San Marino- Attempting the Impossible

December 2019

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A substandard month compared to our recent performances and I'm not sure yet whether I should be worried. We started off great destroying Palermo 4-1 at home and proved my assumption that they were overachieving. Then against Napoli I thought things were coming undone, going down 0-2 before rallying back late to grab a draw. The match against Zenit was a thriller though we really should have won, we were clearly the better team but the defense fell apart enough to allow them a 3-3 draw. I thought things were back on track with our 4-1 win against Udinese before travelling to Genoa to close out the month on a dismal 1-3 loss, only our second in the league, in a match where nothing ever got going for us.

League Table

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We've scored by far the most goals to date this season and have only conceded one more than Napoli, who have conceded the fewest. Palermo, as I predicted, couldn't keep pace with the big boys and have fallen back. Roma on the other hand have been surprising and are hanging in there to ensure we don't start taking the league for granted.

Squad

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Ogaga remains our highest rated player, while Floridia picks up player of the month making 5 assists and adding another 2 goals to his tally in the 6 December games. Sotomayor has been hampered by minor injuries, but other than Zmajla who is out for 2-3 weeks we are healthy.

Year End Awards

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For the third year in a row I've won Head Coach of the Year, thank you very much. Ogaga makes the African XI while the rest of our players did rather well picking up at least a mention in the awards, most notable of which are Maes winning the Serie A GK of the year and Zmalja picking up the young player of the year award.

Headhunted

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If I wasn't commited to the challenge this would have been very tempting, Tottenham have finished 11th and 13th respectively the last two years and are currently looking at the possibility of relegation.

Champions League First Knockout Round Draw

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For the second year in a row we'll be facing Galatasaray and will hope to replicate last year's result to move on to the next round. There are quite a few teams left that I don't think we'd fare very well against so I'm not too optimistic about our chances, but one can always hope.
​
 
I just got some great news. After having my virus-ridden hard drive from my old computer for the past few months, my IT buddy finally got around to working on it and has managed to recover most of the files, including the save game for this challenge! I was smack in the middle of trying out the pentagon challenge but will resume this immediately. Something about the pentagon doesn't seem as challenging or entertaining as this challenge, I think it's because once you win one continent it get's a lot easier and it's tough getting attached to a club/squad/players when you know you're just going to be off as soon as you accomplish what you set out for.

I'll be looking over the story so far and the team to get a feel for it again and will hopefully get an update posted soon.
 
Youth Facilities

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Right back to work and getting a much needed youth facilities upgrade. They're rated at Average now so hopefully this will give me a good boost. With Good training facilities and an Average youth recruitment network I think those will be my next priorities.​
 
Wonderful to see this back. I actually jumped a little bit and clapped my hands when I saw in my subscriptions that there had been a new post in this thread. Well, I didn't, but... you know. I was and adequate amount of happy.
 
DaSiimM said:
Wonderful to see this back. I actually jumped a little bit and clapped my hands when I saw in my subscriptions that there had been a new post in this thread. Well, I didn't, but... you know. I was and adequate amount of happy.
Click to expand...

You need to talk to your board about upgrading that amount of happiness to at least "Average".
 
January 2020


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Only 4 games played in the league this month and they were mostly disappointing. I'm hoping I haven't lost my touch in this save (The Roma match was played before my computer stopped working a few months back). Excellent cup wins over Inter and Cesena however, and I'm particularly pleased with this result:
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League Table

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Even with the two losses we managed to extend our lead at the top to 6 points, but Juventus is coming on strong so we'll have to be sure to recover our form if we want to successfully defend our title.

Squad

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Fabbrini was spectacular this month, scoring 3 and setting up 7 in the 6 games for the month. That makes his injury for the next 2-3 weeks all the more painful. I'll most likely be playing Zmajla and Rispoli on the right wing while he's out so hopefully the can step up for me.

Transfer Deadline Day

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My heart sank when this popped up in my inbox. It took until deadline day for his work permit to be approved so he did move on, but I can take solace in receiving the club's record transfer fee for him, although the fans still thought it wasn't enough. My attempts to bring in a replacement failed but I'm hoping Kotarski and Ogaga will keep performing so we don't miss de Castro too much.

On a positive, I was able to bring in this guy for $8.75M from Empoli:
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He'll go straight into the first team ahead of Liviero, but will have to impress in order to hold the spot. Liviero has done well for us there, but I felt the position was a little thin. The only other worthwhile news for the transfer window was Sammarinese hot prospect Boschetti going on loan to Vicenza in Serie B. Hopefully he can make an impact there and develop nicely to compete for a spot in the first team at a position packed with talent.

Other news:
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He was making some noise about getting more playing time earlier on and now he's unsettled. To top it off, while he's been away he handed in a transfer request due to not getting enough time in the first team. WTF? I consider him in the top 2 or 3 strikers at the club so it will be disappointing if he does leave, but we have Sotomayor, Zmajla, and Livaja that are all more than capable of making the thought of losing him a lot easier.

For February we have 5 league games in addition to the first leg of the Italian cup away to Juventus as well as the first leg in the ECC 1st round away to Galatasaray.​
 
February 2020

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The second and third league matches of the month were disappointing as we kept the majority of the possession and had more chances in both games but fell to defeat against Cesena and settled for a draw against Fiorentina. The results against Catania and Parma were encouraging, however, as we finished well. In both the Italy cup and ECC we'll need to make up for 0-1 away losses in order to advance, a tall order against Juventus and Galatasaray.


League Table

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Despite our league form taking a bit of a dip from our great start, we're still on top, this time by 5 points over Roma who we have a game in hand on. With 13 games left including 2 away to Juventus and Roma, things could get interesting.

Squad

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Ogaga gets player of the month playing in all but the first game. He was a rock in the defense and even scored 2 goals off of corners. With de Castro gone I'll be looking to him to maintain his excellent form. Cortinovis has had a great start to his career here despite sitting 3 games out due to injury and being rested in another for the month.


March is going to be a busy month with 6 league games plus the return legs for both the Italian Cup and ECC. We're also scheduled to face off against Juventus twice, away in the league and home for the cup.​
 
March 2020

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A good month where our only defeat came at the hands of Juventus in a match where we were completely outclassed. It's scary how good they are when they're on their game. We managed to take control of the game against Galatasaray and really shouldn't have needed extra time to find the second goal but we progress nonetheless. Unfortunately Juventus knocked us out of the Italian Cup at home in an even match that ended 2-2.

League Table

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Juventus are now just 3 points behind us though we do have a game in hand. It's looking to be a two horse race in the closing stages so hopefully we can keep the pace and come away with our second Serie A title in as many years, though to be honest I'd still be happy with a top 3 finish.

Youth Intake

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I got excited when I saw so many youngsters that Adailton rates highly for potential until I realized only 2 of them were Sammaranese. At least I can take comfort knowing we're able to produce a high standard of kids, hopefully next year will fare even better with the upgrade to youth facilities.

Champions League Draw

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I think we got the best draw we could as for to advance to the Semis, but Copenhagen were probably thinking the same thing.

Champions League Quarter Final First Leg

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We absolutely battered them! I was expecting a very close game playing away and couldn't have hoped for a better result. When it was getting late in the game I was crossing my fingers hoping to keep it 2-0 then we went on a scoring explosion to put one foot in the door to the Semis!

Squad

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Ogaga continues to impress, playing in all 8 games for the month and bagging 4 goals in the process. The game against Copenhagen was possibly his best so far for the club as he scored a brace and even had 2 more shots on target. Another man who impressed is Silvio as he's proved to be a more than capable backup and even pushed for starts at both fullback positions.​
 
April 2020

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An average month as far as the league is concerned and rather disappointing, especially with the loss to Udinese and draw against Palermo, both games saw us with more chances but just couldn't capitalize.

League Table

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Juventus have closed in and are now just 2 points below us and they aren't looking like letting up. Their final 3 games are against Cesena, Fiorentina, and Catania. Hopefully they'll drop some points because I'm not too optimistic about our remaining schedule away to Roma, home to AC Milan, then away to Torino. The latter two both won their last matches against us this season, and we have a key injury but more on that later.

Champions League Quarterfinal Leg 2

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What a trouncing of a team that I thought might knock us out. Couldn't have gone any better racking up a 12-1 aggregate win. Elsewhere Man City manager to overturn a 0-1 deficit against Barcelona, winning at home by the tune of 4-2 in the second leg.

Champions League Semifinal Leg 1

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Unbelievable. Down to 9 men with over half an hour to play and still manage to hold them to a draw thanks to Sturaro, usually a backup, converting the only two shots we had during the game. We were absolutely battered and probably deserved to lose but I'll take it!!!

Champions League Semifinal Leg 2

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Excuse my language, but **** me sideways (in a good way)! I have nothing else to say about this one.

Squad

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I would say Ogaga was the player of the month yet again, but I've got to give it to Sturaro. He's played well in place of an injured Guilherme, but his performance in the away leg against Man City was probably the most important individual performance of the season. Unfortunately in return leg of that series Kotarski was injured and will be out for 3 months. With de Castro's departure in the last window I now have only one good centerback in Ogaga so hopefully that won't impact the remaining games too much. Really not what I needed considering who we'll play in the CL Final.

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They booked their ticket via a 2-0 home win over Olympique Lyonnais after a 0-0 draw away. They also clinched the Premier League title with 3 games remaining for the first time since 2016.​
 
May 2020

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We knew if we won our remaining games we would take home the title again and we did just that! It's a good thing too, because Juventus won their games as well. Martella, despite being left out of the match day squad for most of the season, filled in nicely for the injured Kotarski and even picked up a goal in the win over AC Milan.

League Table

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In the end we dominated the league along with Juventus, though in truth they're probably still the better team. I'm really surprised that we were able to win it again because the squad got really thin through injuries and suspensions in the last few games. In other league news Antonio Conte, the long time Juventus coach, left to take control of Chelsea after 9 long years and 6 league wins in the Serie A. Juventus haven't hired a replacement yet but it will be interesting to see if there's any drop-off for them.

Champions League Final

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A few days before the match I got the news that Ogaga injured himself in training and would be out 4-5 weeks. I probably should have given him injections but I've never done that before and didn't want to risk it, so instead we played a natural fullback in Cortinovis in the middle defense. He really didn't do bad, it was our attack that ManU was able to completely shut down despite an excellent performance in the middle of the park from Sturaro. I'm not too upset at the defeat, I felt like we were still a ways off the top teams in Europe though with some more depth and maybe one or two world class players we could definitely be up there.

Squad

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I just can't say enough about Ogaga. Hopefully I can hold onto him because he's already considered for awards like best play in champions league and Adailton reckons he's not even near his potential yet. Cortinovis and Liviero both did very well and they'll continue to battle to hold down the starting spot at left back, though with the injuries and such we've had Cortinovis has filled in nicely as a winger at times.​
 
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Awards

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To have 5 players in the Serie A Team of the Year is immense and they all deserved it. Also, Maes and Ogaga did wonderfully to be recognized in the CL Team of the Year.

2020 Best Eleven

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Ogaga was the pick of the players for the season, but what really tickles my pickle is the fact that all four front men have a pretty even spread for goals scored. I think Ogaga and Sotomayor, both in their early 20s, can go a long way in the game. The departure of de Castro still stings a bit, but it gave us a hefty transfer budget to spend so hopefully any replacement I bring in can pick up the slack along with Kotarski.

2020 Overall Best Eleven

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Of the 11 first team picks 7 are still at the club, and 5 of them still feature regularly in the first team (Livaja, Zmajla, Floridia, Kotarski, and Liviero). I think this is why it's hard for me to bring in some top talent, I'm too attached to some of these guys who maybe shouldn't be warranted as much playing time as I give them.

Finances

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We're in a great position financially which has given the board the incentive to increase the amount we're dumping into both youth and senior training facilities, which is great.
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I also got the news that we're now considered the 25th richest club in Europe!

In other interesting news, this happened:
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I guess their thoughts must be along the lines of, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"​
 
July 2020

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Just two friendlies for the month and I'm thinking of taking back control of arranging the friendlies. There's just one more scheduled against Real Madrid and I feel like we should have had more. At least we have the Competzione Amichevole to build match fitness.

Transfers

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3 in and 3 out. I was looking for some older players with CL experience but the ones I targeted still weren't interested in moving to the club.

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**** you Conte! I thought you were out of my life! Luckily Ogaga just signed a contract extension that bumped his minimum release clause up from $37M to $87M so we were able to reject the offer. I'll admit in the days after I was afraid of them matching the $87M.

Ins:

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Ibrahim comes in from "parent" club Cesena where he spent 5 very successful years. I feel that with his addition we have great depth in the middle now.

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Rugani was my second choice CB behind an Argentinian youngster with a lot of potential that we couldn't land. He comes in to split time with Kotarski at de Castro's old spot.

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Another from Atalanta and this time we broke the bank, paying out the largest transfer fee for the club to date. From looking at his attributes, he's the perfect player to start down the left wing for me but we'll see if that translates to the pitch. This is one of those buys that as soon as it was done I was starting to regret investing that much money on him. Hopefully he's worth it.

Team Depth Chart

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With this squad I'm confident we can challenge for the title again and possibly make another splash in the Champions League. The right back position looks to be the weakest however Murru and Silvio have both done an outstanding job there. I'll still be keeping an eye out for someone to add some depth there but with the amount spent on Cordoba I don't have much left.

San Marino Youngsters

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These are the three that I'll be keeping at the club for sure and trying to get them significant time in the first team. Sanchi may be a little young yet but I like his potential.​
 
August 2020

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Good friendly wins and another Competzione Amichevole win but I'm worried about our keeping. In the AC Milan match we dominated but they still managed to bag 4 goals for the win. Against Padova I played the Sammaranese youngster Ceccoli in goal and he let in 3 goals in the first half, so now I've shipped him out on loan. That match was especially disappointing as we kept 60% possession and tripled their number of shots yet watched the Serie A newcomers score on every ball that went near the goal.

League Table

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Only 2 games in so doesn't mean much but I'm really hoping the Padova match isn't a sign of things to come. We'll be in big trouble if we have too many games like that.

Squad

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Ratings are schewed from the Competzione Amichevole. I played mostly first team players in the first match to get them fit but was able to play mostly Sammarinese players in the final and came away with the win. So far I'm pleased with new signings Cordoba and Ibrahim.

Champions League Groups A-C

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Groups D-F

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Groups G & H

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So we'll be facing off against Man City for the second year in a row and hopefully we can have similar results to last year's Semi Final matches. I do think that it will be between the two of us for 1st, Panathinaikos and Anderlecht are good teams but I don't see them as on the same level as us or Man City.​
 
September 2020

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Started the month well and showed that we're the ones to challenge Man City for the top spot in the CL group. In the Genoa match we had 3 injuries hit us hard so the result was understandable. The Man City match was a result of my overconfidence playing my attacking tactic in hopes of a win despite having a depleted squad.

League Table

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We're having no trouble finding the back of the net but we'll need to shore up the defense if we want to retain the title. Juventus have been struggling under their new old coach Ciro Ferrara as ironically his previous team Palermo is doing rather well under new leadership.

Champions League Group H

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Man City is the team to beat while Panathinaikos rebounded nicely making Anderlecht appear to be the whipping boys of the group. Still early days but as long as we can take care of business at home we should be progressing.

Squad

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Ibrahim has settled in nicely and has outperformed my expectations, Royer and Ogaga have been playing at a high level as well. Cordoba has done well but with the price I paid for him I was expecting him to perform well anyway. Boschetti's average rating is high but he hasn't scored since his hattrick in the first Competzione Amichevole game. Sotomayor has been extremely disappointing and will have to wait until coming back from injury to try and make up for it.​
 
Just read this from the start, great work. Tried to do the San Marino challenge myself but with no luck.
 
October 2020

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A disappointing draw against AC Milan to start the month then a scoring explosion against Anderlecht followed by a thrashing of Juventus and Empoli (they were lucky to score 2). Players were tired in the Udinese match so I used a defensive tactic which was probably a mistake. I really need to stop switching up tactics so much when I probably shouldn't.

League Table

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We really need to stop losing matches against teams we should handle easily. With Juventus doing poorly by their standards I feel that this is the season we could really take control and start to dominate the league. Napoli are a good team but I really don't see them continuing on the way they are now and the others in the top 5 should all start to drop at some point so it seems to me that we are our own worst enemy at this point.

Squad

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Ogaga is immense as usual, even though he's not bagging as many goals from corners his play is what's keeping us from leaking even more goals. It's nice to see Royer scoring as much as he is and also nice to see Sotomayor and Boschetti starting to find their scoring boots. Bad news that Sanchi was capped for Italy at the U19 level so it's looking less likely that he'll be playing for the National team.

World Cup Qualifiers

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Funny that our best game was against top of the group Holland. We'll probably end the campaign without a single point and I'm starting to get worried about the future with the brightest prospects and best players with San Marino eligibility rejecting my call ups.​
 
November 2020

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An excellent undefeated month and this is exactly what we need! The Bologna result is obviously the most impressive and it's the first time this season that we really looked like an elite team. Cordoba has been stellar, netting in all but one game for the month. The Napoli game was still a little disappointing, probably didn't deserve a draw but pleased to come away with one.

League Table

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As I predicted, some of the teams that were at the upper end of the table started to slow down and allowed us to pass them up and close the gap at the top to 3 points with a game in hand over Napoli.

Champions League Group

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With the win over Panathinaikos we made sure we qualified for the knockout stage. I'm going to wait and see how well we do at home against Man City before I get too excited about a possible run this year.

Squad

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Ogaga, Ogaga, Ogaga. I could probably write something about him and copy it and paste for every monthly update. The kid is simply a beast. Cordoba is starting to prove worth the money we spent on him, scored 5 and created 3 in the 6 games for the month. Boschetti has continued to show he has a bright future, only playing in 2 games for the month but scoring 3 goals. Unfortunately, like Sanchi, he's been capped at the U19 level for Italy so I'm not sure how that will pan out as far as his future with the San Marino National Team.

​
 
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