San Marino- Attempting the Impossible

[flez85]

March 2017

View attachment 288904

Cruised to a victory away to Cremonese, then fought for a draw against Fiorentina at home who we still haven't lost to. Atalanta made us look like the relegation candidates everyone, including myself, thought we were going to be this year. We closed out the month at home to Cagliari in a high scoring contest that finished 7-3 in our favor, tying the record for the most goals in a Serie A match ironically set earlier in the year between Torino and Ternana. That game should have finished 6-2 going into injury time but a late goal from each side made it look like an indoor match scoreline.

League Table

View attachment 288905

3 seems to be our magic number, we've sat in 3rd place since before the half way mark without going up or down. It doesn't look likely to hold though, as just one slip up could see us plummet to 7th and out of European football in an instant. With only 8 games remaining we'll have our work cut out to maintain as high of a league position as possible.

Squad

View attachment 288906

Zmajla is the pick of the players this month, mostly because of his 4 goal performance against Cagliari. That showing put him 4th in Serie A goals scored, 4 behind joint leaders Llorente (Juventus) and Gabbiadini (Atalanta). Comi has finally started to live up to my expectations but his overall rating of 6.79 for the season doesn't even put him on the screen. His rating averaged 7.48 for the last 5, but with being 25 already he's a player I might look into selling as I'm not as optimistic about his development as I once was, and neither is Adailton.​

 

[flez85]

April 2017
(Is FM broken?)

View attachment 289072

An exciting month for the neutrals that saw a massive 32 total goals in the span of 5 games has me perplexed. I suppose I should have known we were going to give up more goals with my switch to more attacking formations but this is just insane. The scoring explosion started with an impressive 5-0 win against Bologna, then with Napoli at home we went into half with a 3-1 lead that we let slip. After that we went to Ternana and were up 6-2 at half before another second half meltdown almost let them back into the game. The Palermo game had huge implications as they're directly below us challenging for the final Champions League spot and after that game even passed us up for third but we had a game in hand that we won against Cesena, again scoring all 6 of our goals before the first half whistle. That means we scored 20 goals in 5 games, with 19 of them coming in the first half.

After the Ternana game, this was the news headline:
View attachment 289082
Uh-huh, our "solid" defense only gave up 4 goals!

League Table

View attachment 289084

If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that we'd be challenging for a Champions League spot, I would have told you to take your medication. With only 3 games remaining, there's still a chance that we might not see European football at all, with only 7 points separating us from 7th-9th and a schedule that wouldn't be hard to imagine us not picking any points up from.

Squad

View attachment 289092

With some great performances in April, Lingard catapults himself up to become our highest rated player. Floridia and Zmajla also gave solid accounts for themselves in April, but Zmajla picks up an injury that will leave him out for the rest of the season. On top of that, Livaja is suspended for the next match and Comi is injured, leaving us with some shuffling around to do for the match against Spezia, who is one of the teams that can still mathmatically pass us up.

Remaining Games

View attachment 289093

The Spezia match is the one I was looking at as the most winnable, but with our top 3 attackers out it will be interesting to see if we can come away with anything positive. Chievo has been underachieving this year, but playing them in their stadium in a televised match will be tricky. We close out the season away to Roma and I'm not optimistic about our chances.​

 

[flez85]

May 2017

View attachment 289103

Coda, who's seen very limited time on the pitch this season, once again comes through for the club scoring a late winner in injury time against Spezia. Against Chievo we ran out comfortable winners, with a bravely headed corner from Kotarski and an own goal from them being the only scores in a relatively uneventful match. Then it was away to Roma, who taught our youngsters a lesson in a 1-3 defeat. Why did I play youngsters in that match?

League Table

View attachment 289104

Because we had already sealed up 3rd place and a spot in the Champions League! I've noticed a pattern in my career that goes overachieve first season in a league, then win the championship in the next. I have a feeling that pattern isn't going to repeat, it will probably take a while to build a squad with the quality to dethrone Juventus, who this year clinched their 6th league title in the last 7 years, all of them as run-away champions. At the bottome of the table, neither Cremonese nor Ternana could survive their first year in Serie A and Cagliari gets relegated with them.

Squad

View attachment 289106

I switched to tactics involving wingers this year and it seems to have paid off, our two highest rated players playing in the AMR/AML or MR/ML (I switch it up depending on the match) roles this season. Floridia and Zmajla would be my players of the year, as they've played in more games than Lingard this season and were both mentioned in the European Golden Boy award that eventually went to Zmajla. The majority of the new signings, escpecially the ones I actually bought from other teams, have performed well. Lingard erased any worries I had of him settling in and the same can be said for de Castro. However Bencivenga and Kone haven't made the impact I was looking for and might be leaving if I can find a buyer.​

 

[NathanCarr]

great season mate, champions league never would of thought you'd achieve that well done

 

[Ashleigh1984]

Awesome....... What else is here to say?

 

[flez85]

Thanks for the comments! I definitely wasn't expecting a season like that either, hopefully this is the start of something great for San Marino!

 

[flez85]

Summer 2017

View attachment 289141

Not a lot of movement on the transfer front, some players out that weren't going to touch the first team, Camara being the biggest name on that list. He's done well for the club but was on the decline at 32 and probably wouldn't have even seen the pitch this year. Lots of youngsters going out on loan with Righi, Podeschi, Bacciochi, and Marani being the brightest Sammarinese players at the club. Only one transfer in so far, and that's only somewhat intentional. I was looking to strengthen the squad at midfield and central defense but had a couple of players sign elsewhere and some others that wanted too much money. Wasn't really looking to pick up another striker, but when this guy popped up I couldn't say no at that price tag:

View attachment 289142

At just 19, this kid is immense and I don't even care that he can't jump worth a ****. Go ahead and let your mouth water over that determination. He's already touted as having the ability of a leading Serie A striker and the potential to improve a lot in the future. I've had some pretty good signings in the past but I think I might have outdone myself here.

There's still plenty of time for more business to be done in this window so I'll keep searching for a couple of players to come in.

2016/17 Best Eleven

View attachment 289144

Floridia, Lingard, Martella, and Rispoli all made an immediate impact they're first year in the squad. The most surprising however is Gabriel, who has been consistent, if not great, in his 3 years here. Going into Serie A with a change of tactics that would see less midfielders see the pitch I thought he'd be one to drop off. Instead he became a mainstay there, splitting time with Sturaro who also performed decently.

Overall Best Eleven

View attachment 289148

Only new name to the starting 11 is Liviero. Olivieri somehow manages to make it back in to the first 11 as well despite not being there last year and not being at the club since 2014/15. Gerardi, after sitting out for a year, finally joins C1 side Padova for the 2017/18 upcoming season and for bread crumbs compared to what he was getting paid here. He's making 1/10 of what he was demanding for a contract extension here and yes, I'm still holding a grudge. He holds club records for goals scored, league goals in a season, and goals in a season and is still listed as favored personnel. Hopefully Zmajla, Livaja, Comi, or new blood Sotomayor can knock his name off of any San Marino ties indefinitely, the *******.

Speaking of favored personnel and such:
View attachment 289168
**** right I'm a legend. No idea who that De Biagi guy is, but no doubt I'm better.

Team Depth Chart

View attachment 289170

Not much different than last year, other than Sotomayor coming in and maybe some star ratings being different. As much as it makes a good story having Adailton as my *** man, I do think some of his ratings are out of whack. Maybe he just looks for different attributes than I do, but I think Kirev is a lot better than 2.5*, de Castro is a bit better than Kotarski, Bandini's our best right back and all of our midfielders are underrated with the exception of Gabriel in terms of attributes. Doesn't make much of a difference since I pick the teams anyway, I'd just like our opinions of the players to match up.

Finances

View attachment 289177

With the signing of de Castro putting us back in the red last year, we've finally made it back to positive after just one friendly and some season tickets being sold. I'm hoping there's not a bug here, because I got a message in my inbox a couple of weeks ago stating we were given $17.1M in TV rights for the upcoming season but I've yet to see it in the balance. It might just be that we haven't received it yet, which I'm guessing is the case since the projected balance is over $16M, but if it is a bug and we never see that money it will be difficult to carry on, tbh, because building up the finances in order to improve facilities is integral to any success for this challenge.

​

 

[flez85]

Pre-Season 2017

View attachment 289227

I set up matches against Valencia and LOSC at home to prepare for Champions League and we performed quite well, leaving it late against Valencia then making LOSC look like a joke. The rest of the games were against lesser competition and we did well other than the draw against Pescara. Ironically enough, we'll be playing Valencia in the Best-Placed Playoff to qualify for the Champions League group stage.

More Transfers

View attachment 289228
View attachment 289229View attachment 289230
I figured I wasn't done in the transfer market and still might not be. I realized with Camara gone we had no cover at left back so brought in Brivio on a free. He played for Inter last year, making 22 appearances and accumulating an average rating of 6.99 so he may just be able to push Liviero for a spot in the first team. Murru was targeted after I couldn't get any deals done for my top two targets, but he should still do the trick. He's a natural left back, but being right footed and accomplished at right back I'm hoping he can come into the first team there. He'll have to beat out Bandini and Rispoli, but his attributes do seem better for the position. On the plus side, if for some reason Liviero and Brivio are both unavailable Murru can fill in on the left side.

Bencivenga didn't perform last year so tried to get rid of him but the best I could do was a loan deal to Genoa. They're only paying 10% of his salary, but the loan fee is about 150% of his monthly salary anyway. They also have the option to buy him for $325k, only $25k less than I was asking for, so all in all a decent deal.

Season Goals

As far as the Champions League goes, I'd really like to make it to the group stage and I don't care how ugly it gets against Valencia. They're a good side and the friendly win against them means nothing as we both made the maximum substitutions. After that I'm not looking for a big run in the cup, but I'd like to at least finish third to qualify for the Euro Cup. In the league, our media prediction is 11th and we come in at 40-1 odds for the title, which is actually better than I was expecting. Because of our magnificent performance last season, however, I'll see a finish below 6th as a disappointment.

Due to the transfer, we're back in the red again and still haven't seen that TV money FM told me we received. It does still show up in the projected balance though so I'm still hopeful it will be there at some point. We're still playing in the 5,500 capacity stadium we were at the beginning and with the reputation boost from our high league position plus Champions League football makes me believe that we'll be at capacity for most of our matches. Therefore I'll need to use that money to try and persuade the board to expand our stadium or build a new one. That and I'm always looking to upgrade youth and training facilities.​

 

[samgenoa98]

great achievement with the CL finish. I hope you can get past the group stages this year. Still loving the story.

 

[kandersson]

well done with that CL finish and becoming a Legend for the club so soon!

anything interesting happening with the NT? semi-decent results and/or new prospects? You did mention a rare french/sammarinese regen earlier in the story, would like to see a screen if possible and maybe he will become available for SM at some point (possibly after he turns 22 or 24, depending if he has played for France national youth teams)

 

[Death Ball]

I got a message in my inbox a couple of weeks ago stating we were given $17.1M in TV rights for the upcoming season but I've yet to see it in the balance

It's not a bug, it's what you'll be getting through the season from TV. The news item reads "given" when it should say "will receive during season".

 

[flez85]

It's not a bug, it's what you'll be getting through the season from TV. The news item reads "given" when it should say "will receive during season".

Thanks for that info, it's a huge relief! I'll definitely be needing those funds.

 

[flez85]

well done with that CL finish and becoming a Legend for the club so soon!

anything interesting happening with the NT? semi-decent results and/or new prospects? You did mention a rare french/sammarinese regen earlier in the story, would like to see a screen if possible and maybe he will become available for SM at some point (possibly after he turns 22 or 24, depending if he has played for France national youth teams)

Nothing too interesting with the NT, we've been at least holding the majority of the teams we play to a lower winning margin with the exception of a couple (lost 0-6 to Spain). We're finally scoring a bit and only losing by 1-3 goals against teams that were beating us by 6-7 in the beginning. I need to pay closer attention though, I've had 4 or 5 first teamers retire from soccer because they weren't at a club, I guess I figured some Sammarinese/lower Italy team would snap them up but now I'm going to keep the Sammarinese players at the club even if they have no shot of reaching the club's first team. Still haven't picked up a competitive result, win or draw.

The French fullback has me confused, I must have typed his name wrong into Google when I searched for him before so thought he was a regen (or whatever you call the players that the game creates at the beginning that aren't real but aren't youth). Did some more research, turns out he's a real player but no idea how he picked up Sammarinese nationality.
View attachment 289415

Wikipedia Link

 

[flez85]

Aug 2017 Champions League

View attachment 289416

Started off great against Valencia in Spain. We really should have come away with more, we had 58% poss and 4 ccc's to their 2 but they somehow came out on top. It at least gave me hope for the return leg. That hope soon turned to dread when they scored in the 27th minute and despite letting us have most of the possession again were getting the better chances (4 ccc's to our 1 for the match). At half, I questioned the team's will to win and then went overload with nothing to lose. It worked, with Sotomayor and Livaja both scoring in the second half to put the scores level on aggregate which meant extra time. I kept up the pressure, but the lads were too tired to come away with a winner and even had some scary moments that Valencia should have scored, but Kirev made superhuman saves. It went all the way down to penalties and we managed to prevail 4-2, with Gabriel scoring the winner.

Sandwiched between the ECC legs was the useless competition final for the Competzione Amichevole, which we won comfortably playing a mix of youth and first teamers lacking match fitness.

Champions League Group Draw

View attachment 289418

The group looks tough for us, but looking around at the rest of the draw there's really no group that I would have preferred over any others. Maybe for the sake of aiming for third there were one or two groups that might have had a weaker team, but they were seeded fourth like us so there was no chance of getting the same group. The fact that we were able to overcome Valencia to get here leaves me optimistic of acheiving 3rd, but there's no question we'll have our work cut out for us.​

 

[flez85]

Youth Update

I forgot to reply to this portion of kandersson's comment so figured I'd give a quick update here. Not really anything impressive as yet, but here's the most promising Sammarinese youth currently at the club:

View attachment 289420View attachment 289421View attachment 289422View attachment 289423View attachment 289424View attachment 289425View attachment 289426View attachment 289427

None of them, save possibly Ceccoli, have any real potential of playing for the club but my intent is to keep them here and loan them out year after year to make sure they don't retire like others have. Also, every summer I go through all of the Sammarinese regens from other clubs and so far none of them even touch the potential of my youth squad.

There are a couple of positives going forward however. One being that I read somewhere that increasing Junior Coaching doesn't actually take effect until the year after, so that means there's a possibility of better regens this year. Also, there's a Sammarinese coach that got the job at fellow Serie A side Torino. If I understand the mechanics right, that means there's now a higher chance that Torino will start to have Sammarinese youngsters come through due to a higher knowledge of the country.

View attachment 289433

And right after I post this, this happens:
View attachment 289441
It has begun! Mwuahahahahahahahahahaha! (that's my evil genius laugh)​

 

[Ashleigh1984]

Oooh CL, good good

 

[flez85]

September 2017

View attachment 289516

What a start! The Juventus result was my fault, forgot to rest players after the extra time then penalties match against Valencia so had to play a weaker first team than I would have liked. We bounced back nicely with an impressive performance at home against Cesena, who only managed a late consolation goal. Then came the big time, home match against At. Madrid in the Champions League. The match started out even, with both sides creating chance after chance but being unable to put them away. I was amazed when the score was 0-0 coming up on just 5 minutes left but then Comi scored in the 85th with what I was sure would be the winner. We weren't celebrating for long however as they equalized in the 89th, then I was sure it would be a draw until Floridia popped up in the 3rd minute of injury time to score the winner!

I tweaked my away tactic a bit this year to make it more attacking, and it indeed is that, but it comes with a sacrifice in letting more goals in as well. That's evident in our two away wins against Spezia then Catania which both finished 5-3. The home match against Bologna between those games was probably our most dominating performance yet in Serie A, having 65% possession and limiting them to only 2 shots on target.

League Table

View attachment 289520

We're starting to actually look like one of the better teams in Italy this year, the wins so far were all deserved unlike last year where we got lucky quite a bit. Once again we're sitting third but there's a long way to go and some tough matches to be played. The teams we've played so far, except Juventus, are all probably middle of the pack teams at best.

Champions League Group F

View attachment 289525

After just one game, this is how it stands. We picked up a vital 3 points but have an extremely difficult match next against OL away. The way I see it unfolding, Twente are probably the team I'll be battling for third with, but if we can get a result when we play At. Madrid at they're stadium, as well as against Twente, then we might just be able to challenge for a knockout round spot.

Squad

View attachment 289526

I thought after bringing Sotomayor in that I would be trying to sell Comi on, but seems that he realized his opportunity is vanishing and has been playing a pivotal role coming off the bench in games. Speaking of Sotomayor, despite getting the month off to a slow start, he's my pick for player of the month having amassed 4 goals and 3 assists in the last three matches. I've got a lot of options for rotating the front 4 and they've all been proving they deserve to be on the pitch.​

 

[flez85]

Nothing too interesting with the NT, we've been at least holding the majority of the teams we play to a lower winning margin with the exception of a couple (lost 0-6 to Spain). We're finally scoring a bit and only losing by 1-3 goals against teams that were beating us by 6-7 in the beginning. I need to pay closer attention though, I've had 4 or 5 first teamers retire from soccer because they weren't at a club, I guess I figured some Sammarinese/lower Italy team would snap them up but now I'm going to keep the Sammarinese players at the club even if they have no shot of reaching the club's first team. Still haven't picked up a competitive result, win or draw.

The French fullback has me confused, I must have typed his name wrong into Google when I searched for him before so thought he was a regen (or whatever you call the players that the game creates at the beginning that aren't real but aren't youth). Did some more research, turns out he's a real player but no idea how he picked up Sammarinese nationality.
View attachment 289415

Wikipedia Link

Oops, need to correct something here. How could I forget about the ECQ 0-0 draw against England back in 2013? I guess it's been so long since I've had a result like that that I completely forgot about it.

 

[flez85]

October 2017

View attachment 289559

Started off the month great against OL in the Champions League, controlling the game in a 2-1 win. Then came 2 draws in a row, at home against Palermo that we really should have one but were unlucky, then away in an even match against Roma. We then maintained our surprisingly perfect record in the CL with a dominating 3-0 win away to Twente. We closed out the month on a poor note however, with a disappointing 0-2 home loss against Sampdoria. Our league form has been slipping lately, and I think that it's because we lack the depth of the top teams. We're a very good full strength squad, but when there's injuries and suspensions and little time between matches our lack of quality in backups really shows through.

League Table

View attachment 289560

Our recent poor league form has seen us slip to 7th in the table, but with our game in hand we can make up ground quickly, though it's a tough match away against AC Milan who has been disappointing so far but will always have the quality to turn it around.

Champions League Group F

View attachment 289561

Astonishing CL campaign so far! I really thought we'd struggle just for third but so far we're cruising! Halfway through the stage you have to like our chances with 2 of our 3 remaining games being played at home where our massive stadium of some 5,000 fans can make some noise. I've been able to play our strongest side for the most part and it's had a bit of a negative impact on our league campaign, but hopefully we can secure a spot in the knockout round then make up some ground in the league later on.

Squad

View attachment 289568

With the recent impact Comi has made off the bench I decided to start him in 3 games this month and he really only performed well in one, picking up 2 assists against Twente. Kotarski on the other hand has been performing consistently well and would have to be favorite for player of the month, playing in all 5 games and passing the ball well as well as winning numerous key tackles and headers. On the flipside, wingers Floridia and Lingard have been disappointing in October so I might be playing Zmajla in place of Lingard. Kirev has been decent, but not as good as in the past and his attributes have been on the decline the last couple of months despite my chats with him threatening his place at the club. It may finally be time to bring in a replacement.

Champions League All Group Standings

View attachment 289572View attachment 289573View attachment 289575

Mostly the usual suspects in good position right now, with the biggest surprise being Barcelona not making the cut as it stands. It's worth mentioning that the final the last three years have seen Man Utd win against Barcelona, last year's final even taking place at Camp Nou. 2014 saw Man City beat Arsenal in the final, 2013 was Man Utd over Real Madrid at Wembley, meaning the last 6 Champions Leagues were won by an English club.​

 

[flez85]

November 2017

View attachment 289781

Our league form recovers a bit with 3 games unbeaten, however those results are pretty much what was expected. In the Champions League all we needed was either a win against Twente at home, or a draw away to At. Madrid to qualify for the next round, but we drew Twente and lost to At. Madrid. I shouldn't be too disappointed because those are results I was expecting before the group stage started, but with our great start I was hoping for more.

League Table

View attachment 289782

With up to two games in hand on everyone else, we're sitting pretty good in 4th. The Italian FA met this month to discuss the terms of re-naming Serie A to "The Juventus Show" however couldn't come to an agreement.

Champions League Group F

View attachment 289783

We're still top of the table so we can be happy about that. We'll need to win or tie OL at home, or hope for a Twente win or tie at home against At. Madrid, to advance to the next stage. I know I said before that I was aiming for third and a Euro Cup appearance but at this point I'd like to get to the next stage of the CL.

Squad

View attachment 289784

Zmajla and Kotarski have both had good months and continue to improve, they both earned their first Croatia caps since moving here and have played in some competitive matches at that level. The other Croatian, Livaja, however hasn't been playing up to par. Hopefully he's just in a funk and will come back with a break through performance soon. And of course, after talking about replacing him, who's my player of the month? Kirev. Without him playing to the absolute best of his abilities in November, the results could have been a lot different. That, and he finally picked it up in training for the month as well.


*Man City, Galatasaray, R. Madrid, Celtic, Chelsea, Juve, PSG, Liverpool, and Man U have all qualified for the next round of the Champions League with one game remaining. Barcelona made it back to the top of their group but have a tricky away match against Liverpool (who qualifyed from results between teams rule) that they'll most likely need a result from to advance. The other Italian team, Napoli, are in a situation almost identical to ours where they can advance with a result in their game against Bayern or a loss and a Sturm Graz result against Shakhtar.​