NOT Another San Marino Story

It's a Wonderkid World

It's happened! Mirco Veronesi is now regarded as one of the top prospects in world football, as he successfully made the transition from 'promising striker' to wonderkid, thus becoming the first Sammarinese wonderkid produced at the club (and the second Sammarinese wonderkid overall after Staiti).


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I'm really excited about Veronesi's development, he has all the tools to become a legend for both club and country. I absolutely love having a star SM striker, and in my heart he's already the new Alessandro Paolone, though I have to find a way to get him MUCH more goals now (which I find quite difficult to do for strikers in FM14!). Veronesi will see ample playing time with the first team this season, in my quest to make him one of the global superstars of the game: this is the start of a new era for SM football...


Out of interest, San Marino Calcio boasts a group of supertalented youngsters these days. Introducing the club's young stars, these players (adding to Staiti and Veronesi) are all touted as wonderkids:

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All fantastic players who are already important members of the first team. You wouldn't believe how cheap they were to purchase. Khalil was easily the most expensive at 1.2M euros, while the three Italians cost me less than 100K altogether, as I snapped them up as youth prospects from obscure clubs...​
 
Becoming A Legend: Mirco Veronesi vs Alessandro Paolone

Special update to compare the two best Sammarinese strikers of my Football Manager career. Former FM12 legend Alessandro Paolone (a former Top Scorer, Golden Boot, World POY, and leader of successful SM club and country) has finally found a heir to his throne in Mirco Veronesi. Here we'll start drawing a comparison between the two strikers, analyzing differences and similarities and trying to project Veronesi's upside and future career. Yeah actually I'm more excited about this kind of things - NT and SM players' development - than winning leagues or cups with the club so bear with me...


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Paolone is actually a full year older in this screenshot (20 vs 19 year old Veronesi), which does make a difference at this stage of their development.

With that said it's easy to see the comparison between the two: curiously they share exactly the same height and weight (!) and both are extremely quick and explosive strikers. Both have shown signs of natural scoring instincts early in their careers, and both enjoy beating the offside trap and taking defenders off the dribble.

They're not exactly the same player though. Veronesi happens to be left footed (which I like a lot), while Paolone favored his right foot. Paolone was more of a pure poacher that didn't contribute in many other areas except running with the ball and scoring goals (which he did A LOT), while Veronesi looks like a more creative and well rounded forward, and actually is an accomplished attacking midfielder as well.

The main difference is that Paolone infamously rejected the NT call-up until he turned 24 (thus 'earning' multiple loan spells at unfashionable clubs like Slovan Liberec...), while Veronesi has been a NT regular since he was 16 and was also part of club first team rotation since then (mostly as a sub). Veronesi arguably has a higher PA, as he earned 'wonderkid' status at 19, while Paolone never went beyond 'promising striker' in his youth.

Clearly Paolone has achieved so much in his career both at club and international level, it will be extremely tough for Veronesi (or anyone for that matter) to replicate that kind of success (mostly because this is not FM12!). Nonetheless I consider Veronesi to be the better prospect overall. Actually I also prefer his fresh hairstyle rather than Paolone's Justin Bieber hairdo!

Veronesi has started season 2018/19 very promisingly though again a couple of minor injuries broke his rhythm early in the season (also made him miss last four NT games). If he can stay healthy he has the potential to become the best striker of one of the best clubs in the world (yes, San Marino...)
so early in his career, something that not even King Alessandro himself could achieve!

We'll take another look to the comparison next year as Veronesi turns 20...

​
 
Very interesting that they share the same height and weight! I really want to try this challenge but really can't be bothered to get them up to Serie A haha. Once I am not as addicted to my current game as I am I will have a proper crack at it.
 
Rootsey said:
Very interesting that they share the same height and weight! I really want to try this challenge but really can't be bothered to get them up to Serie A haha. Once I am not as addicted to my current game as I am I will have a proper crack at it.
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Also they were both born in 1999. Great year for San Marino indeed...

This year it's easier to get to serie A, San Marino start in serie C1 (third tier) instead of C2 (fourth tier) :)
 
Veronesi looks great :)
I have a question. What do you do when a player has dual citizenship? Players don't accept the invitations for the national team, is the only solution to wait for them to change their mind?
 
DS1989 said:
Veronesi looks great :)
I have a question. What do you do when a player has dual citizenship? Players don't accept the invitations for the national team, is the only solution to wait for them to change their mind?
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strangely enough all dual nationality players have always accepted the SM call-up right from the start in FM14. I think Veronesi himself has dual nationality (I'm sure Staiti has). Very surprising after all the defectors drama I had in FM12 - yeah I used to call them 'the defectors :)

In FM12 there wasn't much you could do: virtually every dual nationality player waited until they turned 22 to accept their first SM call-up. If they had been selected for Italy U19/U21, then they waited until 24 to accept San Marino (even if Italy senior team never called them). Very frustrating, used to moan about that all the time in my FM12 story! Only way to change this was winning EURO 2024, after that every dual nationality player would reject Italy to have a chance for SM :)

Are your dual nationality players rejecting SM in your FM14 save? Is there an option to talk to them and try to change their mind? Only players who have rejected the call-up have been replacements for injuries in my save - with or without dual nationality.
 
One player first accept call-up and played one game, then rejected the call-up every time, while others didn't want to accept from beginning...When I go to private chat(int) I can't talk to them (Sorry I can't take your call right now) and so every time..
Now my most talented regen from last generation has decided to play for Italy, a traitor :)
 
I am Spain coach on my season at the moment (check out my story, nothing wrong with a cheap plug haha) and there is a player who is Argentinian by nationality but legible to play for me but keeps rejecting my call ups :(
 
DS1989 said:
One player first accept call-up and played one game, then rejected the call-up every time, while others didn't want to accept from beginning...When I go to private chat(int) I can't talk to them (Sorry I can't take your call right now) and so every time..
Now my most talented regen from last generation has decided to play for Italy, a traitor :)
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When I get a half-decent prospect with dual nationality I INSTANTLY (the very moment he's generated) call him up for NT, even if he's 15 and absolutely not ready to contribute even for the low NT standard. If they accept (which has always happened so far) they stay in the NT squad until I can give them an official cap (ie in competitive matches). At that point I can take them out of the squad if they're not ready, but now they're cap tied for SM so I can call them up without problems in the future. So far so good, not a single SM player with dual nationality has ever rejected the call-up, not even the most promising ones.

Not sure if this 'strategy' is making the difference, or maybe having started my save on early patches does (I'm on 14.3.1 now though). I was expecting the same problems that made my FM12 save SO much harder, but surprisingly FM14 has been very kind with me in this area! Traitors no more :)
 
That's a great idea, from now I'll do the same...thanks :)
 
National Team: Year 2018

SMNT making slow but steady progress this year:


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A decent start in our EURO qualifying group with a good away draw in Northern Ireland and a narrow, unlucky defeat against Austria. Even more impressive considering we managed these results without a few of our stars (including first choice goalkeeper Poggiali and key attackers Cervellini and Veronesi) who missed most of this year's games through various injuries. Injuries are also the main cause of our inconsistent form in friendlies, as there's still a HUGE gap of quality between first choice players and back-ups as you can imagine. We still managed to finish the year at 130th place in World Ranking which is a new all-time best for San Marino.


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In the meantime I was very pleased with the progress of young defender Gabriele Gasperoni. The 17 year old centre back is developing better than advertised (was originally rated 1 star by my most qualified coaches when introduced at the club...) and emerged as undisputed first choice for the NT despite young age, while developing at the club youth squad. Gasperoni is now regarded as one of the country's most recognizable stars (together with Poggiali, Staiti and Veronesi) and is now rated a decent 2 stars prospect with legit Serie A potential, also being described as a 'promising centre back'. A good, solid player for the future and a very pleasant surprise indeed, which reminds me I must keep working hard to develop all my SM prospects, even the less heralded ones...​
 
Class of 2019 Or The Return Of The Defectors!

Just a few posts above I was boasting about all my dual nationality players accepting the call-up for SM, and giving advice to ease this process. Well class of 2019 brings back the old 'Defectors Drama' in San Marino, didn't see this one coming at this point...

With Extensive Youth Recruitment Network and Exceptional Junior Coaching, recent youth intakes have all been very promising, with HOYD Liam Brady always recruiting quality prospects for the now famous San Marino Football Academy. This year's class was particularly impressive:


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Midfielder Luca Poggiali was introduced as one of the best prospects ever produced at the club. He's a gifted playmaker with great passing instincts, luckily he's fully Sammarinese and already impressed in his first appearances for the senior NT. On the other hand midfield dynamo Tupac Pieri is fully Italian but he's just too good not to be mentioned: the first 5 star prospect ever produced at the club, Tupac (?) is a potential world class midfielder despite his parents' attempts to make him a hip-hop icon. Too bad he hasn't Sammarinese connections, at the very least he will become the Tupac Shakur of football.

And finally, the defector: Marco Bacciocchi is a very promising left wingback, which is great news for the NT as fullbacks are our weakest area at the moment but despite a very Sammarinese name the little ******* is rejecting the call-up as he probably believes he'll be good enough to represent Italy at international level... yeah he must think he's something special. I've frozen (and in some cases ruined) many careers of kids who thought the same and EVERY SINGLE ONE ended playing for San Marino NT eventually... I've got feeder clubs from China to Mexico to Bulgaria... Ask the great Alessandro Paolone if it's wise to challenge my authority! Good luck kid...
​
 
They look great, Luca Poggiali will be definitely the new star of San Marino.
It would great that Tupac is not Italian :) Nothing worse than a traitor :)
Do you have any Sammarinese players in the first team?
 
DS1989 said:
They look great, Luca Poggiali will be definitely the new star of San Marino.
It would great that Tupac is not Italian :) Nothing worse than a traitor :)
Do you have any Sammarinese players in the first team?
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I have Staiti and Veronesi both in first team rotation, both managed about 30 starts for the club this season. Other good SM players are decent for Serie A but not for a title contender so they're out on loan. I've got great expectations for Fabbri and L.Poggiali though!

Yeah the traitors have tested my patience in FM12, thought I had found a way to avoid that this time then that Bacciocchi guy rejects the call-up... luckily Veronesi was fully SM from the start, making him a legend will be my main project for this save :)
 
I hope that I'll soon get a sammarinese player like Veronesi, I need a striker with such potential, because we don't have much chances per game and those few chances which we create we miss, so we need striker who can score goal, urgently, I hope the HOYD will not disappoint :)
 
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