A new era for Milan - FMFormation.net - Football Manager

qdj68 · 05-06-08, 01:40 PM

I got really inspired by abeatty2209's thread on his arsenal try, so i decided to do this thread in similiar format. Hopefully i do a good job out of it.

Ok so this is my second thread after the one on Man City ("Blue is the better side of Manchester!")

Ok so i took charge of Milan as an Italian Manager called Giuseppe Russo. (apparently i googled for the most common name in Italy and i got this)

Giuseppe Russo
39 yrs old
Past Experience: Automatic

(All are in UK Pound Sterling)
Transfer Budget: 12.5mil
Wage Budget: 1.8mil P/W

But after budget adjustment:

Transfer Budget: 19,103,385 pounds
Wage Budget: 1,624,462 p/w
I'm spending 920,338 p/w currently (after all my transfers)
Media Prediction: 2nd
Board: Win league in 2 years
My Expectations: At least Top 2, hopes to win the league in 1 season

As you all know, in real life, Milan's old generation of players are fading off and are struggling badly. I decided to take Milan to revive them and start a new era.

So i took a good look at the squad and i decided it needed some investments. But because of limited budget, wasnt able to phase out all the oldies and i jus brought in a few without even selling a single player.

So i decided on bringing in a striker (because fat Ron was injured and Pato ineligible), a midfielder who could play left and centre (backup to Seedorf), a keeper (both keepers are so old and Kalac isnt really of standard), a central defender (the defence is really old with 39 year old Maldini still as first choice, and Bonera isnt of Nesta or Maldini standard)

And so these are my signings:
Mamadou Sakho (DLC)-350k from PSG
Roberto Soldado (ST)- Loan from Castilla
Mika Aaritalo (AMRL,ST) - 40k from Turun Palloseura
Tommaso Vailatti (MRLC) - 1mil from Torino
Vincent Enyeama (GK) - 1.5mil from M.Tel-Aviv
Julio Baptista (AM/FC) - Loan from R.Madrid
Andrea Barzagli (DC) - 10.5mil from Palermo

Soldado as an "emergency ration" in case aaritalo doesnt work out, and baptista, in case gourcuff isnt good enough.

Will post on pre-season friendlies soon and also screenshots. Gotta rush for dinner and bath for now.

qdj68 · 05-06-08, 03:48 PM

Ok im back and i shall continue.

Here's screenies of my transfers and tactics:

Transfers

Tactic 1

I decided this was the best formation to get the best out of my team, and i think this is the tactic that Milan's probably using in reality. A diamond 4-4-2.

Tactic 2

Call it a 5-4-1, 3-3-2-1-1, 3-6-1, wateva. Basically works on the logic of short passing, moving together as a unit, eventually getting the ball to the front man. Work quite well while i was using Ajax, but i dun tink it works very well here. Just an alternative tactic.

Ok, so i went on to pre-season friendlies, and 1st up was Linares, one of the teams on my Spanish tour.

Linares 0-2 Milan

I went with tactic 2 and it wasnt long before i took the lead. At 18mins, Inzaghi was fouled somewhere near the box and Andrea Pirlo stepped up for the free-kick. His free-kick found Gattuso in the box and Gattuso powered the header into the net. Gattuso completed his brace with a powerful shot from 25 yards 11 mins later and the final score was 2-0 and Gattuso got the MOTM. Easy opponent since it was a semi-pro team. However though i had much more shots, they had much more possession then i had.

Murcia 1-2 Milan

This was a much tougher opponent. They had quite a decent squad, with the likes of Ivan Alonso, Fernando Baiano and Aquino. They also had some decent players like Carini, Pablo Garcia and Mejia. This time, i decided to go with the diamond 4-4-2 and i worked pretty well. Though they had 53percent possession, i had over 20 shots while they only had 3 so i was quite pleased with the team. Kaka scored for me 1st from a fierce drive high into goal after receiving the ball from Pirlo. New signing Soldado scored on his first appearance on 67mins to make it 2-0 while Aquino scored a late consolation on 90min for Murcia. 2-1 victory and their keeper Carini was awarded MOTM.

Castellon 2-6 Milan

Goals galore this one. They had the lion's share of the ball and i had only slightly more shots than them so was quite lucky to win by such a big margin. 5-1 at halftime and Inzaghi scored a hattrick for this match. Soldado scores again, this time a brace, looking like a good signing so far. Brocchi scored the other, from a free kick, quite surprisingly, considering his free kick taking is only 10. Inzaghi MOTM of course, not a bad match considering Kaka, Pirlo and Gattuso were all rested. However, need to build on defending, and it marked the end of my Spanish tour. New signing Aaritalo made 2 assits from the wing, not bad. Kalac was keeper, Barzagli hadnt arrived.

Still have one more friendly to go b4 the season starts, against Juventus reserves. Will update soon.

barosanu · 05-06-08, 07:07 PM

good start.keep your money and in the second season dont miss daniel alves.he is worldclass.it cost about 30milions.i saw you used a tactic 5-4-1. isugest you should try my tactic 5-3-2 super attacking formations.i played a few months ago with milan and i used this tactic.i have a thread about this.search in my prifile for started threads and you should fine some usefull informations.good luck managing one of my favourites clubs:D

qdj68 · 06-06-08, 08:39 AM

Thanks mate, jus dled ur tactic. will try it, hope it works =)

qdj68 · 06-06-08, 01:12 PM

Ok so the journey continues and shortly after clicking the continue button, came the odds for the Serie A title. The odds are as follow:

Inter- 6-4
AC Milan (Myself)-2-1
Roma - 5-2
Lazio - 16-1
Fiorentina - 25-1
Palermo - 33-1

Then came the draws for the Italian cup, and i will meet either Livorno or Torino in the first round.

On to my final friendly...

Milan 4-0 Juventus Reserves

I was expecting a stroll in the park since it was only their reserves. True enough, they didnt even manage a shot on target. I fielded most of my new signings and they didnt disappoint me. Tommaso Vailatti opened the scoring in his first appearance in a Milan jersey from a J.Baptista pass. Soldado scored yet another brace while Gattuso scored the other goal. Good win.

And finally... the Serie A!
The first opponent's Napoli and their manager Edoardo Reja launched a scathing attack on me, saying that my team wasnt capable, even before the match started.
Napoli 0-6 Milan

And a fantastic start to the season we got here, i got Reja to shut up and look at his team. Great debuts by Aaritalo,Soldado and Barzagli; the former two scoring a brace each and the latter, a defender centre, made an assist. Aaritalo also had an assist, while Gattuso scored one and provided one. Seedorf was awarded MOTM for providing 3 assists and scoring 1 goal.

Meanwhile, Inter beat Roma 3-0 to win the Italian Super Cup again.
I was also drawn against Torino in the Italian Cup, whereas i landed Porto, Schalke and Olympiakos in Grp F of Champions league.

Groups A to D

Groups E to H

Up next, would be the European Super Cup Final, against Sevilla.
Stade Louis II, Monaco
Sevilla 2-3 Milan (ET)
(2-2 90mins)

I must admit we got lucky here, the game itself was very even, in fact, Sevilla had the upper hand. Sevilla took the lead thru Mosquera 1st, before Soldado equalised. They had much more of the possession, so i decided to sub off Inzaghi for Ambrosini to regain possession in midfield, playing with Soldado as the lone striker. The move paid off, Ambrosini scored just before the half-time whistle. Kanoute equalised in the 2nd half and i had to finish sevilla off only in extra time, thanks to a header from Nesta.

ESC Winners!!!

Meanwhile, the transfer window closed, with Inter capturing the biggest signing in Lucho Gonzalez for 20mil. They also co-owned Rosina for 7.7mil, bought Zaccardo for 8.75mil, and Cassani for 3.2mil
And i was made favourites to win the UCL.

Serie A
Milan 1-0 Parma

Looks like a narrow win, but actually i should have won by much more. Their keeper Daniel Fernandes was outstanding, keeping everything out, so no surprises, he was awarded MOTM. Soldado managed to blast thru his net with a fierce shot eventually. Soldado cant stop scoring!

Champions league
Olympiakos 2-3 Milan

Narrow win, but i think we deserved the victory because we had more chances and better chances. Soldado scored again, and a 90min goal from Kaka saved the day. Torosidis,their defensive utilityman, scored a brace and was awarded MOTM.

Serie A
Milan 2-0 Lazio

Though it was a win, i was absolutely furious with the poor standard of refereeing and that opposing keeper Muslera was god-like. Justice wasnt done and we more than deserved this victory. It needed two excellent strikes from Soldado (again) to get the win. Good win but poor match.

And so after 3 matches in the Serie A, the table looks like this:

Currently 3rd, level on points with Inter,who is second, 1 point behind Cagliari, who played 1 game more than us. 3games,3 wins. Soldado tops the league goal scoring charts with 5 goals, 7 in all competitions in 5 appearances. Clarence Seedorf is top rated player in league at 8.00.

Will update soon!

**abeatty2209** · 06-06-08, 02:09 PM

Great start there mate.Great start the the league also.
KUTGW

qdj68 · 07-06-08, 04:10 PM

Updates!

Serie A
Torino 1-2 Milan

This was quite an even game, same number shots, same amount of possesion, so we got lucky here. Soldado scores again, a brace, while Recoba added one for Torino late on, but it was too late for them. Need to improve on this performance.

Milan 1-0 Genoa

Rested quite a number of key players in this match, we had more shots, but slightly less possession. Again, Soldado continued his hot form and scored the only goal in this match. Ambrosini was awarded MOTM for his assist. Needs to dominate more and improve on amt. of possession, since i am already getting lesser possession against these much weaker opponents.

Champions League
Milan 2-0 FC Porto

Had more shots, much less possession, Kaka and Soldado(again) combined to get this victory. Needs some tactical tweak to improve on amt. of possession i guess, before my luck runs out.

Serie A
Milan 4-0 Palermo

A flattering result for us, because we were dominated from start to end, so i wondered how we won by such a big margin when we should have lost. Soldado with a brace again, and this time i tried playing the hard tackling gattuso in the middle while moving pirlo to the right, but it seemed ineffective in solving the possession problem.

Champions League
Milan 1-0 Schalke

Decided to try out a tactic which served me well in my man city save for home matches and yes finally domination, though only a 1-0 win, it was no longer lucky, but a solid win. And yes, u guess it right, its Roberto Soldado again!

Serie A
Milan 4-0 Siena

Again, the same tactic, and destroyed siena. Soldado finally stop scoring in a match for once, it was Kaka's and Vailatti's show. Vailatti scored one from a free-kick.

This is the tactic. Downloaded on the net last time.

Milan 3-1 Reggina

Was a match i fought twice, cuz FM hanged on me. Before i won 1-0 but fiorentina also lost. Now i win 3-1 and fiorentina wins =(. Well, its ok, and with the same tactic, soldado adds on to his tally...

Cagliari 0-2 Milan

Finally an away game, quite afraid i wouldnt be able to beat Cagliari, although they were on a streak of 7 games without a win. Tried a 4-4-2 with some tweaking and it worked! Brilliant! Finally a good winning away formula. Soldado didnt score, but he did provide an assist. Kaka continues scoring.

Champions League
Schalke 0-1 Milan

Violent game lol, two Schalke players got sent off. Comfortable victory since they only got 9 men, but still doing fine with the new tactic even before the guys got sent off. Gattuso header gave me the only goal which was enough to seal a victory.

Serie A
Udinese 1-3 Milan

An even game and yet another sending off. Had less of the possession but at least now opponents have lesser chance of attacking even before sending off. This 4-4-2 does seem to be working fine, and soldado's back on the scoresheet again. Quagliarella, one of my fav players, pulled one back for Udinese, even with one man down, but Soldado restored the 2-goal cushion back again.

So after 10 rounds of Serie A, i am on top, with 10 straight wins and the table looks like this:

Already qualified for nxt stage of champs league after 4 matches:

Updates again soon! Keep track!

Martin_CFC · 07-06-08, 10:20 PM

Very clever signing with Soldado, by the look of your game so far he is popping up with important goals. Good luck for the rest of the season and in my opinion you should try to sign Soldado permanently ASAP.

**abeatty2209** · 07-06-08, 11:51 PM

WOW mate your doing great! I would never have thought that soldado is that good lol
KUTGW

qdj68 · 08-06-08, 05:39 AM

Haha thx alot guys for the comments, and honestly i didnt expect soldado to turn out to be so gd too, jus loaned him as a temporary backup, but since hes turned into a goalscoring machine i guess i will get him on permanant soon haha

**Bfc-Fan** · 08-06-08, 10:02 AM

Your doing great.

Theres some very nice results there mate.

Keep it up.

qdj68 · 09-06-08, 06:22 AM

There have been some major developments since the last update... And i have finally reached the 1st of February with half the season gone...

Before i go on, just a screenie of Soldado...

And luka modric's doing very well for fiorentina, hes got 9 goals in 9 appearances as an attacking mid.

Serie A
Milan 2-1 Roma

Big match, this one, but no problems at the San Siro, solid win over Roma. Soldado scores but the show was Vailatti's, with a goal and an assist. Barzagli's mistake led to a goal from Francesco Totti.

Champions League
Milan 2-0 Olympiakos

Having already qualified for the nxt round, i rested a few players, including Soldado. And it was the "Kaks" show, with Kakha Kaladze and Kaka scoring the goals. Kaka was a substitute for Gourcuff who was slightly injured.

Serie A
Juventus 0-2 Milan

Another big game, and we were dominated by Juve. Buffon showed why he is a top-class keeper even though he conceded, but we hit Juve on the break to steal a win. Soldado may not have scored, but he turned provider for Aaritalo's goal.

Champions League
FC Porto 1-0 Milan

Having already ensured qualifying as leaders, rested players again, including Soldado, Kaka and Pirlo. Gave Fat Ron his first game since he recovered from injury and he didnt make much of an impact. We were totally run ragged by Porto; and we couldnt even capitalise when Dede was sent off. A deserved victory for Porto, and the first loss of the season for me.

And Group Stage ends:

Luciano Spalletti just got the sack by Roma! They were performing poorly and was languishing in 13th to 16th places in the league. Marcello Lippi's hotly tipped to take over.

Serie A
Milan 3-0 Sampdoria

The team recovered from the loss to Porto and totally dominated this match. Sampdoria was crushed, and Kaka netted a hattrick. Sampdoria keeper Mirante did his best, with form 8 but still could not prevent 3 goals from immense Kaka. Oddo also did well, like always.

Then came Club World Championship, and i got Al-Ahly (Egyptian team) in the semis. Was hoping to get Japanese team Saitama UTD though, because i rarely fought asian teams and it would be interesting. But Boca got them anyway.

Club World Championship Semis
Al-Ahly 0-3 Milan

Rested some players, including Dida and Soldado. Kaka was probably too good for them, totally running circles around them. Brace for Kaka, making it 5 goals in 2 games, while compatriot Julio Baptista added the other one.

Club World Championship Finals
Boca 1-1 Milan (90mins)
(Milan wins 7-6 on penalties)

Was wary of Palacio and Banega for this game, because Palacio scored a hattrick against Saitama earlier on, while Banega provided two and has provided assists for almost every game for Boca. Set tight marking on Palacio; prevented him from scoring but he still turned provider for Vidal's goal. Boca had more chances, so we were abit lucky. Decided to get Gattuso to mark Banega later on in the game, and it worked bcuz 5 mins later, Banega was stretched off the pitch! Had partnered fat Ron with Soldado for the game, Ron didnt make vry big impact, and also missed his penalty during shootout. Luckily it didnt cost us.

Club World Champions!!!
Meanwhile, Lippi's confirmed as the new Roma manager.
Italian Cup 1st Rd 1st leg
Milan 3-0 Torino

Just as you were wondering why you hadnt seen Soldado on the scoresheet for quite some time, Soldado nets a brace in an easy win over Torino in this 1st leg of the Italian Cup.

Palermo's manager has been sacked too, and Palermo appoints Alessandro Costacurta, who's my assistant, as Manager. Man Utd's Brian McClair is the new assistant at Milan.

Draw for the Champions League 1st Knockout stage came out too, and we got Benfica. The draw:

Serie A
Milan 2-1 Catania

Jankulovski grabs two assists here, Seedorf and Pirlo finishes off Catania. Despite the sending off of Baiocco, Catania managed to pull one back late in the 87th minute thru Niculescu, from a freekick (his freekicks is 20), but it was too late.

Inter 1-2 Milan

Finally, the Milan derby. We were dominated from start till end, but we managed to pull off a lucky win over our fierce rivals. Soldado was on hot form, scoring two, while Maxwell capitalised on a Jankulovski mistake to score.

Fiorentina 1-1 Milan

Fiorentina had the better chances, and admittedly should have on, but thanks to Dida, i held them to a draw. Soldado with the early goal again, but Pazzini scored after a mistake by Kaladze. Alexandre Pato was also finally eligible to play, and he marked his debut with an assist. Dida MOTM.

The transfer window's finally here! The board increased my budget to 22mil and I snapped up a few players here. And here you go:

Transfers:
Maxi Rodriguez - Free from Atletico Madrid, arriving at the end of season on Bosman Ruling (approach to sign)
Andrea Luci - Free from Juventus, arriving at end of season on Bosman Ruling (approach to sign)
Felipe (DC) - 8 million from Udinese, arriving at end of season, because i requested to, since i am planning to phase out Maldini only at the end of season.
Roberto Soldado - 7.5mil plus fat Ron from R.Madrid. Secures him as permanent after a gd loan period at Milan, while sending Ronaldo back to his former club. Ronaldo's contract was expiring and he didnt want to renew it anyway, so rather than letting him leave for free, let him help me get Soldado.

Atalanta 0-1 Milan

We were totally dominated by Atalanta, we only had a measly 3 shots yet we won amazingly. Kaka got the goal we needed, whereas Dida was again the hero, putting up a goalkeeping clinic. MOTM for Dida again.

Milan 4-2 Empoli

Julio Baptista finally hits top form with a brace here, and Soldado provides an assist in his first game since his permanent transfer from Real Madrid. Solid win here, with Baptista MOTM.

Italian Cup 1st Round 2nd leg
Torino 1-2 Milan
(Milan goes thru on 5-1 aggregate)

We were the poorer side and we also rested a few key players, including Kaka, Soldado,Gattuso,Nesta and Dida. Andrea Dossena (yes the Liverpool bound guy) gave an early lead to Torino but counter attacking play gave us the win with Aaritalo, and Baptista again, on target. With a MOTM performance from keeper Enyeama also, we went through to the quarters with a 5-1 aggregate.

I got Atalanta in the Q-finals and it was just a few days after this game.

Italian Cup Quarter-Finals 1st leg
Atalanta 2-2 Milan

Since playing defensively and counter attacking away with direct football against the weaker teams yielded me less possession, i decided to try go attacking like at home matches and play a scoring battle with them, since i thought i had better player quality, even though they have the home crowd behind them. And yes, i did get much more shots, but it did turn out to be a scoring battle with the score 2-2. Alexandre Pato makes his second appearance and won the MOTM with a brace, and Soldado turns provider again in his second game since his permanent move. Draw, but have 2 away goals for an advantage.

Serie A
Milan 4-0 Atalanta

I fight Atalanta again, and the next match, is Atalanta again, for the second leg of the Italian Cup. So in this second part of the trilogy, it was a total thrashing since i was at home, but both keepers still managed to put up a superb performance. Dida won MOTM with rating 9, while their keeper Forsyth got 8 despite conceding 4. Soldado still hasnt opened his account since his permanent move but he provided 2 assists, making it 4 assists in 3 appearances; he certainly has switched his job from goalscoring machine to assists provider.

Italian Cup Q-Finals 2nd leg
Milan 2-0 Atalanta
(Milan go thru on 4-2 aggregate)

And in this final part of the trilogy, Soldado finally opens his account, and we dominated Atalanta. Kaka was MOTM with 2 assists, and we go thru to the semis on 4-2 aggregate.

And the draw for the next round was holders AS Roma. Tough luck.

Transfer Window closed too soon after. Some of the major transfers in the Italian League:

Cristian Zapata 15.5mil from Udinese to Palermo
Angelo Palombo 15mil from Sampdoria to Man Utd
Obafemi Martins 14.5mil from Newcastle to Roma
Rodrigo Taddei 13.75mil from Roma to At.Madrid
Klass-Jan Huntelaar 13mil from Ajax to Inter
Pascal Chimbonda 10.75mil from Tottenham to Palermo
Rodrigo Palacio 9.5mil from Boca to Lazio
Bogdan Lobont 6mil from Dinamo Bucharest to Parma
Denilson 4.8mil from Arsenal to Juventus

The world's biggest transfer in January was Diego, from Werder Bremen to Barcelona, for 22.5mil.
Some big moves also include Gareth Barry from Aston Villa to Arsenal for 11.75mil, Vincent Kompany to At.Madrid from HSV for 10.25mil, and Afonso Alves to Recreativo from Heerenveen for 10.25mil. Portsmouth also captured Barnetta and Arshavin for a total of 15.25mil.

So with half the season gone, at 19 matches out of 38 in the league, i'm first with a comfortable 13 point lead with a game in hand, with 18 wins out of 19. Incredible run, i couldnt believe it either.

So here's the table.

Keep reading and post your comments! The more the better!

**abeatty2209** · 09-06-08, 09:28 AM

WOW mate im gonna buy Soldado!!

keep up this form and you will win the league in the next few games lmao.

KUTGW

**Jonners71** · 09-06-08, 02:47 PM

so far so good mate....you're having a great season!!

qdj68 · 13-06-08, 12:38 PM

And after a long delay for this update.........

I have ended the season.

so be prepared to see a very long post here.

Serie A
Milan 1-0 Napoli

We dominated, but only won by one goal. Vailatti freekick gave us a deserved victory.

Livorno 1-2 Milan

Narrow win, and again Vailatti scores the winning goal. A top performance by Marco Amelia kept us from scoring more. Kaladze suffered a severe injury which ruled him out for 2 months.

I realised it was too much of a hassle cuz sumhow i couldnt view some of the matches they deemed "past too long", i will just list the results.

Lazio 2-2 Milan (Serie A)
Benfica 1-2 Milan (UCL 1st Knockout Rd 1st leg)
Milan 2-0 Torino (Serie A)
Palermo 1-2 Milan (Serie A)
Genoa 0-2 Milan (Serie A)
Milan 1-0 Benfica (UCL 1st Knockout Rd 2nd leg)
(3-1 on aggregate)

The draw came out for the q-finals for UCL, and i got Barcelona. What luck. -.-

Milan 3-1 Fiorentina (Serie A)
Parma 1-3 Milan (Serie A)
Reggina 0-3 Milan (Serie A)
Milan 3-1 Cagliari (Serie A)
Milan 2-0 Udinese (Serie A)

Champions League Q-Finals 1st leg
Nou Camp
Barcelona 2-1 Milan

Reality struck me, as I suffered my first loss since the start of the season. Vailatti, who was on form again, struck to gave me an early 8th min lead but Henry immediately equalised for Barca straight after kick off. Messi gave me the fatal blow on 37 mins to deliver me my first loss of the game. Both keepers were immense, and Dida was MOTM, meaning i was totally dominated at the Nou Camp, and was only prevented by Dida from a thrashing. The only encouraging thing was getting an away goal, which would be crucial.

And right after this historic first loss, it was announced that I have just won the Serie A title, courtesy of a draw by Inter while i was playing Barca. 8 games remaining in the league and i have won the league! i tink i had a 22 or 24 point lead :)

28 league goals for Soldado so far, he's on course to beat Toni's record of 31!

Serie A
Roma 0-0 Milan

With the league title, already won, i rested quite a number of key players, but they still did quite well. We were kept at bay by Doni's MOTM performance.

Champions League Q-Finals Leg 2
Milan 4-0 Barcelona

Despite it being an even game, i gave Barca a spanking that they would probably remember for a long time lol. Seedorf, Soldado and Pato gave them a night they would want to forget, although Kaka and Pato were stretchered off in the process.

And i go thru 5-2 on aggregate. I will meet Liverpool in the semis, while the other match is Chelsea v Stuttgart.

Ok, to save time i shall just list the results again... until the finals of the competitions....

or rather, a screenshot of my fixtures -_-

As u can see, i won the Treble with Milan!

Hooray! Ok. But it seems like the Milan job is an easy job. At least its the easiest i have gotten so far.

Milan 2-1 Chelsea (Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow)
Like in reality, Chelsea made it to the final with Avram Grant. They thrashed Stuttgart 6-0 on aggregate to make it here. Cafu was the hero, coming up with an assist for Kaka and hitting the winning goal.

Milan 1-0 Inter
Dramatic match. Dida saved a penalty from Chivu early on, although i think it was a harsh penalty decision. Kaka scored a last min winning goal, to complete the treble, and Inter players were complaining that the ref had missed a penalty. I just told them they were sore losers, how greedy they are, after the harsh penalty decision they still want to claim to have another penalty.

AWARDS!: