[FM15] Cagliari Calcio - Bringing back the 60's - (A tribute to Gigi Riva)

[higgins]

Welcome to this thread guys, a lot of terrific careers here so I thought I could give my contribute with this hopefully cool calcio save, Cagliari became surprisingly Serie A contenders in 1968-69 just to finish 2nd and win the league the following year (1969-70) defeating the well known Italian powerhouses, forward Gigi Riva (all time Italian national team leading scorer) and winger Angelo Domenghini were the main players behind that miracle, no other titles were won after that and obviously the main target of this career would be to restore their former glory.

By the way, Gigi Riva turns seventy this year, this thread is my way to celebrate a true Italian football legend.

Everything could be complicated by the presence of Cagliari new histrionic manager (my alter ego in the game), former footballer Ludovico Proteus, a lover of total football and 3-4-3 believer, not so compromise prone.

These are the selected nations, I'm using the original database and 15.1.3 game version.

Stay tuned for the start of this Serie A campaign and Forza Cagliari!

[higgins]

Welcome back to my Cagliari thread, sorry for the delay but it's been a busy pre-season at Stadio S.Elia.

Three players were signed on a permanent basis while three others joined on loan, we started with a 2.5 M, the target is to consolidate our position in the league, I sold only one player, Francesco Pisano for 900k to Empoli and released ageing Cossu.

• Yaya Sanogo (FW) on loan from Arsenal
  
• Brek Shea (ML) on loan from Stoke
  
• Ryan McLaughlin (DR/MR) on loan from Liverpool
  
• Saimon (DC) 750k from Gremio
  
• Ivan Tomecak (DR/MR) 700k from Rijeka
  
• Carlos Strandberg (FW) 650k from Hacken
  

This is our squad after this summer transfer window, a lot of strikers in it, but playing with 3 real strikers every game I needed some good rotation options.

Notable players in the squad: Victor Ibarbo, Marco Sau and Albin Ekdal.

The tactic is a direct & flat 3-4-3 capable to launch attacks in several ways, anyway this would be my preferred kind of goal , I'm training a 3-4-3 diamond as well, it could be useful as the season progresses.

Serie A odds for the title

[Shrewnaldo]

Love the profile pic, where'd you get it?

I've had a look at Strandberg myself. He looks a really good prospect, will definitely be keeping an eye on how he develops for you. Here's hoping there are no hard drive failures this time!

[higgins]

Fingers crossed regarding HD failures, this is the site I used for the avatar and Strandberg looks really like a top prospect.

[higgins]

Some decent pre-season friendlies...

Not impressed by our scoring ratio so far but it could related to tactics familiarity, regarding the squad we probably lack some depth in the middle, captain Daniele Conti is still injured for a month, Albin Ekdal seems too yellow card prone while youngster Donsah is away on international duty, I tried to bring in Oscar Hilijemark but he's pricey, on a different note Victor Ibarbo is amazing with the ball at his feet but wasteful in front of goal, keeper Simone Colombi has a bright future ahead of him.

[higgins]

The well known local newspaper explains the problem well, it's unlikely that I could change my tactical approach though, I hope these injury madness could end soon, I can barely play eleven fit players at the moment, hard times.

[RTHerringbone]

Nicely presented stuff, as is the expectation with your work

[AcidBurn]

As RT says presentation is great Bit of a struggle to start with hopefully you can turn it round!

[higgins]

Nicely presented stuff, as is the expectation with your work

Thanks bud, appreciated your kind words.

[higgins]

As RT says presentation is great Bit of a struggle to start with hopefully you can turn it round!

Thanks, a struggling start could make things more interesting, if the struggle doesn't last too long...

[danielgear]

Good Luck, loving the local newspaper

[higgins]

Good Luck, loving the local newspaper

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

[higgins]

Double post, sorry.

[megadan777]

Will be following this, loving the design too.

Taking a liking to Cagliari.....especially as my club Leeds was taken over by the former owner Cellino

[higgins]

Will be following this, loving the design too.

Taking a liking to Cagliari.....especially as my club Leeds was taken over by the former owner Cellino

I know, people from Cagliari have very mixed feelings about Cellino.

Thanks for following

[megadan777]

I know, people from Cagliari have very mixed feelings about Cellino.

Thanks for following

LOL yeh, opinions are very divided at Leeds too

[Hunter T]

Will be following this!

[higgins]

Fixtures - Full table

So the story goes, two great months for Cagliari, I was firmly convinced our previous poor form had nothing to do with tactics, we're still playing 3-4-3, but the outcome changed radically cause we finally have less injured players and our team cohesion surely improved, when all the players are fit this is our best starting XI:

You already know about Ibarbo and Sau brilliant form, I can't say the same for Strandberg who didn't score yet, Sanogo is slowly recovering from his injury, I need them as soon as possible to give some rest to my regulars; some concerns about my right defensive winger Tomecak, the guy seems to be really injury prone, if you're looking for a reliable flanker don't sign him.

[JD nawrat]

Nice way to turn things around. Unbeaten in your last 7 is good going

I hate playing Cagliari on FM, they play a flat 352 and I can't get anything against them. 343 not too dissimilar, especially if one is a F9 (that's what it looks like to me anyway), so hopefully you can get some real success with it.

Will be following this.

e: just realised in the OP you've got it as a DF/S. Ah well

[higgins]

Nice way to turn things around. Unbeaten in your last 7 is good going

I hate playing Cagliari on FM, they play a flat 352 and I can't get anything against them. 343 not too dissimilar, especially if one is a F9 (that's what it looks like to me anyway), so hopefully you can get some real success with it.

Will be following this.

e: just realised in the OP you've got it as a DF/S. Ah well

Yep, it's a defensive forward on support duty, even if now I'm trying it with some success on a defensive duty, I like 3-4-3 cause it's a very simple tactic that let you often start a counter with 3 players already in your opponent half, quite effective.

[john1]

Liking the newspaper articles you have done

Good to see 3-4-3 is starting to click.

[higgins]

Liking the newspaper articles you have done

Good to see 3-4-3 is starting to click.

Thanks, feedback is always appreciated, I was planning to do a newspaper every 7-8 games, so to give a quick overview of my game in a different way.

Some good results for the tactic but the season is soooo long.

By the way, almost 1000 views in 4 days is a good result, thanks everyone for visiting this thread and commenting.

[Hunter T]

This is a great run!

Couple of questions about your 3-4-3

I see that the mentality is set to ''standard' so in your TIs do you prefer to sit back or press? Or is opponent-depending?

How are you faring with the 4-4-2s and the 4-2-3-1s of this world? Dont they overrun you in the flanks? How do you compensate that?

[higgins]

This is a great run!

Couple of questions about your 3-4-3

I see that the mentality is set to ''standard' so in your TIs do you prefer to sit back or press? Or is opponent-depending?

How are you faring with the 4-4-2s and the 4-2-3-1s of this world? Dont they overrun you in the flanks? How do you compensate that?

Some good questions, I'd try to answer: "standard" is my default mentality and surely the most used one, sometimes I switch to control or even attack, usually in the second half when I'm losing or need to try something different.

I could say 70% standard 15% control 15% attacking, as a rough guideline.

We have problems vs. 4-4-2's of course, but not many teams play it regularly in Serie A nowadays, I'd need faster Dcr/DCl to battle against it properly, anyway three at the back works well in FM15; we don't suffer against 4-2-3-1 cause we have more numbers in the middle of the pitch and can stop balls directed to their more advanced wide players quite easily so far, don't forget that a very fluid shape helps team cohesion and improves defensive solidity.

[higgins]

Full table - Fixtures

A mixed period as the results show, 4 wins and 4 losses, but we need to go beyond numbers here, we had some really tough games, Juventus, Roma and Milan above all, so I take these results in a pleasant way, the comeback over Milan was amazing and our table position improved once again, being 8th now.

Carlos Strandberg and Yaya Sanogo will have more chances to show their skills after Ibarbo's injury, let's see what could happen up top, Ibarbo is a striking force, often unstoppable (see all the awarded penalties...) if he has space to run into.

Watch Ibarbo's 2nd goal vs. Milan

I need to single out Joao Pedro performances, even if he's not the classic defensive forward he suits the role well, being quite effective in front of goal and becoming my top scorer in the first half of the season.

We're in the middle of our first season and confidence is high at S.Elia stadium, what do you think about Rabiot signing? He should be a valuable asset for Cagliari next season, any experience with him?

[JD nawrat]

Rabiot is a quality player and you've done well to get him. Brilliant signing really.

I haven't got any experience with him unfortunately - tried to sign him for my Union Berlin side but we were still in the 2.Bundesliga when I tried and he wasn't interested. He agreed to sign for someone else before we could confirm our promotion (probably wouldn't have signed then either tbf).

Should be good for you!

[higgins]

Rabiot is a quality player and you've done well to get him. Brilliant signing really.

I haven't got any experience with him unfortunately - tried to sign him for my Union Berlin side but we were still in the 2.Bundesliga when I tried and he wasn't interested. He agreed to sign for someone else before we could confirm our promotion (probably wouldn't have signed then either tbf).

Should be good for you!

I will nurture him a lot, he could be used in both my midfield roles, the creative one or the more defensive minded.

[JD nawrat]

Indeed, he's a very versatile player. For free, you can't do much better tbh

[DavidBeckham]

Loving the layout! Will definitely be following this and KUTGW mate

[Hunter T]

Tough set of matches indeed, but overall you must be happy since you moved up a place.

If you dont mind, another question, how did you do this?

Watch Ibarbo's 2nd goal vs. Milan

i mean, which programm did you use, etc.

[higgins]

Tough set of matches indeed, but overall you must be happy since you moved up a place.

If you dont mind, another question, how did you do this?

i mean, which programm did you use, etc.

I used this http://quickcast.io, it's a Mac only app for now.

If you have a Mac, just try it, quick and easy to use.

[higgins]

Loving the layout! Will definitely be following this and KUTGW mate

Cheers

[Hunter T]

thanks man