[FM14] SSC Napoli - Gli Azzurri, Kings of Italy

[MrSundlofer]

With a new manager, new players and a place in the Champions League, Napoli will look forward to an interesting season. A bid of £55M from Paris Saint-Germain made Edinson Cavani pack his bag and move to France. Other players who also left the club during the summer were Luca Cigarini (Atalanta), Hugo Campagnaro (Internazionale), Morgan De Sanctis (Roma), Mario Santana (Genoa) and Andrea Dossena (Sunderland). However, with Rafa Benitez in charge the club splashed the cash and signed Pablo Armero (Udinese), Dries Mertens (PSV), Josip Radošević (Hajduk Split), José Callejón (Real Madrid), Rafael (Santos), Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid), Gonzalo Higuaín (Real Madrid), Duván Zapata (Estudiantes) and Pepe Reina on loan from Liverpool.

Three players at the club are assigned to captain roles. All of them have been at the club for a long period of time and are an important part of the squad. Paolo Cannavaro, Marek Hamšík and Christian Maggio.

Some notable people who have made its mark in the club are Diego Maradona, Gianfranco Zola and Aurelio De Laurentiis. All of them are nowadays regarded as club legends. In 1984 Napoli signed Diego Maradona for a world record fee of £6.9M from Barcelona. He quickly became an adored star among the club's fans and helped the club to win their only Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990. In honour of Maradona and his achievement during his career at Napoli, the number 10 jersey has been retired. Gianfranco Zola enjoyed his career with Napoli from 1989 to 1993 and was a technical little forward and a superb free-kick taker. 35 international appearances for Italy. After being declared bankrupt and relegated to Serie C1, Napoli was bought by film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis. He invested heavily in the club and after only four years the club was back in the Serie A and had qualified for the UEFA Cup.

Why should you start a save with Napoli? What makes them interesting? I prefer to take control of an ambitious club. Napoli is an ambitious club. The chairman loves the club. And in this years version the amount of interesting players in the squad are many.

✓ Almost £30M in transfer budget to spend on new players.

✓ A stadium capacity of 60 240 supporters.

✓ Superb training facilities.

✓ UEFA Champions League.

✓ Valon Behrami with 20 in determination is the perfect tutor for any young player.

✓ Challenge Juventus to become the best club in Serie A.

✓ Josip Radošević, Lorenzo Insigne and Duván Zapata are first team members with a lot of potential to develop.

✓ The charismatic Slovakian Marek Hamšík is an important part of the attacking play.

✓ The economic possibility to reshape and invest in the youth team.

✓ Ambition.

✓ Stability.

✓ Enjoy the passion of Italian football.

✓ Gonzalo Higuaín will score for fun.

[MrSundlofer]

Napoli was founded as Naples Foot-Ball & Cricket Club in 1904 by William Poths and Hector M. Bayon. The original kit was a sky blue and navy blue striped shirt, with black shorts. In 1926 the club changed its name to Associazione Calcio Napoli. Napoli entered the Serie A under the management of William Garbutt in 1929. Once again the club changed its name, this time in 1964 to Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli.

Napoli broke the world transfer record fee with a £6.9M deal for Diego Maradona from Barcelona in 1984. The 1986/87 season was the landmark in Napoli's history. They won the double, securing the Serie A title by three points and then beating Atalanta 4–0 to lift the Coppa Italia. This turned Diego Maradona into a cultural, social and borderline religious icon for the people in Napoli. They added their second Serie A title in 1989/90, beating Milan by two points in the title race.

The club gradually went into decline, both financially and on the field, and was in the 1997/98 season relegated to Serie B. In August 2004 Napoli was declared bankrupt with debts and was relegated to Serie C1. However, film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis bought the club and invested money to help the club back to the Serie A.

In season 2012/13, Napoli finished in second place in Serie A. Edinson Cavani finished as top scorer in the league with 29 goals. Manager Walter Mazzarri left Napoli for Internazionale in the summer of 2013. He was replaced by Rafael Benítez. Napoli sold striker Edinson Cavani to Paris Saint-Germain for a club record fee of £57M. The money garnered was reinvested into a Real Madrid trio of players in Gonzalo Higuaín, Raúl Albiol and José Callejón. Other than these three, the club continued to invest and brought in winger Dries Mertens, striker Duván Zapata and goalkeepers Rafael and José Manuel Reina among others.

Stadio San Paolo is a multi-purpose stadium in the western suburb of Fuorigrotta in Naples and is the third largest football stadium in Italy after the San Siro and Stadio Olimpico. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home of SSC Napoli.

The stadium is probably most famous for hosting the 1990 World Cup semi-final between Italy and Argentina. The match finished 1–1 after extra time. A penalty shoot out ensued with Maradona fittingly scoring the winning penalty for Argentina.

The home kit is blue and white. The shirt is always blue and the shorts is most often white.

[MrSundlofer]

The club is one of the top 20 richest clubs in the world and has a bank balance of almost £24M. Napoli also have a kit sponsorship worth £4.64M per season until 2014, and two additional kit sponsorships worth £5.91M per season until 2015. A bank loan of £67M is being paid monthly until 2030.

The first team squad at Napoli has 22 players. There are no registration restrictions in the league and this could be the reason why there are only five Italians in the squad. The reserve squad has 25 players and almost all of them are out on loan. Another 25 players are in the U19 squad.

1. Rafael ★★★★★

A young Brazilian goalkeeper recently signed from Santos. Good handling and reflexes. Will challenge José Manuel Reina to become the first choice goalkeeper at the club. Already played for the Brazilian national team.

Position: GK | Age: 23 | Value: £4.4M

15. Roberto Colombo ★★★★★

Every team needs a third choice goalkeeper and Napoli has Roberto Colombo. Old, on a low wage and a contract to expire at the end of the season means he’s one to keep for now and release after the season.

Position: GK | Age: 37 | Value: £0.35M

25. José Manuel Reina ★★★★★

On loan from Liverpool and is probably the best goalkeeper at the club and Napoli could make the transfer permanent if they pay Liverpool £13.25M. His high wage of £90K per week is a worry though.

Position: GK | Age: 30 | Value: £9.75M

5. Miguel Britos ★★★★★

Miguel Britos is a central defender from Uruguay but hasn't yet played any international games for his country. A good squad rotation player with two years left on his contract.

Position: D © | Age: 27 | Value: £2.7M

11. Christian Maggio ★★★★★

Christian Maggio is often called up to the Italian national team and has played 29 international games for them. At Napoli he’s an important part of the defence and should be a regular at right back or right wing.

Position: D/WB/M ® | Age: 31 | Value: £2.9M

16. Giandomenico Mesto ★★★★★

A little bit old maybe and won’t play an important role in the team this season, but has some good mental and physical attributes. There are better players in the squad in his position. A good backup.

Position: WB/M ® | Age: 31 | Value: £1.1M

18. Camilo Zúñiga ★★★★★

A flexible defensive player from Colombia who can play on both wings and has a contract that will expire at the end of the season. Make sure you renew it.

Position: WB/M (RL) | Age: 27 | Value: £7M

21. Federico Fernández ★★★★★

The tall Argentinian with 16 international appearances is probably one of the best central defenders at the club, but his lack of determination is a bit of worry. Try to keep him and give him minutes on the pitch.

Position: D © | Age: 24 | Value: £2.9M

27. Pablo Armero ★★★★★

A new signing from Udinese but is still co-owned by the club until summer 2015. Pablo Armero is an attacking left back with good physical attributes.

Position: D/WB/M (L) | Age: 26 | Value: £7.75M

28. Paolo Cannavaro ★★★★★

Paolo Cannavaro is an out-an-out passionate Italian centre back born and raised in Napoli. He loves the club and is the ideal captain. His main weakness is his heading. Don’t sell.

Position: SW, D © | Age: 32 | Value: £1.2M

33. Raúl Albiol ★★★★★

Raúl Albiol signed from Real Madrid in the summer and has an impressive 40 international appearances for Spain. A natural central defender with good mental attributes.

Position: D © | Age: 27 | Value: £8M

14. Dries Mertens ★★★★★

After a successful season at PSV Dries Mertens leaves the club and joins Napoli. He’s expected to contribute with many assists because of his good technical attributes.

Position: AM (LC) | Age: 26 | Value: £6.75M

17. Marek Hamšík ★★★★★

Marek Hamšík is a quality player and one of the best attacking players in the Italian Serie A. Don’t sell. His creativity and technical skills makes him a good advanced playmaker.

Position: M/AM © | Age: 25 | Value: £28M

20. Blerim Džemaili ★★★★★

This is his third season in the club and he scored an impressive Seven goals in the league last season, so expectations are high on him this season. As expected, his technical skills are very good and he loves to shoot from distance.

Position: DM, M © | Age: 27 | Value: £8.25M

22. Josip Radošević ★★★★★

The Croatian defensive midfielder is a very talented youngster with a bright future at the club. He’s got impressive mental attributes but needs to improve some of his technical attributes such as tackling, passing and first touch.

Position: DM, M © | Age: 19 | Value: £1.2M

85. Valon Behrami ★★★★★

One of the best ball winning midfielders in the game with good mental and physical attributes. Is a perfect role model for any young players.

Position: DM, M (RC) | Age: 28 | Value: £7.5M

88. Gökhan İnler ★★★★★

Gökhan İnler is an important player for Napoli. He’s good in both ends of the pitch. Six goals in the league last season and three years left on his contract.

Position: DM, M © | Age: 29 | Value: £8M

7. José Callejón ★★★★★

The Spaniard is a new signing from Real Madrid. With full of pace and technical skills he can be a good player for Napoli on the right wing position. Not composed enough to play upfront on his own though.

Position: AM (RL), ST © | Age: 26 | Value: £6.75M

9. Gonzalo Higuaín ★★★★★

The biggest signing of the summer, £34M from Real Madrid. Gonzalo Higuaín is a world class player and with great technical skills he will score many goals for the club.

Position: ST © | Age: 25 | Value: £27M

19. Goran Pandev ★★★★★

The technical gifted Goran Pandev could be employed either as a striker or in any of the attacking midfield positions. Two years left of his contract.

Position: AM (RLC), ST © | Age: 29 | Value: £6.5M

24. Lorenzo Insigne ★★★★★

Lorenzo Insigne is a forward full of flair and technical skills combined with pace, which makes him an important part of the Napoli first team. His future looks very bright and he’s still got time to develop further.

Position: AM (RL), ST © | Age: 22 | Value: £6.25M

91. Duván Zapata ★★★★★

A young exciting Colombian striker recently signed from Estudiantes in the Argentinian Primera División. His good physical attributes signals he could become a good target man in the future.

Position: ST © | Age: 22 | Value: £1.3M

The manager of Napoli is Rafael Benítez, previously at Chelsea. When he was appointed he brought Xavi Valero (goalkeeping coach), Francisco de Miguel (fitness coach) and Perico Campos (scout) to the club. All of them are specialists in their assigned jobs. Francesco Barresi is only 28 years old and works as a Head of Youth Development, and is certainly one of the best in his role. The club's Director of Football is Riccardo Bigon and even if he is not as great as Pantaleo Corvino, Piero Ausilio and Franco Baldini, he is decent.

[MrSundlofer]

Judging from the players in the first team squad a 4-2-3-1 formation would be the best alternative to assign as a starting tactic. Defensive midfielder or central midfielders? Blerim Džemaili, Valon Behrami and Gökhan İnler could all play in both positions so it doesn't really matter. Maybe play with defensive midfielders against harder opposition and with central midfielders against easier opposition. Marek Hamšík is the man to play in the central attacking midfield position, pretty much unchallenged. I would recommend to play him in a supporting role. Lorenzo Insigne is right footed and plays best as an inside forward, therefore his best position in this formation is on the left wing as an very attacking inside forward. With flair, pace and superb technical skills you want him in an advanced position and to score many goals. José Callejón loves to move into channels and to beat the offside trap, this makes him perfect for a role on the right wing. Maybe as an attacking winger. Goran Pandev could also play on the right wing, and his good passing skills makes him perfect for a playmaker role out wide. Gonzalo Higuaín as an advanced forward will make him score many goals. Christian Maggio, Pablo Armero, Paolo Cannavaro and Raúl Albiol are probably the best choices for a back four. Rafael or José Manuel Reina as a goalkeeper? I would go for José Manuel Reina.

If you want to play a possession based style of football like I want, I recommend to play with low tempo, short passing and to work the ball into the box.

Despite the strength of the squad there are still players not good enough for the club and you may want to sell them. With both Christian Maggio and Juan Zúñiga capable of playing at right back it's maybe arrivederci for Giandomenico Mesto. He's 31 years old and is on £20K per week. However, with games in the league, the cup and in the Champions League it can be a good idea to keep him. Bruno Uvini, a central defender in the reserve team with surprisingly three international appearances for Brazil will never be good enough for the Napoli first team and you should consider selling him. Davide Bariti and Nicolas Pesce are two other players in the reserve team you should sell.

Now to the best part of Football Manager - signing players. As you already know the Napoli first team is very strong. You don't need to sign a goalkeeper. You don't need to sign a striker and you don't need to sign a central attacking midfielder.

If you are looking at promising domestic based players I would recommend Mateo Kovačić (Internazionale), Domenico Berardi (Juventus/Sassuolo), Marco Capuano (Pescara) and Alberto Cerri (Parma). Also take a look at Jorginho (Verona), a defensive midfielder Napoli signed in the January 2014 Transfer Window.

Some young players who can improve the U19 or reserve team are Alen Halilović (Dinamo), Zakaria Bakkali (PSV), Rodrigo Gómez (Argentinos), Nikola Ninković (Partizan), Andrija Živković (Partizan) and Fede Vico (Anderlecht).

Romelu Lukaku, currently on loan at Everton from Chelsea, can't be signed in the first season but he should be a transfer target for the next season. Great player. Some other promising first team players are Matija Nastasić (Manchester City), Tom Ince (Blackpool), Éder Álvarez Balanta (River Plate), Samuel Umtiti (Lyon), Mohamed El Neny (Basel), Massimo Bruno (Anderlecht), Fabian Schär (Basel), Memphis Depay (PSV), Gabriel Iancu (Steaua) and Youri Tielemans (Anderlecht).

Victor Valdés will leave Barcelona at the end of the season and can sign a pre-contract in 6 months. Could be a choice if José Manuel Reina returns to Liverpool after the season. Anthony Réveillère is a free agent and could be signed at the start of the game. He is currently a part of the Napoli team after joining them in October 2013. Also keep an eye on Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow).

Davide Astori (Cagliari), Alessandro Diamanti (Bologna), Ricardo Álvarez (Internazionale), Giuseppe Bellusci (Catania) and Simone Zaza (Juventus/Sassuolo) are another bunch of players to have a look at.

[MrSundlofer]

In this post our personal achievements and records will be posted. Any member on the SI forum may submit a record - if playing with Napoli. Records must be set from competitive matches, no friendlies, and must either be set or broken, equalling records do not count. A screenshot is required.

If you want to publish your achievements or records in this post, you can send me a personal message with a link to the screenshot. You could also post it in this thread with a link to the screenshot.

Biggest Home Win: Napoli 7-1 Torino, dinthead (Screenshot)

Biggest Away Win:

Biggest Win in a Cup Final:

Biggest Win in Champions League:

Most Possession in a Match: 61%, dinthead (Screenshot)

Most Shots in a Match: 25, dinthead (Screenshot)

Most Matches Won in Row:

Most Matches Without Losing:

Most League Goals Scored in a Season:

Least League Goals Conceded in a Season:

If you want to publish your achievements or records in this post, you can send me a personal message with a link to the screenshot. You could also post it in this thread with a link to the screenshot.

Most Goals in a Match:

Most Goals in a Season:

Most League Goals in a Season:

Most Assists in a Season:

Most League Assists in a Season:

Youngest Goalscorer in a Match:

Youngest Player in a Match:

Most Passes in a Match:

[Anxiietyyy]

Sundlofer! Great thread as per usual my friend, will definitely look in to a Napoli save!

[Ty]

Wouldn't expect less from you MrSundlofer top thread, surely if people aren't playing as Napoli, this will give them encouragement!

[rGade]

If I wasn't so happy with my Chelsea save right now, this thread would have me creating a Napoli career right this very moment. Great stuff! Will most certainly make a Napoli career sometime in this FM.

[dinthead]

This thread made me start a Napoli save last night when I really should have gone to sleep. Awesome start to the thread.

Anyways, I managed to sign Eder Alvarez Balanta for £8.5m and Agustin Allione for £6m, the only departure was Bruno Uvini on loan to Gremio with a potential future fee of £350k. I went unbeaten in pre-season but the hardest team I faced was Deportivo so I'm not reading too much into that. In the first game of the season I managed to come from a goal down to beat Chievo 3-1, with two goals from Higuain and a goal from Hamsik. Looking forward to playing the rest of the season.

[Gungner]

You have officially made me wanting to start a save with Napoli

Good job!

[kornkid]

HI! Looking forward to updates, I feel motivated to drop my Leeds game and go for Napoli!

[MeesterCat]

MrSundlofer team threads are always epic and this doesn't disappoint!

[MrSundlofer]

This thread made me start a Napoli save last night when I really should have gone to sleep. Awesome start to the thread.

Anyways, I managed to sign Eder Alvarez Balanta for £8.5m and Agustin Allione for £6m, the only departure was Bruno Uvini on loan to Gremio with a potential future fee of £350k. I went unbeaten in pre-season but the hardest team I faced was Deportivo so I'm not reading too much into that. In the first game of the season I managed to come from a goal down to beat Chievo 3-1, with two goals from Higuain and a goal from Hamsik. Looking forward to playing the rest of the season.

I am also looking into the possibility to sign him, and I don't think he wouldn't mind joining his three other Colombian internationals at the club. Great start to the season for you. What kind of formation do you use?

[Hezhoo]

What a great thread, this made me want to start a Napoli save. Thumbs up!

[MrSundlofer]

aaa

[dinthead]

I am also looking into the possibility to sign him, and I don't think he wouldn't mind joining his three other Colombian internationals at the club. Great start to the season for you. What kind of formation do you use?

I would definitely recommend getting him, he's gone straight into the first XI along side Albiol and he's been solid in the couple of games so far, already getting his first goal.

As for my tactics, I'm using this 4231, it's pretty much as you recommended in the OP with no player instructions yet and just the 'Work ball into box' team instruction. Any recommendations for changes would be appreciated as the tactics side of the game has never been my strong point.

I somehow managed to beat Manchester City 3-1 in my first CL Group game after being second best for the majority of the match.

[Gungner]

You kinda need to sell from the squad, as you basically have no wage budget...

[MrSundlofer]

You kinda need to sell from the squad, as you basically have no wage budget...

You can adjust your budgets in the boardroom and make more money available to spend on wages. This reduces the transfer budget.

[Gungner]

I know that, but I don't really wanna reduce my transfer budget

[youngrookie]

yes a napoli thread!!!!!!!! had started a save with them a week or so ago and was a little surprised once I noticed there was no start-up thread on them, so thank you very much for getting one going.

cant upload photos for some reason, tried and failed so i will explain what ive done using small blocks of text instead (sorry!!)

formation is a basic 4-1-2-2-1 with the focus on possession football. one tactic has controled mentality with a balanced philosophy approach and my other version is counter/balanced when trying to see a game out or playing against one of the big boy's. Just a couple of different shouts between the 2 tactics and it seems to be working.

Starting squad is good but can be much better. So i brought in Marcelo Mattos 500k from Botafogo (dmc) and Buttner from Utd (dl) in the summer for 2.5m. Felt Armero wasn't good defensively and Buttner has good potential. In the january transfer window i got Balanta 8.5m and young Nicola Murru, the Lb/Rb from Cagliari for 2m.

Sold Fernadez and Mesto in Jan for a combined fee of 2.9m. Some went out on loan but none were major players. Oh and sent Reina Back in the summer and have played Rafael from minute one. Reina's wages were too much and Rafael isn't that bad (30 in 37 matches with 14 clean sheets).

So in the league im 2nd and 3 points behind an almost impregnable Juventus team, their defence is playing brilliantly (8 in 27 games). Should be a tight run in thou, maybe easier for me as i finished 3rd in champ League group which contained PSG and R Madrid. Finished on same amount of points as Madrid but lost on head to head (i think, or is it goal difference???). In Europa league just beat Salzburg and now have OGC Nice.

Top performances have been from Higuain with 26 in 36 games. Hes hitting a great bit of form 12 in 6 matches. took him a bit of time to adjust to Italy but now he's doing very well and can only get better. Vargas, since back from loan has been very good at either back up to Higuain or in rotation with Callejon on the right wing. Buttner too is turning out to be a good buy as well.

Hamisik is ok, could be cos im playing him in the CM position which is not his best but i feel that with an Adv playmaker att setting he should be doing better. If an offer comes in (30/40m) i will probably sell.

Thats all, just waiting for the new intake of younger players now.

[MrSundlofer]

I know that, but I don't really wanna reduce my transfer budget

What you can do is to terminate José Manuel Reina's loan from Liverpool, and cash in on Goran Pandev or Miguel Britos = 115K-156K available on wages.

[MrSundlofer]

Interesting season youngrookie, tell us if you get some good players from the youth intake! Nicola Murru is a good player.

[Mattias333]

Truly superb looking thread chap. Informative and well displayed.

[Gungner]

Was just about to seal the deal with Inter's Ricardo Alvarez, but then he goes and injures himself for three months. So cancelled the deal quickly. I've made bids for Balanta, Munoz and Honda.

[dinthead]

10 league games into the season and I'm a point clear at the top of the table.

All though we've been getting some good results, we haven't been playing very well. I decided to change tactic before the Shakhtar game and it's working better than the other tactic so far.

EDIT:

Qualified with a game to spare.

[youngrookie]

congrats on getting out of that tough group. thats the trouble with Napoli 1st season, they are seeded 4th and will nearly always draw 2 massive clubs. Your group was even harder than mine, i had one weak(ish) team in Olympiakos. Whats your formation and hows Hamsik doing for you??? For me, average in centre mid with att playmaker role.

[dinthead]

I've been playing a 4231 with Hamsik in the AMC position and he's been playing OK but no more than that, I've tried him with both the Attacking Midfield role and Advanced Playmaker role and there's not been much difference between the too.

[MrSundlofer]

18 goals in 4 games since changing tactic, looks great dinthead

[dinthead]

18 goals in 4 games since changing tactic, looks great dinthead

Unfortunately we couldn't keep up that free scoring run, but we are still picking up a few good results here and there.

[Gungner]

Pre-season over, now to kick off Serie A with an away trip to Juventus... oh joy.

Have signed Balanta and Muñoz, while Honda will join on 1st of January.

[NorthernGooner]

Brilliant MrSundlofer! Been waiting for someone to start a Napoli thread, started a save with them 3 days ago. Only played 5 games in the league but not off to a bad start. Will maybe get a review up tomorrow afternoon some time if I play some more tonight.

[MrSundlofer]

Brilliant MrSundlofer! Been waiting for someone to start a Napoli thread, started a save with them 3 days ago. Only played 5 games in the league but not off to a bad start. Will maybe get a review up tomorrow afternoon some time if I play some more tonight.

Looking forward to it!

[dinthead]

Awesome result, as well as probably my best performance so far.

May as well stick it in the records for 'Biggest Home Win' and maybe 'Most Shots' just so it doesn't look so empty.

[MrSundlofer]

Great big win dinthead

Added

[youngrookie]

Interesting season youngrookie, tell us if you get some good players from the youth intake! Nicola Murru is a good player.

i got 3 players, 2 on 4 stars and one on 4.5. 2 are st's and the other is a drc. not too bad, am training the up by working on their physicals. I did get the board to increase my rep for poaching in the younger talent in the area at the beginning of the season so that could of had an affect, not sure.

napoli have some good yth at the start but nothing spectacular. cant remember their names but i have been putting them in my 1st team squad every now and then. A rbk, dmc and st i think are those players positions

[kornkid]

Hi! Which tactic are you using that is working wonderful?

[Anxiietyyy]

Yet to start my Napoli save, but just thought I'd show you what Insigne looks like in the Summer of 2018, completely AI developed.

Looks to be an outstanding player!

[rGade]

Yet to start my Napoli save, but just thought I'd show you what Insigne looks like in the Summer of 2018, completely AI developed.

Looks to be an outstanding player!

Indeed. He's my starting AMR at Chelsea in 2016, and he's a very good player.

[MrSundlofer]

Yes, he looks great. How much did PSG sign him for?

[Anxiietyyy]

Yes, he looks great. How much did PSG sign him for?

[Chr1s Lawson]

As with the last 3-4 years great team to manage as suggested 4-2-3-1 is possibly the way to go, also try 5-3-2 wingbacks to exploit Maggio & Armero, often useful formation for away games and vs Juve.

A concern is the lack of Italians but with the budget available can easily recruit. After the transfer update obviously Jorginho will be in the team and I expect him to get an attribute bump, particularly in finishing and Pens as he's grossly underrated there!

Signings Murru, Bellusci, Pugliese, Pezzi, Cerri, (previous 3 will become hg trained at club after 3 years) Jorginho, Candreva. Get rid of Britos, Mesto Reina

All goes to plan you'll have a 2 horse race for the title!

Had a £38m offer from Man City for Hamsik which I negotiated to £45m for fun before turning it down as there is not a player in the game as good as Hamsik who would join Napoli in the first season! Also expect bumper bids for Insigne in second season from Bayern, Arsenal and the likes!

[MrSundlofer]

Some great signings there Chr1s Lawson and a good decision not to sell Marek Hamšik

[Chr1s Lawson]

Forgot to mention also Rugani from Empoli and Brignoli from Ternana who is an excellent backup keeper should you decide to terminate Reina!

[Gungner]

Kicked off Serie A with an away trip to Juventus... Got away with a 0-0 draw. Not bad at all.

Got a Champions League group of Porto, Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow. Should definately be possible to go through.

[youngrookie]

finished my fisrt season and here is a short review for you.

Finished 2nd and 8pts behind a stubborn Juventus (14 goals conceded). They finished on 91pts with 28 wins, 3 losses, 7 draws. I with 83pts and 23 wins, 14 draws and only one loss (yes that was to Juve). BTW i conceded only 29 goals. AC Milan finished 17pts behind me in 3rd. Not bad with results, thou my performances were not always great, 14 draws reflects this. Sometimes found it hard to break teams down.

champs league was disappointing/unlucky but not really a shock. Finished 3rd on same points as R Madrid and 2 behind eventual competition winners PSG. Got to final of Europa League but lost on Penalties to 10 man Galatassary. Big disappointment, just couldn't stop a great Drogba!!!!!!!

Italian cup I did not really pay much attention to and rightly so I was put out in the quarter final.

Top goalscorer and best av rating was Higuain with 32 from 50 games with a 7.21 rating. Average ratings throughout the team was poor and need to work on this.

Biggest disappointment thou was Hamsik. The first time ive got to work with a genuine would class player (at start of game i mean) and it just never really happened for him. 41 games, 7 gls, 4 assists and 7.04 av rating. Now i was playing him in MC with attack playmaker role and of course it could of been my tactics but he would just seem to coast through games and rarely show his class. after a poor Europa Final rating (6.30) i had enough and so offered him out for 42m. he went to City for 39m in the end. Im happy with that as this has allowed me to really strengthen my squad.

How have you guys been playing him and how has he been preforming?????????????

So my transfers for season 2.

Out's (main ones) - Hamsik 39m, Behrami 5.5m, Mertens 4.9m and Inler 3.9m (53.96 overall)

In's (main ones) - Cornelious (cardiff) 9m, Veratti 8.75m, Siggurdsson (spurs) 8m, Corchia 6.75m, Gabriel Iancu (steau B) 5.75m. Fernando (Porto) free, thou has had a massive 8 month injury and looks a shadow of the player iv'e seen before and Vydra also on a free.

happy with my dealings, couple of younger players to to go with new training facilities for both 1st team and yth team as well. Just looking for a cheap experienced backup gk and that will be it, unless someone outstanding becomes available. Also have, since starting the save, brought in lots of backroom staff to bring it up to a very good standard. Still working on the networking side, currently have a Chinese club and am looking for more.

My current bank balance reads 35m.

Note. all transfers were paid up front

[MrSundlofer]

To finish 2nd is still very good youngrookie, congratulations. Did you transferlist Valon Behrami, Gökhan İnler and Dries Mertens?

[youngrookie]

To finish 2nd is still very good youngrookie, congratulations. Did you transferlist Valon Behrami, Gökhan İnler and Dries Mertens?

i guess so, media prediction of 3rd. I kinda like it when my team plays to realistic levels of predictions.

Yes i listed all the players I sold, easier to get business done. Although, apart from Hamsik, they were all sold for less than their worth. But I like to get my dealings done early, 1st july and all is done (well apart from bk up gk) to help with team cohesion and all. Valdes is available (would be 1st team of course) but 198k and 7.5m and 2.5 add on fees scares the s@$t out of me. Is he worth it??????????????

Apart from Hamsik the other players sold actually did ok for me while not being outstanding but Veratti and sigurdsson were available and so needed to balance up the squad. Hows your Hamsik doing???????????

am looking for my team to play better football and be even better at the back. Made a couple of changes to tactic to help this. Balanta, who I signed in January, has been ok and i know will get better (maybe he takes 6 months to adapt as I haven't had him before). Am looking for a big season from him.

What i did notice was I was 20th in the league for worst height, so this is something im looking into. This could be one of the reasons why I suffered to goals from corners.

[MrSundlofer]

Still only on the first day of the season and we have made bids for some new staff members including Pantaleo Corvino (Director of Football), Bruno Demichelis (assistant manager), Michelangelo Rampulla (goalkeeper coach), Claudio Gaudino (fitness coach), Josep Segura (coach) and Franco Tancredi (scout).

Also offered Anthony Réveillère a contract. And one of my scouts are travelling to Switzerland to take a closer look at Mohamed Salah. But the most interesting thing is we are preparing a bid for Javier Pastore from PSG. I think we could get him for around £13M.

[youngrookie]

Still only on the first day of the season and we have made bids for some new staff members including Pantaleo Corvino (Director of Football), Bruno Demichelis (assistant manager), Michelangelo Rampulla (goalkeeper coach), Claudio Gaudino (fitness coach), Josep Segura (coach) and Franco Tancredi (scout).

Also offered Anthony Réveillère a contract. And one of my scouts are travelling to Switzerland to take a closer look at Mohamed Salah. But the most interesting thing is we are preparing a bid for Javier Pastore from PSG. I think we could get him for around £13M.

new staff is a must, Pecchia - worst ass man stats i have ever seen. Pastore for 13m!!!!!!!!!!! that would be some steal. 31m on mine so that ship has sailed. Where and how would you play him????? Can imagine wages to be a stumbling block

Anthony Réveillère would be a good free signing but i had maggio and Zuniga for that position. Would suggest you use and then keep (offer contract) Vargas when he comes back in January. He does a good job on either the AMR side or up front. Had him on another save and got his value close to 30m

[dinthead]

I ended up winning the league by 6 points but only really because the other big teams were having poor seasons.

The Champions League campaign didn't go too badly, we managed to come second in a pretty tough group (which saw Man City finish bottom), then we just about managed to get past Atletic Madrid in the 1st KO round. But PSG proved too much for us in the next round.

I felt my transfer dealings in the first season were pretty decent.

Getting Eder Alvarez Balanta was a no brainer, I've never managed him before but I've definitely wanted to and for just £8.5m was probably the signing of the season. Went straight into the first team alongside Cannavaro/Albiol and also played on the left a couple of times. Managed to get an average rating of 7.40 in 41 appearances, also bagging himself 6 goals and 5 assists.

Agustin Allione was signed when I intended to play with Wingers, now I'm using Inside Forwards he doesn't play so much but he does still get the occasional run out to help his development.

Nicola Murru was signed initially on a pre-contract deal, but I made it permanent almost straight away after getting injuries in the full back positions. Another play who gets a few games to help his development.

Tomas Kuszczak was signed as cover for Rafael after I terminated Reina's loan deal early. Only ever backup and was released when his contract ran out.

When and agent offered me Ronaldinho, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sign him. He's now 34 and although his physicals are on the decline, his technical and mental attributes are still pretty good.