The Little Swallows Flying High - A Brescia Story

[Klippybo]

WELCOME TO BRESCIA

Right, having had a couple of failed saves and a dabble in CM96/97 which proved to be too easy. I have decided upon Brescia to be my final FM19 save. I holidayed a couple of seasons after checking my database and everything seems fine so I am good to go. It was written in the stars as for me to go to Brescia as I had watched the documentary on Leeds United and then later that day Mario Balotelli signed for Brescia and then I noticed that former Leeds owner Massimo Cellino owns Brescia!

Brescia have never won a major trophy and their greatest moment was winning the 1994 Anglo-Italian Cup. They have the record for both the most seasons in Serie B and the most consecutive seasons in Serie B so it goes to show their level.

However...…..

They won Serie B last season so I am taking over a Serie A side that is newly promoted. They have a top class player in Mario Balotelli and also the wonderkid that is Sandro Tonali still at the club so there is something to work with but...…….

...…….. the rest of the squad is absolute horseshit!!!!!!

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So here I go. Predicted to finish 19th I will have a battle on my hands to keep them up. Hopefully the club will grow and we can do some damage both in Italy and abroad.

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(Look - they have a stand in front of a stand lol)

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INFO

Founded - 1911
Nicknames - Le Rondinelle (The Little Swallows), I Biancazzurri (The White and Blues), La Leonessa (The Lioness)
Stadium - Stadio Mario Rigamonti
Capacity - 16,743

Former Players - Andrea Pirlo, Roberto Baggio, Pep Guardiola, Gheorge Hagi, Dario Hubner, Luigi Di Biagio and Luca Toni


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[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

There was a major overhaul over the summer. Maybe major doesn't do it justice. I sacked every member of staff bar maybe 2 and although so far I have signed 6 players and let 10 go I am still woefully short.

Regarding the staff I appointed names such as Gianluca Nani as a director of football (who was already a club favourite after a previous scouting role), Ivan Cordoba and Carlos Valderrama. I would like to have far more coaches etc but there is no money to spend and I will have to make ends meet for now.

As for the squad I had no centre backs anywhere near the required level (and only 3 in total - one of which was 35y/o) apart from on loan Sassuolo defender Giangiacomo Magnani. It shows how poor my squad is when a player on loan from Sassuolo is one of my key players!

I have far too much CMs and not enough wingers but everywhere else is ok - not good but ok lol. Anywho I wont delve into players out as they are minor players who left for a whopping total of £350,000!!! With an initial budget of £3.5m it didn't help much.

So here are my signings so far...…….

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PLAYERS IN

Going by my previous comments you will not be surprised that most of my signings were CBs. My most expensive signing of the summer was Mauricio Lemos from Las Palmas for £1.8m. At 22y/o Lemos has room to improve and is technically good for a CB and hopefully he will grow. I was desperate to get Timothee Kolodzieczak on a free transfer but he joined FC Porto.

Xadas joined from Braga for £725,000. He will be my AMC and will have a lot on his shoulders for his debut season but I have faith in the 20y/o Portuguese player and he will be my first choice.

I brought in Afriyie Acquah from Torino on a free transfer. He is a box to bow or a ball winning CM and will partner Sandro Tonali in midfield. I had plenty of CMs but his quality was superior to all my others so it was a no brainer to bring him in.

Dutchman but Brazilian born CB Douglas came in on a free also to strengthen the CB position. He is decent enough but such is the strength of my squad he is an important player.

Finally I brought in 2 youngsters from Germany - both on loan. Lukas Mai (another CB) joined from Bayern Munich while Jacob Bruun Larsen came in from Borussia Dortmund.

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SQUAD

I have a squad!!!!

That's about it lol.

It aint that bad I suppose but survivial is the key. When a player who was rejected by Brighton reserves is your first choice RB it shows how good you are but here is my starting XI.

GK - Jesse Joronen
DR - Ales Mateju
DC - Giangiacomo Magnani
DC - Douglas
DL - Felipe Curcio
MC - Afriyie Acquah
MC - Sandro Tonali
AMR - Jacob Bruun Larsen
AMC - Xadas
AML - Jaromir Zmrhal
ST - Mario Balotelli
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[Travis Comery]

Really looking forward to this!!

 

[ElevenCargo7212]

Can't wait for this, I have loved all your long-term series. Hopefully you can keep this going until fm20.

 

[Klippybo]

AUGUST

Coppa Italia 3rd Qualifying Round
v
​​Brescia 3 (Balotelli 4, 55, 64pen)
Catania 0

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju, Douglas, Magnani, Curcio, Acquah (Viviani), Tonali, Spalek, Xadas (Morosini), Zmrhal (Tremolada), Balotelli*

Any hopes of my managerial debut being the main thing were put aside here as Mario Balotelli's homecoming was the main feature and he responded with a fine hat-trick. His first goal was a stunning free-kick.

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v
Lecce 1 (Lapadula 85)
Brescia 2 (Tonali 43, 55)

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju, Douglas, Magnani, Curcio, Acquah, Tonali*, Spalek (Guilherme), Xadas (Morosini), Zmrhal, Balotelli (Donnarumma)

A win and a win against a side who I imagine will be down in the depths of the division by the end of the season. Sandro Tonali - my true franchise player - scored twice with his 2nd goal being a screamer from distance.

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v
​​Brescia 3 (Balotelli 44, 47pen, 81)
Genoa 2 (Sanabria 31, Saponara 67)

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju, Douglas, Magnani, Curcio, Acquah (Viviani), Tonali, Spalek (Guilherme), Xadas (Morosini), Zmrhal, Balotelli*

Super Mario is at it again!!! He notched up his 2nd hat-trick in just his 3rd game as we overcome a decent Genoa side. Eugene Khacheridi gave away the penalty from which we scored - my director of football agreed to sign him but I cancelled it due to him not being an EU citizen (I think lol). On such small decisions big moments are made.

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SUMMARY

The first month is done and we have done brilliantly as we have won all 3 games to see us start the season on fire. Yes the fixture list was kind but you can only beat what is put in front of you.

Amazingly despite having won both of our league games we are only 7th in the table as so far there has only been 1 draw in the league. I am not complaining though.

Regarding the transfer market I sold another **** player for £275,000 and that allowed me to bring in Guilherme in on a free from Alvarenga. He will challenge Xadas for the AMC slot and can also do a good job on the RW.

I had agreed to sign Giuseppe Rossi on a free but I couldn't afford a £6,000 a week deal such is the state of my finances. That being said I told the board I just wanted to survive this season so if we are doing well by January they might be willing to loosen the purse strings.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MARIO BALOTELLI

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SERIE A

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[001PDG]

Balotelli's on fire!

Those six points on Verona and Lecce can already make a huge difference

 

[Klippybo]

SEPTEMBER

​​v
Udinese 1 (Lasagna 34)
Brescia 3 (Acquah 1, Balotelli 29pen, 47)

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju, Douglas, Magnani (Lemos), Curcio, Acquah, Tonali, Spalek, Xadas (Tremolada), Zmrhal, Balotelli*

He is at it again!!!! Except this time he didnt get a hat-trick but this is a great win away from home.

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v
​​Sampdoria 3 (Barreto 44, Acquah og59, Jankto 77)
Brescia 3 (Spalek 26, 30, Balotelli 45)

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju, Lemos (Mai), Magnani, Curcio, Acquah, Viviani, Spalek*, Xadas (Guilherme), Zmrhal, Balotelli

I have mixed emotions about this match. On one hand I am very annoyed that we threw away a 3-1 lead but on the other hand they had a goal disallowed early on and deserved a point. They had a man sent-off in the 94th minute but obviously we didnt get a chance to take advantage of that.

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v
​​Brescia 1 (Balotelli 21pen)
Atalanta 1 (Gomez 38)

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju (Sabelli), Lemos, Magnani, Curcio, Acquah, Tonali, Spalek, Xadas (Guilherme), Zmrhal (Bruun Larsen), Balotelli

Atalanta are one of two of our fiercest rivals so it was nice to keep our unbeaten run going and claim a point. Balotelli now has 10 for the season (7 in 5 league games) and he has had 4 penalties converted which helps.

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v
​​Brescia 1 (Zmrhal 33)
Verona 0

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju, Lemos, Magnani, Curcio, Viviani (Bisoli), Tonali, Spalek (Aye), Xadas, Zmrhal*, Balotelli (Donnarumma)

Verona went into this match bottom of the table and without a point and they remain there after the game also.


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SUMMARY

Our strong start to the season continued here as we remain unbeaten although admittedly the fixture list has been extremely kind. This month we played Udinese and Verona who have yet to pick up a point so that helped.

Next months fixtures are also not too bad but December looks like a horror month!

Despite the good results, individually some players need to buck up their ideas. Xadas has been hopeless while my wingers are consistently incosistant.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MARIO BALOTELLI

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SERIE A

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[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

​​v
​​Parma 0
Brescia 1 (Spalek 63)

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju, Lemos (Douglas), Magnani, Curcio (Martella), Viviani, Tonali, Spalek*, Guilherme, Zmrhal (Bruun Larsen), Balotelli

The run continues!!! Despite being 7 games unbeaten in the league however we are still only lying 5th in the table. We were pretty poor here but we got the goal when somehow Parma left Spalek all alone in the area to finish.

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v
​​Brescia 0
Fiorentina 1 (Simeone 28)

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju, Lemos, Magnani, Curcio, Acquah (Viviani), Tonali, Spalek, Xadas (Morosini), Zmrhal, Balotelli (Donnarumma)

The run had to end sometime - I am just ****** off it ended in a home game and with such a terrible performance. We didnt offer a threat going forward and were lucky to lose by just one goal.

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v
SPAL 0
Brescia 4 (Spalek 25, 29, 58, Aye 80)

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju, Lemos, Magnani, Curcio, Acquah, Tonali, Spalek*, Morosini, Zmrhal (Bruun Larsen), Donnarumma (Aye)

A fantastic win - especially since we are without Balotelli due to injury for a month. Nikolas Spalek banged in a hat-trick while I dropped Xadas to give Morosini a chance.

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v
​​Brescia 3 (Donnarumma 24, 37, Xadas 90)
Torino 0

Lineup - Joronen, Mateju, Lemos, Magnani, Curcio, Acquah, Tonali, Spacek, Morosini (Xadas), Zmrhal, Donnarumma*

Who needs Balotelli? We get a superb win here and while it seems we are keeping clean sheets we are also scoring quite a few goals with 7 coming in our last 2 games.

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SUMMARY

It keeps getting better and better as we have another excellent month. Sure we lost at home to Fiorentina but our other results were excellent especially at the end of the month when we thumped SPAL and Torino with an aggregate score of 7-0 and that is without our star man Mario Balotelli.

Credit to my right winger Nikolas Spalek who scored 4 goals during the month as he really impressed.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
NIKOLAS SPALEK

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SERIE A

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