Atalanta - The New Force In Serie A?

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END OF SEASON POST

Another memorable season. I honestly thought it would be a close run thing regarding qualifying for the Champions League but we did it quite comfortably. We aquitted ourselves well in the Champions League and won the cup so progress is made.

But how to catch Juventus and go to the next stage and challenge in Europe? Do I wait 3-4 years for my players to reach their peak (Signori, Saini, Fierro wont reach theirs for a while longer than that) or do I buy players to replace established stars. For instance Immobile has been excellent but there are better players out there! I will try to stick to an Italian core - even though 1 Dutchman and 2 Argentinians are coming in lol

This summer could be interesting depending on my transfer budget. I have already agreed to sell the first team players I wanted rid of so apart from players co-owned or out on loan there should be little incoming transfer fees.

We shall see!!!!

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MY PLAYER OF THE SEASON
GIUSEPPE BELLUSCI
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(Immobile scored the goals but Bellusci had the highest average rating by a long way)

MY YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON
MARIO CENTURION
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FINAL SERIE A TABLE AND STATS
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AWARDS
Serie A Top Scorer: Ciro Immobile
Team of the Year: Consigli, Bellusci, Gabbiadini, Immobile
European Golden Shoe: Ciro Immobile

OTHER NEWS
Italy call up Bellusci, Consigli and Bertolacci for the World Cup
Marilungo got trimmed from the squad
Real Madrid defeat Man Utd 2-1 in the Champions League final
Porto defeat Juventus on penalties to win the Europa League
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Develop the youngsters giving them game time it won't take too long to hit their peak. Great season btw
 
2Q==

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PRE-SEASON

This time last season I was bemoaning my lack of central midfielders and transfer budget while this time out I may have too many CM's and still have £20m to spend!

I was given a very generous £30m to spend this summer and considering I had already tied up deals for players leaving and 2 coming in (1 more in January) there wasnt a lot left to do! With Fiorentina being relegated I toyed with signing Giuseppe Rossi for £6.5m and Antonio Candreva for £10m but they would have broken my wage structure.

That wage structure was increased however when I got Bellusci and Bonaventura to sign new deals. Bellusci is the highest paid player at the club at £60K a week and he is valued at £15m.

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PLAYERS IN

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ANGELO OGBONNA
£7.25m from Torino

I needed a CB and this guy was transfer listed. Never had him but looking closely at his stats I think I overpaid for him. Heard a lot of people say he is a beast so we shall see. The jury is out!

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LORENZO CRISETIG
£5.75m from Parma

I know this lad well (especially after my Castel di Sangro story!) and to get him for this price is a great deal. Has loads of development left in him and will battle it out with Pirlo to partner Bertolacci in central midfield.

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MATTIA PERIN
£5m from Genoa

I needed a new backup keeper so I went in for this guy. £5m for a player who probably wont get a game is a bit excessive I grant you that but he is still young and that transfer kitty was burning a whole in my pocket lol

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TOMMASO ARRIGONI
£3.5m from Cesena

Never had him before, never seen him before and I only checked him out in passing after someone mentioned him in an earlier post. Methinks he will be a star!!!!

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JOSE LUIS GUEVARA
£3m from River Plate

I have high hopes for this young fella. Hopefully he will go on and develop into a world beater but he will start off as third choice CB methinks. Another young Argentinian is coming in from River Plate in January and I got Centurion off them - they should be my feeder club!

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JETRO WILLEMS
Free transfer from PSV Eindhoven

A pre-contract deal this and he will be my new LB until he has competition coming in in January. Never had him before but I was impressed with him in real life in the Euros and he can only get better!!!!

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PLAYERS OUT
The most money for one player was the £5m I got from AC Milan for Maxi Moralez. He was getting less game time and with Signori and Saini waiting in the wings the time was right to get rid. I received £2.2m from Inter Milan for Davide Brivio and from Nurnberg for a player who was out on loan (Nadir Minotti) while I got around £1.5m each for Capelli, Radovanovic and Peluso.

German Denis left for Cagliari for £825K and I was sorry to see young backup keeper Colombi leave for £600K. That was a mistake on my part as his contract was up at the end of the year and he was unhappy at the lack of football he was getting.

I also received small fees for a number of reserves/useless youngsters and I released Beckham and Nesta while prospects Kecskes, Cason, Barlocco and Pugliese have been loaned out.

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SUMMARY
Ogbonna will start alongside Bellusci methinks at centre half but with Guevara and Canini waiting in the wings he better perform. Willems is my new left back and has until January to impress but I may still bring in another full back before the transfer window shuts. The main question is who is going to partner Bertolacci in CM? Can Pirlo still cut it? Will Crisetig or Arrigoni force their way through? Food for thought!

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AIMS
I said to the board I would get Champions League qualification but in my heart of hearts I feel we should now be challenging Juventus. I know I can go without signing anyone and in 4 seasons time I will have an amazing side but that isnt going to happen - I WANT THE TITLE NOW!!!!!!

I am quite pleased with my transfer dealings (especially since I was ****** all day Sunday) and have kept an Italian core to the team so I am raring to go for the new season!

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AUGUST

Well its been a busy few weeks since I posted the pre-season update!! I somehow managed to spend the remainder of my transfer budget on 3 players, lost a cup final, won 2 league games and got a nightmare Champions League draw!

Anywho I will start with the signings..........................

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GIANLUCA CAPRARI
£11m from Pescara

Probably didnt really need him but I have never had him before and he looks decent. Very versatile so will always get plenty of game time.

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NICOLAS TAGLIAFICO
£3.2m from Vasco da Gama

I thought I had better get another LB in as I only had Willems and Ogbonna until the new guy arrives in January. He has an Italian passport so that is a bonus.

These two were brought in cheap (total of £1m) with the AMC being a signing by my director of football.
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Leaving the club is young Croat Dragutin Pavlicic. He has went out on loan to Bologna as with the arrival of Caprari I thought it would be for the best to get him regular game time elsewhere (plus he aint Italian lol). I did reject an £11m offer from PSG for Marilungo too.

In the Champions League I got a worse draw than last year!! Borussia Dortmund, Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain. We will do really well to get out of that group methinks.

I forgot to mention in the last post that Spain won the World Cup after beating Belgium 5-1 in the final.

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Italian Super Cup
Juventus 2-1 Atalanta
Bonaventura

Disappointed to lose but we got what we deserved really as Juve were excellent - although scoring a last minute winner was a bit cruel.

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Ternana 1-2 Atalanta
Bertolacci, Marilungo

At the 3rd attempt we win on the opening day of the season. Consigli performed his penalty saving heroics again though with 10min left.

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Atalanta 2-1 Catania
Gabbiadini 2(1pen)

Fell behind early on but got the win and hut the woodwork 3million times lol.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
GIACOMO BONAVENTURA
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SEPTEMBER

A decent month although we lost out to Juventus for the 2nd time this season which was disappointing. Other than that it was all good as we posted a couple of league wins and drew against PSG in the Champions League.

I have decided to drop Andrea Pirlo from being first choice though. I gave Crisetig a chance and he was man of the match against PSG but Arrigoni then got a chance after coming off the bench and scoring against Siena. He responded by getting sent-off against Napoli lol.

Finally at the end of the month we suffered a triple injury blow as Willems, Bellusci and Marilungo are all out for at least a month!

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Juventus 1-0 Atalanta

Grrrrr. Once again though they deserved it and had a late goal disallowed.

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UEFA Champions League Group D
Atalanta 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain
Marilungo

I suppose this was a decent result as Marilungo equalised for us against the team who bid for them a week before.
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Atalanta 2-0 Siena
Gabbiadini, Arrigoni

Nice and easy. Arrigoni came off the bench to grab his first goal for us.

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Udinese 3-5 Atalanta
Centurion, Immobile, Ros (og), Fierro, Bertolacci

Immobile finally gets his first goal of the season here - I thought maybe by winning the European Golden Boot last season it had all gone to his head lol.

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Atalanta 3-1 Napoli
Bertolacci 2, Gabbiadini (pen)

A crazy game this! We had Arrigoni sent-off after 5min and we promptly took the lead in the 8th minute! Gabbiadini struck the 2nd and then they had Honda sent-off and pulled one back before we wrapped it up late on.

Bertolacci wears no.8 and scored his goals in the 8th and 88th minute lol.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ANDREA BERTOLACCI

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OCTOBER

Whisper it softly but I think I actually have an Italian Aitor Herrera in the making! Its taken a little while to dawn on me but Ernesto Luca Signori is beginning to develop very nicely indeed and at just 16 (not 17 until March) he has already eclipsed Saini as the main regen and I thought he was pretty decent.

Anyways we had an ok October. Losing to Dortmund, while not unexpected, was a body blow but we put things right against Benfica fortunately. As long as we avoid finishing bottom I dont mind as I feel we could give the Europa League a real good go!

In the league everything is going along rather nicely but Ciro Immobile's lack of goals is extremely worrying. Centurion might get a run in the side if he doesnt buck up soon.

Finally I rejected 2 more bids from PSG for Marilungo. The last one being £16.5m!

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UEFA Champions League Group D
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Atalanta
Gabbiadini (pen)

Oh oh. We probably deserved a point here but we couldnt recover after Gotze struck twice early on. The other 3 teams have all won a game already so we are rock bottom.

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Parma 1-4 Atalanta
Immobile 2, Gabbiadini, Signori

I thought this was a really impressive win until I realised they are bottom of the table without a win!

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UEFA Champions League Group D
Benfica 1-2 Atalanta
Crisetig, Gabbiadini

A huge game, a huge win and a huge slice of luck as Benfica had a late goal disallowed.

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Atalanta 5-2 Genoa
Bonaventura 2, Marilungo 2, Ogbonna

Goals certainly arent hard to come by at the moment!! Gabbiadini got 4 assists here.

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Lazio 1-1 Atalanta
Caprari

Sub Caprari rescued a point here as we were terrible - allowing Lazio 20 shots on goal despite us having 62% posession! Bertolacci got injured and is out for 5-6 weeks.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MANOLO GABBIADINI
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Cracking start the season! Good luck with the CL, looks terrifying
 
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NOVEMBER

Move over Juve lol. Well maybe not as they are still unbeaten but we have forged ourselves ahead in the race for the title and I just hope that we dont bottle it.

This month was packed with 2 European games (including 1 thriller), and 6 league games which seen us draw 2 but win convincingly in the others. There were hat-tricks galore and also encouraging performances from Saini and Signori.

In summary its all going rather well - maybe too well lol

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Atalanta 1-1 Inter Milan
Immobile

I suppose it shows how far we have come when I say that I am disappointed with this result.

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UEFA Champions League Group D
Atalanta 2-1 Benfica
Gabbiadini, Fierro

A crucial victory. Rodrigo put them ahead in the 2nd minute but we were in front before half-time. Gabbiadini also missed a penalty in the last minute.

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Bologna 0-1 Atalanta
Saini

Saini came off the bench to score the winner with his first touch. Excellent management I say! lol

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Atalanta 3-2 Chievo
Signori, Marilungo, Centurion (pen)

I have lost my patience with Immobile - giving Centurion a run in the side and low and behold he scores. Signori shone again!

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Palermo 0-0 Atalanta

Centurion was unfit so Immobile came back in and failed to score again! Grrr.

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Atalanta 2-0 Pescara
Centurion 2

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UEFA Champions League Group D
Paris Saint-Germain 4-5 Atalanta
Immobile 3(1pen), Canini, Marilungo

What a game!! We were 2up and then got pegged back and then we traded blows until time ran out. Ibrahimovic netted a hat-trick for them but look who bounced back for us with a hat-trick of his own!!!!

Oh and we have qualified!!!
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Atalanta 5-1 Cagliari
Canini, Caprari 3, Bonaventura

Caprari has been playing LW while Gabbiadini has been injured and been getting plenty of assists but to score a hat-trick is extra special.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
GUIDO MARILUNGO
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DECEMBER

Firstly - I neglected to mention last month that several managers got sacked. Cant remember all of them, maybe Lazio was one lol. I do know Marco van Basten is now in charge of AC Milan though!

Secondly - what was the point in topping my Champions League group to get the easier draw and we end up avoiding the likes of Olympiakos, Dynamo Kiev, FC Kobenhavn and Sporting Lisbon only to get Man Utd!!!!

Thirdly - my youngsters were immense this month. Saini and Signori shone once more and the likes of Forbice, Savino and Cavalli all featured also. That is ignoring the fact that Crisetig, Arrigoni, Centurion, Guevara, Fierro, Willems, Valencio and Caprari are all 21 or under.

Anyways after all that we end the year 6pts clear although Roma have a game in hand.

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Sassuolo 1-4 Atalanta
Immobile 2, Canini, Forbice

Forbice came through in last years intake but has not been mentioned as yet. Decent wing back who I am training up to be a RB.

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UEFA Champions League Group D
Atalanta 2-0 Borussia Dortmund
Centurion, Signori

Check us out!! My backup side defeats Dortmund!! Once again Signori and Saini shone. Signori scored while Saini got an assist and the man of the match award.
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Atalanta 4-2 Sampdoria
Bonaventura 2, Marilungo 2

Another 4 goal haul. Thats 13 in the last 3 league games so not even including the 5 we put past PSG!

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Coppa Italia 1st Round
Atalanta 4-1 Parma
Signori, Immobile 2, Arrigoni

It was 1-1 with 15min to go here. My side certainly seem to know where the goal is at the moment!

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Roma 3-1 Atalanta
Immobile

A bad day at the office. We actually deserved at least a draw but individual errors cost us from Bellusci, Willems and Bertolacci.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
CIRO IMMOBILE

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You're getting really unlucky with draws in the Champions League! Making great progress in the league though, hope you win the title!
 
LOL at your luck with the Champions League draws. It's worse than mine. I use to just get bad group draws. Then again, I think I've always finished them third. (Well, it's just the two seasons I got Torino qualified in FM12)
 
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JANUARY

Once again I was allowed to change my seasons expectations and this time I decided to say we were going to challenge for the title (didnt want to tempt fate by saying we would win it lol) and the board handed me £23m!!!!

Now my new LB was already pre-arranged ages ago and I am perfectly happy with my midfield, keeper and centre half and just content with the rest so did I blow the cash and possibly risk unsettling the squad?

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KURT ZOUMA
£15m from Saint-Etienne
YOU BET I DID!!!!!!! I was one click away from signing Marco Capuano from Pescara for £18m but then I noticed his contract was up next season so I thought I could wait a year for him and so I turned my attention to this guy. A beast of a player and will be first choice alongside Bellusci. The previous record transfer was £13m for Gianni Commandini from AC Milan (never heard of him either lol)

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NAHUEL LUCERO
£3m from River Plate

Another signing from River Plate (Centurion and Guevara are the other two) and I think this lad will jump straight in at left back - if he ever returns from international duty that is! I need to get his accelaration up but other than that its all there.

Leaving the club was Michele Canini and Gonzalo Valencio on loan and thats it. Canini has been magnificent when called upon but his days are numbered here now.

On the field we had a trilogy of games against Juventus and ended the month with a 7pt lead at the top of the table. Roma still have a game in hand though. Worryingly both Bellusci and Bonaventura handed in transfer requests as the stature of the club isnt big enough for them. Fortunately the length of their contracts is big enough for me (2019) so I rejected them lol.

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Coppa Italia QF
Atalanta 1-0 Lazio
Centurion

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Atalanta 2-0 AC Milan
Bertolacci, Immobile

AC Milan are not really a force anymore. Got some great talents but not as a team methinks. They are actually in a relegation battle!

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Atalanta 2-0 Ternana
Immobile, Bonaventura

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Coppa Italia SF 1st Leg
Juventus 0-1 Atalanta
Guevara

First match of the trilogy goes to us and I am sure thats the first win over Juventus at their place.

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Catania 0-0 Atalanta

Jetro Willems got injured here and is out for 2-3 months.

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Coppa Italia SF 2nd Leg
Atalanta (1) 4-2 Juventus (0)
Arrigoni 2, Immobile, Gabbiadini
(Agg: 5-2)

WOW!!!! Who needs Willems? Tagliafico got 3 assists from LB as we surged into a 4 goal lead. Into the final we go where we will play Inter Milan.

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Atalanta 1-0 Juventus
Guevara

Guevara sinks Juve again!!!! He came on for Ogbonna in the 8th minute and struck just before half-time. Bertolacci got sent-off but we held on. Thats Juve's first league defeat of the season so to have a hat-trick of wins against them in a period of a fortnight is something special!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
GIUSEPPE BELLUSCI
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KRIS STUART APPOINTED MANAGER OF NORWAY

Not exactly the nation I would have wanted to start with but it is a foot in the door until something better comes up. They have won their first 2 qualifiers for the Euros so its not as if they are doing **** or anything!

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KRIS STUART APPOINTED MANAGER OF IVORY COAST

Lol. Something better came up 1 week later after Ivory Coast got knocked out of the African Nations Cup. Been a while since I have managed in Africa and I feel they are better than Norway anyway.


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Amazing mate, I'm tempted to buy an Atalanta shirt, with how well you are doing on here, lol. Keep up the good work. Oh and Zouma is out of this world, great signing. :)
 
Streaky25 said:
Amazing mate, I'm tempted to buy an Atalanta shirt, with how well you are doing on here, lol. Keep up the good work. Oh and Zouma is out of this world, great signing. :)
Click to expand...

I am getting the Atalanta bug I must admit. For FIFA13 in the ultimate team I have a Basque team with all my favourite Bilbao players from FM and other Basques (at the moment it is Ruffier, Iraola, San Jose, Amorebieta, Monreal, Herrera, De Marcos, Benat, Muniain, Susaeta, Llorente with Azpilicueta, Iraizoz, Iturraspe, Griezmann, Ekiza and Forlan on the bench - just need Arteta, Xabi Alonso, Inigo Martinez and Javi Martinez!)

Think I might start an Atalanta one based on my current save! lol
 
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KLIPPYBO said:
I am getting the Atalanta bug I must admit. For FIFA13 in the ultimate team I have a Basque team with all my favourite Bilbao players from FM and other Basques (at the moment it is Ruffier, Iraola, San Jose, Amorebieta, Monreal, Herrera, De Marcos, Benat, Muniain, Susaeta, Llorente with Azpilicueta, Iraizoz, Iturraspe, Griezmann, Ekiza and Forlan on the bench - just need Arteta, Xabi Alonso, Inigo Martinez and Javi Martinez!)

Think I might start an Atalanta one based on my current save! lol
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Muniain and Ander Herrera are amazing on FIFA 13, so good for their prices.

Good signings though and Zouma for that price is a bargain!!
 
Great signings. If that guy is permanently on international duty, watch the international friendly instructions page like a hawk and when he gets called up to a team for a friendly, withdraw him.
 
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