SaachiBall
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- Jun 21, 2020
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Project Context:
The Saachi AC Milan team of the mid 80s to early 90s is seen as one of the best clubs sides in European history. They saw success in both Italy and across the continent as they changed the way Italian football was seen. At the heart of this success was Tre Tulipani. Tre Tulipani (The Tulips) was the nickname given the 3 Dutchmen who played for the AC Milan during this era. In a time when Italian clubs could only have 3 non-Italians the Rossoneri brought in Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco Van Basten who helped fire the club to success. Football has changed drastically since then and with it the success of AC Milan has dipped greatly in recent years. As such I will be looking to recreate this period of success by bring in my very own tulips.
As such this story will be slightly different in that it will also closely follow the players rather than more precise details of the actions I've taken as AC manager. I'll probably do 2 or 3 posts a season and just give results rather than screenshots of individuals games.
To create this scenario I've made an edited version of the current release. I created future transfers coming on for the players and put in pre-agreed transfers out of some of AC Milans players. AC aren't in a great position financially so I needed to make sure there wouldn't be more FFP consequences.
Tre Tulipani 2.0
I'll be doing this save game slightly differently with the players being much younger than when the original trio joined AC Milan, trying to base each of the new players in a mould of the originals. Rather than instantly having some of the top players in the world I want to build the players careers and see them develop as I only hope that will give the save game some more longevity.
1 - Teun Koopmeiners
Brought in for £15 million from AZ Alkmaar Koopmeiners can play either as a CB, CDM or CM, just like Rijkaard could. Initially I'll probably play him in defense but that's due to the depth of quality AC Milan currently have in the middle of the park. Koopmeiners is already good enough already for the league but isn't the top quality to compete at the top of Europe. However I'm hoping after a few seasons his stats can increase a bit and he will end up be a top Deep Lying Playmaker.
2 - Ryan Gravenberch
Joining from Ajax for £12 million Gravenberch is well known to all FM players. He will play as my number 10 and hopefully kick on to become on the best in Europe, just as Gullit was. He may initially see more action against the weaker sides in the league but he should be able to kick on pretty quickly.
3 - Joshua Zirkzee
The new Marco Van Basten has moved across to Italy from Bayern for an initial fee of £8 million. He will currently play 2nd or 3rd fiddle behind Zlatan and possibly Leao. In reality Zirkzee hasn't really got as much game time as he would have liked but hopefully in the first season he can start to see this. I've really high hopes unsurprisingly for Zirkzee and suspect he will be a top player for AC for seasons to come.
Saachi Ball
I won't just be following the concept of a Dutch core but I've also looked to importantly recreate the system that AC played at the time. A dynamic 4-4-2 (or 4-4-1-1 depending on your perception of it) Saachi was ahead of his time, focusing on high intensity football. Most of the sides at the time in Italy focused on sitting deep and marking individuals tightly as each game was a tense tactical battle.
Below is an idea of how Saachi played his Milan side and how I've tried to re-create it. I'll possibly look at the role of the Shadow Striker.
Start of Season One:
As a quick summary of where the club itself is now after my first preseason, there's been a quite a bit of change. In total I've let go over 40 members of staff and brought in 20 of my own. The youth sides especially were full of coaches who simply weren't good enough and as I'll be looking to develop a lots of Italian academy players to support Tre Tulipani this is something important to me.
Transfer wise I've let a lot of the younger players who simply weren't good enough, leave. Whilst in Italy clubs often horde players and loan them out this isn't a model I want to follow so I'll be cutting the number of players at the club drastically. The main players to leave the club were:
Transfers Out:
Hakan Çalhanoğlu (£18 million to Man Utd) - Last year of his contract and wanted to cash in. Wasn't 100% sure if he would fit in the system (maybe could have played well as the Wide Midfielder down the left) and with FFP looming over my shoulder thought I would take the money.
Mateo Musacchio (£10 million to Valencia) - A club favourite but beginning to age and I've got plenty of depth in this position. I'll happily have the £10 million in the coffers instead.
Samu Castillejo (£12 million to Villarreal) - The winger returns to Villarreal for a whopping £10 million less than he joined AC for just 2 years ago. Again strength in depth and not really a player who fits the tactics.
Rade Krunic (£5 million to Hertha) - The German side have got a good deal here but I've now got lots of CM and Krunic was unhappy. I'll cope without him.
Transfers In:
Other than the Dutchmen who have joined I've only brought in 2 other players, both on loan from within Serie A. I've brought in 2 players who can play within the system and hopefully contribute in the easier European games.
1 - Jakub Jankto comes in from Sampdoria. He could be perfect for my LM role especially as he already has the trait of cutting side. Decent player.
2 - Cristiano Biraghi comes in from Fiorentina. He will be a team player filling in at left back when required. Good crossing and stamina means he should do well there.
Heading into the start of the season now rather unsure how it will go. The tactics are quite unique and I'm not certain it will work against the top sides. The main aim for this season is try to and get Champions League football but I know that would be easy.
The Saachi AC Milan team of the mid 80s to early 90s is seen as one of the best clubs sides in European history. They saw success in both Italy and across the continent as they changed the way Italian football was seen. At the heart of this success was Tre Tulipani. Tre Tulipani (The Tulips) was the nickname given the 3 Dutchmen who played for the AC Milan during this era. In a time when Italian clubs could only have 3 non-Italians the Rossoneri brought in Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco Van Basten who helped fire the club to success. Football has changed drastically since then and with it the success of AC Milan has dipped greatly in recent years. As such I will be looking to recreate this period of success by bring in my very own tulips.
As such this story will be slightly different in that it will also closely follow the players rather than more precise details of the actions I've taken as AC manager. I'll probably do 2 or 3 posts a season and just give results rather than screenshots of individuals games.
To create this scenario I've made an edited version of the current release. I created future transfers coming on for the players and put in pre-agreed transfers out of some of AC Milans players. AC aren't in a great position financially so I needed to make sure there wouldn't be more FFP consequences.
Tre Tulipani 2.0
I'll be doing this save game slightly differently with the players being much younger than when the original trio joined AC Milan, trying to base each of the new players in a mould of the originals. Rather than instantly having some of the top players in the world I want to build the players careers and see them develop as I only hope that will give the save game some more longevity.
1 - Teun Koopmeiners
Brought in for £15 million from AZ Alkmaar Koopmeiners can play either as a CB, CDM or CM, just like Rijkaard could. Initially I'll probably play him in defense but that's due to the depth of quality AC Milan currently have in the middle of the park. Koopmeiners is already good enough already for the league but isn't the top quality to compete at the top of Europe. However I'm hoping after a few seasons his stats can increase a bit and he will end up be a top Deep Lying Playmaker.
2 - Ryan Gravenberch
Joining from Ajax for £12 million Gravenberch is well known to all FM players. He will play as my number 10 and hopefully kick on to become on the best in Europe, just as Gullit was. He may initially see more action against the weaker sides in the league but he should be able to kick on pretty quickly.
3 - Joshua Zirkzee
The new Marco Van Basten has moved across to Italy from Bayern for an initial fee of £8 million. He will currently play 2nd or 3rd fiddle behind Zlatan and possibly Leao. In reality Zirkzee hasn't really got as much game time as he would have liked but hopefully in the first season he can start to see this. I've really high hopes unsurprisingly for Zirkzee and suspect he will be a top player for AC for seasons to come.
Saachi Ball
I won't just be following the concept of a Dutch core but I've also looked to importantly recreate the system that AC played at the time. A dynamic 4-4-2 (or 4-4-1-1 depending on your perception of it) Saachi was ahead of his time, focusing on high intensity football. Most of the sides at the time in Italy focused on sitting deep and marking individuals tightly as each game was a tense tactical battle.
Below is an idea of how Saachi played his Milan side and how I've tried to re-create it. I'll possibly look at the role of the Shadow Striker.
Start of Season One:
As a quick summary of where the club itself is now after my first preseason, there's been a quite a bit of change. In total I've let go over 40 members of staff and brought in 20 of my own. The youth sides especially were full of coaches who simply weren't good enough and as I'll be looking to develop a lots of Italian academy players to support Tre Tulipani this is something important to me.
Transfer wise I've let a lot of the younger players who simply weren't good enough, leave. Whilst in Italy clubs often horde players and loan them out this isn't a model I want to follow so I'll be cutting the number of players at the club drastically. The main players to leave the club were:
Transfers Out:
Hakan Çalhanoğlu (£18 million to Man Utd) - Last year of his contract and wanted to cash in. Wasn't 100% sure if he would fit in the system (maybe could have played well as the Wide Midfielder down the left) and with FFP looming over my shoulder thought I would take the money.
Mateo Musacchio (£10 million to Valencia) - A club favourite but beginning to age and I've got plenty of depth in this position. I'll happily have the £10 million in the coffers instead.
Samu Castillejo (£12 million to Villarreal) - The winger returns to Villarreal for a whopping £10 million less than he joined AC for just 2 years ago. Again strength in depth and not really a player who fits the tactics.
Rade Krunic (£5 million to Hertha) - The German side have got a good deal here but I've now got lots of CM and Krunic was unhappy. I'll cope without him.
Transfers In:
Other than the Dutchmen who have joined I've only brought in 2 other players, both on loan from within Serie A. I've brought in 2 players who can play within the system and hopefully contribute in the easier European games.
1 - Jakub Jankto comes in from Sampdoria. He could be perfect for my LM role especially as he already has the trait of cutting side. Decent player.
2 - Cristiano Biraghi comes in from Fiorentina. He will be a team player filling in at left back when required. Good crossing and stamina means he should do well there.
Heading into the start of the season now rather unsure how it will go. The tactics are quite unique and I'm not certain it will work against the top sides. The main aim for this season is try to and get Champions League football but I know that would be easy.
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