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Deleted Account #151676
#191486 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
I would certainly be shocked and besides myself with fury if my side bottled it now. haha yes he looks a decent talent, I've been trying to give him plenty of opportunities in the first team but with big games coming so thick and fast at the moment he may have to wait until the league title is officially secured before his next chance as I look to my experienced stars.
The dream of an unbeaten league season inches ever closer for my Rossonari, however we can no longer say we are without defeat in all competitions any more, although both defeats came in two-legged ties, both of which we ultimately won.
Novara became the first team to beat us at the San Siro in almost a year when they snatched a first leg advantage in our Copa Italia semi-final, however we well and truly extracted a painful revenge on our fellow Lombardi side as we crushed them 5-1 in front of their own supporters, their dream of playing in their first Copa Italia final since 1932 was obliterated before half time as we set up a final with my old club Fiorentina.
We also came close to blowing our passage to the last eight of the Champions League as we allowed Zenit dangerously close to turning around our 5-2 win from the first leg, the Russians gave us the toughest game I can remember this season as they dominated the second leg from start to finish, thankfully we clung on to our advantage by the skin of our teeth to qualify 5-4. We will have to sharpen up for Manchester City if we are to continue on in Europe's elite competition.
Serie A however looks to be all but over, a run of three draws on four games this period saw our eighteen point lead narrow to eleven but with a game in hand, It's difficult to see that not being enough now.
I want the league signed, sealed and delivered ASAP so we can concentrate on bringing the European cup home for the eighth time!
Can we finish off the Serie A season unbeaten? Only Juventus have finished a 38 game season unbeaten before, back in 2011/12, both ourselves and Perugia have also had unbeaten seasons in 91/92 and 78/79 respectively but they were with fewer games played.
In other news we have welcomed our next class of academy players;
Rated at 4 1/2 stars, Michele is the pick of the bunch, he's the first really good prospect I've had come through the system, I've been quite disappointed previously, the academy is of course imperative to my ambition of establishing a dynasty here, not to mention we have real difficulty meeting our quota of home grown players trained by the club.
I have been paying close attention to all of Serie A recently as I look for not only my senior squad to take to the Euros but a team to represent us at the Olympics also. As I said previously my Olympic squad will be made up of uncapped players in order to give me a chance to see them in action close up and give me a good idea who will form part of my senior squad in the coming years.
Returned from injury earlier than expected, making his comeback against Zenit in the first leg, Christian has slotted straight back into the team with a series of composed performances and barring any further injuries he looks a dead cert for my Euro 2024 squad.
#191441 The Night Thread Mk. IX
#191099 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
As the calendars flip over into February 2024 we are looking unstoppable at the moment, we are still unbeaten in all competitions and running away with Serie A already with sixteen games left to play as we have a thirteen point cushion as well as a game in hand over second place Fiorentina.
I've been a bit cocky throughout January and have been testing out some of my younger players as most of the teams we have faced have been the weaker sides in Serie A, to be fair my young lads havn't let me down at all and most look quite comfortable as part of my system.
Petr is the pick of my promising kids, I snapped him up from Sparta Prague last summer as part of my youth team strengthening mission, of course he's far from the finished article but my coaches rate him as a five star prospect. He came off the bench against Modena to make his debut before I handed him a starting shirt in the cup game against Parma where he repaid my faith by scoring what proved to be the winning goal!
I think the biggest difference from my previous two here is that we are now beating our title rivals, previously we struggled in games with Juve and Inter especially but got away with it due to us stuffing everybody else as a matter of routine, now however we are getting the results in the big games which is giving us a much more comfortable lead.
The Champions League is also a source of excitement at the moment as we again we unfortunate not to beat Barcelona, in the end we went through on level points, the Catalans just sneaking first place with their superior goal difference.
I think most people would fancy us to be Zenit given our current form, however I have never made it past this round of the competition in four attempts with Roma, Fiorentina and now Milan so I won't take anything for granted.
There was also a hard fought victory over Juventus to see us ease into the semi final of the Copa Italia, we will meet Novara over two legs to decide if we will get the chance to defend our trophy against either Fiorentina or Sampdoria.
Nothing to report at the moment.
Got injured in the game against Juventus mid-December with a broken foot bone, he's not expected back until late March, thankfully just in time to get himself fit for Euro 2024.
#190580 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
Group A
Bosnia & Herzogovina
Bulgaria
Portugal
Serbia (Champions)
Group B
Denmark
Greece
Scotland
Spain (Hosts)
Group C
Croatia
Holland
Romania
Sweden
Group D
France
Germany
Poland
Slovakia
Group E
Belgium
Finland
Norway
Ukraine
Group F
England
Ireland
Italy
Slovakia
Not too bad really, we've already beaten England this year, albeit only in a friendly, we should comfortably win against the other two if we are on top of our game, also there are no teams that worry me much in group E so we could have a fairly comfortable passage to the quarter finals. will it pan out that way though, with my track record at International level I'll take nothing for granted!
On a personal level, my 500th game in management was a 4-2 win over Napoli;
I'm still really enjoying my career, heres to the next 500!
#190567 Transfer Rumours 2014/15
I'm not sure how good he is nowadays but I think he would be a great signing for Leicester.
#190565 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
Thanks Dan, Not sure if I'll manage that count, but it's nice to have something to aim for. I never buy the new FM's until SI bring out the first or second patches as they are usually so buggy it's not worth it to begin with so I do have time to collect plenty more silverware beforehand.
The run goes on! The mighty Rossonari remain unbeaten in all competitions and have recorded some big results in the past couple of months;
Holding Barcelona at the Nou Camp was a good result on paper, however when you take a look at the match statistics you will see that we were actually unfortunate not to come away with all three points against the Catalans;
There were big wins over Roma and Palermo amongst the fixture list, however nothing comes close to the gravity of smashing arch-rivals Inter 5-0, I couldn't believe what I was witnessing as we found ourselves 4-0 up in little over twenty minutes. a truly glorious result for our club!
Now that we are top the challenge is of course to stay there, I would like to wrap the title up nice and early to avoid a nervy run-in like last season, and of course it would give me licence to concentrate on bringing the Champions League back to the red and black side of Milan for the first time in seventeen years.
We've met expectations and qualified for the knockout stages with ease, we still have to welcome Barca to the San Siro in the final game, if we win we shall top the group which may surprise some, we were better than Diego Simeone's side in the away game so I think we could well beat them in the return which would be a real statement of intention in this competition.
The next fixture against Napoli is a major milestone for me as it will mark my 500th game in management and my 130th with Milan.
I'll forgive the two bad results as they were largely 'B' players I fielded for those fixtures with us having secured qualification for Euro 2024 in the 6-0 victory over Azerbaijan. Beating England was a good result as they are ranked third in the world at the moment (we're seventh) I'll just try to forget about the Scotland game as soon as possible!
Not finishing top of this group will rightly have raised some questions, however we only lost the one game, and that was after having already secured qualification so I'm just going to turn my attention to the finals now and am looking forward to seeing who we are drawn against for the tournament in Spain.
In other International news I have decided to give the Olympics another crack this summer, I will lead the under-23's to Toronto with the hopes of doing (a lot) better than in Tokyo 2020 when my team failed to get out of the groups. I've decided I will only use players uncapped at senior level which will make this a very useful scouting mission, giving me a great chance to see the younger players on the cusp of my team up close.
Surpassed 250 league appearances in his career this month and is now up to 255 (315 in all competitions) and also has 15 senior international caps. I've been rotating him with Hugo Mallo in order to keep the Brazilian happy as well.
#190347 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
My third season as Rossonari coach is off to a good start, my side is unbeaten in all competitions after eight games and lifted another trophy, what more could I ask for?
The pre-season schedule went very well;
The tour of Japan helped raise our profile in the far East which should ensure a long term profitability should we choose to return in the future.
There are two new faces other than the ones I introduced in the previous update who's deals I sorted out before the 2022/23 culminated;
Ariel has been a key part of Udinese's squad in recent years, and was a key part of the team that won a league and cup double three years ago. He is a talented playmaker who can also sit deep and defend when required. He has set me back £25M.
Jesper wasn't a signing I had intended to make, however my backup goalkeeper Maiek Kamps broke his arm in the final friendly against Carnonnese, with no youth prospect who is ready to step up I was forced to enter the market. Jesper was the ideal man, I worked with him before at Ajax where he was my number one, following his release from Ajax I was able to sign him up
I've also signed almost an entire team's worth of youngsters from various locale around the world, however there are two many to introduce in one post so I'll show screenshots of them as and when they make their competitive débuts.
Only one additional departure to those I detailed previously, Franco Campana decided he wanted to leave on free transfer when his contract expired next summer, I couldn't let such a talented player go for nothing so I put him up for sale, in the end it was Arsenal who won the ensuing bidding war for a fee of £30M.
We're off to a good start, beating Livorno, Manuel Gaggaro on his debut with almost the last kick of normal time to win the Supercup was a great way to get the ball rolling, hammering Brescia away was also nice on a personal level, I harbour no ill feelings towards the club themselves, I enjoyed my two years there, but their current manager Gianluca Atzori is constantly taking swipes at me in the media for some reason so I enjoyed shutting the prick up.
Barca will obviously be tough, however I will be extremely disappointed if we failed to at least come second in this group.
I've overseen four games with the Azzuri this summer;
I was furious that we didn't see off Slovenia, we had over thirty shots on target but could only convert a goalmouth scramble from a corner, we were punished for our failings up front when Slovenia nicked a thoroughly undeserved point late on much to my displeasure, I wasn't much happier with the draw with Serbia as again we dominated but were let down by shoddy finishing.
The goals did begin to flow against Armenia though as we avoided the embarrassment of dropping out of the qualification places by thumping the minnows, 3-0. the introduction of Bayern Munich forward Marco Lorenzoni seemed to make a big difference, the 23 year old who scored 11 in 23 games in the Bundesliga last season seems a far better fit than those who I have used as my sole striker previously, he has two goals in two games for his country now after scoring against both Armenia and Chile.
It's still uncomfortable for us with two games left to play against Azerbaijan and Slovenia, mistakes must not be made!
Is now into double figures with his Italy caps collection after making twelve appearances at the highest level, he also had some interest this summer as both Lazio and Newcastle United came calling, needless to say I was quick to rebuff their advances.
#190024 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
It dawned on me suddenly this morning why nobody seemed to understand what I was saying...
#189844 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
Stoke away is Villa's first game. They battered us 4-1 at home towards the end of last season so I didn't have particularly high hopes for this one. Howver now things might be in our favour.
#189832 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
#189550 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
I've just signed on with Milan until 2027, so I'm not going anywhere for the foreseeable future. I'm thinking of taking the Fergie Vs. Liverpool mentality and refusing to quit until I have toppled Juventus as the most successful team in Italy, Juve have 33 Serie A titles to our 23, that would keep me put for another ten years at least.
I'm also intrigued by the prospect of retiring as Paolo and beginning a management career as Christian when he hangs up his boots, he's now 27 so he's likely got another 5 to 10 years ahead of him yet, giving me time to complete my vendetta against Juventus.
#189432 The Night Thread Mk. IX
#189426 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
Yeah, they put up quite a fight but in the end we prevailed...
Sorry, I jumped ahead of myself somewhat after becoming completely immersed in the run in which culminated in a highly succesful campaign!
I thought we had it in the bag when we beat Inter with the last kick of the game in mid-March, however a dip in form throughout April opened the door back up for our rivals and made things a little hairier than they should have been, however an Inter defeat to my old club Brescia meant we were declaired champions before we even kicked a ball against Novara who have had an impressive season of their own, finishing sixth in the league;
I'm pleased to see Fiorentina and Brescia both in the top half, Roma have had a bad year though and might well be looking for their SEVENTH manager since I left Stadio Olimpico five years ago.
Stephane has been in fine form throughout the season, second striker Lorenzo Pezzi, who you will recall I forked out a record £70M for has steadily been shaking off the tag of expensive flop as he netted twelve, although it's still not the kind of return I was expecting but I dare not sell him as I'll make such a heavy loss on him, better to keep trying to improve his tally.
Three players in team of the year, Ricardo is probarbly the best defender in the world at the moment so his inclusion was almost a given. Tizano Tulisi has had a wonderful season, eight goals, five assists and six man of the match awards from twentyfour games.
I retain both of the manager of the year awards I collected last year which is nice, but not as nice as this....
I'm making it my personal mission to displace Antonio Conte (who is still Juve manager) as number one, it will be tough but it can be done!
The Copa Italia final proved something of a walk over as we strolled to the trophy...
After being a losing finalist with both Roma and Milan previously I was delighted to finally get my hands on the cup the third time around!
My priority next season has to be a third consecutive Serie A crown, however I also want a better showing in Europe, we played well in the second leg against PSG this year but were unable to break through, the French club did go on to reach the final however.
I don't envision any great restructuring this summer, as with last year I am happy with the squad and I already have deals signed with replacements for Harchim Mastour (who has been brilliant since he decided to leave
My Azzuri had two games this summer, one competitive and one freindly;
Thoroughly easy match, the scoreline could and should have been far higher as we had over thirty shots on goal, Azerbaijan didn't manage a single one until stoppage time.
Our game in hand puts us in good standing to win the group, we face Slovenia and Serbia this June knowing we will be all but through to the finals in Spain if we win both games.
More like it! Both Bollino and Depprau were first time goalscorers for the Azzuri and four players made their International débuts in this fixture.
Had his best season yet, he started thirty games in Serie A, obtaining an average rating of 7.12 and was named in team of the week five times, that coupled with him collecting more silverware and having made eight appearances for his country this year have seen his value quadruple to almost £9M in a short amount of time!]. Making his old man proud!
#189312 Pentagon Challenge
#189261 The Night Thread Mk. IX
Nothing like American priests to provide some intelligent quotes.
#189259 Transfer Rumours 2014/15
#189156 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
Can't say I'm familiar with him in real life, looks a talent on FM though and hopefully he will do the business for us!
I certainly hope so mate, I shan't take them lightly after they mauled Inter 6-0 though.
Eleven games left in the Serie A race and we are currently in the driving seat as we snatched back the top spot from Inter and put three points between us and our stadium sharing rivals.
We face Inter next month which will be absolutely crucial, we cannot afford to take our foot off the gas before that game however as we take on Brescia, Ternana and Roma, two visits to former employers should be interesting, not least after being held by Fiorentina at the end of this month,
Things aren't looking quite so promising in the Champions League however, a 2-0 defeat to PSG in Paris has left us with a mountain to climb in the return game, it's not impossible but we'll have to put on a very good showing to claw our way into the last eight now.
Speakign of Frenchmen I have agreed to buy mdifielder Giles Castel from Manchester United this summer;
Those of you who have been reading a while may remember I brought Giles for Fiorentina during my time there, he cost me £12.25M back then, this time around he is setting me back a whopping £49M! Still only 20 years old the wonderkid has already encouraged fees of almost £100M in his short career, he also broke into the French national team recently, lining up against my Italy side last November in a friendly.
Christian
Played all the league games this month, however he missed the PSG tie after coming down with a cold, Hugo Malo deputised for him in that game, Christian got an assist to his name against Napoli when he crossed in for Giovanni Mariottini's late winner, his fourth set-up of the season so far.
Christian is likely to feature in my squad for Italy Vs. Azerbaijan and Austria next month, He's been in good form and no other right-back has caught my eye so I see no reason to drop him.
#189083 Transfer Rumours 2014/15
#189076 The General Games Discussion Thread.
It looks quite good but is pretty dear, was just wondering if anyone had tried it?
#188816 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
We have begun the new year in good form, unbeaten this month and safely through to the Copa Italia final again after overcoming Udinese over two legs. we slipped up a little in the league as we missed our chance to re-claim the top spot from Inter by conceding in the dying moments against Lazio and failing to beat Sassuolo who are currently in the relegation zone.
Despite those draws we are right up there, just a point behind our great rivals with the rest of Serie A desperately trying to keep pace with us two, We face Inter next in March, we just need to maintain our form until then to snatch the lead, hopefully they will slip up before then however in order to make things a bit more comfortable for us!
As I mentioned we are through to the final of Copa Italia after beating Udinese, however it was the other semi-final that provided the drama;
With Inter winning the first leg 4-0, I, along with everybody else assumed that we would face a re-match of last years final, however relegation threatened Livorno turned the form book upside down by smashing the league leaders 6-0 in order to reach the final. I certainly won't be underestimating them in the big match!
I was fairly busy during the transfer window,, Harchim Mastour has decided to join Sampdoria at the end of his contract, I can't say I blame him as he has very much been a backup for Nicolo DeMarchi who is one of the worlds top players right now and has had limited chances. I have lined up a top quality replacement;
Alen is setting me back £12M plus midfielder Pedrag Dragicevic, a hard bargain but one I was willing to make as I have a couple of youth prospects who are bursting for a chance in the first team, I'm hoping one of them will step up and replace the Serb.
One other incoming deal is sorted;
Signing on free transfer this summer, the 23 year old has been an important part of Udinese's squad in recent years which has been involved in the title race consistently, He will make a fine addition to my back line.
#188679 The Night Thread Mk. IX
Calling her a taxi first is the gentlemanly thing to do.
#188565 [FM14]Johno's career
#188564 The Night Thread Mk. IX
We stopped to have lunch at a canalside restaurant in Brindley Place which had a live band as well as various other performers in the vicinity before doing a bit of shopping at the ever impressive looking bullring.
The city is defiantly still a work in progress but it annoys be when people bad mouth it when they probably haven't actually set foot in it, at least since the renovations began. I'm proud to be a Brummie even if I don't live there anymore and based on yesterdays experiences I will defiantly be returning more often.
#188519 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
Yeah, he's been training as a wing back to try and improve his attacking a bit whilst still working on his defending and having been tutored by some top defenders throughout his career has helped plenty.
#188515 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
Thanks mate!
He's continuously solid at the back as ever, he's never going to be a real threat going forward, however he does have quite a few assists to his name dispite the relatively low passing and crossing stats
#188487 What's the last thing you bought thread
£42 from the Villa Village.
£49 from HMV
#188486 Maldini - A Father & Son tale
A defeat at Juventus has stopped us from regaining the top spot from Inter this month, however the title race remains wide open with Juve dragging themselves back into contention;
We have dominated against smaller sides but have struggled when it really counts against our main rivals, that is something that needs to change if I am to bring about the era of dominance I envision, our home form will continue to be crucial, in my eighteen months as Rossonari manager we have lost just twice at the San Siro (Atalanta and Lazio)
We go through as group winners after a convincing win over Liverpool, although we have a very tough last sixteen tie with PSG to overcome if we are to reach the quarter finals;
Speaking of quarter finals, we are through to the last eight of the Copa Italia following a routine victory over Cantania by what was essentially my reserve team, my old club Fiorentina await;
After losing the final last year I would very much like to go one better this time.
Bring on 2023!
#188301 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
#188283 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
#188274 What Are You Listening To?
Love this video, over 1.5M people, one of the largest concerts of all time.