The Art of Football - Made in Florence

[kevj1977]

This is an excellent story that I will be following.
I am also managing Fiorentina as I thought it would be a good challenge.
So far:
2009/2010 - 1st in Serie A and UEFA Europa League Winners
2010/2011 - 2nd in Serie A, TIM Cup Winners and Champions League Semi-Finalist

 

[shootie]

Thanks guys and kevj well done on your sucess, winning the league is my top priority goal at the moment. Major updating now. My internet was down yesterday -_- ****** Irish weather. Bought a few players which you will see in the OP. Not entirely happy with the season so far, too dependant on corners to score goals. Just look at the scorers of my goals, any goals that were scored by "Dario Dainelli" have been corners.

Pre-Season

Fiorentina 1-0 Braga
Alberto Gilardino

Fiorentina 1-1 Olympique Lyonnais
Alberto Gilardino
Lisandro Lopez

Fiorentina 3-0 Ascoli
Juan Manuel Vargas x2
Oscar Cardozo

Fiorentina 0-0 Napoli

August/September

Italian Super Cup


Inter Milan 3-1 Fiorentina
Samuel Eto
Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli O.G
Thiago Motta

Serie A

Parma 0-2 Fiorentina
Dario Dainelli
Oscar Cardozo


Fiorentina 2-2 Udinese
Antonio Floro Flores x2
Dario Dainelli
Oscar Cardozo


Chievo 1-2 Fiorentina
Oscar Cardozo (Majestc free kick *bow*)
Ricardo Montolivo
Sergio Pellisier

Fiorentina 1-0 Lazio
Oscar Cardozo

Genoa 1-2 Fiorentina
Dario Dainelli
Oscar Cardozo
Rodrigo Palacio

Fiorentina 2-1 AC Milan
Oscar Cardozo
Mathieu Flamini
Dario Dainelli

Champions League

Group F

Dinamo Keiv 1-1 Fiorentina

Oleg Gusev
Dario Dainelli


Fiorentina 0-1 FC Bayern Munich
Mario Gomez


Will post a league table once I have done October, which is very soon indeed. Im currently join-top with the usual suspects...Juve and Inter.


My Player of this pireod

Dario Dainelli

Highly suprising 2nd top scorer, and defending to his usual great standard aswell.​

---------- Post added at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:35 PM ----------

Algerian Update

What really amused me was pne of my world cup heros Anthar Yahia, commited the ultimate sin to me...joining Inter -_-. Another notable tranfer was Yebda went from Portsmouth to Benfica lol.

African Cup of Nations Qualifiers

Ethiopia 0-3 Algeria
Anthar Yahia
Karim Ziani x2

Chad 0-4 Algeria
Hassan Yebda
Karim Ziani x2
Abdelkader Ghezzal

Going well so far . Karim Ziani and Meghini are gods lol. Yebda is playing really well and a young French-turned Algerian Ryad Boudebouz is playing really well, one to look out for the future. Would be a fantastic signing for a Championship club IMHO. Check him out if your playing Championship level.

 

[CorvetteC3]

Keep up the good job. Love the targets you have set yourself.

 

[samillyroy]

unlucky about algeria.
i guided cameroon through the world cup with spain and czech republic in my group, and despite outplayin spain we lost 1-0 we came third in our group in the end, which was aite I guess.
azpilicueta is a quality signing, and so is cardozo, he will get the goals. interesting to see how he gets on with gilardino as well.
also yeah, it was gutting about the inter result
we played so well, but luck just wasnt with us, and ivanovic's goal was so unlucky.
we weren't scoring and so we really struggled.
really annoyed about next season though. you got 61m, I got 6m! 6m! And I need a formation now which supports wingers really because I bought sanchez in the january transfer window so it'll be interestin next season if you follow. shud be in a couple of weeks I'll be startin so keep an eye out, but i'll still be watchin urs.

 

[shootie]

Keep up the good job. Love the targets you have set yourself.

Yeah I always challenge myself, as I lose motivation playing a care-free game after a few seasons

unlucky about algeria.
i guided cameroon through the world cup with spain and czech republic in my group, and despite outplayin spain we lost 1-0 we came third in our group in the end, which was aite I guess.
azpilicueta is a quality signing, and so is cardozo, he will get the goals. interesting to see how he gets on with gilardino as well.
also yeah, it was gutting about the inter result
we played so well, but luck just wasnt with us, and ivanovic's goal was so unlucky.
we weren't scoring and so we really struggled.
really annoyed about next season though. you got 61m, I got 6m! 6m! And I need a formation now which supports wingers really because I bought sanchez in the january transfer window so it'll be interestin next season if you follow. shud be in a couple of weeks I'll be startin so keep an eye out, but i'll still be watchin urs.

In fact I sold Gilardino, mainly because I would perfer Ibisevic as a impact sub more than him. The main reason I sold him was because he kept getting unsettled and it was making him perform really poorly. It happened last season aswell for like 3 months and I couldnt afford that really. So I sold him to Tottenham, and Cardozo is banging them in. And Azpilicueata had disapointed me so far, he gets booked ALOT and I mean alot. Hes competitive debut vs Inter he got himself sent off, and since then he picked up nearly a yellow-a-game. But still, anything would of been better than Comotto my right back last season, who made so many mistakes it would make Titus Bramble's time at Newcastle look good.

I dont know quite how I got £61M, as in total the club have only £50M or so in the bank. We recieved alot from Champions league and Serie A TV rights and prize money. I didnt go all out on a big money signing as most people would do, mainly because I would rather three £12M players than a £36M player. Its just the type of manager I am.

As for your winger problem, I could try help you out, my 4-2-3-1 would work way better with wingers that could actually finish. Di Maria, Turan and Vargas couldnt finish to save their lives. Will look out for it and thanks for following my story

9-Man Fiorentina Hold On

Fiorentina 2-2 Juventus

A warm Autumns evening proved to be a hot and fiesty affair on the pitch. With both teams locked with Inter on top of the table both knew that anything but a win would put them off the pace. Juventus took the lead with a fantastic 30-yard striker from Brazillian and Serie A player of the year Diego.

The lead was short-lived however as Turkish international Arda Turan, who had been causing Juventus problems all game was taken down by a late challenge from Fabio Grosso. Referee Marco Guida pointed straight to the spot. Oscar Cardozo smashed it into the top corner to equalise for La Viola.

Fiorentina took the lead in the 2nd half when, as usual it seems lately Dario Dainelli scored from a corner whipped in by Carlos Eduardo. Hero turned Villan in the 81st minute when Dainelli took down Iaquinta as the last man. He was sent off immediatley by Guida. To make matters worse Claudio Marschio took the free kick quickly and found Giorgio Chieillini who smashed it by Frey to equalise for the Biocceneri. Things went from bad to worse for La Viola when Angelo Palombo was sent off for a 2nd bookable offence of Felipe Melo. However they held on for a draw.

Man of the Match: Giorgio Cheillini (Juventus)

 

[samillyroy]

shiittt, now that's good goin mate.
well played by your team and yeah 4-2-3-1 may work. Considering my wingers are Kalou, Anelka, Sanchez and Zhirkov who are all good fniishers, it may well just work. Think I'm bringing in Defour too, what do you think? deco's goin.

 

[shootie]

shiittt, now that's good goin mate.
well played by your team and yeah 4-2-3-1 may work. Considering my wingers are Kalou, Anelka, Sanchez and Zhirkov who are all good fniishers, it may well just work. Think I'm bringing in Defour too, what do you think? deco's goin.

Defour is very good attacking wise but his defensive stats are very poor, so wherever your going to play him, make sure its a area you can afford to be exploited in. If anything he is a player you could stick on the front of your narrow diamond or in a attacking central midfield role in your 4-3-3. If I was to play him in my tactics it would be in the "Montolivo Role" in the 4-2-3-1 behind the front man and playing killer through balls to the front man and the wingers while dragging out and beating on-rushing defenders and holding midfielders.

And yes I do think it would work, however i have never been a big fan of Sanchez. I feel hes one of those players that can only beat players and run by them but the killer ball is extremley poor, which is just as fustrating than not finishing. The 10.2 patch is a bad one for finishing all-round, and you gotta make sure your players are up for the job. Its why I sold Gilardino instead of Ibisevic, Ibisevic has a composure of 18 while Gilardino has 14. If I am in a big game and I need a late goal, I would much rather have Ibisevic one on one with a keeper than Gilardino.

 

[DRPEPPER]

i love this story, keep it going mate

 

[shootie]

October

Also found that by mistake I did two Serie A matches above that were actually in October, the Napoli and Palermo one.

Comments: All in all, I am not happy at all with my defence. Gamberini has the feared "Unsettled" curse and its showing. He is vital as he is the covering man in my "Nike" Defence. Im going to sell him and buy Otamendi off Udinese, whos a similar quick defender. And Montolivo is finally back from injury the beast! In his first game back vs Ascoli he showed what I was missing totally running the game. Love him to bits lol.

Seire A

Fiorentina 4-3 Napoli
Oscar Cardozo x3 (Penalty x2)
Fabio Quagliarella x3 (Unplayable *bow*)
Arda Turan


Palermo 1-2 Fiorentina
Dario Dainelli x2

Fiorentina 2-2 Juventus
Diego
Oscar Cardozo
Dario Dainelli
Giorgio Chiellini

Bari 4-4 Fiorentina
Riccardo Meggiorini
Andrea Masiello O.G
Per Kroldrup
Barreto x2
Joseba Llorente
Oscar Cardozo
Francesco Caputo

Fiorentina 4-0 Ascoli
Oscar Cardozo x2
Dario Dainelli
Angel Di Maria

Champions League

Fiorentina 6-1 Spartak Moscow
Vedad Ibisevic x3
Angel Di Maria
Dario Dainelli


League Table:

And thanks DrPepper, will do untill them goals are complete. Its a way of keeping myself motivated to continue.

 

[samillyroy]

Hmm, its true. Sanchez may not have been the best signing. Scored on his debut and scored the goal that knocked liverpool out the fa cup, but apart from that, been a bit dissapointing. Who would u say i shud get for that winger position then? Love kalou and anelka, both gotta stay. And zhirkovs a brilliant crosser, but may want one more.

 

[KingEric]

Doing well mate, conceding some goals though

 

[shootie]

Roma Humbled by Magnificent Fiorentina

Fiorentina 3-0 Roma

Fiorentina blew Roma away in this 3rd vs 4th clash at the Artemio Franchi. Serie A clear top scorer Oscar Cardozo gave Fiorentina the lead as he exploited Roma's high defensive line and rocketed his shot into the top corner past Doni. Mirko Vucinic nearly equalised for Roma soon after but saw his effort wonderfully saved by Sebastien Frey. Carlos Eduardo extended La Viola's lead when a ball whipped in by Arda Turan found Cardozo at the edge of the box. He flicked it onto Eduardo who's chance was harder to miss.Cardozo finished Roma off after a sublime through ball from Ricardo Montolivo and smashed it again into the bottom corner.

Man of The Match: Oscar Cardozo (Fiorentina)

---------- Post added at 09:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:56 PM ----------

By the way guys, would you perfer if I did my updates game-by-game reports or Monthly updates and big game Match reports?

---------- Post added at 09:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 PM ----------

Doing well mate, conceding some goals though

Yeah this is annoying me. Ive conceded already more than half of what I conceded in the whole of last season. Otamendi is coming in January though so all hope is not lost

 

[KingEric]

By the way guys, would you perfer if I did my updates game-by-game reports or Monthly updates and big game Match reports?

I'd say do updates every 1 or 2 months. That's the way I do it on my Fergie story. That way I find you can balance the time to play the game and to post updates

 

[shootie]

I'd say do updates every 1 or 2 months. That's the way I do it on my Fergie story. That way I find you can balance the time to play the game and to post updates

Yeah good idea, its only just looking around at the more popular stories in the forum they seem to be match-by-match reports. I think ill stick to my old style of monthly updates and big game reports.

Just a little thing that has given me satisfaction

---------- Post added at 04:52 PM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 10:35 PM ----------

Bayern win but La Viola still progress

Bayern Munich 1-0 Fiorentina

One of only two groups that the two qualifiers had yet to be decided. If Fiorentina avoided defeat they would of virtually progressed, as Spartak Moscow would of have to demolish Dynamo Keiv. However a La Viola defeat and a Spartak Moscow win in Keiv would see them through. Bayern completed a double over Fiorentina in the group with this 1-0 win. Fiorentina were dire in front of goal, Arda Truan and Ricardo Montolivo the main culprits. Both having failed to test **** with easy opportunities.

The 2nd half both teams worked extremley hard to find a breakthrough, Ajern Robben bringing a fantastic save from Sebastien Frey. However Frey turned Villian when he came out to deal with a poor direct pass from Van Bommel, having mis-judged the flight of the ball it bounced over him and Thomas Muller managed to tap it in.

At the final whistle, whilst travelling La Viola waited in the stands untill the Bayern supporters had cleared from around the ground. They heard the result in Keiv and went wild, a Hattrick from Artem Milevskyi had given Keiv a 3-1 victory and Europa League football at the expense of Spartak, who would of been dissapointed to have nothing after coming into the night with such high hopes.

Man of the match: Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

Attendance: 55902

---------- Post added at 07:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:00 PM ----------

November/December

Keeping in touch at the top, which is good. Will hopefully have the defence sorted out in January *prays*. Also got Man U in the last 16 of champions league.

Serie A

Seina 2-3 Fiorentina
Michele Paolucci
Angelo Palombo
Carlos Eduardo
Oscar Cardozo

Fiorentina 3-0 Roma
Oscar Cardozo x2
Carlos Eduardo

Sampdoria 0-1 Fiorentina
Oscar Cardozo

Fiorentina 1-1 Inter
Joseba Llorente
Maicon

Cagliari 2-2 Fiorentina
Ricardo Montolivo x2

Fiorentina 3-0 Reggina
Carlos Eduardo
Oscar Cardozo
Per Koldrup

Champions League

Spartak Moscow 3-1 Fiorentina
Welliton x3
Joseba Llorente

Fiorentina 3-2 Dinamo Kiev
Ricardo Montolivo
Oscar Cardozo
Artem Milevskyi
Jonathan Santana
Dario Dainelli

FC Bayern Munich 1-0 Fiorentina
Thomas Muller

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXsmGSnq3lE"]Half-Way Stats[/ame]

Top Scorer:

Oscar Cardozo (Gilardi-who?) 19 Goals in all competitions

Most Assists:

Carlos Eduardo, 10 assists

Player of this Pireod:

Dario Dainelli, Average rating 7.62. 12 goals 3 assists

 

[KingEric]

Unbeaten so far! Well done

 

[shootie]

Unbeaten so far! Well done

Thanks!

Whats even better is that since that league table was posted, Juventus lost their game in hand to Roma just before Christmas 3-0. Happy days! Only a point behind now, hopefully no more stupid slip-ups like the end of last season.

 

[samillyroy]

haa you're going well mate.
can't believe dario, he's been amazing?
um, so yeah I think I prefer doing match by match reports, because it gets you more involved with the season, and makes the reader more connected with the story, but there's nothing wrong with the way you're doin it, and also it means you can get your season done quicker.

 

[shootie]

haa you're going well mate.
can't believe dario, he's been amazing?
um, so yeah I think I prefer doing match by match reports, because it gets you more involved with the season, and makes the reader more connected with the story, but there's nothing wrong with the way you're doin it, and also it means you can get your season done quicker.

Mainly I believe to my corner tactic, im beggining to think its a cheat, I hope not its amazing. Dario has been great in defence, getting Gamberini out of holes alot.

I think ill stick to my current way, its just while reading your story and DMF's they are both match-by-match and they have loads of followers. Whereas I only have a few followers (which I thank for following). Ah well its the funnest game ive played since FM08, so im continuing this for a long time .

---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 AM ----------

Bad news people, my laptop is ******** up. Keeps freezing on start-up. So untill I have fixed this there will be no more updates. But keep a eye out if I get it fixed. Anyone know how to find a FM save file? Would help

---------- Post added at 06:58 PM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 10:18 PM ----------

Well the good news is that im currentley writing this message on my "broke" laptop. Although its in safe mode which I dont think FM can run in. I think ive fixed this thing, the Fan got dusted up really bad and was overheating after like 2 min of turning on. Just cleaned it with compressed air 8D. So updates might be soon returning.

 

[shootie]

Ha bet you all thought I was a goner, was going to abandon my story and this fall into the abyss of the forums....Well guess what? I kicked the SOB of a virus out of ma laptop and hes history. So say hello and introduce yourself again as a follower to the Art of Football

January​

Serie A

League Table as of January 31st 2011

Brescia 2-4 Fiorentina
Oscar Cardozo x3
Carlos Eduardo
Jonas Kamper

Fiorentina 2-0 Atlanta
Juan Manuel Vargas
Dario Dainelli

Fiorentina 1-0 Parma
Joseba Llorente

Udinese 1-1 Fiorentina
Antonio Floro Flores
Oscar Cardozo

Fiorentina 3-1 Chievo
Ricardo Montolivo
Juan Manuel Vargas
Sergio Pellissier
Oscar Cardozo (F.K 35 yards what a beast!)

Fiorentina 1-1 Genoa
Ricardo Montolivo
Sergio Floccari

Italian Cup

1st Round: Fiorentina 1-0 Udinese (After Extra Time)
Ricardo Montolivo

1/4 Final: Genoa 2-2 Fiorentina (After Extra Time, Fiorentina win 5-4 on Penalties)
Dario Dainelli
Robert Acquafresca x2
Vedad Ibisevic

1/2 Final 1st Leg: Fiorentina 2-1 Lazio
Mauro Zarate
Arda Turan

Player of the month

Arda Turan

He is finally living up to his £15M fee this time last season. Playing fantastic!

Also Sold Gamberini to Man City for £12M and Pasqual to Real Madrid for £10M. I bought Otamendi from Udinese for £11M and I bought Bocchetti from Genoa for £15M.

 

[Alex]

Good man, hopefully you'll be able to win the league this time! One question for you - You seen any good Russians on there?