City - three top sides with very little between them. At the end of the month, our in form centre forward picked up the Player of the Month award after scoring 4 from 4. March 2026 As you can see, we kicked off March with a bang. Who would have seen this result coming? When we drew Liverpool I had zero expectation of getting through, so to beat them 4-1 is the stuff of dreams. And it was thoroughly deserved too as the stats and xG show. The best night in Atalanta’s Champions League history? It might well be. But just as the FM Gods gave La Dea a night to remember, they tooketh away. Juventus love a late goal against us it seems. Two injury time goals to draw 2-2 earlier in the season, and now two late goals to beat us at The Allianz. It was from a set piece as well which makes it even more infuriating. A direct free kick was pushed back into play by Plizarri, the ball then gets nodded back into the box into the path of Colombo who scored after initially being flagged offside. These are the margins. And it was a real gut punch. The loss to Juve ended our 20 game unbeaten run. As we prepared for the second leg at Anfield, the round of UCL matches on the Tuesday provided somewhat of a shock. In case you needed further proof of the mammoth task we face in Italy…Milan have knocked out Man City with a 5-4 aggregate win! They’re playing at such a high level right now and with the squad they have, they are capable of competing on both fronts. Back to our game on the European main stage, and we got the job done, in incredibly impressive fashion. A 0-0 at Anfield in a UCL knock out was an unbelievable achievement, given the quality in their side. How many times have we seen Liverpool, with the crowd behind them, annihilate teams? But not La Dea, she is made of sterner stuff it seems. We didn’t give them a sniff, and against all odds, progress to the Quarter Final of the Champions League! And the draw, it seemed, was somewhat favourable to us. The only downside being that if we do get the better of Leipzig, we will face the winner of AC Milan / PSG. Two teams who are very capable of beating us, one which we are all too familiar with. The Importance of Squad Rotation: I’ve started to implement a rule of rotating a maximum of 4 players per game. I actually had the idea of doing so after watching Arsenal play at home to Luton IRL. Arteta made four changes to the side, and the Gunners were able to maintain enough rhythm to get a comfortable result. 3-4 is a good number I feel, it enables you to rotate and rest some key players, without completely destroying your team’s cohesion. So with the rest of this month’s fixtures being quite favourable, it was a good opportunity to do just that. Facing lowly Genoa at home gave me the chance to rest a few players after the trip to the northwest of England. It’s always nice when a rotated side gets the job done emphatically like this. One of the players who won’t get much rest is Scamacca, he is just in too good form to take out the side. Instead of rotating him out, I look to take him off after 60-70 minutes when the game looks to be in our control. He scored from the spot against Genoa, after Fagioli missed from 12 yards earlier in the game, and continued his fine scoring form in the next game against Parma, with a brace away from home. We did eventually give him a break against Salernitana at home, and luckily we didn’t need to bring him off the bench as who else, but João Rêgo, scored two. I am starting to get a little worried about the form of Scamacca’s backup, Esposito. He has now failed to score since the 6th December, where he netted a brace against Monza. In fairness, it’s been 13 appearances, of which only one has been a start (Salerintana). Weirdly, Esposito performed far better in the Target Man/Deep Lying Forward role on Support, than he is in the AF role, which is a polar opposite of Scamacca. I’m not too keen on changing the role for when Esposito plays, just to get more out of him, because it could have an adverse effect on the team as a whole, which is performing really well. Taking a look at the League Standings at the end of March, with everyone finally on equal games played, it’s incredibly tight at the top. Just eight games to go at this point, and it really is shaping up to be a title race for the ages! Time would tell if we could maintain the push… A brief look at the player stats at the end of the month, and you can see how Scamacca really is a born again striker, thriving in the Advanced Forward role. Our next top scorer by comparison, is CDK, who has 12 goals to his name. Our Portuguese wonderkid, João Rêgo, leads the assists chart. Squad Evolution: Working with what we have I spoke about rotation, one player who is starting to see more game time, is Robert Renan. Initially signed to play as a backup Libero to Scalvini, due to the young Italian’s importance to the side, he was yet to start a game all season. Now with the slight tweak to our roles, the Libero is now a BPD, and the IWB tucks in to form our 3-2 base. Due to his technical quality, and useful player traits such as ‘Switches Ball to Other Flank’, I had the idea of retraining him as a left back, to play in the IWB role. This meant moving Luca Ranieri into the backup BPD role, which he is more than comfortable with. April 2026 As we were hitting form just in time for the final 8 games in a three-way title race, our opponents unfortunately had other plans in April. We began the penultimate month of the season with Robbie Keane’s Bologna visiting Bergamo. I was asked in the pre-match presser what I thought about Keane’s perceived overachievement with Bologna, who were 5th, and punching well above their weight. I was complementary, especially as they gave us a good game in the 0-0 earlier in the season. And I was right to praise them, they’re a really good side. Their use of a double Volante in midfield and two standard full backs with inside forwards ahead, proves to be a tricky system to deal with. It didn’t help that our first choice left back, Ruggeri, was suspended for this one, and the goal came from that left hand side which he probably would have dealt with. It’s difficult to say it, but we do not look like potential champions right now. Suddenly Bologna have become our bogey team, after another disappointing draw and lacklustre performance, we’ve taken just 2pts out of a possible 6 against them. Even more frustrating given that Milan won 2-0 away at Inter in the Derby della Madonnina. Keen to get back to winning ways, our trip to Leipzig looked even more daunting as both my left backs Ruggeri, and Renan in his new role, have picked up injuries right before the game, making our list of first team absentees five-strong. The left back position proved to be a problem area. Moving Luca Ranieri back out to left back in the IWB role, was an option, but one which he isn’t really suited to. So Nagalo went over to the left, and didn’t have the best of games, giving away a penalty to make matters worse. Defeat in Leipzig, but taking their penalty away, they managed just 0.73xg which is virtually the same as our 0.70xg. Things got a lot worse from here though. A shock defeat to Cremonese, and our hopes of lifting the title begin to look rather slim at this point. Just when I thought we were back, our up and down, inconsistent season, reared its ugly head once again. I can’t say it was bad luck, they put us under a good amount of pressure. It’s weird how our toughest games have come against Bologna and Cremonese, of all teams. Finally, after three games, I had the satisfaction of winning a game again. We overturned our 2-1 deficit in Germany, with a dominant display against Leipzig. Maybe I should put all my eggs in the shiny Champions League basket at this point? …or not? A daunting task lay ahead of us as we drew Le PSG in the Semi Final. Regardless of what happens, this proud club from Bergamo has made history at least - we are Champions League Semi Finalists for the first time in their history, besting the 2019/2020 side who reached the 1/4 Final in the COVID-19 bubble. A routine 3-1 victory followed in the league as we pray for a miracle in our attempts to retain the Scudetto. The up and down Dea then suffered fefeat in the Coppa Italia on penalties to Napoli. We weren’t at full strength it must be said, as we had our eyes focused on the Serie A and UCL instead. We could take some joy from Milan’s 6-0 thrashing to Lazio though! Perhaps that could damage their morale a little? Here’s hoping. As we prepared for the final league game of the month, the old title race email popped into the mail box. The fixtures actually look pretty even for all, everyone facing three teams in the bottom half - but it’s the penultimate game of the season which could have huge ramifications: Inter vs Atalanta. Advantage AC Milan, you’d think. Monza at home was a fairly routine 4-2 win, although I was disappointed with the two late goals we conceded. I did change shape to a back five towards the end of the game (at 4-0) in order to shuffle the pack and rest some attacking players due to the upcoming visit of PSG… *Champions League anthem plays* THIS IS ATALANTA!!! Another historic UEFA Champions League victory for La Dea. Sure, it was the first leg, and who knows what kind of barrage we’ll face in Paris, but plucky Atalanta, with their modest budget, achieved a memorable win over the state-backed Parisians. And Kylian Mbappe still plays for them, but you wouldn’t know given how quiet he was! So that wraps up April, and as we head into May, we’ve got 4 games to go in the league, and we do need a miracle if we are to retain the title. Milan look odds on to win it from here, 3pts clear of their arch rivals Inter, and we sit a further 2pts back. Perhaps I really should put all our eggs in that UCL basket and dare to dream? ——— Thanks for reading as always. Work is manic at the moment but I’ll hopefully get some time to finish the season by the end of the week. Until next time! #GoAtalantaGo!

Impressive season mate, it’s not easy competing on all fronts especially when the Saudi sharks are always out to get your best players! The finances are looking extremely healthy, hopefully gives you plenty wriggle room to strengthen the side and hold onto your top talent. Certainly a lot easier to do as you become an established UCL side.

This is a brilliant thread, I love your graphics and presentation. Your tactical ideas and principles around using the Libero, Regista, Mezzala, Treq really are interesting, and quintessentially Italian On your new tactical idea, have you thought about perhaps ditching the Libero for a BPD, and maybe using a WCB on Support or Attack on one side to add a bit more variation, and create some more overloads on the flank? I’ve used that to good effect in previous FM’s as I was inspired by Gasperini and his attacking centre backs. However I completely understand if the use of certain roles like the Libero are set in stone from what you laid out at the beginning, and it can certainly still work. The Diamond in midfield that you’re proposing is exciting and should bring more balance to the midfield especially as the Treq is a bit of a lazy role. I’d imagine the defensive shape would remain as a 5-3-2. Keep up the good work!

Thanks mate. I think the fans are an incredibly realistic representation of real life, us football fans can be so fickle at times You’re right, I definitely over complicated things before and the simpler approach is far easier to manage if you want to adjust in game. Although I have simplified the tactic, I’m now using a whole bunch of OI’s again - which is a deliberate ploy to funnel play (without using the Trap Outside/Inside). Working well so far though. Thanks! Palermo were (and still are) 18th when we played, and we only beat them 2-0 away from home so they’re certainly not the worst side in the division. Perhaps it was a freak result, and they’ve got some good players so I hope it doesn’t put too many doubts in your mind. I had a really fun save with Palermo in FM22 I believe. It’s a massive club which deserves Serie A football. Also fair play to you for going attribute-less, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do but I’m far too obsessed with having the right ‘DNA’ which is tricky to do without attributes. Good luck with your save!

January 2026 The New Year began with a tightly contested draw at Torino. Ruud van Nistelrooy has them playing extremely well, and we struggled to get our game going on the road in this one. We then had a break from Serie A action, with Super Cup commencing. The draw put us up against Inter in the Semi Final, offering Simeone a chance for revenge, and he got it. A match in which we dominated but failed to break down their stubborn back five, ended with a penalty shootout and the Nerrazzuri coming out on top. The board wanted us the reach the final, so no doubt they’ll be disappointed, even if it was against Inter. Annoyingly, we don’t get a break, we have to play what is in my eyes, a pointless 3rd Place Playoff, against AC Milan. Another game which we dominated yet still come out on the losing side. A late, incredibly contentious penalty won it for Milan. Looking at the Non Penalty xG, we smashed them 2.52 - 0.91 and still lost. Perhaps there is a pattern emerging and something to be investigated here. Are we really wasteful, or just unlucky? I’m not too bothered about this result, it would have been nice to win, but considering we rested 3-4 key players (including our starting centre backs), we performed well. We were to get revenge on Inter soon after, as we defeated them 2-1 in the Coppa Italia Third Round, somewhat fortunately if you look at the xG. Although, Bastoni scored virtually an open goal from a rebound off a set-piece which has inflated that a little, and given they didn’t create anything clear cut, I wasn’t worried. Three days later we had to return to Serie A action, with a tired squad after 120 mins of football against Inter and another 90 just three days later vs Milan, before facing Inter again in the Cup. The boys would have to recover quickly for our away trip to Udinese. Scalvini and Okoli came back into the side after their much needed rest in the Super Cup, and managed to lockdown Udinese‘s attack. Another professional and brilliantly executed away performance brings us some much needed 3 points, and 3 goals too. João Rêgo found the net once again, and it must be said that he is so far having a very impressive debut season. CDK was unfortunate not to be credited with the 3rd goal, as his header hit the post and then the helpless goalkeeper, Silvestri, to put the icing on the cake for La Dea. This result sees our unbeaten run stretch to 15 games in the league now. More importantly, with Milan losing away to Lazio, it puts us top of the table for the first time this season! Even if it’s temporary (with both Milan clubs having played fewer games), a little moment to celebrate after such a difficult start to the season. Champions League Time for our penultimate UCL League Phase match. We’re up against my beloved Arsenal in what will no doubt be a tightly contested match. It proved to be the case, even if we were the better side. The Gunners took the lead against the run of play, with a fine assist from Martin Ødegaard, but Laurienté pegged Arsenal back immediately. The point was enough to secure a playoff spot for us, so we have at least equalled what we did last year. Due to no Serie A action for us (as we’d played a game more), we faced the weird situation where we had back to back UCL games. It doesn’t get much tougher than this, Real Madrid away. Luckily this game was a bit of a free hit, since Real had already qualified and we would be unable to better our playoff position. We gave it a good go, but in the end the quality of Bellingham and Vini Jr made the difference. Transfers Before I move onto the final game of the month, let’s talk about all the transfers that happened and didn’t happen. The name Niccolo Zaniolo should be one that most recognise. A very talented attacker, capable of playing a number of roles, has still been plying his trade in Turkey, even after a successful loan spell at Aston Villa. A player who’s been on my radar for some time, particularly as I would like a left footed right winger, the 26yr old has a £30m release clause which expires this summer, and was triggered by a host of clubs at the beginning of January. I had no intention of signing anyone this January, as the squad is in decent enough shape and I’m keen to maximise Team Cohesion (and signing players, perhaps even one, can affect this). However, once rival clubs, particularly Milan, made a move, I decided to join in the fight. £30m would eat up the remainder of our transfer budget, but he would be a huge player for us, so it was a no brainer really. However, to rebalance the squad, I would need to depart with Alessio Zerbin, also 26yrs old, who has always been a fringe player anyway. Plus he is another right footed winger, of which we already have three in the squad. We had to hire an intermediary to generate interest, and Real Sociedad came in with an offer of £15m plus add-ons, which I accepted. The deal will rise to £18.75m, a very good fee considering we only paid £700k for him back in the Summer of ‘23. And then of course, this happened: What the above doesn’t say, is that we offered him a 45k p/w less than Milan did. I’m sure that was the real reason why he chose them. I’ve committed to selling Zerbin now, as I really want a left footed winger to bring some variety to our attack. Having four right footers felt too predictable. Luckily for us, an opportunity came up to sign an even better prospect, even if it will end up costing us a bit more than the £30m we’d have parted for Zaniolo. Turkish starlet, Arda Güler found himself somewhat out of favour at Real Madrid. The 20yr old was still on the fringes of their first team, and we’d offer him the chance to become a Regular Starter. It’s a deal which will eventually rise to £43m, but I see no downside to this one. Another deal which we have secured, although for the upcoming summer, is the free transfer of the Italian international, Jorginho. He will join us from Arsenal on the expiry of his deal there, and will be a much welcomed replacement for our Captain, De Roon. For the second time in this save, he came to me complaining about feeling home sick. Last time this happened, I let him return home for a brief period. This time, with him being 34 and having a year left after this year, I decided to let him go, but at the end of the season - which he accepted. It’s almost like for like, a 34yr old DM with the same Resolute character and great Leadership, albeit Jorginho is superior technically but a little less physical. Jorgi will play as a backup to Clem, but will bring some much needed experience which would be otherwise sorely missed with De Roon’s impending departure. I’m looking forward to his arrival. A dependable player, and one of the best Regista’s of his generation. As an Arsenal and Napoli supporter, he is a player I know very well, and appreciate very much. Deadline Day Thinking that my transfer business was done and dusted, we received an offer out of the blue, on Deadline Day, for the last season’s Best Goalkeeper, Juan Musso. The meteoric rise of Carnesecchi has meant that Juan has had to accept being second fiddle, even after signing the bumper contract in the summer. Because of this, when the unexpected offer came in, I thought it was too good to refuse. We haggled a little, and got Salzburg to pay another £3m. So Juan leaves us after being a great servant, for an initial fee of £22.5m Given that Carnesecchi is 25yrs old, an Atalanta youth product, and now established himself as our No.1, I felt this was a good opportunity to create a clear goalkeeper hierarchy and sign a useful No.2, and that player was Alessandro Plizzari. Former Milan youth player, Plizzari joins us for just £1.1m from Serie B side, Pescara. He is experienced, but not old either, and has been performing really well in the second tier of Italian football. None of the fans are particular excited about this one, with most feeling that he isn’t good enough for play for the club. However, with a number of decent young prospects at the club, Plizzari will simply be a stop-gap No.2 until they are ready to step into the first team. Here is the summary of our January activity. Two players came in for a total of £36m, whilst we parted with three for £48m. A healthy profit as we aim to maintain the strong financial position and whilst bringing more balance to the first team squad. Milan showed no sign of slowing down as they spent a whopping £94m this month on nine players. As well as signing Zaniolo for £30m, they also splashed out £59m on Raspadori from Napoli. Their already well stacked front line just got even stronger - it’s going to be a daunting task for the other 19 teams in the league to stop them. ——— We returned to Serie A action on the 31st January, and it gave me the opportunity to rest a few players after the difficult run of games which have been tough on the legs. Palermo were sitting in 18th place, winless in their last 12 games, and therefore I was confident that making four changes wouldn’t disrupt the side too much. But even the most confident Dea fans would not have seen this one coming… No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, that really does say 10-1 TEN goals in a competitive league game. I’m struggling to think of the last time I’ve scored 10 in a league game on FM. Some tremendous individual performances worth mentioning: Two goals and two assists for the reborn Gianluca Scamacca. A hat trick and one assist for both Armand Laurienté and Simone Pafundi (even if one was from the spot). And as the crowd were chanting “We want ten!”, the new signing Arda Güler curled a beauty past the helpless Palermo keeper to put the cherry, on the icing, on the cake. Yes, Palermo were shocking defensively, but you can only beat what’s in front of you, and we destroyed them. Normally a result like this could be due to a red card, or multiple, but no - this was 11v11, although it certainly resembled the old phrase ‘men against boys’. Me being the perfectionist that I am, I was really disappointed with no clean sheet If you can score ten goals against a team, you can keep a clean sheet too. But let’s not be too harsh, this was one for the history books. So a month jam packed full of games, in which only three were in the league, ended in spectacular fashion. At the end of January, with the Milan clubs now having played equal games, we find ourselves in 2nd place, just one point behind the leaders - although only ahead of Inter due to our head-to-head record. With just over half the games played, there is a prospect of a tantalising three horse title race. The goal fest against Palermo now means we have the 3rd best attack, and joint best defence. It was a good month all round, with Scamacca picking up the player of the month award. Whilst Pafundi grabbed another young player of the month award. Five of our players made the team of the month too. Nice to see João Rêgo getting recognition for his fine form on the wing, and our entire front three making the cut. Perhaps the 10-1 victory over Palermo has inflated their stats, but a sure sign that we are firing on all cylinders once more. ——— I’ll leave it there for now and hopefully the next post will take us up to the end of April 2026, before we buckle up for what will hopefully be an exciting run-in (if we’re still up there, of course). Thanks for taking the time to read as always. #GoAtalantaGo

Season 3: Crisis? What Crisis? November 2025 On the 1st November, the monthly performance reviews entered my inbox, and for the first time in this save, it made for some pretty grim reading. The Board are being reasonable, remembering the title triumph only a few months ago - and I’d be worried about them if they didn’t! The Fans on the other hand, are less patient. My fears have become a reality then. We are truly under pressure to turn this around now. It does feel a little harsh, since we aren’t playing that badly and still boast the best defensive record in the league, and let’s not forget we won the club’s first ever Scudetto last May! But, football fans are fickle and can have little patience, meaning a win in our next game is crucial. So we kick off the month with a home game against Parma. We’ve had some favourable games on paper turn into disappointing draws of late, so I wasn’t in the mood to make any predictions. However, to say this game came at the right time would be a massive understatement. For the first time in what feels like forever, we finally clicked from an attacking sense. Aside from the fourth goal which Okoli headed home, we scored three great goals from open play. Yes, I am also counting the own goal because it came from some great play by João Rêgo on the left hand side whose low cross was turned into his own net by Valenti. The xG amassed in this game is our highest tally this season, and only the second time we have created over 2xG in a game (2.02 vs Salernitana in match day two). I know it was at home to Parma, but perhaps we have turned a corner here. It’s our first home win in the League since the opening day of the season, after a series of draws against Fiorentina, Verona, Lazio and Juventus. That result propels us up the table, to the dizzy heights of 3rd! You would have thought we were in a real crisis from the Board and Fan reviews! Despite the tactical tweak paying dividends, especially in the last game, I’ve been tinkering with the Tempo setting, as I’m not convinced the Higher Tempo is doing us any favours. We are often guilty of missed place passes, in considerably dangerous areas, which is where pretty much all the chances we concede come from - our own mistakes. Lowering the Tempo seems to reduce that. There is a small sample size thus far, but I’m willing to try this from the start of games and see how we do, rather than adding it during. Champions League Our next game however, has the potential to bring us crashing back down to earth, regardless of how we set up. It’s another Home tie, but this time we welcome some real quality to the Gewiss Stadium as we return to UCL action against Premier League giants, Liverpool. We were under the cosh for large periods of this one, but a 1-1 draw at home to a world class side like Liverpool, is not a bad result. The dramatic late equaliser from Cortinovis, who is no more than a bit part player, sent the Gewiss stadium into pandemonium and it almost felt like a victory. Credit to Cortinovis, he’s been retrained as a False 9 to give us a different option, and find another way to use him off the bench, and he came on to dramatic effect in this one. Still, it leaves us sitting in the Play Off places as it stands, with plenty room for improvement in Europe so far. Back to the Serie A action, our next game was a trip to Bologna. Robbie Keane’s side (yes, Robbie Keane is somehow a manager in Italy) have been lighting the league up, playing an exciting brand of football. Despite their 7th place league position and my praise for some of their results so far, I was still surprised by how well they played and they were good value for their point in what was for us, a disappointing 0-0. This was hands down the trickiest game we’ve had all season, they were stubborn in defence, and with their creative wingers, always very dangerous in attack. The Match Momentum shows that we did dominate (without penetrating too much) until midway through the second half, when Bologna threw everything at us. We held firm, and a 0-0 was a fair result when looking at the match overall. The stats show that they failed to create anything clear cut, despite winning on xG. Four of their shots were from long range too, and a number of attempts on goal were from set pieces. Perhaps the use of Get Stuck In (seen by our 14 fouls) resulted in too many set piece chances for them - something for me to consider removing. You may be pleased to learn that the ‘Tactical Tinkerer’ has returned once again. Frustrated by our lack of attacking threat this season, I decided that for the games against Bologna and Cremonese, to revert back to the system which performed so well for me not just in my previous save with Malaga, but which also served as the base tactic for the start of this journey with Atalanta: So we’ve gone back to basics, almost. Perhaps I was overcomplicating things before, and our Tiki Taka approach was certainly to blame for our stale attack. I’ve stripped things back, with fewer instructions, upping the passing directness to ‘Shorter’, and leaving tempo and width on default for Positive mentality - which is naturally higher and wider. We also add ‘Be More Expressive’ with the hopes of giving players increased creative freedom to unpick a defence. Granted, it did not produce any goals against Bologna, but I did see some more opportunities created in attack, shown by the two clear cut chances. The tweak is also the biggest change we have made for some time in regards to Team Instructions and Roles/Duties, so it may take a while for Tactical Familiarity to increase, where we may see the benefits. The two major role changes are: Moving away from a Libero, instead using a BPD and an IWB to tuck into midfield to maintain the 3-2 Rest Defence Reverting back to the Advanced Forward role. The Support duty striker experiment has failed miserably. Unfortunately I think this is a flaw in the current Match Engine, which fails to get Support duty strikers involved enough whilst also being a threat. We had a favourable home tie next where we could put the new tweaked system to work for a second time. Cremonese were the visitors, and we got back to winning ways, amassing our highest xG total of the season so far. Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the tactical tweak is Scamacca, who playing as an AF, managed to find his shooting boots again and finally break that goal drought. A non-penalty xG of 3.25 compared to just 0.25 for them is superb, and for the first time this season I have seen the team ‘click’ in an attacking sense, and perhaps reward for our tactical tweak. Champions League But our stuttering season continued as we failed to win what should have been a reasonably comfortable away trip to Copenhagen. Young striker Esposito nicked a point for us late on. Who knows how valuable this could be for our hopes of qualifying to for the Knock Out stages. We rounded out the month with a convincing away victory against Sassuolo. Off the pitch, our young winger João Rêgo has won the Portuguese U21 Player Of the Year award - further proof that we might have a gem on our hands. In other news around Italy: Mourinho gonna Mourinho. I’m surprised it’s taken this long, but November 2025 saw the end of his spell in Rome with the club languishing in 15th place. December 2025 We’re not yet at the January window, but we have already agreed a future transfer, and it’s the departure of the hard working central midfielder, Adopo. He has fallen behind in the pecking order, especially since the arrival of Fagioli, and after requesting a loan move to get some game time, I decided that letting him go permanently would be the best outcome for both parties. The fee isn’t spectacular, and we might miss his Resolute characteristics and work rate, but ultimately our squad is currently 25 strong, and I would like a smaller squad to work with. Two players in each position is the maximum required, and with a 3rd choice keeper, that means 23 is the limit. Having a smaller squad will not only help to keep players happy as we aim to field a consistent XI, it should also allow for more opportunities to younger players, particularly if we are to be hit with a spate of injuries. Anyway, to the League action we go, and we started the month brilliantly with two impressive away victories against Fiorentina and Monza. Champions League A trip to Monaco had the prospect of a tricky game, a potential banana skin, if you will. With our UCL campaign flattering to deceive so far (1 win, 3 draws, 1 defeat), this felt like a crucial game, especially since we have to take on giants Arsenal and Real Madrid in our final two games. João Rêgo, the Portuguese ‘Wonderkid’, our saviour in Europe. A massive goal off the bench with time running out, was no less than we deserved, even though Monaco’s own ‘Wonderkid’, Ben Seghir put on a playmaking clinic with 1.05 expected assists! Shame he’s valued at £146-186m, would love him in Bergamo. We returned to Serie A action next, and if you wanted more proof of our inconsistency this season, here it is. Determined to keep the winning run going, we welcomed lowly Empoli to the Gewiss, but once again dropped points at home in what should have been a routine win. Ignore their xG total, taking the penalty away (which fortunately for us, they missed) they had just three attempts worth a grand total of 0.24 xG. A game we should have won at a canter, but ultimately dropping points at home once again. The following game was away to struggling Roma, who are under new management, and was a good opportunity to put the previous result behind us - and luckily we did. It wasn’t the most convincing defensive performance, especially in the second half, in which they had a 10-15 minute spell of dominance, but we were good value for the 3 points. I would like to highlight our opening goal, however. It’s a brilliant example of how we use positional play to manipulate and manoeuvre the opposition to create chances: In this first image, Scalvini (#42), playing as a BPD, passes the ball inside to our DLP, Clem. Notice how with the use of the IWB role (even on Support), we have seamlessly created a front 6 as our #3, Ruggeri, has joined the attack in the left half space. This has completely disrupted Roma’s 4-2-3-1 defensive shape, with one of the wingers tucking into the defensive line, gaps have now appeared in the midfield. Clem receives and turns, playing a forward pass to Ederson (#13), who is positioned between the lines. He plays a first time pass into our AF, Scamacca. Scamacca, who is thriving in his new role, holds the ball up and waits for the run of CDK in behind, plays him in and he slots home in his typically cool fashion. This has become our most lethal combination since the tactical tweak - Scamacca to CDK or vice versa. The two central attack duties linking up perfectly, and regularly too. I am surprised by how the Advanced Forward is leading the line so selflessly. It makes no sense to me how this role is creating more chances, key passes and ultimately, assists, compared to the DLF or TM on Support. You’d think it would be the other way around? Anyway, we are most definitely seeing the benefit of having the 6 foot 5 Scamacca and 6 foot 4 CDK playing on Attack duties. Two big guys crashing the box is a nightmare for defences. The creation of a front 6 is not something that happens constantly, and if I’m honest this was not deliberate, but this certainly appears to be an advantage of using the IFB-IWB combination over the double IFB and Libero that we have used before. A major gripe with the Libero role for me is that he would often pick the ball up on the edge of the box and go for goal - with 99% of those flying over the bar. It felt like such a waste. I want someone to step into midfield and create, or keep things moving, not constantly going for speculative long shots. The IWB role probably sees the ball a little bit less than the Libero, certainly in central positions, performs that second pivot role much better in my opinion. Depending how we go, I can dive into the intricacies of this tactical setup at a later date, but so far it’s all quite similar to what I’ve previously written. To the final game in December now, and its a mouth watering Lombardo derby against Inter. It’s 2nd vs 3rd in the league, and our first encounter with legendary defence-first coach, Diego Simeone. A fantastic result for La Dea, and just like he did in Monaco, João Rêgo popped up with the late winner. He’s starting to make a habit of this! Given that they are a ‘Wing Play’ side as described in the game, forcing them wide would only be playing to their strengths. So I made a tweak on the half hour mark to remove the instruction ‘Trap Outside’, As the xG Match Story shows, this worked wonders. They failed to generate any sort of opportunity, until the 85th minute. And wow, what a freak of a goal we conceded here. Inter have a thrown in on the right, the ball gets played centrally to Calhanoglu. But take a look at what’s going on in our penalty area. The two Inter strikers, Thuram and Lautaro, are outnumbering Scalvini, who is several yards behind the defensive line. But it gets worse. From this still, it looks as though the ball gets played into Luis Alberto #7 (which was the intention), but he is tackled by Clem (no. 6), and the ball rolls through to Lautaro, in an offside position, to tap home from close range. There is a VAR check, but the goal stands. Since Luis Alberto does not touch the ball, the line’s must be drawn from when the original pass was played, by Calhanoglu, at which point Scalvini is for reasons unknown to me, playing Lautaro onside. It almost feels like bug. Nobody would defend like this IRL, certainly not a defender of Scalvini’s intelligence and ability. I have previously raised a bug about defending from Throw Ins, maybe it’s been improved, but there are still bizarre situations like this from time to time. Thankfully, we won on this occasion, and were good value for it. So we finish the month unbeaten, a run that now stretches to 13 games in the league. The only gripe is that we failed to keep a clean sheet in any of our games this month. Still, the number of goals conceded is low, and we are certainly playing better football and becoming more of a free flowing attacking side. The above set of results leaves us sitting in 2nd in the table, just 2pts behind the league leaders Milan, and importantly, 3pts above Inter after that crucial victory. Unfortunately, both the Milanese clubs have played a game fewer, and therefore we could slip to 5pts behind before long. Player Stats Since we are at the end of the calendar year, I think it’s a good time to see how the players are performing so far. Perhaps unsurprisingly, last year’s top scorer and the league’s reining MVP, Charles De Ketelaere, is our top scorer at this stage. Not bad considering he had a little injury at the start of the season, and has played a handful of games on a Support duty. Like Scamacca, reverting his duty back to an Attacking one, has seen his goal output improve. Scamacca, as I mentioned above, has been thriving as an AF, with 4 goals and 4 assists in 10 games in the new role. He can certainly improve still, as he is currently underperforming his xG of 5.27, but the role change is certainly a move in the right direction, having previously gone over eight hours of football without finding the net. A stark contrast to his first four games of the season, in which he failed to score or assist, and we only generated 0.11xG for him across four games. Yikes. I think this proves that our now ditched Tiki Taka system, with a Support duty forward, was not geared toward creating chances for him. ——— Off the pitch we have some good news on the facilities, our training ground has been refurbished and is now regarded as ‘Superb’. There has also been somewhat of a managerial merry-go-round across the league. Zidane is back at Juve, this time in the dugout, replacing Nuno Espírito Santo, who lasted just 4 months in the job. Napoli have hired Brendan Rodgers after sacking Valverde. And after Sergio Conceicao left Lazio to join Man Utd (Vincenzo Italiano didn’t last long in England), they have brought back their former manager, and the recently unemployed ex-Inter boss, Simone Inzaghi. Safe to say the quality of coaches has gone up a level once more, which should make the league all the more exciting, and challenging. Some more End of Year awards, and this time our midfield metronome, William Clem, has picked up the Danish Male Talent of the Year award. No less than he deserves, and we also awarded him with a new contract to reflect his importance to the team. ——— I've hit the upload limit so January 2026 will follow in the next post...