Atalanta B.C - The Goddess of Italian Football

[Klippybo]

ATALANTA B.C - The Goddess of Italian Football

I am back! My Ajax story went to the way side as I was away to Berlin, had a project on that took a wee while (still not finished lol), was in hospital and also have spent the last week or two updating the database for my new save!

I have decided to take over Atalanta B.C. as I have had a few really good saves with them over the years. They have only ever won 1 major trophy - the Coppa Italia in 1962-63 - but in the season just gone they did manage to finish 3rd to qualify for the Champions League for the first time.

They have one of the best youth systems in Italy and have nurtured some world class talents such as Filippo Inzaghi and Christian Vieri amongst others. Naturally I will look to use that as I love to develop young talent so it really is set up for me. A club that has won next to nothing but with a sprinkling of decent players and a great youth set up.

So hopefully you will join me and follow, comment etc. Hopefully my database wont crash with all the changes I have made (updated to tonight so Mats Hummels is at Dortmund) so I can really go at it and hopefully take Atalanta to the top of the tree in both Italy and Europe.

So without further ado let me introduce you to the new Atalanta manager...…..

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MASSIMO DONATI
Donati started his career with Atalanta in 1999 and made 46 apps and scored 2 goals before he moved to AC Milan where I seem to remember he was a FM god. In 6 years at Milan he only made 17 apps but had several loan moves, including another season at Atalanta (32 apps, 1 goal) before he joined Celtic for £1.8m. He met his wife while in Scotland and spent 2 years with Celtic before moving back to Italy where he had 2 spells with Bari as well as playing for Palermo and Verona. In 2016 he returned to Scotland to play for Hamilton Academical and his last appearance was in 2018 when he appeared for St.Mirren.

He never won a full cap for Italy.

Donati is only a couple of months older than me and I know he is based in Scotland so there is a similarity lol. He was never a favourite player of mine but he was immense in FM back in the early noughties so that's why I chose him.

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ATALANTA B.C

Founded - 1907
Nickname - La Dea (The Goddess)
Stadium - Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia
Capacity - 21,300
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[Sam91]

Good to see you back mate

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

Carnage!!!! That is a word to describe my pre-season. As I have updated the save all the 6,000 players that were out on loan in real life were all of a sudden back at the club and I had to sift through the lot of them! I ended up selling or loaning out nearly 40 players including some big first team players.

Of course I also had to rebuild my backroom staff and lay the foundations for what hopefully lays ahead.

I spent just under £30m on players but still recouped about £10m more than I paid out and I broke the clubs transfer record and it seemed that around Italy we were the only side to make any significant moves. I also had to keep in mind that I couldn't sign anyone from abroad that was not an EU citizen.

Also I just found out that last night Atalanta signed Luis Muriel from Sevilla for about £15m so I have just missed out on having him in my side lol.

So here are my departures - not all of them or I will be here all day lol.

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PLAYERS OUT

The huge deal was that for Remo Freuler. He is a good player but with his contract expiring and him not wanting to sign a new deal I had to get rid. Juventus bid £14m but in the end I got an initial £18.75m rising to £21m from Burnley for the Swiss midfielder. Burnley then gave me £4.5m for Andreas Cornelius too!!!

Somewhat controversially I sold my best keeper, Eitrit Berisha, to Lille for £5m. I had intended to keep him and Gollini as my 2 keepers and to sell Sportiello but nobody wanted Sportiello so I offered out Berisha and accepted the deal with the French club.

Andrea Masiello joined Sassuolo for £3.8m and Marco D'Alessandro joined SPAL for £1.6m as two other Italian clubs loosened their purse strings while Berat Djimsiti (Basel - £1.3m) and Nicolas Haas (Young Boys - £1.2m) left to join 2 Swiss clubs.

On top of that I sold another 19 players for under £1m (each - not in total lol) and I loaned out another 7.

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PLAYERS IN

The clubs new record signing is Alessandro Murgia from Lazio for £12.5m. I needed a replacement for the departing Freuler and I liked the look of the 22y/o who I have never managed before. He has room to develop and I hope he can develop into a world beater.

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Riccardo Orsolini was brought in from Juventus for £7m. When I arrived at the club I was amazed to find that I had no right wingers in the first team squad so I had to rectify that. Orsolini looks decent enough and is only 21y/o but he does need to kick on and develop quick if he wants a long term future here.

Nicolas Murru joined from Sampdoria for £4m as I needed another left back in the squad so I moved to bring the 23y/o in. I did try and sign Alberto Moreno on a free but I couldn't afford his wages.

My new right winger is Cristian Pavon and he joined from Boca Juniors for £2.9m. I was searching for another winger to challenge Orsolini and when Pavon's name appeared I just prayed that he had a second nationality and he duly did (Italian) so I snapped him up immediately and he joined a few days after Orsolini who instantly became upset the little girl that he is.

Three players came in from Portuguese football. Fabio Silva joined from FC Porto for £1m, Xadas joined from Braga for £900,000 and Guilherme joined from Alvarenga on a free. I saw Fabio Silva become a world class player in a previous save so I was delighted to get the 16y/o for much cheapness while Xadas is a fine young player who's versatility will prove key this season for me. As for Guilherme I needed another midfield player and saw the 27y/o as a good squad filler as he can play in a few positions.

Finally I brought in Alessandro Plizzari from AC Milan on loan for the season to help out my U20 side.

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SQUAD

I think I have it all settled in my head lol. In addition to my signings I called up 3 players from the U20 and U18 side to help us out.

In goal will be the ex Aston Villa keeper Gollini while in front of him it will be Gosens at left back and Hateboer at right back. Rafael Toloi is a definite first choice at CB while Palomino and Mancini will battle it out as his central defensive partner.

In CM I think it will be De Roon and Murgia however I promoted Melegoni into the first team and will give him lots of opportunities to develop. Pavon will be my right winger, Ilicic my AMC and my best player, Alejandro Gomez, will be my left winger and I need a stellar season from him.

Up front I have the on loan Duvan Zapata as first choice but Andrea Petagna will push him hard and I also have the exciting young striker in Musa Barrow in the ranks.

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AIMS FOR THE SEASON

Its hard to say really. In real life the club finished 3rd but we are predicted to finish 8th. If we can get European football for next season I will be happy. As for the Champions League I would like to be competitive in the group stage (yet to be drawn) and just want to be in Europe after Christmas whether that's in the Champions League or Europa League.


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[WeArePalace]

Some great signings there mate! You seem to developing a young Italian core there which is very nice! I was going to recommend Manuel Lazzari from SPAL because he's always an amazing player for me, but you already seem to have the RM spot covered. Great start, will follow for sure.

 

[Klippybo]

AUGUST

​​v
​​Atalanta 2 (Gomez 42, 90pen)
Parma 0

Lineup - Gollini, Hateboer, Rafael Toloi, Palomino, Gosens (Murru), De Roon, Murgia, Pavon, Xadas (Cortinovis), Gomez*, Zapata (Barrow)

Very impressive. We thumped Parma here and should have scored a couple more but as it was we only had 1 goal going into stoppage time until we got a penalty which Gomez duly converted.

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v
Sampdoria 1 (Quagliarella 64)
Atalanta 1 (Zapata 15)

Lineup - Gollini, Hateboer (Castagne), Rafael Toloi, Palomino, Gosens, De Roon, Murgia (Melegoni), Pavon, Xadas (Cortinovis), Gomez, Zapata*

Duvan Zapata is on loan to us from Sampdoria and he returned to haunt his parent club here as he robbed their keeper to score into the empty net. We should have won but I will accept a point.

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v
​​Atalanta 0
AC Milan 0

Lineup - Gollini, Hateboer, Rafael Toloi, Palomino, Gosens, De Roon, Murgia, Pavon (Orsolini), Xadas, Gomez (Capone), Zapata (Barrow)

I would have taken a point before the match but having outshot them 15 to 3 and having a Pavon goal disallowed I am slightly disappointed.

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SUMMARY

We have had a not bad start to the season as we beat Parma and then drew against Sampdoria and AC Milan. Due to injuries I have yet to field my best side as Ilicic has been unavailable while others are not quite match fit yet like Mancini and Orsolini.

Our Champions League draw hasn't been to bad for us as we have been put in a group with Spurs, Zenit and Galatasaray.


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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ALEJANDRO GOMEZ
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SERIE A
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Arsene Wenger is the new AC Milan manager
James Rodriguez joins AC Milan on loan
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[Sam91]

Fabio Silva turned into an unbelievable striker on my Boreham Wood save. Wound up at Spurs with Joao Felix playing behind him. Disgusting combo

 

[Klippybo]

Lads (and lasses) I have ****** this up. Got a couple of teams playing in both the Champions League and Europa League (not Atalanta) and that has just infuriated me. So going to sort that out and as Peter Crouch would say come back stronger.

**** sake!!!