Alessandro Del Piero - Taking Atalanta To The Top of Europe!!!

[iVvzZStopQQ]

What an excellent second season, a dream for all atalanta fans, in the span of 2 years, 2 Serie A's, 2 Coppa Italia, a quarter-final that was well fought against a strong chelsea side, hopefully we can hear more from you regarding on the transfer windows as that's arguably for me the best part of the game, really looking forward of what your team can develop into and achieve in 5 years!

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON REVIEW

Season 2 is over and there was no dip in form as we stormed the league as part of the domestic treble that we won. In Europe we reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League while we narrowly lost in the European Super Cup. All in all it was all good!!!!

The league campaign was the highlight though as only a last minute equaliser on the final day denied us 100pts but you really have to feel sorry for Juventus who were unbeaten all season in the league but still fell 9pts behind us.

My young players certainly developed this season with the likes of D'Amico, Vignato and Coman certainly impressed while Melegoni keeps going from strength to strength. Not forgetting Moise Kean.

Unfortunately it seems that the Moise Kean deal has financially crippled us as we are currently over £40m in debt and are actually due to fail the financial fair play rules but I think I have Champions League money coming in. There are players who I would be willing to sell but I don't want to do it on the cheap.

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SERIE A TABLE
View attachment 47423
Serie A Player of the Year - Rafa
Serie A Top Goalscorer - Andrea Petagna
Serie A Manager of the Year - Alessandro Del Piero
Serie A Managers Manager of the Year - Alessandro Del Piero
Serie A Team of the Year - Zeca, Rafael Toloi, Andrea Conti, Remo Freuler, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Andrea Petagna
Serie A Fair Play Club
Serie A Defender of the Year - Andrea Conti
Serie A Midfielder of the Year - Rafa
Serie A Forward of the Year - Andrea Petagna

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FIRST TEAM SQUAD
View attachment 47420View attachment 47419

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MY PLAYER OF THE YEAR
ANDREA PETAGNA
View attachment 47422

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MY YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR
MOISE KEAN
View attachment 47421

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OTHER STUFF
View attachment 47404View attachment 47403View attachment 47402

Andrea Petagna wins the European Golden Boot again!
​

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON & AUGUST

This summer may go down as the one that will shape the future of the club. At the end of last season we had about £2m in the bank (£45m of Champions League money wiped out any debt) and so to buy we needed to sell and sell I did as I have taken in over £80m and spent just half that to leave the club in a sound financial footing.

My side was a young side anyway but now it is bordering on ridiculous as in my first team squad I currently have 1 28y/o, Rafael Toloi, who is my oldest player while all the rest are 25 or younger with 7 players being teenagers!!! That's not to mention all the teenagers I have high hopes for in the youth team!!!!

So its safe to say I have taken a bit of a risk in the short term but in the long term we will be unbeatable!!!!!

The only other news is the club is expanding its stadium by 3,000 seats at a cost of £5m. Its a start but it shows that we still have a long way to go as our capacity will still only be at just over 27,500.

Firstly the players departing - a few shocks here!!!

--

PLAYERS OUT

The first sale to give me some spending money was Remo Freuler who joined PSG for £26.5m. He played 87 times for me and scored 9 goals and he did well but I wanted to strengthen in his position and give young prospect Gelmi a few more appearances so I was glad to cash in.

My other 2 big sales were my 2 Portuguese RWs. Daniel Podence went to Atletico Madrid for £36m while Rafa has joined Inter for £20.5m a combined profit of £51.5m!!!! Now I was happy with them both, both played very well for me as shown by their record - Podence 71app /19goals /26 assists & Rafa 59 apps /23 goals /19assists (bear in mind there were several sub appearances in that) - but I have D'Amico and Vignato just waiting to come in and I felt now was the time to move them up the ladder and hopefully 1 can progress like Kean did last season.

I also loaned out Timothy Castagne to Torino for £300,000 a month. Castagne is a decent player, valued at over £20m but I have cover in Mattiello and I have a prospect in Agostinelli waiting in the wings too. Luka Adzic also went out on loan and that freed up a non-eu spot.

My other sales were rubbish in the U20s for a pittance while the loan deals of Bastoni and Pinamonti ended.

--

PLAYERS IN

In came the kids!!!!! Well and a 25y/o, 23y/o and a 22y/o so they are automatically veterans in my side lol. My first signing was Nicolo Barella from relegated Cagliari for £14m which was my most expensive signing of the summer. Barella is a fantastic player who should hopefully grow from strength to strength and will compete with Melegoni to partner Pellegrini in centre midfield.
View attachment 47306

I brought in 2 players from Brazilian football for 8 figure sums. Rodrigo Caio came in from Sao Paulo for £12.5m while Richard came in from Internacional for £11.25m. Rodrigo Caio is a centre half who luckily has an Italian passport and he looks to be a fine player who will push Rafael Toloi hard for his place and Richard is brought in to be my AMC. Richard has bags of potential and an attacking midfield trio of Kean, Richard and D'Amico should terrorise defences the world over in a few years.
View attachment 47304View attachment 47303

My final signing for the first team was Giovani Lo Celso from PSG for a bargain £3.5m. He will compete with Richard and Evander for the AMC spot and will certainly strengthen the side as last season we didn't really have an AMC apart from Evander lol. Once again I took advantage of the fact that Lo Celso has an Italian passport!!!
View attachment 47302

My other signings were all youngsters for the future but I did bring in a new backup keeper. Marcelo Tadeu came in from America (MG) for £1.6m - he is a decent CM who luckily had a Spanish passport and should get a few games while he develops, Daniele Girolami is a 16/yo Italian keeper who came in for £1m, Dino Fantini is a 16y/o Italian CM who came in from Cesena for £800,000 and finally I got my new backup keeper for an absolute steal for £51,000 from Sao Paulo - Marcos Rogerio - and he may get a few games as Gollini got injured in pre-season for a few months!!!
View attachment 47301View attachment 47300View attachment 47299View attachment 47298

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SQUAD

Regarding the first XI Rodrigo Caio and Mancini are ready for first team football so Rafael Toloi better keep up his performances. D'Amico and Richard will start as AMR and AMC but if they don't perform then the likes of Vignato and Lo Celso will pounce while I have Rodrygo available to play and he will push Moise Kean. Finally my young striker Christian Capone did brilliantly on loan at Cittadella and he will be my 3rd choice striker.

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AUGUST

Italian Super Cup
v
​​Atalanta 3 (Zeca 57, Rodrygo 76, Lo Celso 77)
AC Milan 0

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini (Melegoni), Barella, D'Amico*, Richard (Lo Celso), Kean (Rodrygo), Petagna

An encouraging start!!!! A fine result as we put 3 past Milan. D'Amico got 2 assists while Rodrygo came off the bench to score and assist against the side I loaned him out to last season and another former Milan loanee, Lo Celso, also came off the bench to score on his debut.

--

v
​​Sassuolo 1 (Cutrone 22)
Atalanta 2 (Petagna 25, D'Amico 57)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Rodrigo Caio), Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella (Melegoni), D'Amico*, Lo Celso, Kean (Rodrygo), Petagna

Once again D'Amico stars as we recover from an early scare to grab the win. Barella has struggled in his first 2 games so far.....

​

 

[Klippybo]

SEPTEMBER

v
Atalanta 4 (Petagna 16, 37, Kean 22, D'Amico 90)
Genoa 1 (Criscito 43pen)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini (Evander), Barella (Melegoni), D'Amico, Richard (Lo Celso), Kean, Petagna*

3 games played this season and 3 games where D'Amico gets the MoM award (well almost Petagna got it but D'Amico had the same rating) - safe to say Vignato is 2nd choice RW!!!

--

v
Crotone 1 (Borini 84)
Atalanta 5 (D'Amico 1, 66, Petagna 22, Coman 83, 86)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Mattiello, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca (Pierie), Pellegrini (Melegoni), Barella, D'Amico*, Richard, Rodrygo, Petagna (Coman)

D'AMICO AGAIN!!!!!!!!

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UEFA Champions League Group B
v
Manchester City 3 (Bernardo Silva 49, 76, Gabriel Jesus 88)
Atalanta 1 (Petagna 37)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Zeca (Rodrigo Caio), Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Pierie (Melegoni), Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico, Richard, Rodrygo (Coman), Petagna

I have no complaints. Sure we were missing a few players but at half-time although we were 1-0 up we were outshot by 13 to 1 and in the end 27 to 2. Man City have just shown us how much we need to improve to be at the very top.

--

v
Atalanta 2 (D'Amico 31, Petagna 48)
Lazio 0

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Mattiello, Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Mancini), Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico*, Richard, Rodrygo (Xadas), Petagna

Another domestic game, another game where D'Amico and Petagna score!!!

--

v
Fiorentina 1 (Falk 27)
Atalanta 3 (Rodrygo 2, 60, Coman 77)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Mattiello, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico, Richard (Vignato), Rodrygo*, Petagna (Coman)

A great result but I am annoyed as D'Amico's scoring run in the league is over but he did have a goal disallowed.

--

v
Atalanta 3 (Petagna 11, 67, Coman 88)
Torino 0

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Mattiello, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca*, Pellegrini (Melegoni), Barella, D'Amico, Richard (Lo Celso), Rodrygo (Coman), Petagna

6 wins out of 6 and would you believe it D'Amico still managed to star as he got 2 assists. Coman has come off the bench 3 times this season and scored 4 goals!!!

--

SUMMARY

At home everything is going great. We are top with a 100% record after 6 games - as is Napoli - and my new signings are beginning to bed in nicely. Rodrygo, Barrella and Richard got more starts this month but it was the impact of Felice D'Amico which has set us apart so far as he has been unstoppable so far.

Unfortunately our game against Man City where we were the cheeky upstarts really hit us hard and showed us the level we need to get to as they beat us 3-1 without breaking sweat.

So far so good!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FELICE D'AMICO
View attachment 47060
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--

SERIE A
View attachment 47059
​

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Great start to the season mate, best of luck for the rest of it and the Champions League!

 

[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

UEFA Champions League Group B
v
​​Atalanta 3 (Lo Celso 6, Vignato 30, Capone 85)
Club Brugge 1 (Rotariu 56)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Mattiello, Rodrigo Caio, Mancini, Zeca, Marcelo Tadeu (Evander), Melegoni, Vignato, Lo Celso*, Xadas (Gianetto), Coman (Capone)

A decent result but it should have been much more comfortable as both Mancini and Capone had goals disallowed.

--

v
Empoli 0
Atalanta 1 (Barella 11)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Conti (Mattiello), Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini*, Barella, D'Amico, Richard, Kean (Coman), Petagna (Capone)

This was a weird game. Empoli played well and tested us but at the same time we missed so many chances it was unreal so at least we won in the end with Nicolo Barella getting his first goal for us.

--

v
​​Atalanta 1 (D'Amico 7)
Napoli 3 (Insigne 21, Martins 42, Mertens 90)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca (Mattiello), Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico, Richard, Kean (Xadas), Petagna (Coman)

Maybe we have serious challengers in Napoli as they beat us here to maintain their 100% record and move 3pts clear of us. 3-1 is a harsh scoreline mind you. Disappointing. Gollini made his comeback from injury though which was a good thing.

--

UEFA Champions League Group B
v
Shakhtar Donetsk 0
Atalanta 2 (Kean 36, 68)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Ricardo Caio), Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico, Richard (Lo Celso), Kean*, Petagna (Coman)

Shakhtar beat Man City so we did very well to win so comfortably. Moise Kean starred and hopefully this is the start of him finding last seasons form.

--

v
AC Milan 3 (Bacca 5, Calhanoglu 32, Suso 60)
Atalanta 3 (D'Amico 28, Petagna 58, 90)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca (Pierie), Pellegrini, Barella (Melegoni), D'Amico, Lo Celso (Richard), Kean, Petagna*

We were seconds away from a 2nd successive defeat in the league here but D'Amico broke down the wing and his cross found Petagna who powered a header home. Harsh on Milan but I don't care.

--

v
​​Atalanta 4 (D'Amico 29, 55, Petagna 37, Vignato 81)
Bari 1 (Caldara og28)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara (Rodrigo Caio), Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Melegoni, Barella, D'Amico*, Lo Celso (Vignato), Kean (Rodrygo), Petagna

2 of our goals here were 2 of the best I have seen from us. For D'Amico's 2nd we had a nice team move that ended with Petagna backheeling a pass into D'Amico's path and he slotted home while Vignato scored with an outrageous shot from over 30 yards!!!!

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SUMMARY

We slipped up a bit this month as Napoli defeated us and then we scraped a draw against AC Milan which sees us finish the month in 3rd place in Serie A.

In Europe we are back on track though as we defeated Brugge at home and Shakhtar away to put us into a good position although it is still a bit tight thanks to Shakhtar beating Man City.

Felice D'Amico keeps progressing and is playing far above the level his attributes show he should be playing at while Melegoni won his first cap for Italy and Kean scored his first goal.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FELICE D'AMICO
View attachment 47010

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SERIE A
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[Klippybo]

NOVEMBER

​​v
Spal 0
Atalanta 2 (Pellegrini 5, 21pen)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini*, Barella, D'Amico (Vignato), Lo Celso (Xadas), Kean (Rodrygo), Petagna

We get the points but D'Amico got injured and is out for 3-4 weeks unfortunately.

--

UEFA Champions League Group B
http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/teams/club=52816/profile/index.htmlv
​​Atalanta 4 (Petagna 50, 90, Vignato 61, Melegoni 68)
Shakhtar Donetsk 0

Lineup - Gollini, Conti (Mattiello), Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Rodrigo Caio), Zeca, Melegoni, Barella (Xadas), Vignato*, Lo Celso, Kean, Petagna

This convincing victory almost assures us qualification to the next round as we move 5pts clear of Shakhtar. Vignato stepped into D'Amico's shoes well while Petagna had a goal disallowed.

--

v
​​Atalanta 2 (Petagna 6, Vignato 14)
Pescara 0

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca*, Pellegrini, Barella, Vignato, Richard (Evander), Kean (Rodrygo), Petagna (Coman)

--

v
Frosinone 0
Atalanta 2 (Coman 74, Rodrygo 90)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Mancini), Zeca, Pellegrini*, Barella, Vignato, Richard, Kean (Rodrygo), Petagna (Coman)

Frosnione gave us a tough match here and it took my subs to win the match for us.

--

UEFA Champions League Group B
v
​​Atalanta 2 (Kean 3, Vignato 20)
Manchester City 1 (Fernandinho 90)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti (Mattiello), Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini (Melegoni), Barella, Vignato, Richard, Kean*, Petagna

This win puts us top of the group and seals our qualification into the knockout stages. I am delighted that we managed to defeat Man City after they gave us a hiding in our first meeting.

--

SUMMARY

A good month but with a few teething problems. Results wise we won all our games to end the month top of the league and through in the Champions League but some individual perfromances have been concerning. Barella is just about doing enough however Richard and Lo Celso are really struggling at RW and Moise Kean isn't getting the goals like he did last term although his performance against Man City was encouraging!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LORENZO PELLEGRINI
​​View attachment 46939

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SERIE A
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[Klippybo]

DECEMBER

​​v
​​Atalanta 2 (Kean 43, Pellegrini 72pen)
Roma 2 (El Shaarawy 47, 90)

Lineup - Gollini, Mattiello, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca (Pierie), Pellegrini, Barella, Vignato, Richard (Lo Celso), Kean, Petagna (Coman)

AAAGGGHHH!!! We really should have won this match but we switched off defensively in stoppage time and we were made to pay for it.

--

v
Udinese 0
Atalanta 1 (Melegoni 90)

Lineup - Gollini, Mattiello, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini (Melegoni*), Barella, D'Amico, Richard, Kean (Rodrygo), Petagna (Capone)

We should have won this match much more easily but we kept on hitting the woodwork however we got the winner when Melegoni struck late as he has done a few times before for us.

--

UEFA Champions League Group B
​​v
​​Club Brugge 1 (Diatta 25)
Atalanta 6 (Coman 2, 59, Vignato 5, 58, Rodrygo 33, Denswil og63)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Mattiello, Rodrigo Caio, Mancini, Pierie, Melegoni, Xadas, Vignato*, Evander (Lo Celso), Rodrygo (Marcelo Tadeu), Coman

Unbelievable from my backups!!! We were excellent here and Vignato was unplayable here as he tore Brugge apart.

--

v
​​Atalanta 1 (Pellegrini 43pen)
Juventus 1 (Bernardeschi 28)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Mancini), Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico (Xadas), Vignato, Kean (Richard), Petagna

This was frustrating as yet again we should have won. Our AMC conundrum is really annoying me now as nobody seems to perform there!

--

Coppa Italia 1st Round
​​v
​​Atalanta 3 (Coman 2, 12, Evander 56)
Crotone 1 (Borini 90)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Mattiello, Rodrigo Caio, Mancini, Zeca, Melegoni, Xadas (Marcelo Tadeu), Vignato (Causero), Evander, Rodrygo (Gianetto), Coman*

Comfortably through as my backups do the job. Coman has 9 goals for the season now - he really is pushing Petagna for a first team place.

--

v
Palermo 0
Atalanta 1 (Kean 55)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella (Melegoni), D'Amico (Vignato), Lo Celso, Kean*, Petagna (Coman)

Another game where we just do enough. We are picking up points but my first XI aren't performing to the expected standards at all just now.

--

v
​​Atalanta 1 (D'Amico 33)
Bologna 0

Lineup - Gollini, Conti (Mattiello), Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella*, D'Amico, Lo Celso, Kean (Rodrygo), Petagna (Capone)

Another game, another **** performance but another win.

--

Coppa Italia Quarter-Final
v
​​Napoli 3 (Aboubakar 2, 85, Brahimi 12)
Atalanta 2 (Pellegrini 18, Lo Celso 81)

Lineup - Gollini, Mattiello, Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Rodrigo Caio), Zeca (Pierie), Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico, Lo Celso, Kean, Petagna (Coman)

Our hold on the Coppa Italia is over as Napoli beat us for the 2nd time this season. Tbh it was another poor performance from us and we got what we deserved.

--

SUMMARY

I AM NOT HAPPY!!!!

December was terrible - we just scraped through results wise in the league and we finish the year 3pts clear but our performances have been pathetic. We have only scored 4 goals in our last 4 Serie A games and our team lacks the fluidity that I need and I put it all down to the fact that nobody in my squad has laid claim to the AMC spot. Richard, Lo Celso, Evander, Xadas and Vignato have all tried and largely failed.

The year ended with us getting dumped out of the Coppa Italia as Napoli beat us which was very annoying but expected considering our performances. The only good thing about this month was the fact we got a kind draw in the Champions League as we will face Lyon.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LORENZO PELLEGRINI
​​View attachment 46904

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SERIE A
View attachment 46903
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[Klippybo]

JANUARY

​​v
​​Inter Milan 5 (Dost 6, Barco 44, Gagliardini 52, Burgstaller 78, Perisic 84)
Atalanta 3 (Kean 40, 46, Vecino og56)

Lineup - Gollini, Mattiello, Caldara (Mancini), Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini (Melegoni), Barella, D'Amico, Lo Celso (Pierie), Kean, Petagna

This time I can have no complaints about the poor result as we played the match with 10 men for most of the game - that being said, Pellegrini missed a penalty that would have seen us go 3-2 up. Inter win and replace us at the top of Serie A.

In another worry, as well as my AMCs being horseshit, Petagna hasn't scored in his last 7 league games. This is not acceptable.

--

v
​​Atalanta 2 (Kean 72, 86)
Sassuolo 1 (Berardi 20)

Lineup - Gollini, Agostinelli, Rodrigo Caio (Mancini), Rafael Toloi, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico (Vignato), Lo Celso, Kean*, Petagna (Capone)

THESE **** PERFORMANCES HAVE GOT TO END NOW!!!

We were pathetic here and Sassuolo completely outplayed us but thankfully Moise Kean struck twice late on to give us the victory. I really don't know what is happening to my team - they are a shadow of their former selves.

--

v
Genoa 0
Atalanta 3 (Lo Celso 35pen, 89, Vignato 74)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Melegoni (Evander), Barella, D'Amico (Vignato), Lo Celso*, Kean, Petagna (Rodrygo)

That's more like it!!!! However we got a break when Pellegri, my No1 transfer target who is on loan from Monaco, had a goal disallowed in the 2nd half that would have drawn us level.

My AMC finally has a great game - Petagna hasn't scored in 9 league games though...…..

--

SUMMARY

Not much games this month as we were dumped out of the Coppa Italia last month and in the 3 games we won 2 but the one we lost was key as Inter beat us to move ahead of us in the table.

I really am not happy with my players. Petagna has forgotten how to score, D'Amico has went off the boil, any AMC has been below par and all in all we are just scraping by and that really needs to change for the better.

Regarding the transfer window I had £4m to spend and brought in a young Italian left back from Carpi for £2.2m. Emanuele Costabile looks to have a bright future ahead of him and hopefully he will develop into a fine player.
View attachment 46851

I then took a gamble and sold one of my first XI as Paris St.Germain paid me up to £35m for central defender Rafael Toloi. Toloi has been good for me but with Mancini and Rodrigo Caio waiting in the wings I decided to cash in.

Then on deadline day I brought in 2 players. Regen midfielder Adrian Cano came in for £800,000 and has been loaned back to his club - Libertad of Paraguay in order to give him more game time. I then brought in Tin Jedvaj from Bayer Leverkusen on loan to replace Rafael Toloi.
View attachment 46849View attachment 46848

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MOISE KEAN
​​View attachment 46853

--

SERIE A
View attachment 46852
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[danjames101]

Wow, some stats for a 17yr old - Costabile looks like he could potentially be world class!

 

[Klippybo]

FEBRUARY

​​v
​​Atalanta 3 (Pellegrini 4pen, 15pen, Vignato 74)
Crotone 1 (Zapata 64)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti (Jedvaj), Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini*, Barella, D'Amico (Vignato), Lo Celso, Kean, Petagna (Coman)

Thankfully for us Crotone committed folly by giving us 3 early penalties which was enough to give us the win in the end. Petagna didn't score again - he will be dropped for the next match.

--

v
Lazio 2 (Luis Alberto 45, Femenia 85)
Atalanta 1 (Kean 75)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, Vignato, Richard (Pierie), Kean, Coman (Petagna)

Disappointing but I will give this lineup another go as they were doing quite well until Zeca got sent-off.

--

v
​​Atalanta 3 (Richard 13, Rodrigo Caio 59, D'Amico 90)
Fiorentina 1 (Vinicius Junior 57)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti (Mattiello), Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Pierie, Pellegrini, Barella, Vignato (D'Amico), Richard*, Kean (Rodrygo), Coman

We bounce back with a fine victory here and Richard finally showed me what he is all about as he was very impressive here.

--

v
Torino 0
Atalanta 2 (Kean 27, Pellegrini 42pen)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella*, D'Amico (Vignato), Richard (Xadas), Kean, Coman (Capone)

A good win but for 12 games in a row now my striker has failed to score. Doesn't make sense considering Petagna has won the European Golden Boot Award the past 2 seasons so what is happening?

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
v
Lyon 1 (Traore 30)
Atalanta 1 (Caldara 11)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara*, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico, Richard (Vignato), Kean (Rodrygo), Coman (Petagna)

Meh. I suppose this is a decent result as we didn't get beat and we got the away goal. Lyon were the better side though.

--

SUMMARY

A mixed month. We still are not firing on all cylinders but at the same time we did enough to open up a 5pt lead but that was more due to other teams failings rather than us stepping up a gear. I mixed the team up a bit this month and apart from a fleeting performance from Richard it hasn't done much tbh.

In the Champions League we got an away draw against Lyon where we fortunately got an away goal. We better do the job in the 2nd leg!!!

Youth intake next month!!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
NICOLO BARELLA
​​View attachment 46683

--

SERIE A
View attachment 46682
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[loklokno123]

Atalanta aka La Masia of Italy.

 

[Klippybo]

MARCH

​​v
​​Atalanta 4 (Barella 16, Kean 54, 74, Pellegrini 79)
Empoli 1 (Piu 88)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca (Pierie), Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico, Richard (Lo Celso), Kean*, Coman (Capone)

A good result and its always nice to score 4 goals but yet again my striker fails to score!!!!

--

v
Napoli 1 (Callejon 27)
Atalanta 3 (Pellegrini 9pen, D'Amico 11, Kean 15)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella (Melegoni), D'Amico, Richard, Kean, Petagna

A magnificent result. We blew Napoli away in the first 15min as we raced into a 3 goal lead but annoyingly we took our foot off the pedal but I am still delighted with this scoreline.

--

v
​​Atalanta 6 (D'Amico 13, Petagna 37, 47, 54, Evander 73, Kean 84)
AC Milan 0

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico, Richard (Evander), Kean, Petagna*

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! I don't know what I am more pleased about - the fact that we just thrashed AC Milan 6-0 or the fact that Andrea Petagna finally ended his scoreless streak by smashing in a hat-trick!!!

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
v
​​Atalanta 3 (Kean 12, D'Amico 14, Coman 86)
Lyon 2 (Ben Yedder 2, Aouar 90)
(Agg: 4-3)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico (Vignato), Richard (Rodrygo), Kean*, Petagna (Coman)

We suffered an early setback here but recovered quickly and weren't in any real danger tbh.

--

v
Bari 1 (Sabelli 72)
Atalanta 3 (Petagna 10, Pellegrini 42pen, Kean 45)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Pierie, Pellegrini (Melegoni), Barella, D'Amico, Richard (Evander), Kean*, Petagna (Mauro)

--

SUMMARY

We were back on track this month as we started banging in the goals and managed to open up a massive 10pt lead in the Serie A table so the title race is all but over. Andrea Petagna finally started scoring again while our main man was Moise Kean who has scored in his last 5 league games. Bad news however was that Richard picked up a knock and will be out for 2 months.

In the Champions League our reward for knocking out Lyon is a quarter final tie with Tottenham Hotspur. Not easy but not too bad either.

Finally the youth intake brought me one potential superstar in the shape of Marco Mauro. The 16y/o came off the bench to make his debut versus Bari and he has all the attributes to be a world class player. The only snag is that he is a left winger and with Kean, Rodrygo and Richard already at the club game time will be difficult. I may have to retrain one into a different position.
View attachment 46475

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MOISE KEAN
​​View attachment 46477

--

SERIE A
View attachment 46476
​

 

[Klippybo]

APRIL

v
​​Atalanta 2 (Coman 34, Xadas 53)
Spal 0

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Mattiello, Mancini, Jedvaj, Pierie, Melegoni (Marcelo Tadeu), Xadas*, Vignato, Evander (Lo Celso), Mauro, Coman (Capone)

I decided to risk this match and rest my first XI and fortunately the risk paid off as we won the match fairly comfortably. Xadas scored a screamer.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg
v
​​Atalanta 1 (Kean 77)
Tottenham Hotspur 0

Lineup - Gollini, Conti*, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio (Mancini), Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico (Vignato), Lo Celso, Kean, Petagna (Coman)

First leg job is done as Kean struck towards the end to give us a slender advantage for the 2nd leg.

--

v
Pescara 0
Atalanta 1 (Melegoni 41)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Mattiello, Mancini, Jedvaj, Pierie, Melegoni*, Xadas, Vignato, Evander (Lo Celso), Mauro, Coman

Pescara absolutely battered us here but my backups held on after Melegoni scored with a powerful shot from the edge of the area.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
​​v
Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Eriksen 12, Zeca og78)
Atalanta 3 (D'Amico 10, Barella 74, Caldara 82)
(AGG: 2-4)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti (Mattiello), Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini (Melegoni), Barella, D'Amico*, Lo Celso, Kean (Mauro), Petagna

Fantastic - D'Amico was inspired as we defeat Spurs both home and away and we go into the semis!!!!

--

v
​​Atalanta 1 (Pellegrini 87)
Frosinone 0

Lineup - Gollini, Conti*, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico (Vignato), Lo Celso (Mauro), Kean, Petagna (Coman)

We were poor here but got the win thanks to Pellegrini's stunning volley from the edge of the area. This win secured Champions League qualification and our starting budget for next year is £23m

--

v
Roma 1 (Vazquez 70)
Atalanta 3 (Petagna 33, 43, 78)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini (Marcelo Tadeu), Barella, D'Amico, Lo Celso, Kean (Mauro), Petagna*

A fantastic result as a great Petagna hat-trick gives us a brilliant away victory.

--

v
​​Atalanta 1 (D'Amico 1)
Udinese 1 (De Paul 13)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti (Mattiello), Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico*, Lo Celso (Xadas), Kean (Mauro), Petagna

Not good enough. We got the perfect start when D'Amico scored in the 1st minute but after that we were terrible. We need to step it up in our next match!!! This draw ends our 10 game winning streak in Serie A.

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg
v
​​Atalanta 3 (Petagna 33, Kean 53, Pellegrini 80pen)
Atletico Madrid 2 (Saul 68, Geraldes 86)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella (Melegoni), D'Amico, Lo Celso (Vignato), Kean, Petagna

Difficult how to read this result. Obviously I am delighted that we won but the 2 away goals could prove to be extremely costly. Their 2nd goal was a real dagger to the heart but we have the advantage.

--

SUMMARY

This month has certainly left us with a final month that could be amazing. The Serie A title is all but secured but its in the Champions League where the ultimate glory could lie. We have the slight advantage over Atletico Madrid but have to be careful in the 2nd leg and it will be a true test for my young squad.

My U20s won their equivalent of the European Cup again this season. We have some serious talent in that squad with Agostinelli, Gelmi, Costabile, Gianetto, Tuttinel and Forini just the names coming off the top of my head!!!!! Of course you could then add my first team players who are U20 lol.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ANDREA CONTI
View attachment 46321
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--

SERIE A
View attachment 46320
​

 

[danjames101]

Talented young side you've built, look like they could be world beaters. Good luck for the 2nd leg in Madrid. Also it's ****** lovely to see Juve in 7th!!

 

[Klippybo]

MAY

​​v
Juventus 3 (Bernardeschi 10, Sandro 29, 45)
Atalanta 2 (Xadas 37, 87)

Lineup - Marcos Rogerio, Mattiello, Mancini, Jedvaj (Antunes), Pierie (Costabile), Melegoni, Xadas, Vignato, Evander, Rodrygo, Coman (Mauro)

Meh. I rested my first team for the 2nd leg of the Atletico Madrid tie so basically gave away this match but my backups did ok. We even ended the match with 10 men because after I had made 3 subs my keeper had got injured so Evander went in goal.

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg
v
Atletico Madrid 1 (Geraldes 4)
Atalanta 3 (Lo Celso 7, Petagna 71, Vignato 75)
(Agg: 3-6)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti (Mattiello), Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella, D'Amico (Vignato), Lo Celso (Evander), Kean, Petagna*

WE ARE IN THE FINAL!!!!!!

We suffered a terrible start here as Atletico scored with the first attack of the match but fortunately Lo Celso, who has done the square root of ****** all for us this season, scored a quick equaliser and so it stayed.

Eventually though I knew they would have to go for it and in the final 20min we picked them off on the break twice to seal a memorable victory and a final place against PSG.

--

v
​​Atalanta 3 (Petagna 35, 75, Caldara 58)
Palermo 0

Lineup - Gollini, Conti, Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini, Barella (Marcelo Tadeu), D'Amico (Vignato), Lo Celso, Kean (Rodrygo), Petagna*

We secure our 3rd successive title!!! I could have played my backups but I thought I would put my first team out to get us over the line and take the plaudits and it backfired as Barella got injured and is out for 3 weeks so it will be touch and go for him to play in the Champions League final.

--

v
Bologna 0
Atalanta 1 (Mauro 85)

Lineup - Gollini, Mattiello, Mancini, Jedvaj, Pierie (Costabile), Melegoni, Xadas, Vignato, Evander, Mauro*, Rodrygo (Capone)

A horrible match which will be ignored in history apart from the fact that Mauro scored his first goal for us.

--

v
​​Atalanta 1 (Richard 28pen)
Inter Milan 1 (Vecino 15)

Lineup - Gollini, Mattiello, Mancini (Rodrigo Caio), Jedvaj, Pierie, Melegoni, Xadas (Marcelo Tadeu), Vignato, Richard, Mauro, Rodrygo (Capone)

I am happy with this scoreline as my youngsters and backups managed to get a point against a strong Inter side and we actually deserved to win the game in truth.

--

UEFA Champions League Final
v
​​Paris Saint-Germain 1 (Pogba 42)
Atalanta 3 (Kean 22, Pellegrini 54, D'Amico 80)

Lineup - Gollini, Conti (Mattiello), Caldara, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Pellegrini*, Barella (Melegoni), D'Amico, Lo Celso, Kean (Richard), Petagna

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!

Going into the game I had to decide whether or not to play the unfit Barella and I decided to take the risk knowing I would get an hour from him. We took the lead completely against the run of play when Kean stole in at the far post to finish but they levelled through Pogba to make it even at half time.

In the 2nd half we played much better and took the lead when Pellegrini fired in a free-kick from 25 yards and then moments later they went down to 10 men when Verratti got sent-off. After that it was all about getting the 3rd goal to seal it and D'Amico duly did that with 10 men to go.

--

SUMMARY

We win the league, reach the Champions League final blah blah blah but only this team we thum PSG to win it!!! What a match it was as we were on the backfoot at the start but then turned on the style to claim the trophy.

To win the Champions League in only 3 years with Atalanta is some achievement. At the moment my trophy haul is.....

3 Serie A titles
2 Coppa Italias
2 Super Cup wins
1 UEFA Champions League
1 UEFA Europa League

Not bad for 3 years in a job!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ANDREA PETAGNA
View attachment 46194
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​

 

[iVvzZStopQQ]

"

[FONT=&quot]Not bad for 3 years in a job!!!"

Absolutely ****** amazing!!! Congratulations mate, you're gonna get what I hope is the best transfer window you're gonna have, keep us updated![/FONT]​

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON POST

Not a bad 3rd season!!! We got our 3rd successive Serie A title, won the Super Cup but more significantly we won our first Champions League trophy!!!

What is ironic is that out of the 3 seasons this has been the most frustrating as apart from at the start and then towards the end of the season we didn't play nearly well enough and there were a few individuals who disappointed. For example I would of expected more of Rodrygo, Richard, Lo Celso and even Petagna but fortunately the likes of Kean, Pellegrini, Zeca and D'Amico shined and that seemed to be enough.

In the league we stormed to the title and effectively had it won with a couple months of the season to go. The highlight was the thumping of AC Milan as we trounced them 6-0 but overall it was a decent campaign if not spectacular. Our hold on the Coppa Italia was ended by Napoli as they defeated us in the quarter final but in the Champions League we excelled!!!!

We started off by getting humped by Man City but then we picked up and won our remaining 5 group games. Lyon were then despatched and then we faced Spurs who we beat home and away and we then repeated that trick by defeating Atletico Madrid before we entered the final and managed to easily beat PSG although we got a bit lucky during that match.

Overall it was a decent season - fantastic achievement s but with a sense that my squad could have done even better although with such a young team that is understandable I suppose.

--

SERIE A
View attachment 46182
Serie A Player of the Year - Lorenzo Pellegrini
Serie A Manager of the Year - Alessandro Del Piero
Serie A Team of the Year - Andrea Conti, Rafael Toloi (how?), Mattia Caldara, Zeca, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Andrea Petagna
Serie A Defender of the Year - Zeca
Serie A Midfielder of the Year - Lorenzo Pellegrini
Serie A Striker of the Year - Andrea Petagna

--

SQUAD
View attachment 46181View attachment 46180

--

MY PLAYER OF THE SEASON
ZECA
View attachment 46179

--

MY YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON
FELICE D'AMICO
View attachment 46177

--

OTHER STUFF
View attachment 46159View attachment 46158View attachment 46157

--

A NEW STADIUM AND ALSO AN EXPANDED ONE???
View attachment 46156View attachment 46155
This was weird - firstly they announced that they were thinking about building a new stadium and then immediately after they said they would expand the current stadium further!!! Not sure that makes sense!!!!
​

 

[Klippybo]

ITALY APPOINT ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO AS THEIR NEW MANAGER

After a shock defeat in the European Championships to Turkey, Italy sacked their manager Simone Inzaghi and have replaced him with me!!!!! I will be paid £85,000 a week on top of my Atalanta wages and hopefully we can restore some pride in the national team.

I have immediately appointed most of my Atalanta backroom team (including my new assistant manager) to help me out.

Obviously I will be picking a fair amount of Atalanta players but there are so many talented Italians out there that it may not be so one sided regarding my call ups.
​

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

This pre-season was quite quiet as I didn't have much money to spend as despite having a healthy balance of over £80m I was only given a quarter of that to spend so there wasn't much I could do. I did bring in a few players and maybe one or two others may come in before the window ends.

Most of my time in pre-season was spent trying to set up my backroom team for the Italian national side but I also appointed a new director of football, chief scout and assistant manager for Atalanta.

So to transfers...…..

--

PLAYERS OUT

In previous years I have sold big in the summer but not this time as I only sold one player for a decent fee as Luka Adzic joined Lazio for £13m. Adzic was brought in for less than a million so it represents a huge profit for the club and his loan spell at Empoli helped him develop but although he is decent I have plenty of left wingers.

I sold about £4m worth of rubbish including backup keepers Brignoli and Vodisek and after seeing how well Adzic developed while out on loan Christian Capone, Marcos Rogerio and Marcelo Tadeu have all been loaned out to get regular first team football.

Timothy Castagne has also been loaned out to AC Milan with a view to making it a permanent transfer. He is valued at £20m but nobody wants to pay anywhere near that.

--

PLAYERS IN

Just two so far!!!!! I would have brought in more but I couldn't sign a non-eu player so that hampered me a little. Also there is a fantastic looking regen who I could have got for £13m but I let him go to Napoli as once again he was a left winger - Italian clubs seem to sell their best players so its nice to see one future star come in.

Anyway I brought in one for myself as I paid £11.5m to bring in 18y/o German wonderkid Patrick Schmidt. This lad looks like a future world beater and hopefully he will fulfil his potential. He is quick, a great passer and dribbler and really seems like a complete central midfielder.
View attachment 46034

I then paid another release clause of £2.8m to bring in 20y/o Danish attacker Sebastian Rohde. Rohde has been brought in as my 3rd choice RW and striker so will get a handful of games but he has to take his chance when given to him. He does have good attributes though.
View attachment 46033

--

SQUAD

Daniele Girolami and Emanuele Costabile have been called up to the first team squad to be my backup keeper and left back while Pierie who was always my backup LB is now my backup CB!!

My first choice eleven however remains the same and of course I have an extra midfielder in the shape and form of Schmidt.
​