Alpha Romeo Metaphor II

Smendyke116 said:
Thank God you've come back! I was so dejected at the thought of the alpha story dying and to find that it has been continued here is incredible. One question, does the story chronologically line up or are you repeating the year 2014?
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Thanks!

You have to kind of pretend that the original story started 3 years ago. 2011/12 in Cadiz, 2012/13 win promotion with Wimbledon then get sacked in early December of the 2013/14 season.
 
Friendly: Roda JC v. Bologna

View attachment 324928Wednesday, 30 July 2014

We flew into Aachen, Germany to get to Kerkrade where Roda JC Kerkrade have their home. It's a border town that is a cross-border partner with the German town of Herzengenrath. It's in that little province that dangles down from the rest of Holland. The town is more a suburb of Aachen than anything else. It's as close to Frankfurt as it to Amsterdam, the two towns are in opposite directions. Koln and Bonn is the nearest metropolis.

We never really got off the plane. At least everyone got 45 minutes of exercize.Of the 22 players I brought along, only the keeper Coppola didn't play. I'm still working with the players to get them to pressure the ball higher up the pitch. I know it's going to take time. I'm wondering how much at this point.

Their first goal was awful. Franco Zuculini stooped down to try and head a thrown in that had just bounced and fell over. The ball bounces past and right to there striker who slams it home. Daniele Cacia's goal was nicely taken from a cross by Riccardo Improta. Unfortunately, we fell asleep for their second. Their right midfielder hit a far post cross that looked like it was going harmlessly out. My right back Luca Ceccarelli slowed down and didn't notice their left midfielder sprinting for it. That left mid crossed it in for their other striker to slam home.

You can see from the stats that we had plenty of ball possession. The problem is we're not doing anything with it. I'm hoping that will come. The players will start seeing where the passes forward should go.

Thankfully, I still have plenty of time.View attachment 324927

View attachment 324926
 
The rest of the preseason looks pretty tough now that I'm roughly half way through. Maybe I should I scheduled a few more easy matches than big money makers.

View attachment 324918
 
Argentina Challenge: Bologna v. Velez Sarsfield

View attachment 324914Friday, 1 August 2014

13,000 people watched River Plate beat Estudiantes (LP) on penalties after both teams scored twice during regulation in the early match. Half that, 7,500, watched us play Velez Sarsfield.

We started well, another Cacia goal, this time a header from a Gennaro Troianiello cross but Velez pegged us back with two quick goals before the half hour mark. We never really got rolling and Velez were the clearly better team today.

Diego Perez took a knock just before the hour mark. I replaced him. I hope he's alright.

We play Estudiantes tomorrow.

View attachment 324913
 
Argentina Challenge Third Place match: Bologna v. Estudiantes (LP)

View attachment 324883Saturday, 2 August 2014

Today was even hotter. Incredibly humid and not a breathe of air. 35C (95F) felt like somewhere near the temperature at which flesh boils whatever that is. Let me just say that there were frequent water breaks. It's preseason for God's sake so each ball boy had a stash of water bottles to hand or throw any player.

We got off to a rip roaring start. Again. Loan signing winger Karim Laribi was at the right place at the right time to tap home and give us the lead. Just before half time, we were undone yet again by a left wing cross. My fill in right back Marcel Buchel, another of Savoia's loan signings, was nowhere near the right back position. He'd decided to wander inside and play in the middle.

Then just after the restart, we were undone by a through ball from inside their half. Oh well. This is why you go through preseason. It's all fine and good to play a high line. But if you do so you need to pressure the ball. So much to work on.

I stayed and watched the final between Velez Sarsfield and River Plate. The best part from my perspective is that the stadium was packed and the game was televised. That'll help the clubs bottom line.

View attachment 324882
 
Tough pre-season, but that is the way of it in this game. I don't know if you are using your own tactic or not, but in my experience the strategies I used in Fm14 simply aren't effective any more.

I don't know much about the italian leagues, but I do know a **** of alot about some of the best expiring players and players you are just about certain to have a shot at right off the block if you are interested.

Moreover, you should note that this year several nations got HUGE (unless they changed it after the beta) regen ratings boosts. So don't be afraid to take a gander around the world for talent either.
 
TotallyNotTrixy said:
Tough pre-season, but that is the way of it in this game. I don't know if you are using your own tactic or not, but in my experience the strategies I used in Fm14 simply aren't effective any more.

I don't know much about the italian leagues, but I do know a **** of alot about some of the best expiring players and players you are just about certain to have a shot at right off the block if you are interested.

Moreover, you should note that this year several nations got HUGE (unless they changed it after the beta) regen ratings boosts. So don't be afraid to take a gander around the world for talent either.
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I'm trying to figure out how to get the players to pressure the ball high up the field. There ALWAYS seems to be a big gap between defense and midfield no matter how I instruct my players. They did change how instructions work.

I think I've got a decent enough side for Serie B and I'm on a fairly restrictive budget. From past experience the world class regen players start appearing in the 4th or so season. Over the years with FM, I've picked up many of them on frees. So, yes, I'm working on beefing up my scouting worldwide.
 
Sunday, 3 August 2014 10:00AM

"Before we get started today, I want to address an issue that keeps coming up," I said to all players, First Team, U20s and U18s. "Many of you have complained about your training workload. Many of you have said that it's too high and you're unhappy. Some of you have spoken to me directly. Others of you have made your displeasure known in different ways."

"I have spoken to many of you already personally," I said. "I would like to say to everyone that the physios, fitness coaches and the rest of the coaches are watching your training and monitoring your progress. We are not going to push you past your limits. Out goal is to push you up to your limits."

"It's your job to push yourself past your limits, not us."

I paused and let that sink in.

"For you first team players, ask yourself do I want to win promotion this year?" I continued. "Personally, every day that my beloved Bologna languishes in Serie B hurts. I want players who will sweat blood to win promotion. For those of you in the youth squads, are you willing to push yourselves far past your limits to see if you have what it takes to play in Serie A? I know and these coaches standing before you know what it takes. Are you willing to sacrifice to achieve your dream?"

"Every once in a while, a player of such talent appears. Be it Johan Cruyff, Maradona, Roberto Baggio, Ronaldo, Dennis Bergkamp, Totti, Pirlo, Lionel Messi or Christiano Ronaldo, these players appear from time to time. They have such tremendous skill and vision that they can succeed simply based upon the gifts God gave them."

"Even amongst these superstars, many also have tremendous work ethics. For those of us not graced with once in a generation talent, we have to work tirelessly to improve. From personal experience I can tell you that I made it onto Bologna's First Team not because of the amazing talents God had given me. Trust me when I tell you that I beat out some boys with more talent than I could ever have. I achieved my dreams because nobody absolutely nobody was going to work harder than me."

"As young players hoping for a career as a professional footballer, you need to impress me. I'm the boss. I will decide your fate at this club. If you wash out of our club for whatever reason, you will need to impress someone else at some point in order to get your first contract."

"Let me be clear," I said in conclusion. "**** work ethic is the worst sin in my book. Is staying after and improving your skills mandatory? No, but if you want to play in Serie A some day, I and my staff can teach you the mentality necessary to get there and stay there. That's all, let's get started."
 
Bologna Summer Challenge: Bologna v. Novara

View attachment 324463Friday, 8 August 2014

We trained really well this last week and I was hopeful going into the match against Novara. Diego Perez's was injured from last weekend's cup competition so Marcel Buchel took his place.

I also made a tactical decision to play more structured. I felt that the players weren't seeing why it was important to keep the correct shape. It's hard to play high pressure defending from the front if the player you were counting on to back you up isn't where you expected him and I had instructed him to be.

This paid off. We played compact and worked really hard for each other. Players were launching themselves into tackles like they really meant it.

Nacho Huertes pulled up limping in the 34th minute and signaled that his day was done. I sent on Erik Friberg, one of several Savoia signings who isn't good enough.

View attachment 324462Deep into first half stoppage time, Daniele Cacia won a free kick about 25 yards out, dead center. Matthias Lepiller hit the crossbar and the rebound came straight back out. Gennaro Troianiello leapt and headed it towards the half of the net where the keeper wasn't.

In the 63rd minute, Troianiello got dragged down by a defender after a mazy run from out left that ended with a foul 25 yards out and right of center. This time Lepiller's shot had just enough top spin to get it under the bar to give us a two goal lead.

While Morleo's second yellow card was a rather vicious tackle, it did give us the opportunity to practice playing a man down. I'm pleased that we held them off.

View attachment 324461
 
Interesting formation Novara used there mate, looks like they would have been hard to break down? Very congested in the middle.
 
Lippo255 said:
Interesting formation Novara used there mate, looks like they would have been hard to break down? Very congested in the middle.
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Yea, our two goals came from free kicks. But that's why I signed Lepiller (FK 17).
 
Bologna Summer Challenge: Bologna v. Napoli

View attachment 324391Saturday, 9 August 2014

Oh, how reality bites. We kept Napoli at bay for the first half, but double strikes from Higuain and Hamsik showed clearly the difference in quality. We also didn't manage to get any shots on goal. It was a great work out for our defense, though. Or something.

I decided to give 18 year old Luca Camorani the start. It was rough for him, but I wanted to see how he did.

Matuzalem and Karim Laribi both came off injured. This is becoming a pattern with Matuzalem.

View attachment 324390
 
Sunday, 10 August 2014

I decided to returned two of the four wingers that Director of Football Roberto Savoia signed to their clubs. Luca Giannone and Riccardo Improta hadn't shown much, were expensive (relatively) and my two teenage wingers would probably be just as effective and for a lot less money.

Of course, I had Savoia tell them.

I'm still not sure about Karim Laribi and Gennaro Troianiello. I might keep Troianiello as he can mentor my teen wingers and is showing more than Laribi and can play either wing. Right now, I'm thinking that Lepiller will play on the right wing, Troi on the left with Nacho Huertes or Matuzalem (if he's ever fit to play) as the central attacking midfielder.
 
Friendly: Bologna v. Piacenza

View attachment 324385Wednesday, 13 August 2014

Piacenza recently went bankrupt and reformed. They're now in Serie D. They're a good run out so that we can get our offense flowing. Floodgates might be a better description.

My two strikers scored (Roberto Aquafresco bagged a hat trick) as did Lepiller (twice) and my teenage winger Luca Camorani.

Matches like today's makes me feel more hopeful that this squad can do well in Serie B this season.

View attachment 324384
 
Coppa Italia: Bologna FC 1909 v. Santarcangelo Calcio 1926

View attachment 324252Saturday, 16 August 2014

Santarcangelo beat Bassano on penalties to reach the Second Round of Coppa Italia. On paper, Santarcangelo should be pretty easy. They just got themselves promoted to Serie C, Group B from Serie D a few seasons ago.

Chief Scout Tomasso Fini reports that they play a narrow 442 Diamond so I tell my players to exploit the flanks. I also tell them that I expect a win.

The main stands are pretty empty and the Curva Bulgarelli is only half full. I guess Coppa Italia isn't a big draw when you play a minnow.

The prepubescent boy they sent out to ref the match, Fabrizio Pasqua, decides he needs to stamp his authority on the match immediately. In the 3rd minute, Franco Zuculini is surrounded by opponents two of whom have hold of his jersey while the third tries to get the ball. Zuculini flails one arm trying to get free of one opponent's grasp, hits one of the shirt-tuggers on the side of the head and gets carded.

I'm up off the bench remonstrating with the ref and pleading for an explanation from the fourth official.

Eventually, I sit down because the match is so dull. Despite my instructions, we attempt to play through the middle where they've massed 5 players.

In the 36th minute, Matthias Lepiller gets his legs swept out from under him and the ref doesn't think it's a foul. Matthias is hurt and I send on my teenager Luca Camorani.

Just before halftime, Diego Perez gets booked for a tackle in which he got the ball first.

Their keeper, Michele Nardi, is playing great. He's charged out and nabbed the few crosses we sent in with authority and made two great saves on the only two chances we had.

My captain and left back Archimede Morleo gets booked at the hour mark. It was deserved.

Then in the 70th minute, Zuculini gets sent off for a second yellow. Yet again, not a bookable offense. Perez and Zuculini were tag-teaming the Santarcangelo midfielder trying to win the ball. Guy realizes he's about to lose the ball so he falls over. Yellow card, my @$$. Nonetheless, our prepubescent ref has been calling everything remotely close to a foul.

I switch to a 441, send on Michele Pazienza in place of Nacho Huertes and hope to hit them on the counter.

In the 76th minute, Camorani breaks up the right and gets pole axed by the Santarcangelo defender. No foul. Another Santarcangelo player puts the ball out. Physio Luca Ghelli sprints onto the pitch and administers The Magic Sponge and Freezy Spray.

"He stopped a great counter attack with a cynical foul which, last time I checked my FIFA rule book, is a bookable offense and, yet, your esteemed colleague fails to even call for the foul?" I ask the fourth official. We're at the point in the match where he's stopped even bothering to interact with me.

As the bore draw limps towards extra time, Captain PrePube sees fit to book my central defender Federico Barba and Pazienza. It's getting ridiculous.

I replace Camorani as he's hobbling with Karim Laribi. Their right back has taken out two of my players so far. I tell Laribi to take a couple pounds of flesh out of him as I send him on.

Instead, Capt. Prepube fails to notice several Santarcangelo fouls then books Barba in the 96th minute. Now I'm down to nine men. I switch to a 431. There's no plan now. Just make sure we don't concede.

We don't and it's penalty time.

The players all gather inside the center circle. The Rossoblu link arms over shoulders in solidarity.

The first Santarcangelo player blazes wide. 0-0

View attachment 324251Daniele Cacia lasers his shot into the low corner. 1-0

My keeper Dejan Stojanovic read the Santarcangelo player and easily blocked the shot. 1-0

Captain Morleo steps up and blazes his shot high and hard into the upper left corner. 2-0

The next Santarcangelo converts, sending Stojanovic the wrong way. 2-1

Diego Perez sends the Santarcangelo keeper the wrong way. 3-1

The Santarcangelo player must score and does. 3-2

Karim Laribi carefully places the ball for his spot kick and everyone holds their breathe. He can end the misery.

And does. We win 4-2 on penalties.
 
Sunday, 17 August 2014 7pm

We coaches gathered at Casteldelbole to watch the Coppa Italia draw. We were all still settling in when Udinese was the third team drawn. There were two murmurs then everyone groaned as Bologna was drawn to face them in Udine.

"Well, ****," I said in English then reverted to Italian. "That's not the ideal draw, is it."

"I've always thought these draws are rigged," Defense Coach Stephan Romanin.

My phone jangled in my pocket.

"Ciao, Enrico," I said then listened.

"Sure, I'll comment," I replied. "I think Udinese away is a good challenge. I'm looking forward to it."

"Well, I think that we're going to have to beat good teams at some point," I replied to a second question.

"No, I'm not interesting in that player."

"No, I don't know where that story comes from, I'm not interested in signing him."

"We'll just take it one match at a time," I replied. "If we play as committed like we were today, we'll be in the game. I think it's only a matter of time until our offense gets rolling."

"Yes, I think our offense will be fine," I replied. "We're in Serie B this season. Frosinone and Avellino are not comparable to Fiorentina and Milano. Our offense will be fine."

"I doubt we'll be signing anybody else. Sure. Thanks. Talk to you later."

"That was fast," Assistant Manager Graziano Vinti said. We all chuckled.

"So what about Udinese?" I asked.

"Don't discount Di Natale," Chief Scout Tomasso Fini said. "He's still got it despite being 36. They play the 352 with wing backs as is so trendy nowadays. Their wing backs are not top drawer so we might find our luck on the flanks. It's a tough draw, but we all know that."
 
Friendly: Bologna v. Ravenna

View attachment 324036Wednesday, 20 August 2014

This is our last tune-up before we face Udinese in the Coppa and the Serie B season starts with Brescia visiting Renato Dall'Ara.

By the way, I should let you all know that I sent Karim Laribi back to Sassuolo. I think that Luca Camorani will be just as good as a back up as he would plus ten times cheaper.

And the motor appears to be purring and roaring. Both of my strikers score twice, my likely starting wingers both score and we did everything I wanted.

View attachment 324035
 
Coppa Italia, Third Round: Udinese v. Bologna

We drove north to Udine in the afternoon for our evening match. This is a bit controversial, so let me explain. The big clubs in Serie A fly everywhere. Like the Milan teams would fly to Bologna. On the one hand, they can afford it. On the other hand, it's ridiculous. They drive to the airport (20 or so minutes), cram into a little puddle-jumper plane and wait to take off (15-45 minutes), fly at a low and turbulent (sometimes really turbulent) altitude for 30 minutes, transfer to a bus and drive 15-30 minutes to the stadium. All to save 30 to 45 minutes.

I don't know if you've all had the pleasure of flying on a small plane in turbulent weather. I have many times for Bologna. I fkn hate it. After I've had the **** scared out of me, my sense of balance destroyed, you expect me to be mentally up to wage battle on the pitch? All I wanted to do was lay down.

Anyway, it's way cheaper to drive, the club needs to watch expenses as we're not in Serie A and I prefer bus rides when possible. Furthermore, I want to eliminate things that would distract the players from their upcoming tasks ... such as getting airsick.

View attachment 323856Anyhoo, the team seems pretty focused and prepared for Udinese. It's a scrappy affair just like we need it to be. We manage to dominate possession for long stretches which is helpful away from home.

Once again, we're undone by a left wing cross. In the 39th minute, Cyril Thereau lobbed a ball out to the left flank. Giovanni Pasquale whipped in a cross. Panagiotis Kone made his lone contribution to the first half's play by chesting the ball down into the path of the onrushing Thereau. Thereau's task was as simple as it gets: he had to propel a ball at his feet over the end line that was 4 meters away.

1-0

We continued to fight. We didn't give them all that many chances and created some ourselves.

In the 79th minute, Udinese defensive midfielder clobbered Matthias Lepiller. The ref didn't feel it was a foul. We recovered the loose ball and moved it into the middle. 69th minute substitute Federico Casarini played a pass up to 57th minute substitute Daniele Cacia who flicked the ball into the gap between the center back and their right back. Gennaro Troianiello anticipated this and was on the ball in a flash.

He stroked his shot past their keeper and we were level.

1-1

View attachment 323855Gianni Nanni ran onto the pitch to treat Lepiller who still lay on the pitch as his teammates celebrated. I sent on Marti Riverola to replace him.

Now we play carefully and take advantage of any opportunities, they give us. Or that's the plan I try to communicate to my players.

Unfortunately, Captain Archimede Morleo stuck a leg out to attempt a tackle on Di Natale in the 82nd minute. As you might expect, Di Natale went tumbling, the ref blew his whistle and pointed to the spot.

Well ****!

Di Natale converted the penalty.

2-1

Unlike us, Udinese played carefully, denied us space and not even a red card in the last minute mattered.

View attachment 323854
 
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