[FM18] Brescia was just the beginning - Lucescu's legacy

[IL Luce]

Città di Brescia

Brescia, nicknamed Leonessa d’Italia (“The Lioness of Italy”), is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometres from the lakes Garda and Iseo. With a population of 196,480, it is the second largest city in the region and the fourth of northwest Italy. The urban area of Brescia extends beyond the administrative city limits and has a population of 672,822, while over 1.5 million people live in its metropolitan area. The city is the administrative capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy, with over 1,200,000 inhabitants.

Founded over 3,200 years ago, Brescia (in antiquity Brixia) has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times. Its old town contains the best-preserved Roman public buildings in northern Italy and numerous monuments, among these the medieval castle, the Old and New cathedral, the Renaissance Piazza della Loggia and the rationalist Piazza della Vittoria.

 

Brescia Calcio

Full name: Brescia Calcio S.p.A.

     Nickname(s)    : Rondinelle (Little Swallows)

                                        Biancoazzurri (White and Blues)

                 Leonessa (Lioness)

Founded: 1911

                                        Ground:    Stadio Mario Rigamonti, Brescia, Italy

Capacity:    16,743

The team was founded in 1911 as Brescia Football Club, joining the Terza Categoria division the same year. In 1913, Brescia was promoted to First Division for its first time ever, and from 1929 it played in Serie A for six of the seven following seasons. Successively, the club played among the two top divisions until 1982, when Brescia was relegated to Serie C1. The club then returned to Serie B in 1985. Brescia played outside the two national tournaments of Lega Calcio (A and B) only four years: under this aspect, only 11 clubs in all Italy marked a better performance.
Brescia won the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1994, the biggest notable achievement in their entire history to date. Brescia actually came to the footballing forefront only in 2000, when the previously-unfancied club signed former FIFA World Player of the Year Roberto Baggio, who led Brescia to a seventh-place finish in the 2000–01 season, thus qualifying for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Successively, Brescia reached the Intertoto Cup finals, then lost to Paris Saint-Germain according to the away goals rule after achieving a 0–0 away draw in the first leg and a 1–1 home draw in the second leg. Baggio spent four years at Brescia before retiring in 2004 and during those historic four years, Brescia became widely known as "Baggio's Brescia". During Baggio's four-year spell with Brescia, the club recorded its best-ever run of staying in Serie A. In the very next season that followed Baggio's retirement (2004–05), however, Brescia were relegated from Serie A on the last day, finishing a lowly 19th. Brescia struggled for returning to top flight after the relegation and finally returned to Serie A after beating Torino with a 2–1 aggregate in the 2009–10 season. In the 2010–11 season, however, they were relegated back to Serie B. In the 2014–15 season, they were relegated to Lega Pro after finishing second from last. However, after Parma's declaration of bankruptcy and demotion to Serie D, Brescia was among one of the teams selected to replace them in Serie B.
Two-time treble-winning manager Pep Guardiola, the Romanian Gheorghe Hagi, striker Luca Toni and playmaker Andrea Pirlo – born in Brescia – have also spent time playing for the club.
 

Brescia di Lucescu

Quote

“From a mental point of view, my not entirely inadvertent tutor was Mircea Lucescu, the coach who plucked me from the Brescia youths aged 15 and put me straight into the big boys’ world of the first team. I found myself training with 30-somethings who were a little bit put out at me getting under their feet. Whey were twice as old as me and, some days, twice as nasty.
“Andrea, keep playing like you did in the youth team.”
That was the first phrase Lucescu whispered to me and, like a good little soldier, I obeyed. Not everyone took it well, especially the senior players in the dressing room. They were among the most listened to and respected out on the pitch, and were like old men compared to me.
One day I took the ball past one of them three times in a row. The fourth time was fatal. He committed the worst foul of all time, carrying out a premeditated assault on my ankle. There was no point trying to make out he hadn’t meant it – nobody would have believed him.
He, too, thought I was acting like a superstar when, in reality, all I was doing was following Lucescu’s instruction. The coach gave me a wink and said: “Don’t worry, everything’s fine. And make sure to try that again, please.”
He spoke to me with kindness then turned to the rest of the team and said: “Give the ball to Pirlo; he knows how to look after it.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                  From the book: “Andrea Pirlo: I Think Therefore I Play” by Andrea Pirlo

After a short spell at Pisa, Lucescu took a Serie B Brescia in 1991 and made an immediate impact, winning the league with 49 points. But, the move from Pisa to Brescia was not a move without funny facts, as Lucescu said in one of his interviews for uefa. Back then three teams were fighting for his signature: Standard Liege, Porto and Brescia with those from Porto desperately to have him, that even hide him for a few days in an apartment so than he could not be approached by other teams. In the end the move at Brescia was just a matter of fate. He decided to draw the lucky team, but after he wrote down them, he couldn’t find the note with the Brescia name on it. The note was stuck to his shoe and so he realized that it must be fait and he immediately signed with Brescia.

Lucescu stayed at Brescia 5 years from 1991 to 1996 having his ups and downs: promoted twice, relegated twice. Unfortunately he couldn’t keep them longer in the Serie A.
After the 1991-1992 promotion, Lucescu signed no more than 4 Romanian players, some of the most technical players, like: Florin Răducioiu (my favorite), Ioan Sabău, Dorin Mateuț and of course the biggest of all of them Gheorghe Hagi. After a 2 years spell at Real Madrid, with 64 apps and 16 goals, it was a surprise that Hagi decided to make a step back and join a new promoted Brescia. Some says that he was attracted by Lucescu who promised that he will take him at Inter. In my opinion Hagi struggled to adapt in Spain and with the 1994 World Cup around corner he needed a team where he would have played constantly. Lucescu promised him a key role in his team, actually he made the team around Hagi so that he could be at the World Cup.

Quote

“He could be the best player in the world, after Maradona. If he changes his mindset, he could be one of the best players in the World Cup.” (Mircea Lucescu).

With Lucescu’s help Hagi made the most memorable performances in the history of Romania at the World Cup, attracting a contract from Barcelona. But also let’s not forget Florin Răducioiu performances, a Milan player in that year.
With 4 Romanian key players and with a Romanian manager, Brescia was immediately nicknamed “Brescia romena” (Romanian Brescia).
-1992-1993 Brescia finished 15 with Răducioiu scoring 13 goals but even so they relegated to Serie B.
-1993-1994 With Răducioiu gone at Milan, Hagi decided to stay and prove that he is not a coward. Brescia finished 3rd and promoted again but also won their biggest trophy: the Anglo-Italian cup.
- in 1994-1995 Andre Pirlo finally could make his debut but they finished 18 and were again relegated to Serie B.
-in 1995-1996 was the worst season, finishing 16, they barely managed to survive in Sere B and the era of Lucescu at Brescia comes to an end.

Lucescu managed 8 years in Italy at different clubs, the biggest of them being Inter. In those 8 years he attracted his nickname: IL LUCE. 
In matter of players, Lucescu always liked technical one’s. He always liked to promote young talented players, always liked to try and develop them into high-level players.

 

Modern Lucescu

Quote

"He was our teacher not only in football but in life"(Darijo Srna)

I think Lucescu adapted amazing at the modern era. He did not anchored himself in the past, he evolved, adapted, learned but even so, the most important, he maintained his ideas about players selection: young, hard working, technical, aggression, fast and creative players. The DNA as we call it in the game. What he has done at the Shakhtar with his Brazilian niche is something amazing. You can say anything about Lucescu, but you can’t say that he don’t know how to find and develop high-level players. Finding and developing players like: Fernandinho, Fred, Douglas Costa, Willian, Taison, Alex Teixeira, Bernard etc. has put Shakhtar on the map winning trophies but also producing money by selling big. When he left in 2016, Shakhtar squad had no more than 13 brazilians players.

 

My Aims

 

1.  I want to recreate “Brescia romena”. Basically  I want to have at least 3 Romanian players in my first eleven (maybe not in the first season, but we will see who will want to join us);
2. In matter of transfers and squad I will follow Lucescu’s Path: trying to find young technical players that no one see, constantly promote young players from my under team, develop them as further as I can;
3. Any player is for sale, but only at the right time and price. I will try not to sale young players till they are not developed enough. Lucescu offered to his Brazilians players the chance of growth in exchange for finance and that’s what I’m gonna try too. Most impressive of all has been Lucescu's ability to build new team after new team.
4. In matter of selection, my first areas of selections will be: Italy (I want to find the next Pirlo, Baggio, Toni), Romania (of course for finding the next Hagi, Răducioiu, Sabău, Mateuț, Lupu) and Spain (here we are looking for the next Guardiola). Of course these are my first areas of selections but I will not refuse any good player; let’s not forget that Marek Hamsik has spend 3 years at Brescia before he moved at Napoli. Unfortunately, cuz of the Italy foreign rules( non-EU from abroad in Serie B and just 3 in Serie A) I can’t create a samba school ( maybe in another save).
    

[IL Luce]

 

Season Expectations

 

Club DNA

Work Rate
Determination
First Touch
Team Work
Acceleration
Decisions
Technique

 

Squad

 

Tactics

As you can see my squad is built to play with 3 at the back and because we are at the home of the best regista in the world I decided to try and always  have one in my tactics. Both tactics are almost the same, with one of them a little bit more aggressive.

 

Top key players

1. Dimitri Bisoli: My best player and he is only 23 years old. Some amazing mental stats, his main role is a mezzala but with 14 long shots and his “shot from distance” trait, he will be my nr 1 box to box.
2. Alessandro Martinelli: another mezzala but he will be my regista. Is far from being Pirlo but I think he is technical enough to play the role.
3. Danielle Gastaldello: a 34 yers old defender with a lot of Serie A games, I mean,  really a lot of Serie A games. I don’t like his “mark opponent tightly” trait but I think he will save us in many games.

 

Top young prospects

Sandro Tonali: I’m really excited about this one. A 17 years old MC/DM, he’s main role is a carrilero but with his first touch, passing, vision, decisions, composure, off the ball and positioning I think he will be a regista. I don’t like his determination but he is only 17 years old and who knows maybe he will be my next Pirlo. I will give him a lot of games and he will be my nr 1 carrilero when Martinelli is fit and a regista when he is not. With 4 Serie A teams interested on him I immediately promoted him and gave him a 3 years contract with 2 years optional extension.
Mattia Viviani: This time a 16 years MC; with his anticipation, bravery, concentration, positioning I will play him as a carrilero. His determination is a bit low but he will be Tonali’s backup. Again with 1 Serie A team interested on him I promoted and gave him a 3 years contract with 2 years optional extension.
Emanuele Ndoj: a 20 years old MC; he may look pretty good as regista, but with his “run with ball often” I can’t play him there. I want my regista to constantly look to pass not run with the ball like crazy. He is not good as carillero so the only option for him is to be Bisoli’s backup as box to box. If I can unlearn that trait then he will be a regista.
Mike Ebui: a 18 years old striker; he may not look too good but because of his physical stats and determination I will give him a chance. Because of his flair, physical stats and his 190 cm height he will be a DLF backup.

 

Transfers

1. Stefan Popescu: a real life old friend of mine, I decided to give him a try, being a free agent. I like his speed and work rate, bun unfortunately only that. He will be Longhi’s backup (sorry Stefanel).
2. Milan Milanovic: playing with 3 at the back I always need quality defenders. A little bit slow but I signed him for the first team.

Just 2 free transfers cuz I think I have a balanced and pretty good squad. I wanted to get ride of some players but I couldn't cuz they are new arrival...that will affect a little bit our finances. Unfortunately I couldn’t attract more Romanians players, so this season, if nothing happen in winter, we will have just 1 as backup.

 

Coming up next

[IL Luce]

(reserved)

[LPQR]

interesting approach  I think it's at least the past two versions of the game that I have played in Italy much more than any other nation. Brescia is one of the pillars of Italian football tradition, so hard not to see the appeal there. Lucescu is one of the Romanian managerial greats, so it would be interesting if you were to also try and mimic his tactical style - one of the most innovative at the time. 

In any case, this will be interesting to follow - mult succes și salutare  

[baggi0]

I like this. Good luck with the game and this story.

[IL Luce]

14 hours ago, LPQR said:

interesting approach  I think it's at least the past two versions of the game that I have played in Italy much more than any other nation. Brescia is one of the pillars of Italian football tradition, so hard not to see the appeal there. Lucescu is one of the Romanian managerial greats, so it would be interesting if you were to also try and mimic his tactical style - one of the most innovative at the time. 

In any case, this will be interesting to follow - mult succes și salutare  

Multumesc. A tactical interpretation would be amazing, but I don’t have too much information about his Brescia tactics. I know that he played with 3 at the back, but I don’t know if he played constantly or in some situations. For example at Inter he alter between 352, 442 and 3412. What we know for sure is that Pirlo was more of a Trequartista under his command. Maybe I will try something like this.

 

11 hours ago, baggi0 said:

I like this. Good luck with the game and this story.

Thanks!

[IL Luce]

Friendly + September schedule:

We had a pretty good pre-season with a surprise win against Chievo.
I don’t know how to describe my first month in charge, maybe just decent. Not bad, but not good neither, 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 loses. I put the results on the very poor match cohesion. I have a lot of new players even if I didn’t bought them and I guess they need time.

 

Match of the month:

I’m very disappointed about this game. A Serie C, Vicenza knocked us out of the TIM Cup at penalties. Board expectation was to reach the third round, oops.

 

League table:

A big surprise so far with a media prediction 6th Perugia looking unstoppable. By the way our media prediction is 11th.

 

October schedule:

[Timetxu]

Really cool idea! I really love the work Lucescu has done at Shakhtar. I once tried to recreate his work there but with all the talented Brazilians already there, I could hardly say that it was because of me I had success there. 

Also like the way you're presenting. Very clear and the good amount of depth into your challenge. 

[Muttley84]

Played a bit with Brescia in FM17 but failled miserably in the first season. Seems you've put some effort into this already so you might have better chances. 

Multa bafta! 😊

[setzel]

Good Luck last season was a season ticket holder , this year i just go to matches when i can

[Sheriff7]

Bring Baggio back!!

[IL Luce]

18 hours ago, Timetxu said:

Really cool idea! I really love the work Lucescu has done at Shakhtar. I once tried to recreate his work there but with all the talented Brazilians already there, I could hardly say that it was because of me I had success there. 

Also like the way you're presenting. Very clear and the good amount of depth into your challenge. 

Thank you very much. I’m glad you like it.

 

12 hours ago, Muttley84 said:

Played a bit with Brescia in FM17 but failled miserably in the first season. Seems you've put some effort into this already so you might have better chances. 

Multa bafta! 😊

Multumesc! They have pretty good players this year.

 

11 hours ago, setzel said:

Good Luck last season was a season ticket holder , this year i just go to matches when i can

What happen at Brescia right now? Is a shame that they are 17th in the league at the moment. They have far better players, they should not fight for relegation . Hopefully things will change.

 

2 hours ago, Sheriff7 said:

Bring Baggio back!!

I’m searching for him. Till then: 

[IL Luce]

October schedule:

A tough month with games against top 3 media prediction teams, but what a performance from our boys!!! We smashed Empoli and Spezia and I think we played the Italian way. With 3 draws and 3 wins, I’m really happy about this month.
After Perugia defeat I reevaluate my tactics and made just little small tweaks:
- I dropped my direct approach and take off “more direct passing”(we lost the ball too much, too stupid) but also “play out of defence”(maybe it was stupid to play more direct passing with play out of defence, it doesn't sound too good right now).
+ I switched from structured to flexible; changed the CD cover to a simple CD( it seems that with the cover duty he kept opposition strikers too much in game, and we took some goals cuz of that…now all 3 defenders are in line); I gave the “fewer risky passes” to the carrilero(he lost too many balls; if you can’t  pass or find options, just give the ball to the regista or to someone around you).
Those are the only changes so far. For the next games I intend to change the box to box into a mezzala(support) and see how it goes, also I will put the “stay wider” instruction to my WBL/WML to make more space for the mezzala, maybe to WBR/WMR also, to stretch the field more. Oh and about my regista, he have full freedom with "more direct passes" and "more risky passes" on.

 

Match of the month:

Actually this month we had 3 tough games, against: media prediction 1, Palermo; media prediction 2, Frosinone and media prediction 3, Empoli. A draw, two wins, what can I want more? We smashed and jumped over them like:

 

League table:

Something is happening at Perugia! If I will be on this position at the end of the season it will be amazing.

 

November & December schedule:

With only 4 games in November, I will play and post the December games too.

[IL Luce]

A new 2 years contract and the job security untouchable, thank you board, thank you, but let see why:

 

November & December schedule:

Our amazing run last till the late of November when we have met Parma.

4 narrow wins(a win is a win I can’t complain), 1 categorical win, 1 draw and 3 defeats against teams that we should beat, overall an amazing 2 months in my opinion.

What is annoying is how we can take results against better teams and against small/average teams we struggle and eventually they beat us.

 

Match of the month:

In December, the relegation contenders, Ternana, taught us a precious lesson. The biggest loss so far this season, we were pathetic with actual 0 shots on target. They hammered us and I must see what I can do against this kind of teams.

 

League table:

Please someone stop the season, I’m content with this position, thank you! Cesena make it through and have finished the year on first place. They have just 1 lost game…ok, a lot of draws, but just 1 lost game? Amazing! In my opinion we have better players then them and that make me dream at least at a playoff spot. 

We need to tweak our tactics more and we definitely need better strikers, a lethal poacher will be nice. This is what we are searching in this transfer window.

 

January & February schedule:

[IL Luce]

Transfers:

I’m really happy that we managed to make some money this winter and we got rid of some players with huge salaries.

5 players in, all on loan:

Paul Anton: I was really surprised that Dinamo accepted our loan. He looks pretty amazing for us…a little bit slow, but he is looking great.

Mihai Roman: I think he is the striker that we missed this season. Fast, aggressive…pretty good dribbling and finishing; he already has 6 goals in 7 games for us.  I think he will help us a lot.

Robert Moldoveanu: In my opinion, in real life, this may be the next Raducioiu. Unfortunately, he had 2 very ugly injuries recently and that’s why in game he is very injury prone.

 

David Lazar: He may not look too great but he already saved us some penalties and he is better than my keeper. I signed him for the first team.

Antonino La Gumina: I don’t know why Palermo let him go. He is looking pretty good for a 21 years old striker. Their losses is our gains.

With Roman’s speed and capacity to dribble and with La Gumina and Moldoveanu trait “moves into channels” I have changed my Poacher into an Advanced Forward. Also, with Bisoli-Anton-Martinelli I think we have one of the best midfield in the league. I changed the carrilero into a mezzala and the box to box into a central midfield for a little bit more stability. Now our midfield looks like this: RGA-CM(s)-MEZ(s).

With 5 Romanians players in the squad and 3 of them in my first eleven, our team start to look like Brescia romena.

My thoughts about loaning players: don’t loan players without a future transfer fee. Do you really want to grow other teams players? All the loaned players that I brought in have future fee. If they confirm and I will have money then I will buy them, if not…well…is my lose. What is strange is that they are more cheaper in this way. Let’s take Moldoveanu for example: they didn’t want to sell him no matter how much money I gave (ok, I don’t have too much money to spend, but I wanted to see how much they demand), but they wanted to loan him with 600k future transfer fee. Really? You don’t want to sell him but you loan him with future transfer fee? Very, very strange…but ok.

 

January & February schedule:

What an amazing 2 months. A lot of new managers in the league; maybe is good, maybe is bad but so far is pretty good for us.

 

Match of the month:

2 key games this time, against a too solid Cesena and a title contender Palermo. Cesena definitely deserve their place this year and Palermo…I don’t think they want to play against us anymore this season.

 

League table:

I will not get to excited about our position cuz there are much more games to play, but the league table look very nice right now. Cesena still look solid so far. They have a truly Italian style with only 1-0 wins and a lot of 0-0 draws. Perugia falls miserable with only 3 wins in 4 months, they are not the same anymore.

 

March & April schedule:

 

And in the end, let see what our fierce rivals, Atalanta, do:

Hmm…ok, ok.

[IL Luce]

March & April schedule:

Our amazing run come to an end in April. The game against Pro Vercelli was postponed to 15 may. I must say that I’m really surprised of how well our team is going. I didn’t expect that.

 

Match of the month:

I thought that we can take revenge for our last game. Unfortunately, Parma defeated us again. The only team against which I couldn’t do anything about this season.

 

League table:

Now this is something! Now I can say that we can promote, we may win the league as well. Everything is working perfect: our tactics work amazing, our tweaks are productive, our players are happy and our winter transfers are a big plus. Hopefully those two defeats don’t predict the start of a bad run for our team.

 

May schedule, the end:

Well, you may say that we will have an easy month with games against small teams, but I remind you that our big struggle was against some small teams. Actually, Ternana and Cittadella defeat us last time. 

[IL Luce]

Yes, we did it…against all odds, we did it...Lucescu be proud!!!

 

May schedule:

Not a great month but I'll take the blame. We were promoted mathematically after Venezia game and I decided to play around with our tactic to prepare it for the next season. After re-reading @LPQR's fantasista articles and have watched a lot of Baggio’s videos, with the risk of being relegated next season, I really want to implement a trequartista into my tactics. Unfortunately, Ternana and Cittadella games show me that I have a lot of work to do for that.

 

Match of the month:

The key game of our month and season, in which we needed 1 point to become champions… and yes, we did it!!!

 

League table:

Un unbelievable season. I really didn't expect this, but I will take it. I’m really happy for Cesena, I believe that they deserved more than that.

 

Top key players this season:

1. Dimitri Bisoli: Our best player this season. Solid midfielder with 86% pass completion ratio, 62.38 passes completed; 7 assists, 4 goals and 7.23 average rating.

2. Federico Furlan: 15km distance/90; 64 crosses completed; 2.94 dribbles made; 75% tackle rate; 12 assists; 4 goals; and an average rating of 7.21. 

On loan from Bari, I really want to buy him, unfortunately they demand too much money and I don’t have it (maybe another loan?).

3. Mihai Roman: Signed him in winter, he was an immediate impact for the team. 

1.98 shots on target; 2.63 dribbles made; 84% pass completion ratio; 49% header won ratio (a little bit low); 14 goals and 5 assists in 17 apps and an average rating of 7.59.

He will definitely join us in summer and just look at his value now: 1.4M and we have a future transfer fee of 475k…future profit, profit, profit.

 

Board confidence & budgets:

Ohh c’mon board, you can do better than that! Luckily, our loan players have small future transfer fee and I intend to activate the clause for 3 of them.

 

About tactics used:

 

GK: Fewer Risky Passes; Distribute To Full Backs

3xCD: none

WBL(s): Shoot Less Often

WBR(a): Shoot Less Often

RGA: More Direct Passes; More Risky Passes

CM(S): none

MEZ(s): none

AF: Tackle Harder; Close Down More

DLF(s): Tackle Harder; Close Down More

 

GK: Fewer Risky Passes; Distribute To CD

3xCD: none

RGA: More Direct Passes; More Risky Passes

WML(s): Shoot Less Often; Get Further Forward

WMR(a): Shoot Less Often; Dribble More; Cross More Often; Cross From Byline; Run Wide With Ball

CM(S): none

MEZ(s): none

AF: Tackle Harder; Close Down More

DLF(s): Tackle Harder; Close Down More

I have tweaked them through entire season, but these are (let’s call it) the final versions. My main tactic was 3322 and I have used the 3142 in games where I was confident to win or when I needed a goal.

 

Finances:

Our finances don’t look too good because we paid our boys 2M for their final position, but they deserve every penny.

 

Serie A league table:

Juventus year…again. And SPAL???

 

Now, let’s go shopping and prepare for Serie A!

 

[LPQR]

great work I'm on a similar path with Parma: currently an all - Italian save and it's going tremendously well - promotion in the first season, and 3rd place in Serie A in the second season. I'm waiting on a regen I've got this season to develop him into my fantasista, although it might take 3-4 seasons to get there

[Sambacutilamba]

I will follow. Forza Brescia

[mark1985]

I follow Brescia as my Italian team as I was on holiday at Lake Garda one year and when looking for local pre season friendlies, spotted that Brescia were playing PSG in the Intertoto cup and saw them once or twice after that. Saw Pirlo, Baggio and Guardiola play for them (hell of a midfield that although never saw them all play together!). They have some great fans (apart from when they lose to PSG and start setting fire to bins). Forza Brescia!

[IL Luce]

On 1/22/2018 at 10:02, LPQR said:

great work I'm on a similar path with Parma: currently an all - Italian save and it's going tremendously well - promotion in the first season, and 3rd place in Serie A in the second season. I'm waiting on a regen I've got this season to develop him into my fantasista, although it might take 3-4 seasons to get there

You should write again about tactics. You had some very interesting approaches. 3rd place in Serie A sound awesome, I just hope I will not get relegated.

 

On 1/22/2018 at 13:13, Sambacutilamba said:

I will follow. Forza Brescia

Thanks. Forza Brescia!

 

On 1/22/2018 at 15:36, mark1985 said:

I follow Brescia as my Italian team as I was on holiday at Lake Garda one year and when looking for local pre season friendlies, spotted that Brescia were playing PSG in the Intertoto cup and saw them once or twice after that. Saw Pirlo, Baggio and Guardiola play for them (hell of a midfield that although never saw them all play together!). They have some great fans (apart from when they lose to PSG and start setting fire to bins). Forza Brescia!

Amazing! You made me jealous. I hope Brescia will rise once and for all someday and be a constant presence in Serie A. Forza Brescia!

[IL Luce]

Season II: 2018/2019

 

It seems that the board loves me: another new contract, this time for 3 years.

 

Season expectations & preview:

 

Transfers:

A lot of new players in, also I wanted to get ride of some players from my under 20 team cuz we have no more than 42 and they will never be solutions for my first team.

1. Enrico Alfonso: Initially signed him for the first team but we found a better solution and he will be a backup;
2. Francesco Bardi: On loan from Inter, he will be my first-choice keeper. [future transfer fee: 1.6M];
3. Fran Cruz: A little bit slow, but he didn’t cost us nothing and is solid defender for us. I signed him for the first team;
4. Denis Ciobotariu: He is not ready for the first team, he will be a backup. If he will develop as in FM17, then we will have a future key defender;
5. Cristian Ganea: One of the best signing but also the most expensive. He can play in any position on the left and he will definitely be a key player for us;
6. Patrick Petre: I don’t like his stamina but he is still young, hopefully he will develop further. My first-choice on the right;
7. Alessandro Bordin: On loan from Roma, he will be my backup regista. [future transfer fee: 650K];
8. Paul Anton: I activate his clause and now he is our new captain after Caracciolo’s retire;
9. Alin Dudea: On loan from Dinamo, he will be Anton’s backup. [future transfer fee: 450K];
10. Octavian Deaconu: Meet my trequartista. Well, he is far from what I want, but with our budget and being young, I hope he will develop further;
11. Samuel Gustafson: Transfer listed by Torino for an asking price of 68k, I immediately spot the profit. I signed him for future profit and he will be Deaconu’s backup;
12. Mihai Roman: I hope he will continue like in the last season. Unfortunately, he got injured in pre-season and he will be out 7 weeks;
13. Robert Moldoveanu: Being injure prone, I’ll take the risk, hopefully he will develop;
14. Daniel Popa: Some pretty good mentals and physicals. Roman will have some serious competition in this one. [future transfer fee: 450k];

Considering our transfer budget, I think we have made some pretty good deals. Now we have 9 Romanian players in the squad and 5 definitely in my first eleven.

 

Squad:

 

Top key players:

Cristian Ganea; Dimitri Bisoli; Paul Anton

I hope Bisoli and Anton will continue like in the last season and Ganea is definitely a very big plus.

 

Tactics and first eleven:

This year is about keeping the ball more and for the formation, I got inspired from Carlo Mazzone and his 2000/2001 3-5-1-1 tactic that he used at Brescia, with both Pirlo and Baggio in the first eleven.

I don’t know how much we can keep the ball against better teams, but losing the ball too much against them don’t sound too good.

In theory:

• A simple Goalkeeper;
• 3 CD’s with one on cover this time;
• A Regista with full freedom as always;
• A Defensive Winger on left: I want him to protect the left flank better, basically because the box to box will roam a lot and will be out of position a lot;
• A Box to Box: I want my trequartista to have a lot of space and no one to get in his way, but also, I don’t want him to be isolated. Hopefully the box to box with his roam from position will connect and help him well;
• A Ball Winning Midfielder: My hard-working destroyer, I need him to destroy the opposition play with his higher closing down but much important I want him to cover my aggressive winger;
• A Winger: I want him to provide width and crosses, but I want him to cross from byline so that my trequartista and my box to box to have time to arrive in the box;
• Trequartista: If my regista is the defence engine, I want my trequartista to be the attack engine with full freedom as well. I want him to be more attack oriented and to have more space to operate. The structured shape does exactly that;
• Advanced Forward: I want my striker to push the opposition defensive line so that he will make roam for my trequartista. Also, I want him to roam from position and move into channels so that he will drag opposition defenders out of position, making much more space for my trequartista to attack;
• Structured: cuz I want my trequartista and advanced forward to be more attacked oriented and of course for more space between the players. The attacking winger it may be a problem but hopefully my BWM will cover well;
• Shorter passing, play out of defence, work ball into box: for possession and of course because I don’t want to lose the ball often.

This will be my main tactic. I will try to develop also a 3412 and maybe we will play our last season 3322 tactic in some games.

What I want to achieve with the tactic in matter of positions, passes and stats:

 

Friendly & Cup:

 

Match of the month:

We have struggled against Frosinone but at least we won. Definitely a better performance than last season.

 

September schedule:

Two fierce rivals (Atalanta and Verona) in a month…nice.

[LPQR]

9 hours ago, IL Luce said:

You should write again about tactics. You had some very interesting approaches. 3rd place in Serie A sound awesome, I just hope I will not get relegated.

 

Best of luck mate, with the right approach, you can shoot up the table quite quickly. I always focus on results whatever the cost in the underdog phase and then build on the finances and infrastructure from there to shape up my team and tactics to my liking. Yeah, I'm tempted to start writing again but time is scarce and I just can't seem to find the motivation to do it yet. We'll see if that changes in the near future

 

P.S. Quick update on the Parma story - only using Italian players, we bagged the Quadruple in our second season in serie A and upon our return to CL 

[IL Luce]

10 hours ago, LPQR said:

Best of luck mate, with the right approach, you can shoot up the table quite quickly. I always focus on results whatever the cost in the underdog phase and then build on the finances and infrastructure from there to shape up my team and tactics to my liking. Yeah, I'm tempted to start writing again but time is scarce and I just can't seem to find the motivation to do it yet. We'll see if that changes in the near future

 

P.S. Quick update on the Parma story - only using Italian players, we bagged the Quadruple in our second season in serie A and upon our return to CL 

And that’s why you should write more.

[IL Luce]

September schedule:

Not a great month. We have disappointed our fans with Verona and Atalanta games, but for me, the first 5 games of the season are about tactic. I made some tactical mistake and that has reflected in our game. First of all, our attack: my striker is too attack oriented and he is too isolated up front. The second: our right flank is too exposed, we have big problems on the right.

We definitely can control the game. In 5 games we had: 54%, 56%, 57%, 59% and 56% possession. 

Solutions:

• After Atalanta game I have changed my striker into an DLF(a). The change reflected immediately into Sassuolo game, unfortunately the 2 goals of Sassualo came from my right flank. What I’m looking for our striker is definitely a CF(a) striker. The CF(a) is what I’m looking for. He has by default what I want: move into channels and roam from position; he push the opposition defensive line but also come deep to help the trequartista. Unfortunately, I don’t have any striker that can play the role. I may try though.
• About right flank: I will try to change our winger into a wide midfielder with some winger PI, or I will change the BWM(s) into a defensive one. We will see in the next games. 

 

Match of the month:

Verona: we can have all the possession in the world, but, a goal from corner and a penalty won the game.

Atalanta: two goals from our right side. We will definitely need to change something there.

 

League table:

At least we have a better start than Milan and Lazio.

 

October & November schedule:

[IL Luce]

October & November schedule:

Amazing months for us!

Tactical tweaks:

• Our striker is now an CF(a), even if we don’t have anyone to play the role;
• Our W(a) is still a W(a) but with “closing down much more” and “tackle harder”;
• Our BWM(s) is still a BWM(s);
• Our problems are with crosses, from both flanks not only from the right one. It was stupid to change everything because of that;
• I add “play wider” to stop the crosses;
• Our CD cover is now a stopper. He stops much better the opposition attack and help better the roaming regista this way;
• Our GK is now a SK(d). He made to many stupid mistakes with my CDs, like invited each other to take the ball when the opposition striker was around .

 

Match of the month:

Just one word: unlucky. 

61% possession in Roma game but they equalize us from a penalty.

 

League table:

What is going on here? The promoted teams have taken the league by storm.

 

December schedule: 

Ouch!...

[Vélodrome]

Loving this, both your team selection and the tactical tinkering with the player roles you try to recreate. Huge fan of Roberto Baggio and trequartistas, but I haven't played with a trequartista myself since probably FM11. Only thing is that you need to play faster, want the next part =)

[IL Luce]

On 1/28/2018 at 01:23, Vélodrome said:

Loving this, both your team selection and the tactical tinkering with the player roles you try to recreate. Huge fan of Roberto Baggio and trequartistas, but I haven't played with a trequartista myself since probably FM11. Only thing is that you need to play faster, want the next part =)

Thank you! I don’t know if I will play with a trequartista in the next season. I want to try and recreate some Lucescu’s modern tactics next season, but depends on the transfer budget.

I will try to play and post faster.

[IL Luce]

December schedule: 

Back on earth.

 

Match of the month:

We totally dominated Sampdoria with a 65% possession; against Inter we were very lucky and against Napoli…. just lets forget it.

 

League table:

My personal expectation is to avoid relegation, anything else is just a bonus. Avoiding relegation and staying in Serie A means reputation and money that will attract better players. So far, we are 11 points clear from relegation zone and hopefully we will continue like this.

I don’t think that we will do any transfers this winter because we don’t have money. We will continue like this.

 

January & February schedule:

[davehibb]

Really enjoying this!

KUTGW 

[IL Luce]

January & February schedule:

Awful! Our tactic has started to fail and it seems that is time for a change.

 

Match of the month:

Juventus: Juve is Juve, I didn’t expect any positive result here anyway.

Lazio: Pretty disappointed because we managed to defeat them in our last encounter.

 

League table:

We have a very good league position. Looking at the last season league table, we need 4 more points to be officially safe. I really like how the table looks right now, with all 3 new promoted teams, Cesena, Palermo, Brescia being safe.

 

March & April schedule:

[IL Luce]

March & April schedule:

Changing the tactics to 32212 and 4312, gave us the immediate impact that I looked for.

And we are mathematically safe!!!

 

Match of the month:

It’s always nice to smash a top 3 team.

 

League table:

Just look at Cesena and Palermo. Wonderful! Cesena continue with their Italian style from the last season and Palermo play a 4231 and 3322 with a lot of closing down. They don’t give you much time on the ball, wonderful to watch.

 

May schedule, the end:

What a …! Is this legal? What a month we will have! Unbelievable! 

[IL Luce]

May schedule:

Well, we have upset some big boys this month. 

 

Match of the month:

Milan: We totally smashed them.

Inter: Finally, some luck.

Juve: And we have finished the season in tears.

 

League table:

A respectable 8th place. We were so close to European football but Cesena and Palermo deserved more…maybe next year. We have finished above Inter and Lazio and that’s a nice achievement.

 

Top key players this season:

1. Cristian Ganea: Definitely my best player this season.
    14.5km distance/90; 48 crosses completed; 2.88 dribble made; 72% tackle rate; 14 assists (second in the league after Simone Zaza); 3 goals and an average rating of 7.27.
2. Alessandro Martinelli: My trusted regista and DLP. 
   90% pass completion ratio, 87.37 passes completed; 68 interceptions; 74% tackle rate; 4 assists (low), 1 goals, 7.15 average rating and a new contract.
3. Michele Somma: Not the best average rating, but I really like how he is developing. His speed is amazing. 
   136 interceptions, 88% tackle rate; 71% headers won ratio; 79% pass completion ratio, 43.79 passes completed; 10.7km distance/90 and a 6.94 average rating.

 

Board confidence & budgets:

Finally, some money!

 

Finances:

That’s Serie A effect: tv money, prize money, gate money, merchandising money…money, money, money.

 

Now that we have some money is time for some massive shopping. 

[IL Luce]

My mistake, we actually have qualified to Europa League second round because AC Milan won the TIM Cup. (next time read the rules, you fool)

I didn't know that Italy have 8 places for continental qualification. Europa League for us then

 

Oooh and that's why

[Sambacutilamba]

Europa League, lol, great chance for Brescia

[Slipky]

Great read so far. Good luck!

[IL Luce]

7 hours ago, Sambacutilamba said:

Europa League, lol, great chance for Brescia

I must thanks to Roma for this

 

4 hours ago, Slipky said:

Great read so far. Good luck!

Thanks!

[IL Luce]

In the first season I played with 3 at the back because my squad was built that way and I continued in the same manner in my second season because I already had 6 central defenders and no one wanted to buy some of them. Now that we will be another year in the Serie A and because we have some money to spend, is time to move on and evolve.

 

Quote

Believe in football as a celebration of human potential, ambition and achievement.

(Shakhtar club philosophy)

Lucescu’s tactical masterpiece – Shakhtar Samba School

 

First of all, I’m not to good at writing tactical analyses but I’ll do my best.

Key characteristics of Lucescu tactic:

• a fluent and attacking 4231;
• fluid interchange and quick passing;
• hybrid approach, able to both control the ball for long periods and counter attack at pace (something normal, being the disciple of Angelo Niculescu, the inventor of “temporizare” / delaying or tiki-taka as we call it this days);
• double pivot: one more static and a hard working one able to shuttle forward to connect the midfield to the attack;
• 2 very aggressive fullbacks that constantly bombing forward to create overloads down the flanks;
• 2 very fast wingers able to score plenty of goals;
• fairly narrow attack.

 

Defensive & Attack positions:

Shakhtar defended in a 4411 formation with their ST and AMC closing down more and attacked in a more 4231Narrow formation.

Because the position of the players in the tactic screen is our defensive position I started from this and my Lucescu 4231 interpretation is in fact a 4411 tactic (sorry for those who expected a 4231 tactic).

 

The Attack:

• Luiz Adriano:

Quote

Luiz Adriano leads the line as a mobile striker, and his movement into the channels is very clever, opening up space for the wingers to drive towards goal on their preferred foot (it should be noted that Adriano isn't a false nine: his movement is lateral, rather than vertical).

I gave my striker the Complete Forward(attack) role. Actually, I played some games with the AF role, but Luiz Adriano definitely was a CF(a), he could dribble, he could protect the ball...an all round striker.

 

• Willian:

Quote

…likes to come deep and collect the ball from left of centre positions, then turn and dribble at defenders. He is Shakhtar's best player, and his directness is crucial to varying Shakhtar's possession play.

My “Willian” is in the ML position with the Wide Playmaker(attack) role.

 

• Douglas Costa/Teixeira:

Quote

The Brazilian, like Willian, is similarly vertical, although he tends to receive the ball in positions wider and higher up the flank before cutting inside.

My “Teixeira” is in the MR position with the Inverted Winger(attack) role.

 

• Henrik Mkhitaryan:

Mkhitaryan role is a tricky one because in the Ukrainian league he was more aggressive, more attack oriented but in the UCL he was more disciplined having a marking role, usually marking the opposition DM.

He is my Attacking Midfielder(support).

 

The Midfield:

• Tomas Hubschman/Taras Stepanenko:

The more defensive one and usually more static. I intended to give him an Anchor Man role, but the Anchor Man is way to static.

He usually dropped into centre back but also covered the aggressive fullback. I gave him the Defensive Midfield(defend) role.

 

• Fernandinho:

Hard working one, helped the defense but also the attack.

He was more than a box to box and I think this year Secunda Volante(attack) role suite him best (see his run, movement and goal against Chelsea in 2012).

 

The Defense:

• Yaroslav Rakitskyi - Olexandr Kucher:

The central defenders were simple CDs that usually passed shorter to those around them.

 

• Razvan Rat - Darijo Srna

The fullbacks are some tricky ones. Usually one was more attacked oriented than the other but the tricky part is that they alternated the attack duty base on the opposition. In some games the DR was more attack oriented and in others the DL. I chose my DR to be more aggressive and gave him the Complete Wing Back(support) role, "Darijo Srna". My "Razvan Rat" role is a Wing Back(support). I may alternate them too, based on opposition flanks.

 

Tactic:

 

G: Take Long Kicks

WB(S): Fewer Risky Passes

CD(D): Pass It Shorter; Fewer Risky Passes

CD(D): Pass It Shorter; Fewer Risky Passes

CWB(S): none

DM(D): none

VOL(A): none

WP(A): none

IW(A): Sit Narrower

AM(S): Dribble More; Close Down More; Roam From Position; Mark Specific Position: DM

CF(A): Close Down More

 

Control-Fluid

I’m between Standard and Control mainly because Standard=build attacks judiciously sound better. For now is control, but I will see. 

Shorter Passing-Higher Tempo: They usually didn’t had more than 2-3 touches on the ball. Search the game against Monaco from 2015 on youtube, beautiful passing game.

Work Ball Into Box-Lower Crosses: even if they counterattacked at pace, they remained patient and work ball into box. They never hoofed the ball, we may saw some whipped crosses but I think the low crosses were more appropriate.

Prevent Short GK Distribution: is more of a personal option.

No fairly narrow width. Why? Because I already play narrow. I have an Wide Playmaker that stay narrow by default; I have an Inverted Winger with sit narrow PI and also the pass shorter TI that alter my width and making it more narrow.

 

 

Don't pay attention to my striker position. I played him as an AF in these games.

 

Alternative tactics:

• In some games against certain opponent and especially in the second half or when they took the lead, Lucescu usually dragged his wingers more deeper to form a second bank of four tried to soak up the pressure before breaking quickly with his wide Brazilians and Fernandinho who ran from deep (see the second goal against Chealsea in 2012).

 

• Against some narrow formations Lucescu defended with six players – the back four, and the two holding midfielders with the wingers occupying the full-backs and tracked them if necessary and they rarely dropped in to form a second four. Here we have the game against Roma from 2011. Roma played that season in the league a 4312 and Lucescu made his tactic base on that, with his wingers that stayed up the field and harassed Roma’s full-backs in the first half. Unfortunately, Roma changed their approach before that game and defended in a 442 so that in the second half Lucescu changed to his natural approach.

 

It’s a long-term project. I may start a thread in the tactics section for more discussions if you are interested in Lucescu tactics, but for now I will post it in my reserved third post to found it easier. I only played some pre-season friendly and some Europa League games, so the tactic may have some small adjustments till the end of the season. In conclusion: these are not the final versions, they may evolve, but just a little bit. Also any tips, opinions are appreciated.

Thanks for reading and sorry for any mistake.

 

Credits:

Quote

https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2012/10/22/3533112/shakhtar-donetsk-vs-chelsea-champions-league-opposition-scouting

http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/221/champions-league/2013/02/13/3736656/champions-league-tactical-analysis-shakhtar-donetsk-vs

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/10/23/shakhtar-2-1-chelsea-shakhtar-attack-with-pace-and-forward-bursts-from-fernandinho-and-srna/

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/12/05/shakhtar-0-1-juventus-juves-bravery-pays-off/

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/02/18/roma-2-3-shakhtar-tactics/

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2013/09/17/real-sociedad-0-2-shakhtar-donetsk-sociedad-start-excellently-but-shakhtar-more-ruthless/

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2013/03/06/dortmund-3-0-shakhtar-dortmund-exploit-shakhtars-poor-positional-play/

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/04/07/barcelona-5-1-shakhtar-donetsk-shakhtar-incapable-of-dealing-with-runners-from-deep/

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/12/09/shakhtar-2-0-braga-tactics/

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/09/14/porto-2-1-shakhtar-ill-discipline-costs-shakhtar/

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/10/20/shakhtar-donetsk-v-zenit-st-petersburg-tactics/

https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/667804/Live/Europe-UEFA-Champions-League-2012-2013-Shakhtar-Donetsk-Chelsea

https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/667831/Live/Europe-UEFA-Champions-League-2012-2013-Shakhtar-Donetsk-Juventus

 

 

 

[IL Luce]

Season III 2019/2020

 

 

Season expectations & preview:

We are lucky to be in Europa League and you want to reach group stage???

I chose to avoid relegation this season too, because I made a lot of changes and I don’t know what to expect for.

 

Transfers:

Quote

"I prefer working with younger players because it's very difficult to change the mind of those who are 30 years old".

Mircea Lucescu

We force our budget at maximum this year, especially the wage budget, but we are in the Europa League man, dilly-ding dilly-dong…oh wait this is not Lucescu.

13 transfers in and we continue with our philosophy:

1. Laurentiu Branescu: Well, he is not Bardi but I think he will help us. He is still young for a keeper and maybe he will develop more. I activated Bardi future transfer clause but he demands a 200k wage and we are not that king of club yet.
2. Ionut Nedelcearu: He was on my shortlist for years but I didn’t had money to bought him and eventually Bologna transferred him. This year they transfer listed him and we could buy him even more cheap. We need to get rid of his trait: "mark opponent tightly", but he will be an important player for us.
3. Nacho Vidal: I’m really excited about him.  He will be my CWB(s), an “mini Darijo Srna”.
4. Rafa Navvaro: On loan from Betis he will be Vidal backup. [future transfer fee: 240k].
5. James Husband: Signed as a backup for Cristi Ganea.
6. Alin Dudea: I activated the future transfer clause. He is still young, he may develop further, an DM backup.
7. Alfredo Bifulco: Our second most expensive transfer this year. He will be our WP(a) and already scored 3 goals in 3 apps, I can’t wait to see what is capable of.
8. Jacopo Dezi: His natural position is a MC, but he will play for us as an WP(a). He may look better than Bifulco, but he is a little bit slow and he will be Bifulco’s backup. [future transfer fee: 2M]
9. Niccolo Belloni: My IW(a). His speed concern me, especially his pace but I hope he will help us. 1 goal in 4 apps so far.
10. Romain Del Castillo: Signed him on free, he will be Belloni’s backup. A more creative IW, unfortunately his speed is also a concern.
11. Alexandru Baluta: My most expensive transfer, but I think he deserve the money. A very fast and creative AM. His trait: "run with ball often" is a big bonus cuz is exactly what I’m looking for my AM.
12. Pietro Iemmello: I needed a cheap and solid striker and I think Iemmello will help us a lot. Very good off the ball, I will force him into CF(a) role even if he can’t play it.
13. Daniel Popa: I activated his future transfer clause and will be Iemmello’s backup.

The biggest departure: Mihai Roman. He disappointed me in the last season with just 9 goals in 31 apps. I wanted to sell him but I couldn’t, so he is on loan at the new promoted Avellino.

 

Squad:

10 Romanian players this season.

 

Top key players:

Alexandru Baluta; Nacho Vidal; Michele Somma; 

 

First eleven:

 

Friendly:

Europa League:

 

August & September schedule:

Schalke...it seems that our Europa League dream may come to an end, but even so:

 

[IL Luce]

August & September schedule:

• Europa League

Yes, we defeated Schalke. In the first leg away, I used the Plan B and changed the volante into a support. At home we played with our main tactic till half time. 2-1 at half time and I changed again to Plan B.

 

• Serie A

Unfortunately, in the league we are not doing too well.

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

 

October & November schedule:

[IL Luce]

 

Small tactical tweaks:

1. Changed from Control – to Standard;
2. Removed AM’s “roam from position” and added “move into channels”.

 

October & November schedule:

• Europa League

Amazing our run in EL.

 

• Serie A

Our form in the league started to raise. Beautiful!!!

 

Match of the month:

Juve: We continue with Lucescu’s ideas and concepts. I started the game with our Plan B, in the idea of given them all the possession and waiting compact for counter attacks. I don’t have Lucescu’s wingers but even so, a beautiful counter in the 89 minute secure our first victory against Juve. Take that Conte (Conte is their new manager, with Allegri being at Real).

Roma: Roma decided to come at us and teach us a lesson with their 433 Narrow (with 3STs) approach. Like Lucescu in 2011, I immediately changed to our Plan C trying to put pressure on their fullbacks and not giving them time on the ball. The tactic need some tweaks here and there but we managed to defeat them.

 

League table:

Up up and away. Look at Benevento.

 

December schedule:

[john1]

Loving the write up  Good to see you beat Juve  

[ekstromlars]

This is a great read, keep it up!

Really enjoyable

[IL Luce]

19 hours ago, john1 said:

Loving the write up  Good to see you beat Juve  

Thanks!

 

5 hours ago, ekstromlars said:

This is a great read, keep it up!

Really enjoyable

Thank you!

[IL Luce]

December schedule:

• Europa League

 

Brescia, Cesena and Palermo, last season promoted teams walk together side by side in EL first knockout round. 

 

• Serie A & TIM Cup

 

I’m really pleased with the results so far but, I don’t like our passing game and our possession, it not feels like Lucescu’s. I want to create that calm retention of the ball, with short passes, no more then 2-3 touches on the ball and quick breaks on flanks. That’s why, after Atalanta game, I added “retain possession” and “much higher tempo” to see how it works. This is what I really want from my boys:

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

 

January & February schedule:

[Vélodrome]

Impressive turnaround in the league. Will be interesting to see if your experiment with much higher tempo and retain possession work out. In my mind they don't combine very well, but that may be because I usually play way down the leagues with rather poor players, unable to both run and make a pass a the same time. Might be different at your level. 

[IL Luce]

22 hours ago, Vélodrome said:

Impressive turnaround in the league. Will be interesting to see if your experiment with much higher tempo and retain possession work out. In my mind they don't combine very well, but that may be because I usually play way down the leagues with rather poor players, unable to both run and make a pass a the same time. Might be different at your level. 

Ya, I've already dropped the idea after a few games (after Sassuolo game actually, I'll post the results in a minute). I had a great game against Inter with it, but even so I felt that our attack was way to slow, to predictable. I have changed it with the "play out of defence" and right now I'm thinking of adding "dribble less" for that "pass and go". I don't know how much impact it will have though, because I already have a lot of roles that "dribble more" by default .

 

I really like our passing combinations right now.

I may switch the fullbacks roles, because the right one is going way to far.

[IL Luce]

Athletic offered me a job interview right before our EL encounter.

After almost 2 seasons of asking, finally my board accepted to upgrade our training facilities.

 

January Transfers:

1 in and 2 out:

Abdoulaye Sissako: He may lack some attributes, but he will be our Segundo Volante till summer, when we may search for a better option. He is still young, hopefully he will develop further. He already made an impact with 3 goals and 2 assists in 7 app.

 

Biggest departure: Dimitri Bisoli, our key player since the start of the save. I didn’t want him to go, but unfortunately his contract was running out at the end of the season and he wanted over 100k wage and I really can’t offer this kind of wages right now, so I sold him for a very little fee.

 

January & February schedule:

• Europa League

Goodbye Europe, it was fun and we have fought till the end.

 

• Serie A & TIM Cup

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

It seems that my save is really strange. In every season there is a new promoted team with an unbelievable run. This season it seems that is Benevento's season with Simone Inzaghi as manager.

 

March & April schedule:

[IL Luce]

Youth intake:

So far, our youth intake was awful. This year was not different but we got one guy that I think and hope he will develop into something. Already for 1 month at us and his finishing and determination raised up a little bit… nice.

 

March & April schedule:

 

I will take the blame for the poor start but finally…with the cost of 5 poor games (but they are already much better teams), finally I may found what I was looking for: high possession, high passes completed and the most important that quick retention of the ball with quick breaks on flanks:

 

Here are some example gifs:

1. I will start with the most beautiful play and goal against Genoa: Martinelli recovered the ball in the middle and after that we’ve made our quick passing game till the goal. Tiki-taka di Lucescu
2. Here is a goal against Cagliari: the quick retention of the ball in the middle, opened Cagliari right flank, making a huge space for Ganea to run and cross.
3. Here is a quick goal against Fiorentina: my keeper kicked it long, as he is instructed, to my striker who’ve done his magic.

 

I didn't touch the tactic and players roles, just some Tis changes to all my 3 tactics:

 

At the end of the season I will do a big evaluation of the squad because this kind of play need high: First touch; Decisions; Composure; Off the ball; Teamwork; Passing and maybe Anticipation and Acceleration. My new DNA I guess. 

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

Someone stops Juventus please!

 

May schedule, the end:

[IL Luce]

 

May schedule:

 

Match of the month:

Atalanta: We lost our derby.

Inter: They played a 4312 so we switched to our Plan C.

 

League table:

2 teams with 75 points, 3 team with 62 points and Benevento in UCL. 

I didn’t expect anything from this season. I just wanted to play around with the tactic, tried to create something… anything else is a big bonus. We can’t create 100% RL tactics and situations but I took some of Lucescu’s ideas and I think we have a solid tactical base for the next seasons.

 

Top key players this season:

 

1. Niccolo Belloni: 14.4km distance/90; 1.85 dribble made; 80% pass completion ratio, 44.68 passes completed; 54% shots on target ratio; 0.88 shots on target; 8 assists; 12 goals and an average rating of 7.11.
2. Alexandru Baluta: 1.47 dribble made; 84% pass completion ratio, 56.95 passes completed; 51% shots on target ratio; 0.79 shots on target; 11 assists; 7 goals and an average rating of 7.02.
3. Pietro Iemmello: a key player for us this season but it will be his last season with us. I think his trait “tries first time shots” dragged him down. I already have 2 kids on my shortlist, unfortunately one of them have the same trait. 58% shots on target ratio; 1.36 shots on target; 31% headers won ratio; 80% pass completion ratio, 26.93 passes completed; 20 goals; 11 assists and an average rating of 6.91.

 

Tactics:

• removed “fewer risky passes” from DL.
• the AP(a) have: "roam from position" & "sit narrow".
• the IF(a) have: "sit narrow".

 

Board confidence & budgets:

That’s more like it Mr. Triboldi, now we can attract players with better wages.

 

Finances:

 

Europa League & Champions League: