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

[ekstromlars]

Nice season and some impressive results against the big teams. The reason for changing back to Control?

[Sambacutilamba]

What? Benevento in CL? That's crazy Very good season and great matches with big team in the Serie A

[Marius_R]

On 11.02.2018 at 22:37, IL Luce said:

.

Nice career so far. One question, how did you get the match screen to look like this? Is this a different skin?

[IL Luce]

On 2/12/2018 at 11:00, ekstromlars said:

Nice season and some impressive results against the big teams. The reason for changing back to Control?

Thanks. I have a lot of TI's atm and I didn't want to add new ones. Control with “push higher up” and “much higher tempo” it may sound extreme, but I really like what Control offer as default. I may be wrong, but I wanted a little bit of width (because I already attack narrow and with some TIs, very, very narrow), a little bit of aggression (closing down) and a little bit of directness (direct passes), what control offer by default. I opted for “dribble less” for that “pass and go” and “roam from position” so that always be a passing option that offer me possession.

 

21 hours ago, Sambacutilamba said:

What? Benevento in CL? That's crazy Very good season and great matches with big team in the Serie A

Thanks. It seems that in every season is a team that upset the big boys. In our first season in Serie A was Cesena and Palermo, now Benevento. Who will be next?

 

7 hours ago, Marius_R said:

Nice career so far. One question, how did you get the match screen to look like this? Is this a different skin?

Thanks. Yes, is The Tempo skin and is an after-match screen. You may find it here: http://www.thehighertempopress.com/tempo-skin-fm18/

[IL Luce]

Season IV 2020/2021

 

New DNA:

Determination

First Touch

Composure

Decisions

Passing

Off The Ball

Teamwork

Stamina

Acceleration

 

Always an honor when I receive this, but I rejected. I will focus only on Brescia, at least till I will win something.

 

Thank you, Jesus... now give me the title. Obviously is about Jorge Jesus, but the title is so funny.

 

Season expectations & preview:

 

Transfers:

Quote

"I risk results so that young players can show themselves" (Mircea Lucescu)

 

A very busy transfer window:

1. Emil Audero: I needed a solid keeper and Audero may be the next Buffon.
2. Prince-Desire Gouano: Signed him for the first team. He looks like a solid defender for us.
3. Vladimir Screciu: He is just a backup for now, but he is not far away to be a key player for us.
4. Adam Masina: With Ganea attributes falling badly I needed quickly a new DL. Masina will be our main DL after Ganea’s departure.
5. Riccardo Flamozzi: He will be Vidal’s backup.
6. Alberto Grassi: Welcome home kid. Born in Brescia, he will be our main Volante.
7. Borja Fernandez: Grassi’s backup.
8. Francesco Di Nolfo: I will train him to be our main IW.
9. Moses Simon: I’m not use to spend this kind of money for just one player, but he is looking very good. He will be our new WP and hopefully one of our big sale in the future.
10. Kaj Serhuis: I will play him as an AMC but he will be also a ST in some situations. We need to improve his speed.
11. Andres Alvarez: Finally, a proper CF. He is very young and I expect him to develop further and also to be a big sale in the future. My main ST.
12. Mario Ravasio: Also, a very young striker. Alvarez’s backup.

The biggest departures: Alessandro Martinelli and Cristian Ganea. Ganea's skills dropped awfully and we needed to sell him quickly.

 

Squad:

Only 6 Romanian players this season. With the league registration rule: “at least 8 Italians players”, I will try to limit my Romanian players to 5, so that I will have roam for other nations in my squad.

 

Top key players:

Moses Simon; Andres Alvarez; Emil Audero

 

First eleven:

 

Friendly and August schedule:

 

Europa League:

After this draw I hope that I will not get addicted to red bull.

 

September & October schedule:

[john1]

Good signings  Will be tough in your group  

[IL Luce]

September & October schedule:

• Europa League

 

• Serie A

We have far better players than in the last season but we are not playing at all like in the last season; no possession, no quick passing, I don't know what happened. Hopefully is just a phase.

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

 

November & December schedule:

[Sambacutilamba]

There's so much time to do something good in the Serie A. Now we must try to win in EL to reach at least second place

[IL Luce]

3 hours ago, Sambacutilamba said:

There's so much time to do something good in the Serie A. Now we must try to win in EL to reach at least second place

Yes, you're right. We already managed to get two wins against Salzburg. The key game will be against Krasnodar at home.

[IL Luce]

 

Tactical tweaks:

I have played around with some roles and ended up with this changes:

1. Changed the AM(s) into an AP(s) and removed dribble more;
2. Changed the DM(d) into an Anchorman;
3. Added “close down more” to Volante;
4. Removed IW’s “sit narrow” for more freedom;
5. Swapped fullbacks roles: the CWB on the left to offer me more width when WP sit narrow and cut in. 

 

November & December fixtures:

 

• Europa League

1 shot on target, 1 goal and some luck for us because they missed a penalty in the 83 minute.

 

I hoped that we could avoid England's teams but…. Southampton value: 600M.

 

• Serie A

Roma's manager: Luis Enrique.

Sassuolo's manager: Claudio Ranieri. We never managed to defeat him so far.

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

 

January & February fixtures:

[IL Luce]

 

A new 3 years contract.

 

January Transfers:

1 in and 1 out on loan:

Fede Cartabia: Second on my list, he is more of a playmaker. I could have signed Barbosa from Inter very cheap because he was upset but unfortunately, he wanted over 300k salary. He lacks some mentals but I think he is very good for us.

 

January & February fixtures:

• Europa League

One win... unfortunately not enough and we say goodbye to Europa League.

 

• Serie A

We are looking pretty good in the league, unfortunately it is or a win or a loose. If we could transform those looses into at least some draws it will be fantastic. Oh, and our defensive set pieces are pretty crap too.

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

 

March & April fixtures:

[IL Luce]

 

Our youth intake was awful and don’t deserve to mention it. Maybe changing the HoYD this season it was a mistake.

 

My board is insane. He didn’t want to accept my requests because “the team is in a bad run”. Really? After 3 wins in a row we are still in a bad form? Eventually he accepted after that "I can't stress how important...blabla" option.

 

Yes, we are in the Tim Cup final and yes, no more Juve, no more big teams…actually we have a very big chance of winning it.

 

March & April fixtures:

Our pretty good form continues. Unfortunately, we struggle against big teams, it seems that we can’t produce some surprises anymore, but we take results against others and that is ok.

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

 

May fixtures, the end:

We have a chance to finish on a UCL spot and a very big chance to win our first trophy…but, can we continue with our good form against relatively small teams ?

 

[john1]

You can do it!! Such a shame you couldn't score when Southampton was 2 players, down in first leg  

[IL Luce]

5 hours ago, john1 said:

You can do it!! Such a shame you couldn't score when Southampton was 2 players, down in first leg  

Not so lucky in the end

[IL Luce]

 

 

 

 

May fixtures:

Unfortunately, we fell lamentably. Another year in EL group stage but at least we have won the Tim Cup.

 

Match of the month:

4-3 at penalties.

 

League table:

Lazio relegated.

6th by goal difference and direct games (I guess?)

 

Top key players this season:

 

1. Moses Simon: 14.3km distance/90; 2.12 dribble made; 84% pass completion ratio, 84.20 passes completed; 10 assists; 6 goals and an average rating of 7.44, the best in the league. I really like this one and I’m thinking of dropping my tactical experiment and create a tactic just to put him in value. 41221(433) with him as a Raumdeuter maybe?
2. Alberto Grassi: 88% tackle completion ratio; 3.25 tackle won; 84% pass completion ratio, 62.30 passes completed; 9 assists; 8 goals and an average rating of 7.20.
3. Andres Alvarez: 59% shots on target ratio; 1.49 shots on target; just 19% headers won ratio; 80% pass completion ratio, 27.54 passes completed; 20 goals; 9 assists and an average rating of 7.09.

 

Young prospects:

Remember this one from the last year youth intake?

Here is him now: he is developing pretty good and I will try to give him as many minutes as I can. He is a backup, but my second striker. Already 9 goals in all competitions.

 

Here is another one from the last year youth intake:

I don’t know who will develop better but I will force him too.

 

Board confidence & budgets:

 

Finances:

 

Europa League & Champions League:

 

 

 Season         League             League Finish                     Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/2018       Serie B                 1st             Promoted, Champions
2018/2019       Serie A                 8th             Europa League Qualification
2019/2020       Serie A                 5th             Europa League First Knockout Round
2020/2021       Serie A                 6th             TIM Cup Winners, Europa League First Knockout Round

 

 

[john1]

Decent season Good to see you won the TIM Cup  

And Red Bull Leipzig won 7-0 in the final?!  

[Sambacutilamba]

Another good season. We won the Tim Cup at least 

[IL Luce]

23 hours ago, john1 said:

Decent season Good to see you won the TIM Cup  

And Red Bull Leipzig won 7-0 in the final?!  

Thanks. It seems that we were lucky with just a 1-0 defeat against them in the group stage.

 

5 hours ago, Sambacutilamba said:

Another good season. We won the Tim Cup at least 

Thanks.

[IL Luce]

Season V 2021/2022

 

Season expectations & preview:

 

Transfers:

 

1. Pablo Insua: Signed him for the first team. I think he will be a solid defender for us.
2. Michal Hromada: Signed him for the future but he is already looking amazing. The biggest problem is his 5M release clause that we need to get ride in the near future.
3. Milan Klimes: Another young Czech defender that look pretty amazing. He has some work to do but he is very young.
4. Rogerio: He is a backup for now and hopefully he will develop further.
5. Danilo Cataldi: One of our best signing this season, he will be a key player for us and he will play a DLP role in our new tactic.
6. Nicolo Barella: Grassi’s replacement.
7. Tsvetomir Slavov: He is looking amazing for his age, unfortunately he caused me only troubles. Now he is unhappy cuz he can’t settle in and want a move. I may sell him quickly.
8. Ben Godfrey: I decided to keep Anton for another year and Godfrey will be his backup. He is looking pretty solid for us and hopefully he will develop further.
9. Vlad Dragomir: Unfortunately, I signed Dragomir without knowing his traits and “shoots from distance” is something that I don’t like. He will be played as an AMR.
10. Rares Gabriel Flueras: I will play him on AML position and will be Simon’s backup.
11. Sergiu Mihai: I signed him for the future. He already has some interested attributes.

 

The biggest departure:  Alberto Grassi. I just couldn’t refuse Palermo’s 18M offer. This is our biggest deal and biggest profit so far. I signed Grassi for free when no one wanted him, now we made an 18M pure profit...Moneyball! 

 

Squad:

A lot of young players, exactly as I like it.

 

Top key players:

Moses Simon; Kaj Sierhuis; Danilo Cataldi

 

Tactics & First eleven:

I decided to drop my tactical experiment. It was fun, we had some pretty good results with it but I will go my own way from now on.

 

 

41221: Our main tactic this season. Basically, I wanted to put Simon on value, so I try to create an overlord on the right flank with AP-RPM-WB so that the RMD to attack the remained free space on the left.

442: Our second tactic is a low block 442, a little bit inspired by Diego Simeone and of course Cleon's "The Art of Counter Attacking", that we will play against big teams. Basically, we will stay deep and compact trying to soak all the pressure and then catch the opposition on the counter. No playmakers, no fancy stuff. The left flank is a bit more aggressive with WB (d) overlapping at the right opportunity. We already had some amazing results in preseason and August, but I will not reveal the surprise yet(just a few lines below). Maybe finally a giant killer tactic for us this season.

4231: I don’t know how much I will use it but it will be our attacking tactic.

 

Friendly and August fixtures:

Yes, this is one of the big surprise with the 442 tactic: we have won our second trophy and we’ve won it in style.

 

 

Yes, you see it well: our second surprise was a draw against mighty Barcelona. Well I know that is just a friendly but Barca is Barca.

 

 

Match of the month:

 

Europa League:

Unfortunately, we are in the group with last year's UCL finalist, Liverpool.

 

September & October fixtures:

[john1]

Superb win over Juve  Some good signings you have made. I am sure you will advanced to next round in Europa League.

[Sambacutilamba]

Very good win against Juventus. Danilo Cataldi is a great player for Brescia

[IL Luce]

 

September & October fixtures:

• Europa League

 

• Serie A

 

After an amazing September with 6 wins in a row a terrible October came with just 1 win and some awful defeats.

 

Match of the month:

I was afraid of Liverpool for a reason.

 

League table:

So far, the league table look amazing. 

 

November & December fixtures:

[IL Luce]

 

 

Falcao joined us, but only as an under 18s coach. I revamped the entire u18 and brought in entirely new coaches. Hopefully this year youth intake will be much better.

 

November & December fixtures:

• Europa League

 

 

Tottenham...again an english team.

 

• Serie A & TIM Cup

 

Some minor tactical tweaks here and there and we are flying. And I had the biggest score so far in fm18.

 

Match of the month:

We lost against Liverpool due to a stupid mistake in the last minute.

 

League table:

Fiorentina is looking amazing so far this season. Unfortunately, when we have a great season the other teams also have. I want an UCL spot this season. It will be very very tough.

 

January & February fixtures:

It will be two crazy months.

 

Roma's new manager: Gheorghe Hagi. He already smashed Milan 3-0.

 

[IL Luce]

Small update:

 

• Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the CAF Footballer of the Year: Moses Simon.

It seems that the 41221 tactic created especially for him came to fruition.

 

 

And it seems that Simon is going to Arsenal for 40M and 20% of next sale. It was and still is the biggest signing for us. We bought him for 12.5M and now we will sell him for 40M…27.5M sweet profit. If I subtract his salary till now then will be ~23.3M profit. I need to search quickly for a replacement.

 

• And the low block 442 effect:

With one man down since minute 5, when my DL decided to take a red card, we managed to resist and even win after a free kick.

Every win against giant Juve is sweet.

 

[IL Luce]

Simon's transfer update:

 

I rejected Arsenal's offer after a few days because PSG came in with a much better offer:

 

Simon to PSG for 50M and 20% of next sale, deal done.

[pezza96]

Just read all of this in one sitting, loving it so far,great idea,  plus some of my family originates from brescia which makes this even more fun to read

[IL Luce]

17 hours ago, pezza96 said:

Just read all of this in one sitting, loving it so far,great idea,  plus some of my family originates from brescia which makes this even more fun to read

Glad to hear that. Thank you.

[IL Luce]

 

January Transfers:

With 50M in our pockets I tried to fill in the missing pieces:

 

1. Ionut Radu: I needed a much better backup solution for Audero. One Radu’s big plus is being a homegrown player helping us with the registration rules.
2. David Carmona: Because our DR is the more attacking one in our 41221 tactic, I needed one with good crossing, off the ball and acceleration. Now we have 2 solid solutions on DR position with one more attacking that will play in our 41221 and one more defensive that will play in our 442.
3. Toni Lato: I had a DL backup that cause me a lot of troubles, especially with red cards in our 442 and I needed quickly for a replacement. His pace and “mark tightly” are a concern but is a much more solid solution. Now we have 2 solid fullbacks on the left flank too.
4. Florinel Coman: We have found Simon’s replacement and is actually a Romanian one. Well, I overspend a little bit for this one but, with Simon’s departure I needed a player with an immediate impact into the squad. He is much better than Simon in some areas and is also young so I intend to double my investment in 3-4 years. 
5. Achraf: This lad will join us in summer for free from Real Madrid and I expect him to be a key player for us....but looking at him now, his natural fitness is awful, how I missed that?

 

January & February fixtures:

• Europa League

We invested massively into the squad this season. It’s a pity that a penalty and a free kick ended our European journey again in the first knockout round.

 

• Serie A & TIM Cup

I think I’ve learn my lesson: throwing in the first eleven all the new comers it was not a good idea. The Juve’s revenge hurts and we say goodbye to TIM Cup this season, I don’t think we have the power for a such big comeback.

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

We are still in a very good league position: 1 point away from 1st place, 3 from Juve and 9 from Europa league...we need to continue like this.

 

March & April fixtures:

[IL Luce]

Youth intake Update:

 

Another year, another awful youth intake.

The “best” of the “best”:

He is 15 years old but I don’t think he will ever develop into a first team player.

 

I know it’s not nice, but lets laugh a little bit at my HoYD:

 

“Giovanni Milano stands out as one of the better players from this year’s youth intake.”

Here is Giovanni Milano, an unambitious, 2 and a half star potential fullback.

 

“I like to think that I had a notable influence in bringing through Ciro Rizzo with my coaching style.”

Here is Ciro Rizzo, a low determined, 1 star and a half potential keeper, the one that my HoYD is so proud about: 3 one on ones, 6 handling, 4 kicking…really Mr. Dessy??

 

Even if they are awful I gave contracts to all of them (at least till the next year youth intake) so that I fill my empty U18 team and make it a little bit "competitive".

 

In conclusion, farewell Mr. Dessy and hopefully we will never meet again.

[davehibb]

He didn't appear to have terrible stats for a HoYD for a club of your stature. Maybe his lack of scouting knowledge in Italy hurt him and your intakes?

[Sambacutilamba]

Goodbye Dessy ahahahah

[IL Luce]

9 hours ago, davehibb said:

He didn't appear to have terrible stats for a HoYD for a club of your stature. Maybe his lack of scouting knowledge in Italy hurt him and your intakes?

You may be right, I didn't pay attention to that.

 

9 hours ago, Sambacutilamba said:

Goodbye Dessy ahahahah

[IL Luce]

 

 

March & April fixtures:

We managed to surprise everyone and defeat Juve in TIM Cup, but it was not enough.

Two amazing months and Champions League for us next season.

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

Un unbelievable 2 months run, a lucky win in the 93 minute against Napoli, and we are sitting top of the league.

It looks that it will be between us and Fiorentina but everything is possible. Fiorentina next fixtures:

 

May fixtures, the end:

Only 3 games…it will be quickly. 

 

It seems that Fiorentina have the biggest chance of winning the league because of their more easy fixtures.

[john1]

Wow! 50M is decent to get for SImon  Congrats on getting CL for next season  And hope you can win the league!

Your ex HOYD is poor! Maybe look at Kristjaan Speakman  

[IL Luce]

14 hours ago, john1 said:

Wow! 50M is decent to get for SImon  Congrats on getting CL for next season  And hope you can win the league!

Your ex HOYD is poor! Maybe look at Kristjaan Speakman  

I was between Speakman and Lorenzo Farris, but in the end I chose the Italian one. He was a free agent also. Let's hope that he can find at least 1 good regen for me

[IL Luce]

 

Best team in the Serie A, take that Juventus. .

Another year, another Panchina d'Oro...nice.

 

May fixtures:

Once again, we failed in the end. This game doesn’t love me at all. 

I don’t know how Chievo managed to defeat us. And Juve? Juve beat us from 2 corner kicks.

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

Another club ruined by Luis Enrique management.

 

In the end we finished 3rd. We need to work harder next season. I think we can do it!

 

Top key players this season:

 

1. Kaj Sierhuis: 55% shots on target ratio; 1.81 shots on target; 51% headers won ratio; 81% pass completion ratio, 36.78 passes completed; 25 goals; 9 assists and an average rating of 7.33.
2. Danilo Cataldi: 81% tackle completion ratio; 2.36 tackle won; 88% pass completion ratio, 62.25 passes completed; 5 assists; 3 goals and an average rating of 7.13. I played him in the DM(d) role, but in the next season I intend to give him a much important role.
3. Vlad Dragomir: 14.3km distance/90; 1.15 dribble made; 86% pass completion ratio, 75.83 passes completed; 9 assists; 2 goals and an average rating of 7.08
4. Moses Simon: I think Simon deserve a place for his huge contribution in the first part of the season.

 

Young prospects:

• Maicol Delogu:

 

• Jacobo Colombarini:

On loan at Serie C Spezia he has done an amazing job there.

 

• Sergiu Mihai:

 

• Michal Hromada:

 

• Milan Klimes:

 

It seems that Czech Republic is producing some very good defenders. I already found two more that I may bring in.

I need to give much more games to these kids.

 

Tactics:

For those interested in tactics, these are the tactics with which I ended up playing:

• 41221

SK(d): distribute to fullbacks; take short kicks

FB(a): shoot less often

CD(d): none

DCB(d): none

WB(a): shoot less often

DM(d): none

BWM(s): none

RPM: none

RMD: close down more; tackle harder

AP(s): close down more; tackle harder

CF(s): close down more; tackle harder

 

• 442 low block

SK(d): distribute to fullbacks; take short kicks

WB(d): tackle harder

DCB(d): tackle harder

CD(d): tackle harder

DFB(d): tackle harder

IW(s): none

CM(d): tackle harder

CM(s): close down more

WM(s): none

DF(s): none

CF(s): close down more; tackle harder

 

Board confidence & budgets:

 

Finances:

 

Europa League & Champions League:

 

 

Season         League             League Finish                     Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/2018       Serie B                 1st             Promoted, Champions
2018/2019       Serie A                 8th             Europa League Qualification
2019/2020       Serie A                 5th             Europa League First Knockout Round
2020/2021       Serie A                 6th             TIM Cup Winners, Europa League First Knockout Round
2021/2022       Serie A                 3rd             Supercoppa, Europa League First Knockout Round, UCL Group Stage Qualification

 

[john1]

8 hours ago, IL Luce said:

I was between Speakman and Lorenzo Farris, but in the end I chose the Italian one. He was a free agent also. Let's hope that he can find at least 1 good regen for me

Farris, looks pretty decent  At least he's Italian!

[IL Luce]

Season VI 2022/2023

 

Commercial Summary:

 

Season expectations & preview:

 

Transfers:

 

1. Achraf: Offered him a contract in winter. His natural fitness is a concern but he joined us for free and is already valued at 15.75M.
2. Jan Hubnik: Wanted by Barca and Atletico, I’m glad that we managed to bring him in.
3. Jiri Nemec: Another amazing Czech defender, wanted by Monaco this time. He will be part of our Czech defensive wall.
4. Martin Calderon: Transfer listed by Real, I always like to look for bargains. He lacks concentration but he will be our more creative DM(d).
5. Alessandro Murgia: A little bit slow but he is Anton’s replacement.
6. Moussa Sylla: I needed a more solid backup for Coman. We need to work at his finishing and balance but he is young and pretty good.
7. Harry Wilson: I wanted a more solid playmaker on my right flank. I think he is amazing and will help us a lot.
8. Federico Bonazzoli: Transfer listed by Sampdoria, I didn’t want to lose this opportunity. He is looking pretty good and he will be Serhuis’s backup but also, he will help us a lot in our 442 formation.

The biggest departure:  Paul Anton. Our key player for 4 and a half seasons and our captain and leader, his contract was running out at the end of the season and also, he is 31 years old and I think it was the right moment to go. 5M for a 31 years old player, not bad.

 

Squad:

Like modern Lucescu, I think I arrived in the point when I can’t find high quality Romanian players and those with high quality are already at some very big teams like Juventus and don’t want to join us. Only 3 Romanians in the squad this season.

 

Top key players:

Kaj Sierhuis; Florinel Coman; Harry Wilson

 

Tactics & First eleven:

I tweaked a little bit our tactics in the pre-season and with so many strikers in my squad I will try to develop a more attacking 442 as my 3rd tactic so that everybody will have the chance to develop.

This season I’m gonna risk with the Czech defender kids. I think they have plenty of potential. I sold all my defenders to make them space in the first eleven. We have 4 very good kids that I will rotate to give them minutes to develop.

 

Friendly and August fixtures:

 

Champions League:

A tough group unfortunately.

 

September & October fixtures:

[IL Luce]

 

September & October fixtures:

• Champions League

 

• Serie A

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

 

November & December fixtures:

[IL Luce]

 

My owner wants to sell the club and I didn’t even notice. Let’s hope I will keep my job if this is happening.

 

November & December fixtures:

 

• Champions League

 

Hello, Leipzig we meet again.

 

• Serie A

Undefeated so far but even so, way too many draws. We need to do something about that.

I’ve dropped the idea of playing with 41221 because Coman is not playing very well as a Raumdeuter and I switched to our 442 tactics. I may go with 442s from now on cuz it's working pretty well.

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

 

January & February fixtures:

[john1]

Fantastic start   Hopefully new chairman will give you a decent budget to spend!

[IL Luce]

21 hours ago, john1 said:

Fantastic start   Hopefully new chairman will give you a decent budget to spend!

No offer so far. I'm curious who will gonna buy us. A chinese tycoon would be nice.

[IL Luce]

 

January Transfers:

2 in 3 out. I adjusted the squad to our 442 tactics:

1. Dragos Nedelcu: In searching for Romanian players I found this fellow. His speed is a big concern but he will be Calderon’s backup.

2. Zakaria Bakkali: With Coman moved up front in his natural position as a striker I needed one more Inverted Winger. Amazing dribbling, poor stamina, he will be Sylla’s backup.

 

January & February fixtures:

• Champions League

 

• Serie A & TIM Cup

 

We found our “too much draws” problem and it was the “work ball into box” TI. Now we are a little bit more direct.

Unfortunately, we are out of TIM Cup but the revenge was so sweet.

We have one goal advantage in the game against Leipzig, hopefully we can keep it in the away game.

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

Unfortunately, Juventus is back on business this season.

 

March & April fixtures:

[IL Luce]

Small update

 

• Youth Intake:

Another year, another “amazing youth intake”.

 

• Champions League:

 

Leipzig started the game with a 424 formation tried to attack us from the beginning. Our plan was simple: to stay deep, compact, let them have the ball and surprise them on counter. And we managed to do exactly that.

 

Man City…well, I’m pleased that we reached the quarter finals this season.

[IL Luce]

 

Hopefully just rumours. Give me a tycoon!

 

March & April fixtures:

• Champions League

 

Simon’s revenge?

 

• Serie A

Our unbelievable season continues.  

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

Unbelievable! We only lost 3 games this season but even so, Juventus will still gonna win it.

 

May fixtures, the end:

[john1]

Fantastic to get to Quarter Final in Champions League   No shame in losing to Man City   Surprised to see Lazio currently 16th?!

[ToMexico!!]

Fantatic progress in here. To finish potentially 2nd already is a massive achievement let alone the CL quarter final! I may have missed it but are you limiting yoursel to the amount of Romanian's you have or are you going to go full team?

[IL Luce]

On 02/03/2018 at 02:03, john1 said:

Fantastic to get to Quarter Final in Champions League   No shame in losing to Man City   Surprised to see Lazio currently 16th?!

My board don’t feel the same

 

Lazio are new promoted with an entire new team and a media prediction of 15th. I think they are on schedule.

On 02/03/2018 at 13:20, ToMexico!! said:

Fantatic progress in here. To finish potentially 2nd already is a massive achievement let alone the CL quarter final! I may have missed it but are you limiting yoursel to the amount of Romanian's you have or are you going to go full team?

Thanks! I'm only limiting myself to their quality or potential. Luckily, the Romanian league demand 1 permanent u21 player in the first eleven and I expect some good regens for me in the future. 

[IL Luce]

 

My windows decided to crush so I needed to install everything from scratch. Luckily, I don’t keep my FM in the same partition with windows but even so:

My main save file don’t want to load anymore. I was lucky that one of the backup save file is working and I didn’t lose too much.

 

Three years in a row.

 

May fixtures:

 

Match of the month:

 

League table:

Juventus year, no doubt about it. Our 10 draws ruined our amazing season.

 

Top key players this season:

 

1. Kaj Sierhuis: 55% shots on target ratio; 1.91 shots on target; 37% headers won ratio; 79% pass completion ratio, 29.11 passes completed; 24 goals; 13 assists and an average rating of 7.35.

2. Mousa Sylla, our Inverted Winger: 15km distance/90; 2.29 dribble made; 76% pass completion ratio, 44.75 passes completed; 7 assists; 12 goals and an average rating of 7.39.

3. Jan Hubnik: 79% tackle completion ratio; 2.20 tackle won; 83% headers won ratio; 163 interceptions; 27.43 passes completed and an average rating of 7.16.

 

Young prospects:

1. Jan Hubnik: Our solid CD this season.

2. Maicol Delogu

3. Jiri Nemec

4. Michal Hromada

5. Sergiu Mihai

6. Tsvetomir Slavov

7. Milan Klimes

 

Remember our las year awful youth intake? I promoted them to our u20 team and:

 

Tactics:

I’m not a fan of classic 442 with a big target man and classic wingers that cross like crazy but I’m a big fan of the modern 442.

In my opinion the 442 is not death, Simeone prove it, Ranieri prove it, Jardim also etc …and I’m really glad that SI finally realized that. The 442 is not death but it needs some adaptation to modern football and the biggest adaptations in my opinion are the inverted wingers. The era of classic wingers in the 442 formation is gone, it is the inverted winger era: wingers that sit narrow and cut inside, who create that 4222 formation in attack. But this kind of formation came with a cost: the fullbacks. All the hard work came on the fullbacks shoulders. We may say that the classic wingers are transformed now into the fullbacks. With the wingers cutting in and crossing less, the fullbacks need to provide width, crossing and also defensive stability. For this kind of formation to work you need hard working fullbacks.

And I must say that I love this year inverted winger role. Is something that I was expected for years. I was tired of playing with wide midfielders that never performed as I wanted.

These are the tactics with which I ended up playing this season:

 

• more attacking 442

SK(D): distribute to fullbacks; take short kicks

WB(S): run wide with ball

CD(D): none

DCB(D): none

WB(A): none

IW(A): tackle harder; close down much more

BWM(D): none

RPM: close down more

WP(S): tackle harder; close down much more

DF(S): none

CF(A): tackle harder; close down more

 

• low block 442

SK(D): distribute to fullbacks; take short kicks

WB(D): tackle harder

DCB(D): tackle harder

CD(D): tackle harder

DFB(D):tackle harder

IW(S): none

CM(S): none

CM(D): none

WM(S): none

CF(S): tackle harder, close down more

DF(S): none

 

Board confidence & budgets:

 

Finances:

 

Europa League & Champions League

 

 

Season         League             League Finish                     Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/2018       Serie B                 1st             Promoted, Champions
2018/2019       Serie A                 8th             Europa League Qualification
2019/2020       Serie A                 5th             Europa League First Knockout Round
2020/2021       Serie A                 6th             TIM Cup Winners, Europa League First Knockout Round
2021/2022       Serie A                 3rd             Supercoppa, Europa League First Knockout Round, UCL Group Stage Qualification
2022/2023       Serie A                 2nd             UCL Quarter Final

 

[john1]

Good you didn't lose too much on your back up save   Cracking budget for next season, not sure if you need to spend that much on improving the team