Alpha Romeo Metaphor II

Serie B: Pescara v. Bologna

View attachment 301002Friday, 20 March 2015

I'm Gianluca Podrazza and welcome to RAI Sports coverage of Serie B on this Friday night. Tonight we have Pescara hosting league leaders Bologna. I'm joined in the studio by Christiano Sciatti. Christiano, what do you look for tonight?

CS: Pescara are just playing out the season. They lie 14th and with nothing to play for could give the Rossoblu some trouble tonight. Bologna have been erratic since the winter break. Their strikers haven't been consistent and they've been leaking goals. Winter in Italy is very different from last fall when Bologna were a free-scoring goal machine. If their attacking trio of Daniele Cacia, Matthias Lepiller and Gennaro Troianiello are on form and Federico Casarini is on his best, Pescara have no chance. Or they won't enjoy the cold wind blowing off the Adriatic and Pescara will have a chance.

GP: Thank you, Christiano. Pescara line up with Simone Aresti in goal, the back four are Captain Emanuele Pesoli, Dario Zuparic, Uros Cosic and Andrea Montovani. The midfield trio is Ledian Memushaj, Birkir Bjarnso and Gaston Brugman. Their attacking trident will be led by top scorer Riccardo Manieor with ten goals and Gianluca Caprari and Matteo Politano.

GP: Enrico Pucci's men line up with their preferred defense of Dejan Stojanovic in goal with Gyorgy Garics, Dominico Maietta, Federico Barba and Captain Archimede Morleo. Their midfield is Franco Zuculini, Michele Pazienza and Casarini. As Christian already noted, Cacia will center wingers Lepiller and Troianiello.

GP: It's tView attachment 301003ime to send it off to Stadio Adriatico and announcers Fransesco Pio and Giorgio Montucci. Gentlemen ...

FP: It's a brisk night here in Pescara. Strong wind of the Adriatic. And Vincezo Ripa is ready to get this match underway...

...

28th minute
GM: It's been a really quiet match so far. Neither team seems willing to risk much. Both teams being careful to remain sound defensively. As usual, Bologna have had the majority of the possession.

FP: Morleo has tripped up Politano. It doesn't look like Ripa will show a card to Morleo. Caprari is jogging ove to take the kick which is right near the upper corner of the penalty box.

GM: Bologna must be careful here. This is Pescara's best chance so far.

FP: Pucci is up out of the dugout yet again urging his men concentrate and defend this free kick. Caprari is ready. Wait. Ripa wants to talk with several players who were jostling. Now he's ready. Caprari curls in a kick toward the spot AND POLITANO IS FREE AND SCORES PAST STOJANOVIC ON THE VOLLEY.

GM: Garics let Politano go. Pucci is livid on the sideline. That was a well-placed kick, but where was the marking?

39th

FP: Morleo brought down Caprari. Will Ripa be lenient again? It appears so. No card for the Bologna captain, yet.

GM: Bologna have been really poor so far today. They have not really threatened the Pescara goal yet tonight. Now Pescara have an excellent chance to double their lead from nearly the same spot as before just a bit closers to the corner flag than earlier.

FP: Caprari is lining it up again. Everyone is set. He curls it in, Politano leaps, header back to ... IT'S IN! COSIC! IT'S UROS COSIC! HE GOT TWO CHANCES AND HAMMERED IT HOME TO DOUBLE THEIR LEAD!!

GM: That was quite fortunate for the Biancazzurri. The ball came right back to the big central defender. The league leader now have a mountain to climb but first they'll have to face a tongue lashing from their manager at half time.

42nd

FP: Casarini crosses, but it's cleared. Not far enough, though. Pazienza on the ball now. He sees Casarini, gives it back to him. Casarini shoots from the top corner of the box. Easy save for Aresti.

GM: That was Bologna's first real threat of the game. Not a good half for the visitors.

Second half

FP: It looks like Pucci has made two changes for the second half. Pazienza is off and Antonio Vacca their 1 million euro winter signing is coming on.

GM: Like for like change really. Vacca can hit the long range shot better, but he hasn't shown that in his limited time, yet.

FP: Cacia is off and Robert Aquafresca is on.

GM: Cacia did not have a good half and, while that is assuredly true, he was starving out there. Absolutely nothing edible from his teammates. In my opinion, Aquafresca does less for the team in the build-up but has been more predatorial in the box. At least when he's been on his game. That hasn't been often this year so far. Pucci is obviously trying to shock his team into waking up.

51st

FP: Troianiello breaks down Pescara's right flank. He's got several players forward. He passes near post for Vacca. Easy save for Arest from a rather tame effort from Vacca.

GM: This is more promising from the Rossoblu. Will it ever amount to anything? They're playing better but still look toothless.

57th

FP: Maietta passes back to Stojanovic. Long ball forward. Casa wins header and flicks upfield to Aquafresca. Cosic cleans out Aquafresca with a strong sliding tackle. Troianiello is first to it, Oh! He hit that poorly and well wide.

GM: Again, Bologna are playing better but they must be more clinical with their finishing. Where has their killer instinct from last fall gone?

68th

FP: Troianiello on the ball. Slides a pass out to Morleo who is overlapping. Morleo will cross. Aquafresca will get to it! OH! IT'S GONE WIDE! That was close.

GM: I think Aresti got a fingertip to it.

FP: Yes, Ripa is pointing to the corner flag. Lepiller is placing the ball. The Frenchman drills one near post for Barba. But Bjarnason gest their first and clears. Only to Vacca, though. Vacca back to Lepiller. He's stayed onside. Pescara look disorganized. The cross. TROIANIELLO! TROIANIELLO SCORES!

GM: The loneliest man in a crowded room. There were five defenders around him but they were all ball-watching. Is there enough time for Bologna?

79th

FP: Montovani just pulled down Lepiller. It's not a penalty. Just outside. Yellow for Montovani. Lepiller takes it quickly, rolls ball out wide for Garics. Oh! He's given it right back to Lepiller. Oh, what a shot. Right into Aresti's chest! Knocked him down. Knocked him down. Aresti is slow to get up. Ripa looks over. No, Aresti will be fine. Danger cleared. Throw out near the half line for Bologna.

GM: The Rossoblu are finding the Biancazzurri tough to break down. They only have ten minutes plus stoppage to go. Time is running out.

89th

FP: Bologna are making their final change. Zuculini is off, Spaniard Marti Riverola is on.

GM: Rumor is Riverola is out in the summer. Wants to be more than a bit part player. Why not Sergio or Vion? Lepiller looks tired and, aside from the goal, Troianiello has been poor. Zuculini hasn't been bad and he's been good at the defensive midfielder position.

91:00

FP: Morleo scoops up ball, throws in to Vacca. Vacca lasers a pass into Aquafresca. He's open! HE SHOOTS! BLOCKED BY ARESTI! Someone puts it over line for corner.

GM: That was a great opportunity squandered. Aquafresca has had his chances but has been sipping his wine when he needs to have more cruelty in his heart.

FP: Aresti snares Lepiller's corner.

...

FP: We're almost to the end of our three minutes of extra time. Bologna are trying to carve out one more chance. Out ot Morleo. Up to Troianiello. Ripa looks at his watch. Troianiello crosses. Oh, too bad for Bologna. Too close to Aresti. Aresti flops spectacularly to the ground clutching the ball. Everyone moves upfield. Ripa is telling Aresti to get on with it. Here's the punt ...

TWEEEEEEEET TWEEEEEEEEET TWEEEEEEEET!

FP: That's it from Stadio Adriatico in Pescara. The home side hold and defeat the league leaders Bologna 2-1. Final thoughts Giorgio?

GM: Poor showing from Bologna, honestly. Pescara did enough and got lucky to catch the leaders off their game. Matteo Politano is my man of the match. Nice performance by the young man. Pucci needs to get them playing again. He has some work to do.

FP: That's all, good night and alongside Giorgio Montucci, I'm Fransesco Pio. Back to the studio and Gianluca.
 
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View attachment 300960Saturday, 21 March 2015

Nearly everyone associated with the first team gathered in the main conference room to watch the Bari-Varese match. Varese were third and we played them in a week and a half. We get a break next weekend as both Bari and us have several starting players away on international duty.

We also set up two other TVs to keep an eye on any other matches that might be relevant. The other relevant matches were Speza-Ternana, Catania-Modena, Crotone-Livorno and Pro Vercelli-Brescia. All the top teams were away from home and we were all hoping for some assistance after yesterday's defeat.

We cheered on as Bari beat them on a lucky goal. Varese are having a ****fest so far this calendar year. This is their third straight defeat and they've lost six of their twelve matches so far this year. Our mission for the coming week is to get ourselves ready to make it four in a row for them and what better way to scout them than to watch them play.

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Love both Alpha Romeo stories. I am intrigued how you manage to use templates from actual news sources to write your stuff on?? Id love to use it in my stories...they lack a bit of something real like that
 
View attachment 300934Gwen had dropped me off at Casteldelbole and she picked me up in a taxi. We were off for a short trip to a villa in Puglia. We hopped a train to Bari which got us to Lecce rather late where we were to be picked up by someone from the villa and driven the rest of the way.

What was interesting is that the guy in his 50s who picked us up spoke a nearly indecipherable Puglian dialect but listened to the worst pop music. American Pop Music from the early aughts. The worst. Maybe he was trying to be nice. It was comical.

We arrived in the dark. Here's what we awoke to:
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MrStu01 said:
Love both Alpha Romeo stories. I am intrigued how you manage to use templates from actual news sources to write your stuff on?? Id love to use it in my stories...they lack a bit of something real like that
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Thank you very much!

What I do is take snapshots of the real sites, cut out the ads and paste the other bits into an 800 pixel wide PNG. 800 pixels is the widest that fm-base can handle. Then I do my best to approximate the fonts the site uses. It's kinda tricky, but if you're willing to **** around with it, the only hard put is setting up the template.

Thanks for reading...
 
Saturday, 28 March 2015

I arrived back from Puglia on Friday. Most of the players weren't on international duty so they got some time off. So we had our first training Saturday morning then lunch then a second training session. At three we all gathered in the conference room to watch some calcio.

Second place Ternana lost. Ahh, the poisoned chalice of second place. Varese continued their horrid run. Modena moved up to fourth with their win. Brescia dropped to sixth with their loss. Overall, a really good Saturday for us.

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Serie B: Varese v. Bologna

View attachment 299413Thursday, 2 April 2015

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Just on the far side of Milano from Bologna, we could take a huge step towards automatic promotion. We have a five point cushion over Varese and we could restore it to eight. There are nine matches left after this one and it'd nice to have an eight point cushion for automatic promotion.

As I've said, Varese have stunk so far in 2015. They have lost three straight and six of the last eleven. Their horrid form started the same weekend our undefeated streak ended.

"Listen up!" I said to get my pre-match talk started. "We've all seen how Varese are playing. They are sliding and desperately need a positive result to end their slide. What I want to see it your boot on their neck. Don't let up. Don't give them a chance."

Dejan Stojanovic nearly gave away a goal in the 2nd minute. Right midfielder Kiko Femenia crossed in and Dejan barely scrambled across to tip the cross around the near post.

In the 4th, Angelo Rea chopped down Daniele Cacia. Gianni Nanni sprinted out to attend to Cacia while I bellowed at the ref. Now, Stadio Franco Ossole only seat a smidge over 8,000 and it was about two-thirds full. So pretty much everyone heard me asking why it wasn't a yellow.

Varese keeper Elia Bastianoni tips Matthias Lepiller's curling shot over the bar.

Cacia walked and then jogged off the knock but what clobbered again in the 8th. No call this time. This time I spent a couple of minutes demanding answers from the fourth official. Varese then broke upfield and into our half. Thankfully, it all fell apart when striker Arturo Lupoli shot right into Dejan's gut.

In the 16th, Lepiller fed a pass into Cacia. Cacia should have one-timed his shot but controlled it and waited for what he thought was the perfect time. He waited too long and the shot got blocked out for a corner. Lepiller's corner was cleared and so was his second bite of the apple. Instead of trying a third time, he lasered in a pass for Franco Zuculini. Zuke hammered his shot quite hard, but right at the Varese keeper.

Over the next several moments, Varese should have scored. But a team on a bad slide don't score when given the opportunity and Varese didn't. During the 15-30 stretch, Lupoli hit a shot that Dejan tipped onto the post then hit Luca Ceccarelli and finally a grateful Dejan flopped onto it. Lupoli hit another right at Dejan when he had all day to shoot. Finally, Andrea Barberis hit a piledriver of a shot that nearly shattered the crossbar. It bounced high up into the night's sky and seemed to hang up there forever before finally landing ontop of the netting.

We made them pay for their inability to finish in the 32nd minute. After a dozen or so passes in and around the center circle, Federico Casarini zipped a pass up to Vion. The loan-signing from FC Metz flicked the ball into the path of Cacia and he slammed a shot past the keeper.

0-1

Varese created yet another good chance in the 37th. Varese's Luigi Falcone flicked a near post corner to the back post. Center back Martino Borghese thought he had an easy tap in, but Dejan came flying across to swat his tap in clear.

As the half was rounding to a close, Barberis chopped out Casa's ankles. As you would expect, Varese broke forward with numbers. Rather than moaning at the ref, I was screaming at my players to watch the back door. Lupoli and Femenia were sprinting goalward down our left. Migliore had been caught way upfield but like a high speed train was gathering speed. Falcone played into the middle from the Varese right to Lupoli. He laid a ball to his right for Femenia.

I'd been watching this whole counter develop and Migliore had sprinted a full 70 meters and launched a desperation tackle and poked the ball over the end line as Femenia was about to pull the trigger. I will be honest with you all and say that I haven't seen that kind of commitment to defense at either Cadiz or AFC Wimbledon. Nicely done, Migs! Nicely done!

I had a little talk with the ref after the halftime whistle. Cacia would have to come off from the abuse he'd received and Aquafresca would get some minutes in the second half.

Our defense tightened up to start the second and everything seemed calm, composed and under control when Falcone received a throw in deep in our left corner in the 58th minute. He played the ball back to Femenia who whipped in a curling cross. Still no worries as the lone Varese player in the box was 180cm (5'10") Luca Forte who'd come on for the hopeless Lupoli. He was standing between Barba who is 188cm (6'2") and Maietta who is 185cm (nearly 6'1").

1-1

The problem was neither leapt to even challenge Forte and they allowed him to power a header past Dejan. I lowered my face into my palm. Seriously? Even jumping with him might have put him off. WTF, boys? WTF? Too be fair, they'd been allowing Lupoli chances like this. It's just that Forte didn't fill his pants when given the opportunity.

We restarted and immediately put them under pressure. We eventually got the ball to Aqua in the box. He just took too long to pull the trigger and they were able to block his shot.

At this point, I admitted to myself that playing Lepiller in the hole behind the striker hadn't worked out so well. I had urged Matthias to shoot more, but he hadn't. He distribution had been decent enough, but Casa had been more important to our attack from his deeper position. I got Michele Pazienza warming up.

In the 65th, Lepiller confirmed my judgment by giving the ball away, leading to a Varese counter that substitute Luca Miracoli slide a millimeter wide of the post with Dejan beaten. On went Paz in the 68th and Casa moved up to his favorite position in the hole.

It all paid off in the 72nd when Casa played a ball up to Aqua who'd made a crossfield run out to the right. Aqua crossed in and after the ball pinballed off several defenders a very surprised Vion found the ball sitting at his feet. He toe poked it past a very surprised Bastianoni.

1-2

And we were doing great, threatening every time we broke, defending staunchly until the 78th minute when Andrea De Vito flattened Vion in the box. No call. As usual Varese broke up the left after committing a crime. Fkn ref.

Femenia had crossed over to the left, pulled the ball back and whipped in a cross with his right. The normal left-sided midfielder Andrea Cristiano met his cross at the near post with a flick header.

I saw it hit the netting. But the crowd behind the net groaned. We should have had a penalty and they very nearly scored because of this ***ing ref needs his muthfunking prescription checked.

I spun, marched over and began berating the fourth official.

But a few minutes later, Maietta's right **** cheek gave us a cushion. Troianiello had curled in a corner. Aqua managed to get a shoot off during the melee in the goalmouth. It bounced either off the post or off the player guarding the post, hit Dom's right glutious maximus and bounced over the line.

1-3

You know how a player will sometimes pantomime that the fans should kiss his boot after he scores a goal? Well, the Rossoblus were behind the net into which we'd just scored and Dom did that. Well, sort of.

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have read and loved every minute of this story since the Cadiz days. loved that story, would love a return to spain or to join parma!!! what tactic do you employ?
 
Just had a full read through this mate (yes I had the time) and this is brilliant! I've never really read this all because I know I'd need to read a bit of it to get into it but I do say this is probably the best story on here! Completely different to the way most of us do it but so interesting! So glad I've finally read it! Keep it up!
 
wanpablo23 said:
have read and loved every minute of this story since the Cadiz days. loved that story, would love a return to spain or to join parma!!! what tactic do you employ?
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! I use two variations of a 451 as you've probably seen. I always have a DM or one of the CMs set to defend.

I have my team tactics set to keep possession, press high up the pitch, pass into space, play offside trap and disciplined. I'll post a screenshot later.

Here's a screenshot of my instructions:

View attachment 299083
 
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xJamieWilliams said:
Just had a full read through this mate (yes I had the time) and this is brilliant! I've never really read this all because I know I'd need to read a bit of it to get into it but I do say this is probably the best story on here! Completely different to the way most of us do it but so interesting! So glad I've finally read it! Keep it up!
Click to expand...
Thanks! This is not a quick read, but I endeavor to make it rewarding.
 
View attachment 299087Saturday, 4 April 2015

I couldn't sleep. So I got up early and analyzed our last nine remaining matches. Our automatic promotion situation is we have 27 points to play for and an 8 point cushion. I think that our next two matches are crucial. Spezia and Latina are mid-table and if we beat them both automatic promotion become inevitable instead of just likely. If we win the next two we would only need 13 more points from 7 matches.

Furthermore, we have a game in hand on the chasing teams which gives them even less room for error.

I mainly want to avoid needing anything from the final two matches.

There's one other thing, Latina and Perugia are both really stingy defensively. Neither of those two are going to be easy.

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EDIT: Duh? I just noticed that I only included 8 matches. Next Wednesday is Bari who are currently in the relegation zone.
 
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Good shout at speeding it up your basically up anyways. Get Bologna up. Will you stay or do you have unfinished business back in England if the right oppotunity arrives. Have you taken Bologna as far as you can go .... as your a promotion specialist now surely clubs in England could come knocking ;)
 
ThePav said:
Good shout at speeding it up your basically up anyways. Get Bologna up. Will you stay or do you have unfinished business back in England if the right oppotunity arrives. Have you taken Bologna as far as you can go .... as your a promotion specialist now surely clubs in England could come knocking ;)
Click to expand...

Bologna wouldn't be the first Italian team to kick the manager who just won them promotion to the curb. With that said, I have a strong emotional attachment to the team and have a lot more work to do. We'll see what happens, eh?
 
Serie B: Bologna v. Spezia

View attachment 298750Saturday, 11 April 2015

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The back four had a great match and utterly stifled Spezia. The midfield didn't keep the ball all that well and the back four had a lot to do on fast breaks. Also, all of the chances we created fell apart with the final pass or an attacking player's first touch.

We got our act together in the second half and ran out easy winners. Daniele Cacia was splendid in the second half. He'd have had a hat trick if he'd have had a better first half.

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