Look who is back: "IL Capitano" taking over the Red & Black!

When this season began, and we lost the Super Cup game against Juventus, and the 1st league game against Roma, I was honestly worried.. It seemed that the squad overhaul would become a disaster, with me opting to trust the youth up front...
But since those early games, we have become the in team!
And the month of November was witness to the best team in Italy, maybe Europe as well!


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Pirlo- the best central midfielder I have had the opportunity to play with.. what a legend this guy is.. Age does nothing to his talent! Miraculous!
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Gabi and Baptistao scored a brace each, as we came from behind to win this game so comfortably! Candreva at Lazio is an exceptional winger, and he opened the scoring for them.. but after that, it was all one way traffic! Gabi has become an integral part in the 3 men midfield alongside Pirlo and Shelvey!
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Baptistao and Gabi scoring again this time, with Jese creating both chances... A good win with a few rotations..
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Zaza-Gabi-Zaza-Gabi.. Gabi in some form now! The team playing really well now... picking up the momentum...
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WOW! To beat our fierce rivals this way! Pirlo scored a brace this time, with Isco and Grealish getting on the scoresheet to earn us a special win!
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The month of December... 4 games in the league, and 1 in the CL group- the final game..
And so far, since the first few games, we haven't lost any more games! Pleased!


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Amartey is really a beast, and he did very well in the middle for Kobenhavn, preventing us from winning this game..
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Zaza, Zaza, ZAZA!! A hat-trick for the striker, as we go on to win this game, and consolidate our place on the top of the table...
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This was surprising- how we didn't win this game! But a tricky game, and a point away from home, that's not all that bad!
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Zaza again.. solid form so far.. I was personally watching the young Italian goalie- Scuffet in this game, as I look to bring in a new name in January, and wasn't all that pleased.. He is good, but still has a year or two to develop further!
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Our target this season is to qualify for the CL, ie, finish in top 3, and after 17 games, we are 10 points ahead of the team in 4th.. As such, we can be happy with most of our play this season, and shall look forward to continue this same way from January as well...


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This won't be easy.. We face Atletico Madrid in the 1st knock out round in the CL, and need to be at our best if we are to achieve our expectations of getting to the QF's!

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Some very tidy buys there, Rafa is great for years and I expect Berardi to become a beast
 
Average Joe said:
Some very tidy buys there, Rafa is great for years and I expect Berardi to become a beast
Click to expand...

To fund the player purchases, and to keep a balanced squad, I decided to let a few players leave..
With Berardi coming in, and already having Bonazzoli, Raul Jimenez, Mastour, and the fact I am using a single striker, I let Zaza, Leo Baptistao and Jese leave with interest in them from all over Europe..
Why, you'll ask?
the simple answer.. berardi has scored 19 goals in 12 games in all competitions for the club since his move..

Also, with Horn coming in, I let Diego Lopez leave..

A few players were unhappy with the sale of Lopez and Zaza and Baptistao.. rightly so, as I only bought in a few youngsters, right?

wrong!
2 absolutely stunning signings for the first team, one of which came on deadline day..
Money was spent, but we had saved some from the summer and through further sales this month..

Results, season close, signings and all shall be updated shortly..

also, anyone looking for a young striker, look no further than Berardi!! BEAST..
 
Average Joe said:
How is Mastour looking now?
Click to expand...

Nothing dramatic as yet.. he's still only a back up option.. will post a screenshot in a while.
Guess next year I'll give him more chances in the first team..

And Shelvey is class! :p
 
As things stand now, I have

Timo Horn, Nicola Leali, & Koen Casteels at GK, ie, after selling Diego Lopez..
Timo Horn as of now is just a bit under par compared to Diego Lopez, and there was some unrest at the sale of Lopez.. As such, I'm looking to get another GK who shall be the 1st choice, solid upgrade..

De Sciglio, Darmian and now Rafael for RB.. need no more.. might even sell Rafael at the end of the season, as I have seem PSG generally buy him..
Both De Sciglio and Darmian are HG at the club, and I'm hoping to make the young Christian Maldini the 3rd choice RB next season..

Lucas Digne and Ylli Sallahi at LB.. Digne is solid and awesome, but I'm resigned to losing him as he is forcing out a move, and that might only happen at the end of the season.. Looking at upgrades, or if no better player, then I'll keep Rafael, and move De Sciglio at LB, with Darmian and Sallahi as back ups..

Astori, Fontas, Carrico, Balanta, Vallejo, Gonalons.. look at the CB's!
I have agreed to sell Carrico now.. He was doing good, but in one game, he got a yellow card in the 1st minute, and at HT I asked him to keep calm and not to earn another yellow.. that's what he did!
The remaining CB's will stay for the rest of the season, and I might offload Fontas at the end of the season with Shkodran Mustafi coming in, who shall form partnership with Astori, and Niklas Sule will be the 3rd choice CB when he returns from his loan, and Vallejo, Balanta and Diego Reyes as back ups.. might sell Balanta or Reyes also, that depends..
Also, Gonalons will be sold at the end of the season..

DM and CM.. I have Pirlo, Gabi, Shelvey, Samper, Pardo, Isco..
Pirlo and Gabi will stay with the team till they retire..
Shelvey is seeking a move with Manchester City and United both interested among others.. He will stay on till season end, and then we shall see what to do..
Granit Xhaka is joining in the summer, and I'm also looking at Youri Tielemans among others..
Samper and Pardo also might be sold so that they feature regularly somewhere else...
Isco will play at AM next season as I'm looking to try a 4-2-3-1(3 amc's) next season..
Wondering what to do with Suso, but I guess I'll keep him at the club..

Cartabia, Bruma, Bilal Ould Chikh and Grealish are the wingers, and I'm certainly keeping Bilal and Grealish at the club in the summer.. The remaining, not sure, depends how it goes...

Berardi is untouchable now.. He will be the main player for years to come, and am looking to offer him a new contract in the summer..
Bonazzoli, Mastour will be back ups, with Jimenez having until the summer to convince if I should keep him or sell..

With the other 2 signings I made in January, the picture will change a lot, and as such, there won't be a lot of changes I'll be making in the summer, fingers crossed!
 
Hachim Mastour.. he will definitely improve, and next season I am planning to play him more.. He'll be offered a new contract when he turns 18..
I'm further in April on my save now, and will hurry up with the updates shortly!

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Come January, and we were to play 6 games in the league, and 2 in the Italian Cup, ie 8 games in about 24 days beginning from the 7th of January..
It would be a test of the squad depth, and I planned on changing formations, tactics, to help us through these games... We had tough games against Roma, Fiorentina(twice), Sampdoria, and to an extent Udinese...

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Dominating performance to start the month, this is how we should play- control the game, take the chances, score, and don't concede!
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A slightly rotated team, and this is how we shouldn't play! Weren't clinical, and got punished by Fiorentina..
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Tough game again, but this time we secured the important victory to proceed to the QF's in the Italian Cup..
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Baptistao scored a brace, and though I wanted the team to be better up front, I'd take the 3 points for now!
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Another one of the tough game.. And this was a decent performance with a rotated team!
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And here's the 1st one of the 2 important, key signings I made in January..
Marc Andre Ter Stegen!!
For a fee around $50m, ie, $10m up front, and the remaining $40m over 48 months!
Also, his wage demands are very manageable, and decent given his calibre!

He won't be available to play in the CL, but he should bring in solidity in the league for certain!


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This was tricky.. Once the score was 2-2, I felt we have lost it!
But I guess we showed what winners are made of after that, not stopping, and kept working our way to find the wining goal! SPECIAL!
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Welcome Berardi! A brace for the young striker, who scored both the goals to earn us a victory!
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BERARDI!!! Baptistao and Zaza... Who?!
Amazing victory, and what a game for Berardi.. He's looking like the bargain, the perfect striker for the team!
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The other signing I spoke about?
Well, transfer deadline day..
And with the players I sold- Lopez, Zaza, Leo.. a few players weren't convinced that we replaced them adequately!

As such, I was looking around at names to strengthen our wings, as that was probably the only area I could see we might get better at.. An attacking midfielder, that is...

I was keeping tabs on Javi Martinez, and a deal for him was far away.. Barca didn't want to sell, Javi wasn't keen on a move, so that was about it..

On deadline day morning, I called his agent, Sergi Morales.. and asked if he thought a deal for Javi was still possible..
He said there wasn't any way that could happen, but there was another player on his books he could work on getting here at Milan...

And that's what happened!


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