Despair!
The pull of the Italian league is not what it once was. I had immediately marked
Mateo Musacchio as my main transfer target to bolster my central defence. Young and an all rounder with definite room for growth. He would become the lynchpin of my defence, however the allure of the Premier League was too much and he opted for Arsenal's offer over our own.
Inigo Martinez was my second target, the young Sociedad player was sure to become a mainstay of the Spanish national team and it would have been a real coup. However Sociedad were not playing ball and completely priced him out of the market. I found numerous other gems in Spain, however all were rough gems who would need development I needed an instant starter, a polished and refined player capable of commanding the back four. I needed to search further afield.
It is as if Arsenal get the reports of my scouts before even I do!
Nicolas Nkoulou, the young Cameroonian appeared perfect. Capable of playing defensive midfield as well I was sure I had found exactly what I was after and more for a small fee, however as soon as I went to begin negotiations he had already agreed to join Arsenal. Both of my main transfer targets taken by Arsenal, I was seething.
My scout alerted my to
Balanta, playing in the Argentinian league for River Plate. I immediately bought him, I was desperate. Desperate to buy a player and desperate that I got there before Arsenal or another Premier League club bought him. His demands were acceptable, and he was excited to follow in the footsteps of
Erik Lamela who made the move from River Plate to Roma a few years ago. My search is complete, I have a defender capable of slotting into the first team immediately and remaining there for years to come.
Tactics
Many a sleepless night has bore this. I have watched more Serie A highlights than I care to remember in the past weeks, I understand now the need to dominate the midfield, to ensure a strong defence. It was not a catenaccio, that was outdated. No, no this was new, innovative and would allow my talented midfield to flourish... or so I hoped.
This will allow me to play
De Rossi deep, screening the defence as the wingbacks go forward. My three central midfielders;
Florenzi,
Pjanic and
Nianggolan are youthful and creative, all capable of defending and attacking and I believe this formation will allow them to control and overrun other teams.
Totti still has the ability to pick a pass and score goals, however starting him every game behind
Destro may not be an option due to his age.
This does not accommodate the wide players in my team:
Ljajic and
Gervinho and as such I have formulated a 4-5-1 similar to what I used at Swansea. I believe this will be more than sufficient for use against weaker teams in Serie A who from the first whistle will be subject to intense and relentless free-flowing attacking football.
Really annoyed at my hunt for a defender. I really didn't want to get Balanta as I used him a lot in FM2014 too and wanted someone different. As above my Spanish hunt didn't go well. Dragovic went to Barcelona, Toprak didn't want to come. Sule was priced ridiculously, Veltman wasn't worth it according to my scouts and I didn't think of Okore until too late. Hi-ho Balanta's solid anyway, what you think of my tactic?
