If at first you don't succeed, blame the game and try again - A San Marino Youth Challenge 2.0

[Bedese]

5 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

***********

Hate that!

 

It'll be interesting to see how he continues in England.

I doubt he'll get any games for Boro, but he might be able to carve out a decent career for a weaker team. He's not going to be playing regular CL football like he would have here though...

[Bedese]

4 minutes ago, iacovone said:

Oh for f**k's sake! £33,000!? Were there any sell-on clauses at all? This is a pretty tough time for you at the moment. Hope you get a good intake this year and things pick up again. 

No sell on clauses. Worst part is it's not even the best offer we've had for him - we've been offered 140k + 40% of the next sale before. Our chairman is a moron.

[Bedese]

So, here's how we lined up away at Salzburg:

 

Notice how our LW isn't able to play there? Turns out we didn't actually have another LW in the squad, so I've had to move Zafferani over to the left and bring in Clampin to replace his compatriot. There's no team instructions, and the only individual instructions are telling the keeper to play it out to the fullbacks, the BBM to get further forward, and the DLF to roam from his position to try and find space. Pretty standard stuff. I wanted to see how it would play before I messed about changing things. So, how did we do?

 

I don't really care about the score, but it's a pretty fair reflection on the game. We weren't bad at all.

Defensively: Not terrible. Our CBs are awful even for our standards, but we weren't diabolical at the back. We were far from rock solid at the back but they didn't carve us open all that much. Their goals were a counter attack on us - and I'm fine with occasionally being caught out at the back as we press ourselves, as long as it only is occasionally - and a header from a free kick. We just can't defend set pieces. It doesn't matter what I try, we can't stop them. Really annoying. If anyone has a decent tactic to defend set pieces, I'm all ears.

 

Transition phase: Superb. Absolutely fantastic. We got the ball and we were spraying it about with confidence. We always had a man open, always had someone making a run into space. We kept most of our passing short, and played it about pretty quickly, usually going from left to right. Giardi as our BBM had a key role, often running into space from deep to get onto the ball. Alberto Pozzo (YP84) as our attacking WB was heavily involved too, overlapping Clampin on the right and finding pockets of space to receive the ball in. Unfortunately, our inferior technical ability did show at times, as we often struggled to play simple passes. 

 

Final Third: Not great. I worry about where the goals are going to come from in this tactic. We're great down the wing, with a winger or overlapping FB sending balls into the box, but we don't really have much going down the middle (or at least didn't in this game). Our goal came when Salzburg didn't deal with a cross properly, and Clampin beautifully hit a left footed shot into the corner, but apart from that, we didn't really trouble them all that much. Most of our shots were from outside the box or from poor angles. Compare where we took our shots from to them:

 

We need to work out a way of being more like them when it comes to attacking. Also, Giuseppe Lorenzi (YP91) was really disappointing as a lone striker. He just couldn't get in the game. He didn't have many touches, was offside four times, lost every aerial battle that came his way and just failed to make his mark in the game. (He was also the one to give away the penalty). I subbed him off after about 55 minutes - he'll get the start in the home leg, but if he still struggles to get involved then he won't be on the pitch for long. I feel that, with just one striker, it needs to be someone with real quality, and we just don't have that at the moment.

 

Anyway, it's a good start. I'm keeping things as they were for the home leg, and see how we do. Somewhat lost in all of that was that a 2-1 loss away actually gives us a chance to go through. I don't think it'll happen because I'm still working things out and our defence has more chance of landing on the moon than keeping a clean sheet, but hey. It means the second leg has more to play for than just testing out a tactic, which is nice.

[Bedese]

Can't really take much from this game. Neither team was that great, and not much happened. Our lack of CBs is still showing, though. I think I need to wait a year before really judging this tactic. Right now, Gabriele Rondelli (YP94) isn't good enough to be the focal point of the team, and that's hurting us when we attack. In a year, he should have developed nicely, and we'll be able to get a better sense of what needs to be changed for this to work as effectively as possible.

[Bedese]

Same tactic, but I think I'll go back to watching these on extended/key, because I've got no idea how good Dinamo are.

[Bedese]

Not bad.

[Bedese]

Youth Intake Day!

 

Meet our instant replacement for Ashley Turpin (YP88) (who's become a first teamer for Middlesbrough and is developing rapidly...). He's not as good, and he's never going to be as good, but he's a winger with decent technical stats, decent pace, is both footed and has a great personality. Superb.

 

Not as good technically as Bertolini, but he makes up for it with an extra yard of pace. He could become quite useful for us.

 

CBs? No? I don't think we're ever going to get a decent one.

 

 

[BoxToBox]

Well, that's what you call landing on your feet, looks like he could become very good as well, and perhaps less prying eyes as he's San Marino.

20 minutes ago, Jupjamie said:

Ashley Turpin (YP88) (who's become a first teamer for Middlesbrough and is developing rapidly...).

There had to be something about him when so many English clubs chased him hard.

[Bedese]

59 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

Well, that's what you call landing on your feet, looks like he could become very good as well, and perhaps less prying eyes as he's San Marino.

There had to be something about him when so many English clubs chased him hard.

I think you're right. I wonder if he'll ever make it to the Prem...

[Bedese]

Season Review!

 

Campionato Sammarinese:

Table

Schedule

I'm so annoyed. We dominated the final, missed sitters, lost on penalties after taking the lead on them twice. We're in big trouble financially now.

Coppa Titano:

Table

Schedule

Yay.

Squad

Key Players:

 

Highest Average Rating:
Alberto Pozzo (YP84) - 7.81

24 assists from RB is pretty damn good.

Top Goalscorer:

Marco Zafferani (YP87) - 24

24 goals... from the opposite wing Pozzo plays - I think I can guess what's been happening there.

Manager's Player of the Year:

Gabriele Rondelli (YP94)

I have big plans for him.

Aims for Next Season:

 

Keep testing and tweaking the 4-2-3-1, get CBs, win league back, don't go into administration. Easy enough, right?

Other teams:

League winners: Cosmos.

Cup winners:  

 

How the team in CL Qualifying did: We lost to Salzburg in the Third Round.

How the teams in Europa Qualifying did: We lost to Dinamo Moscow in the Playoff. La Florita lost 4-0 to SV Ried from Austria, Tre Penne lost 8-0 to Cherno more from Bulgaria and Juvenes Dogana lost 3-1 to AEK Larnakas from Cyprus.

San Marino National Team:

 

2059 Results --------------- 2060 Results

Hmm. Not great.

 

Player Watch:

Andrea Montanari - The NT have a new star striker. He came through at APOEL before moving to Torino, and he's superb.

Ashley Turpin (YP88) - Started 31 games in the Championship  

[Bedese]

That's a winnable group. It's time for me to apply for the job.

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Montanari looks crazy good. 18 pace and acceleration for someone who's 6'3''!

[Bedese]

I'll resign after the Nations League most likely, seeing as this isn't the one that sends you to the Euro Playoff. I just want to see if we can win it.

[Bedese]

Just now, The_Gato_In_Goal said:

Montanari looks crazy good. 18 pace and acceleration for someone who's 6'3''!

He's one of the reasons I took the NT job, to be honest  

[Bedese]

[Bedese]

[Bedese]

A Cypriot team in the First Round is really not ideal. We might lose this.

[Bedese]

We struggled away, but we got the job done, and we're off to a very tough matchup in the Czech Republic.

[Bedese]

And this is why I hate the Europa League. We're out early, didn't get much money, and I have no idea how well we actually did because I have no idea how good Teplice are.

[Bedese]

Ah. Montanari wont accept the NT callup, because he's holding out hope for an Italian one. That's really frustrating, because he's probably good enough to get one soon  

[sherwinriga]

After a deep loss to Teplice, Montanari didn't like the loss to Teplice and being a dual-national player. That's disappointing. I hope you prepared for the European Nations League. By the way, you will get hopes in 2064 Euro because the Euro Playoffs can only take place during the UEFA Euro qualifiers.

EDIT: Don't be frustrated in the Europa League, of course. So, will Teplice fell later?

[Bedese]

Teplice lost 4-3 to Saint-Etienne in the Third Qualifying Round.

[deltablue]

Regarding Turpin, we've all been there many times I think.

[Bedese]

1 hour ago, deltablue said:

Regarding Turpin, we've all been there many times I think.

Unfortunately so  Onwards and upwards without him, anyway!

[Sir_Liam]

Jupjamie, I've just finished reading this one, and have read all of your previous game too, and I have to say both have been a fantastic read.  I'm hopeful things will start to look up again soon.

[Bedese]

39 minutes ago, Sir_Liam said:

Jupjamie, I've just finished reading this one, and have read all of your previous game too, and I have to say both have been a fantastic read.  I'm hopeful things will start to look up again soon.

Thank you! It's so awesome to hear people enjoy reading this  

[Bedese]

Not a bad start to life as San Marino manager. 4 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, and our first ever promotion. So, what's next for San Marino?

 

Oh yeah. I'm quitting. 

 

The NT are terrible. I don't want any part of our inevitable thrashing in Division C. I took the job because I saw an easy group that I thought I could get us out of, we did that, I'm leaving until another good opportunity to take over comes up. (Also, this might get round the bug of being fired after 8 years and never being offered the job again).

[Bedese]

Youth Intake Day!

Ugh.

 

He could possibly be useful.

[iacovone]

Is that eight-year bug just a San Marino thing or do you think it'd affect me over in Andorra? Might have to start planning an exit if so!

[Bedese]

4 minutes ago, iacovone said:

Is that eight-year bug just a San Marino thing or do you think it'd affect me over in Andorra? Might have to start planning an exit if so!

Seems to be just San Marino, although I don't think anyone's ever managed Andorra to test it. I think you're probably fine, though.

[iacovone]

I'm going to note the date of my eight-year anniversary and save just before it to be sure, I think

[Bedese]

Season Review!

 

Campionato Sammarinese:

Table

Schedule

Unbeaten, but so nearly not the league winners. 81 minutes into the final we were trailing by a goal, but Gabriele Rondelli (YP94) struck twice in three minutes to give us the title back.

Coppa Titano:

Table

Schedule

Meh.

Squad

Key Players:

 

Highest Average Rating:
Alberto Pozzo (YP84) - 7.81

Weirdly, it's the same player and exact same rating as last year. That's the first time that's happened in about 200 cumulative years.

Top Goalscorer:

Gabriele Rondelli (YP94) - 23

He's so, so good.

Manager's Player of the Year:

Lorenzo Terenzi (YP96)

A great debut season for the young winger.

Aims for Next Season:

 

Keep testing and tweaking the 4-2-3-1, get CBs, retain league, sort out finances.

Other teams:

League winners:

Cup winners: Fiorentino beat us 2-0 in the final.

 

How the team in CL Qualifying did: Cosmos lost 3-2 to FH from Iceland in the Second Round.

How the teams in Europa Qualifying did: We lost to Teplice in the Second Round. Juvenes Dogana lost 2-0 to Kairat from Kazakhstan and Libertas lost 5-0 to Lillestrom from Norway.

San Marino National Team:

 

2060 Results --------------- 2061 Results

That was a fun six games  

Player Watch:

Andrea Montanari - As soon as I resigned, he accepted the callup and has his first cap. I might look to manage the team with him still in it at some point...

Ashley Turpin (YP88) - I miss him  

[Bedese]

 

[Bedese]

[Bedese]

Salzburg really don't seem that strong on this save - they've not battered us for a while and they barely scraped past Dundalk to get through to play us. I don't think we'll win because our defence is still really weak, but they're not as monumental a task as their name reputation suggests.

[Bedese]

Disappointing.

[Bedese]

They made the CL Quarter Final last year and won the Europa about 15 years ago. We're going to get murdered.

[Bedese]

Well, we scored two.

[Bedese]

Youth Intake Day!

 

[sherwinriga]

14 hours ago, Jupjamie said:

Youth Intake Day!

 

What a bickering intake. This isn't an awesome youth intake after all. What about the other Sammarinese teams if they have a better youth intakes?

[Bedese]

2 hours ago, sherwinriga said:

What a bickering intake. This isn't an awesome youth intake after all. What about the other Sammarinese teams if they have a better youth intakes?

We're still the ones producing almost everyone in the NT, so it doesn't look like any other teams are producing great players.

[Bedese]

Season Review!

 

Campionato Sammarinese:

Table

Schedule

I hate Fiorentino, and I hate penalties, but we got revenge on them on penalties before winning the final.

Coppa Titano:

Table

Schedule

Meh.

Squad

Key Players:

 

Highest Average Rating:
Sandro Bertollini (YP95) - 7.78

He's great.

Top Goalscorer:

Gabriele Rondelli (YP94) - 20

So's he.

Manager's Player of the Year:

Gabriele Giardi

He's alright.

Aims for Next Season:

 

Keep testing and tweaking the 4-2-3-1, get CBs, retain league, sort out finances.

Other teams:

League winners:

Cup winners: Cosmos beat Libertas 2-0 in the final.

 

How the team in CL Qualifying did: We lost to Red Bull Salzburg in the Third Round.

How the teams in Europa Qualifying did: We lost to Dynamo Kyiv in the Playoff. La Florita lost 6-1 to Lillestrom, Fiorentino lost 4-0 to Rapid Wien and Cosmos lost 6-0 to Slovan Liberec.

San Marino National Team:

 

2061 Results --------------- 2062 Results

That was actually a really good campaign. We ran a lot of teams close.

Player Watch:

Andrea Montanari - He scored the two against Montenegro. Great start to his international career.

Ashley Turpin (YP88) - He's already played 100+ games for Middlesbrough in the Championship, and he's looking good.

[Bedese]

[Bedese]

 

[smp20]

What the actual....? I don't understand why you are falling so far backwards in the rankings.

[Bedese]

14 minutes ago, smp20 said:

What the actual....? I don't understand why you are falling so far backwards in the rankings.

Me neither  We haven't been great in Europe recently, but we haven't been bad enough to fall back to where we were about 45 years ago either!

[Bedese]

50% of £46,000, great. When I sold him I didn't anticipate he'd go on to become a club legend at Frosinone, captaining the club, playing 391 games for them and not leaving until he was 33 when his value was completely worthless. Ugh.

[Bedese]

Want to do us a favour, Jimbokav?  

[Bedese]

The performance wasn't great, but a 1-1 draw away is a fantastic result. We have a chance in the second leg, although I wouldn't bet on us the way they dominated the first leg. Apart from Gabriele Rondelli (YP94)'s volley from just inside the box (that the keeper should have saved), we were on the back foot for all 90 minutes. 

[Bedese]

We're just too weak to compete in Europe as things stand.