FM 2009: Official Napoli Thread - Back to the Maradona Days

[soli]

WELCOME TO NAPOLI

INTRODUCTION:

Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as simply Napoli is an Italian professional football club based in Naples, Campania that was originally founded in 1904. The club has spent most of their history in the top tier in Italian football, where they currently play for the 2008–09 season after recently gaining promotion.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

Serie A: 1987, 1990

Serie B: 1950

Italian Serie C1/B: 2005

Italian Cup: 1962, 1976, 1987

Italian Super Cup: 1990

Euro Cup: 1989

CLUB INFORMATION

Full Name: Napoli Football Club

Nickname: Partenopei

Founded: 23 August 1926 (as a football club)

Major Rivals: Atalanta, Verona, AC Milan, Salernitana, Avellino, Bologna, Brescia, Juventus, Inter, Roma, Udinese, Lazio, Fiorentina, Lecce

Club Legends: Gianfranco Zola, Diego Maradona, Piepaolo Marini, Aurelio De Laurentis

Favoured Personnel: Fabio Cannavaro, Ciro Ferrera, Stefan Schwoch

Media Prediction: 8th place

Club Captain: Paolo Cannavaro

Club Vice-Captain: Francesco Montervino

CLUB FINANCES

Estimated Value: £46.5M

Balance: £32.74M

Transfer Budget:£8.25M (Continental qualification), £6.5M (Top Half Finish)

Wage Budget:£227K/week

Current Wage:£227K/week

STADIUM AND FACILITIES

Ground: Sao PaoloStadium, Naples

Capacity: 64,000

Training Facilities: Top Training Facilities

Youth Facilities: Average Youth Facilities + Youth Academy

FIRST-TEAM SQUAD

GK: Gennaro Iezzo, Nicolás Navarro, Matteo Gianello

DC: Paolo Cannavaro (captain), Leandro Rinaudo

D RC: Fabiano Santacroce, Gianluca Grava

D/WB/ML: Luigi Vitale

D LC: Salvatore Aronica, Mirko Savini, Matteo Contini

D/WB/MR: Christian Maggio

DM, MC: Manuele Blasi, Marek Hamšík, Walter Gargano, Michele Pazienza

DM, AM LC: Mariano Bogliacino

AM RL: Daniele Mannini

FC: Ezequiel Lavezzi, Inácio Piá

ST: Germán Denis, Marcelo Zalayeta (co-owned by Juventus)

RESERVE SQUAD

GK: Biagio Del Guidice (Co- owned by Aversa Normanna), Carmine Biagio Gatti (at Matera)

WBR, DM, MRC: Francesco Montervino (Vice- Captain)

D LC: Maurizio Domizzi (Co-owned by Udinese)

DC: Tommaso Romito (Co-owned by Pescara), Mariano Arini (at Aversa Normanna) D/WB/ML: Erminio Rullo (at Triestina)

D/WB/MR: Gyorgy Garics (Co- owned by Atalanta)

MC: Nicolás Amodio, Luca Giannone, Samuele Dalla Bona, Massimiliano Esposito

AM RLC: Roberto De Zerbi (at Avellino)

AM RC: Andrea Russotto (on loan from Bellinzona)

AM LC: Gaetano Grieco (at Juve Stabia)

ST: Cristian Bucchi (at Ascoli), Emanuele Calaio (Co-owned by Siena), Mario Marotta

SQUAD ANALYSIS:

This will be done with no particular formation in mind.

Goal Keepers: The Goal Keeping Department is decent at best and needs to be strengthened. Iezzo and Navarro are decent players and will challenge for the first team spot. You should get rid of Gianello who is just not good enough for Serie A.

Left Backs: The only player good enough for a first team spot is Aronica. The other two- Savini and Contini are decent only as back-ups. A better left-back is a must.

Right Backs: This is the weakest position of the entire squad. Santacroce can play here but his natural position is as a CB. Grava is not good and should be offloaded. A better right-back is therefore a must.

Centre Backs: The central defence looks good and solid for Serie A level. Manned by the Napoli captain, Paolo Cannavaro the defence also boasts of two other good players in Rinaudo and Santacroce. Savini and Contini can also play here. In my opinion Contini can be offloaded and a better defender can be brought in as back-up.

Defensive Midfielders: This is Napoli’s main strength with a lot of quality options. Blasi and Gargano both are good players. Pazienza provides good back-up. Hamsik can also play here.

Attacking Midfielders: There is a dearth of attacking midfielders. Hamsik is the only player who fits the bill. He has the potential to be one of the future stars and despite being only 20, is a key member of the first team. Russotto who is on loan from Bellinzona is one for the future. Bogliacino provides decent back-up. A quality midfielder should be bought immediately.

Wingers: The right wing is covered by the best player in the club Maggio. The left wing is a source of concern. The likes of Bogliacino and Pia are just not good enough. Mannini provides decent back-up. A left winger must be bought.

Strikers: Lavezzi is a good striker with great pace and acceleration. Zalayeta and Denis are decent at best. Pia should be sold off. A targetman is a top priority.

WHY NAPOLI:

Napoli has a decent squad with plenty of room for improvement. The finances are secure and the transfer budget provided is ample. The wage budget though is tight and you will have to keep an eye on the wage bill. In Maggio and Hamsik you have two quality midfielders. Cannavaro and Rinaudo are the pillars of Napoli defence. You can build a great squad around these four. In addition you have top training facilities at the club and a 64,000 capacity stadium. This season Napoli also plays in the Euro Vase competition.

The squad needs to be heavily strengthened and it will be a challenge to play with a heavily changed squad in the first season.Napoli flourished during the heydays of Maradona and Zola. The challenge for you is to bring back those golden days.

RECOMMENDED SIGNINGS:

Gk: Enyeama, Vilar (on loan)

D RL: Miguel Torres (on loan), Marcelo (on loan), Belleti, Razvan Rat

DC: Caceres (on loan), Radoi

AM/AML: Defour, Buonanotte, Angel Di Maria

ST: Cavani, Cardozo, Pazzini, Gudjohnsen (on loan), Balotelli (on loan), Julio Cruz

TRANSFER STRATEGY:

The positions to strengthen are a GK, DL, Back-up DC and DR, ML, AM and TM. You can generate funds by selling off Hamsik to Man City for £25-£30 million. If you do decide to sell off Hamsik you can bring in Lassana Diarra or Bolzoni (loan) as a replacement. You should also sell off a few fringe players in the first team squad and also players from the reserve squad.

BEST TEAM:

(For a 3-5-2 formation)

GK: Gennaro Iezzo

DCs: Paolo Cannavaro , Leandro Rinaudo, Fabiano Santacroce

WBR: Christian Maggio

WBL: Luigi Vitale

MCs: Manuele Blasi, Marek Hamšík, Walter Gargano

STs: Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marcelo Zalayeta

I will definitely drop in here everyday to see how everyone is doing. Lets make this an active thread and bring back Napoli to its lost glory in the process

[the--dud]

Good OP mate

Perhaps you can shed some light on this... Why is Palermo the only team I've found that can sign Lazezzi for £1.2-1.7m? Is Palermo his favourite club, is he unsettled? When I've tried to sign him for other clubs it always goes up to £4-5m :confused:

[Kun_Aguero]

wow dude keep up the work great stuff.

[Knowles]

What formation was played when Maradona was there, and were the tactics based around him?

Thanks.

[soli]

the--dud

Well Lavezzi doesn't have Palermo as his favourite club and surely, he is not unsettled. One factor that may affect transfers is that most of the top-flight clubs in Serie A are listed as rivals as you will notice in the OP. Most of the other teams not listed in there are listed in the other rivals' list. One notable absentee though is Palermo. So maybe that is the reason for selling off Lavezzi to them for that cheap. It does make playing Palermo a bit easier .

Kun_Aguero

Thanks, mate. This was my first OP so glad that you liked it. If you find something missing do tell me.

Knowles

To be honest I have no way of knowing what formation Napoli played during the Maradona days. One thing though is evident that Maradona was the heart of that team. Napoli bought him from Barcelona in 1984 for 12 million Italian liras which was a world transfer record at that time. They probably would have used him as a playmaker.

Even without Maradona though, Napoli were a good team boasting of players such as Ciro Ferrera and Salvatore Bagni and later Gianfranco Zola.

[ThE BoMBeR]

soli

Great OP mate...

The only thing that's missing is a badge though... try to find one and post it at the top... will look really nice

[Lisandro Lopez]

Good opener, missing a badge/logo though as BoMBeR said

[Purefun]

Three defenders is risky though. And they are worldclass either mate.

[Jeff3037]

Nice first post, the 3-5-2 formation is the best way to go. I signed Marcelo (4.4m) for the left wing and Luigi Bruins (2.5m) to use in central midfield. I definitely wouldn't sell Hamsik though, not for any price!

[the--dud]

Soli, I can't hold my water so please take this as constructive critisism mate

1. It might be just me, but I really have a pet hate against comic sans, the font you use haha

2. It'd be neater if you made the logo a bit smaller perhaps...

3. Some of your sections(club info and squad) got extra line breaks, which in my opinion makes it slighly harder to read

There I've said it But apart from that I really like your post! My posts are far from perfect so please don't take this wrong way as I said...

[soli]

THE BOMBeR & HoPeY:

Inserted a logo as you said. Hope its alright.

Purefun:

Cheers mate. I have made slight changes to the player positions to make it a tad less attacking but you are right the central defenders are not world class. But you see there's the challenge .

Jeff3037

Nice to see somebody else start with Napoli too. In my game I am still scouting for bargain players and loan signings. Will update the OP more as I go on with the game. Do post here on how you do. All the best .

the--dud

Cheers mate. Definitely didn't mind. This is my first attempt at making a team OP so it is but obvious that I will screw up. Thanks for your suggestions. I have made slight changes. Can you suggest a font please . I am having difficulty in choosing.

[the--dud]

I always use default fonts on forums, just find it to be less intrusive and not sticking out

Remember with fonts on the internet, that fonts don't look the same if you're not using Windows, say Mac or Linux...

[soli]

Anybody started a game with Napoli yet. Can't start one myself as not got the game. Waiting for you guys to post.

P.S If there are any changes in the transfer and wage budget please let me know. Thanks

[Guest]

Anybody started a game with Napoli yet. Can't start one myself as not got the game. Waiting for you guys to post.

P.S If there are any changes in the transfer and wage budget please let me know. Thanks

I am in a similiar position here as I will not get my game for some time. Looking forward to another Napoli save when I do though as I enjoyed the one I had on 08.

[JimmyWangYang]

I had an absolutely fantastic experience with Napoli on FM2008! The goal for me was to bring in ‘the new Maradona’ – someone who could give the club a huge lift and defy the dominance from much more resourceful clubs like Juventus and Milan. I held off shirt number 10 until I got my man… Sergio Aguero. The fans were going bananas when I announced I had completed his signature. From there, I built the team around Aguero as he led Naples back to the promise land. All the while being the most hated club in Italy and with a cunning chairman who shared my ambitions. After 3 seasons I had completely revamped my squad, which felt great because once I started winning things it was all with my own players who I had handpicked to fit in to Aguero’s mentality. I basically had a squad were half were Italian, and the other half were either Argentineans or Argentineans with an Italian passport. And almost every one of them liked it so much there that they adopted Napoli as their favorite club. It was one big happy family. Maybe I’ll give this another go in FM2009!

[stonini90]

Napoli Ftw...Maggio is great. Lavezzi world class

[soli]

if_my_dream

Both of us in the same boat, eh. Hope we get it soon enough .

JimmyWangYang

Great work bringing Aguero to Napoli. Imo he and Messi are the closest things to Maradona now. And with the great man himself at the helm of Argentinean National Team lets see how much progress these two make.

All the while being the most hated club in Italy and with a cunning chairman who shared my ambitions.

Well you are right about the above. I was flabbergasted by the number of rivals they had .

stonini90

You started a game with Napoli yet?

[Jeff3037]

Napoli has the same budget as the demo 6.5m for top half finish is the minimum.

[soli]

Thanks Jeff3037. You started a game yet? If you have, do post your updates.

[CGreeson]

Nice first post, the 3-5-2 formation is the best way to go. I signed Marcelo (4.4m) for the left wing and Luigi Bruins (2.5m) to use in central midfield. I definitely wouldn't sell Hamsik though, not for any price!

I've considered buying Hamsik for Man City, but his numbers just haven't convinced me. Just how good is he? I have an Italian scout with full knowledge of the country, 20 ratings for scouting CA and PA, and he's world class. He loves the guy and rates him a definite purchase even though I already have Diarra, Diego, and Veloso. His stats look good, but it seems to me there are guys out there who look better on paper who my scout rates lower (Kuzmanovic from Fiorentina, for example). How's he playing for you guys?

[soli]

Well Hamsik is by far the best player in the Napoli team. At 20 he has a lot of developing still to do and therefore his attributes should develop further. Another reason for his better performance and good rating by your scout is that he is good with both his feet. This is not the case with Kuzmanovic who has one weaker foot. For more confirmation if you look on the PA-CA list you will most certainly find that Hamsik has a higher PA. So Hamsik indeed has world-class potential.

However seeing the players you already have don't buy him unless you really need him.

[fettot]

i love play in italy. i am always lazio wich are about same as napoli in terms of ambition and potential as club.

good thread lets hope it will be alivefor long time

[soli]

good thread lets hope it will be alive for long time

I certainly hope so

I always thought Lazio had better players and a decent transfer budget. Maybe you could start a Lazio thread seeing that there isn't one.

[Jeff3037]

I've considered buying Hamsik for Man City, but his numbers just haven't convinced me. Just how good is he? I have an Italian scout with full knowledge of the country, 20 ratings for scouting CA and PA, and he's world class. He loves the guy and rates him a definite purchase even though I already have Diarra, Diego, and Veloso. His stats look good, but it seems to me there are guys out there who look better on paper who my scout rates lower (Kuzmanovic from Fiorentina, for example). How's he playing for you guys?

Hamsik is playing alright for me he gets forward and scores a fair few goals but i would say that Diego and Veloso are probably a little better at the start. but like soli said Hamsik has very high potential and will probably be better then both of those guys after a year or two.

[soli]

Has anybody taken up the Napoli challenge yet?

If so do post your updates and make this thread active.

[JimmyWangYang]

I haven’t started my Napoli game yet, but here’s a couple of reasons why you should join me in this endeavor:

- Film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis is one heck of a cool guy. He’s got everything you want in a chairman, both from a mentality standpoint and from a business perspective. With him at the helm you won’t run the risk of a silly takeover bid - he’ll stay at the club for a long time and back you all the way.

- In Marek Hamsik you got the best young central midfielder in the world aside from Fabregas. This cheeky little bastard will daze you with his intelligent runs into the box.

- Naples is, believe it or not, one of the most attractive cities in Italy. Players will always want to move there. Add that to the fact that you’ve already got an impressive 64k stadium in San Paolo that can be expanded even further, and you’ve got the infrastructure set up to one day become a dominant force in world football.

- You’ve got a lot of extreme qualities in the squad that gives you options as to how you want to play. From the electric speed of Ezequiel “The Beast” Lavezzi, to the aerial threat of Christian Maggio, to the tenacious tackling of Manuele Blasi… there’s certainly some great characters in the Napoli side.

- Napoli is the fourth most supported club in Italy, and without a doubt the most hated. An astonishing 23 clubs are listed as their rivals in the game. Everyone will be gunning for you. Luckily most of the players can handle pressure very well, but this is definitely something to keep in mind as you make new signings.

- Physio and club icon Salvatore Carmando has been with the club since 1974 and will tell you great stories from the Maradona era if you give him a new contract.

- Playing in the Intertoto Cup first season is your ticket to get into and win the UEFA Cup. This is a nice early challenge, and something that will give your club reputation a good boost as you continue to build a squad capable of challenging for the league title.

- Overall the tactics used in Italy are a lot more diverse than what you see in countries like England and Spain. You’ll get a stab at the 3-5-2, 4-3-2-1, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, and even a few sweeper systems. The Serie A is a dream playground for those who like to focus on the tactical side of the game.

- One of the most exciting young defenders in the world in Domenico Criscito has got Napoli as favorite club and can be bought for a reasonably low price.

- The team’s kit colors will soothe your soul and bring you to a peaceful state of mind. Naples is a coastal city, and their colors have always been derived from blue waters of The Gulf of Naples. Adding the club’s logo and facepack is obligatory.

[soli]

Couldn't have put it better.

I have not yet bought the game but when I do I will definitely start a save with Napoli. Looking forward to your updates when you do start.

[Jeff3037]

Well JimmyWangYang has inspired me to post some updates of my game so here it goes...

I decided to stick to just buying relatively young players like Napoli are currently trying to do and turn them into great players. So I brought in a young Costa Rican midfielder who will cover for Hamsik and has great potential. I also bought a very promising right wingback from Inter to cover for Maggio.

I'm using a 5-3-2 formation with wingbacks and a sweeper. Here is my first team.

So far I've played 7 matches in Serie A, won 4 and lost 3, and am sitting in 7th place. I made it to the first first round of the Euro Cup but got kicked out by Everton.

With my formation I have been able to dominate most games with several clear chances on goal but my players can't seem to convert many. Also my defenders are rather slow and get beaten easily by quick strikers. Santacore is quickest defender I have but his aerial and marking abilities aren't great at the moment. I looked into Criscito like JimmyWangYang said and he is a cheap buy but his wage demands are very high. Also he's on loan so he won't come until next season. I'm also looking into a new keeper as the two i have are not the greatest.

If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

[soli]

At the moment the best you could do is to scour the reserves of major teams for loan signings. Check out Leandro Gioda and Abuyakari (sp?) Yakubu.

For GK have a look at Federico Vilar. See how the scouts rate him. Ochoa too gets sold fairly cheapish around 3.5M. And he is not averse to going to lower reputation teams. For instance i have seen him going to Middlesborough.

EDIT: Great update btw

[Guest]

Got my copy of FM09 in the mail yesterday(earlier then I had expected) and started my Napoli save. Mind you I didnt get much time in yet. I did play a few games already though. So far I am trying to play a fairly narrow 41212 with mixed success. While we have been controlling all of our matches so far and defending great it seems really difficult to score goals. Concerning transfers I have not made any major signings yet I just picked up some youngstars while getting rid of some old fringe players. In January I am looking to get a proper Goalie in though if I can muster the money and maybe a Striker as Denis has been crap so far. Heres hoping Zalayeta can score some goals when he is back to full fitness.

[tansrb]

started playing napoli with mixed successes. sold hamsik to city for a whopping 36 million, used the cash to get rosina (arond 10m) and joao moutinho (19m +clauses). also have rafael van der vaart (who was surprisingly transfer listed) on loan.

in Leo ( 5m) i found a wonderkid and my team has started winning games more often.

i play a 4-1-2-2-1 formation, with the back four being maggio (WBR), cannavaro and leo (CB) and Vitale (WBL). my DM is blasi, with joao moutinho and gargano occupying the CM roles and rosina (AMR) and van der vaart (AML), and of course, Lavezzi up front.

im not too sure why, but this team is extremely form based. one moment they can pull off an upset and beat roma in the cup 2-1, and another i find myself losing to torino 3-0.

well... will keep updated on my game.

currently am gonna play sevilla in the quarter finals of the UEFA cup.. beat villa with an aggrigate of 5-3, then shaktar with an aggrigate of 2-2 on away goals. gonna be a hugely difficult match against them i guess.

for the italian cup im in the semi finals with juve in the way of my cup dreams now. another huge game in which im fully expecting to lose.

im currently 6th in the league, and aiming for just a eurpoean spot as the big four of AC, inter, roma, juve are pulling away...

[tansrb]

report: have managed to sign timo hildebrand from valencia from the transfer list at a bargain 3m ^_^

denis is so on form for me now that im actually forced (!) to drop lavezzi from the first team.

[xonnk]

Denis? Heh i just sold the guy for 8 mil to Genoa, he was crap all season.

On the Napoli topic, i am now heading into the second season, and apologies to the hard-core Napoli fans here, but i'm a manager who likes revolutionising teams when i take them over, so i've made quite a few changes.

First off before the first season, i bought Martin Palermo for 2.6m euros, Roberto Ayala for 2.1m euros and Enyeama for 300k, as well as loaning Belletti from Chelsea.

While playing the first rounds of VASE cup, i played against Lech of Poland and was kicked by this guy Robert Lewandowski, who i bought immediatly after the first leg for 1.5m, he kicked their own team's butt on 2nd leg with 2 goals.

Had an average first half of the season before January came, and i bought Fabio Aurelio and loaned out Aronica, days later i offered Hamsik out and i got a 50m offer from Barcelona which i accepted, and used the money to buy Van der Vaart, Lassana Diarra, Andres D'Alessandro and Angelo Di Maria.

Oh and i forgot to mention, knowing i would have to play most of the time every 3 days, and had to rest the main players for UEFA which was my priority, i also contracted Ronaldo, who scored quite a few goals with my second teams against the likes of Siena and stuff, helped me keep the tempo up.

Second half of the season started going so well, i reached the final of Italian cup and Semis of UEFA, as well as almost catching the 4th placed Juventus on the league, but that's when it all got screwed!

Dortmund kicked my butt on the semis of the UEFA, and it broke my players apart, i lost the italian cup final to Inter, and won NONE of the games left in Serie A, dropped down to 7th!

I headed into the summer though and i was given a staggering budget of 59 mil euros for europe qualification ambition.

So i have so far sold: Ayala, Zalayeta, Grieco, Pazienza, Grava, De Zerbi, Navarro, Montervino, Esposito, Iezzo, Ronaldo, Denis, Bucchi.

And bought: Thibaud Mari(15 years GREAT goalkeeper), Lugano (Free transfer), Rusotto(from loan), Pedro Lopez(Maggio cover), Oscaro Cardozo(love him), Alexander Frei (cover striker, he scored 2 goals to make sure we said goodbye to UEFA), Edinho (Kick-butt DMC), Henok Goitom(great striker, was offered for 300k, in the value of 7mil, who wouldnt take it?)

And lastly, i'm now looking for a world-class GK to finish my team up, gonna kick some butt this season, or if not this one, the next one the latest, since the squad needs time to blend.

Best players so far: Maggio (player of hte year), Lewandowski (impressive joker, always scores headers), Blasi (very stabil), Van der Vaart (ALWAYS seems to be able to make something up with the ball).

Disappointing players:

Lavezzi(though he scored many goals against big teams, he went about 1500 minutes without a goal at the end of the season)

Denis(expected better of him, he did totaly nothing)

Rinaudo(great stats, very error-prone)

Hamsik(I'd expect some more than every now and then miracles from him, not to mention him being the most tired player every game, even though i'd rest and play him only when 100%)

[rustydusty10]

Yea i have to sub Hamsik every single game due to tiredness...very frustrating!

[soli]

xonnk

Good season mate and £50M for Hamsik

[JimmyWangYang]

You might regret selling Hamsik once you see how juicy he gets at full potential. While I understand the need to generate cash with his sale, you should also keep in mind that having players with potential worldwide rep like him at the club will seriously boost your chances of attracting other players of the same caliber. Good work in keeping the Argentinean link with Andres D'Alessandro and Angelo Di Maria though. Diego Maradona will be re-visiting San Paolo soon to check on the progress of these two.

As a curiosity, the stadium of San Paolo was to be renamed after Diego Maradona, but due to an Italian law that says that public buildings cannot be renamed after any person who has not been dead for at least 10 years, the Italian government had to block the name change. It’s still very likely though that if Napoli build a new stadium in the game, it will be named after Maradona as he is and will forever be the biggest legend that ever set foot in Naples.

Quick tip about Lavezzi: he enjoys playing with a free role. If you look at his stats, he’s not your typical poacher striker – he can pass and cross as well. So in addition to a free role you should also set his ‘crossing’ and ‘cross from’ to ‘mixed’, and if you have a target man like Palermo playing next to him then his ‘cross aim’ should be set to ‘target man’. Just as important is to keep the length of your stadium’s pitch, as this will favor the speed and stamina of this very unique player.

[tansrb]

beat sevilla 2-0 at home in the first leg with rosina scoring a brace.

signed henri saivet, who would be coming over next season, as well as two brazillans in marquinhos and someone else (whom i forgot his name =/).

[xonnk]

Very nice points JimmyWangYang, they sure were to be helpful as i gave them close attention.

Unfortunately though, i'm sorry to inform you all that my Napoli game got crashed:(. The 24th July crash burns hit me because i selected Serie C too, and i can't get past it in no way, SI said they were looking to fix it, but either way it means i have to start a new game:(.

So i guess i have to check into some new 2nd or 3rd league team to manage.

[soli]

Thats unlucky mate

[tansrb]

finished 6th in the league at the end of my first season. lost in the finals of the italian cup to inter, lost in the semi finals of the UEFA cup to AC. not a bad year i must say, with rosina taking the player of the year in my team.

rosina was sold to madrid for 45 million (bought him at 10m) early next season as much i hated to see him go, the board accepted the transfer on my behalf. signed marquinhos as a replacement to him and pre-season i played chelsea, blackburn, and some other small clubs.

drew chelsea, with timo hildebrand getting injured (2 months) in the process =(, and trashed blackburn 4-0, with joao moutinho scoring two fks, di maria netting one, and lavezzi netting the last with a piledriver from way out.

with the money i got from rosina i decided to get miguel veloso (39m) and thus my team now is somehing like this

-------------hildebrand-------------

---------leo------cannavaro--------

vitale---------gargarno------maggio

---------veloso-----moutinho------

di maria-----------------marquinhos

--------------lavezzi---------------

signed rivas for less than 2m from inter too. im sure he'd prove to be a decent backup to my two centre backs.

[tansrb]

managed to sign this brazilan striker called kerrison in hopes that he can partner lavezzi. either that or i'll use him as a backup. have 3 more friendlies and intending to experiment formations involving these two quick players.

[soli]

Good season mate . Wills start a game tomorrow when exams get over

[Jeff3037]

I finished my season and could only manage 6th place. Gonna change my formation from A 5-3-2 to a 4-2-1-2-1. I brought in Di Maria and currently looking for an AMR (suggestions please) and i'm currently trying to buy Akinfeev.

tansrb

I was wondering how did Lavezzi do for you as a lone striker? any tips in setting his sliders would be very welcome.

[tansrb]

I finished my season and could only manage 6th place. Gonna change my formation from A 5-3-2 to a 4-2-1-2-1. I brought in Di Maria and currently looking for an AMR (suggestions please) and i'm currently trying to buy Akinfeev.

tansrb

I was wondering how did Lavezzi do for you as a lone striker? any tips in setting his sliders would be very welcome.

if u opened brazil try marquinhos for AMR. altho im still positive that Rosina is one of the best bargains you'd ever get

Lavezzi played more of a running forward to me. as im playing a direct counterattacking team, i base my attacks on pure pace. that's where Rosina, Di Maria, and Lavezzi come into play. With veloso (blasi in the previous season) and moutinho supplying balls. Maggio and vitale also play an important part in the attack by being overlapping wingbacks.

I give Lavezzi a free role, up forward runs, and i asked him to learn how to find and beat the offside trap (in the player interaction part). offside trap part is very effective as moutinho too, was instructed to try killer balls often. combine these two together and you get lots of one on ones with the keeper.

Lavezzi played a good season for me tbh. not fantastic, but just good. At times he just couldn find a way past the central defenders (esp against fast ones), so i would have to throw in German Denis as a target man, and ask the wingers/wingbacks to supply crosses to him. that helped too. Denis bagged 14 goals althogether in the season.

Lavezzi scored 20-ish. cant remember the exact number he scored although Rosina outscored him. Lavezzi is also my top assister in the team, perhaps due to the fact that my wingers are always the ones who find dangerous positions.

yup that's about it. interested in finding out how others play this interesting striker.

[CGreeson]

I haven’t started my Napoli game yet, but here’s a couple of reasons why you should join me in this endeavor:

- Napoli is the fourth most supported club in Italy, and without a doubt the most hated. An astonishing 23 clubs are listed as their rivals in the game. Everyone will be gunning for you. Luckily most of the players can handle pressure very well, but this is definitely something to keep in mind as you make new signings.

I've played FM with various squads from most of the other big European leagues but have never managed an Italian side. Some brilliant posts on here have just about convinced me to give Napoli a go. I like taking clubs that could realistically become giants but aren't there today to the top, and it seems this club fits that profile. A couple of questions:

- How did a club that has had relatively modest success become the 4th most supported club in Italy?

- 23 rivals??? How did they manage to become hated by so many teams?

Thanks for all the great posts.

[tansrb]

I've played FM with various squads from most of the other big European leagues but have never managed an Italian side. Some brilliant posts on here have just about convinced me to give Napoli a go. I like taking clubs that could realistically become giants but aren't there today to the top, and it seems this club fits that profile. A couple of questions:

- How did a club that has had relatively modest success become the 4th most supported club in Italy?

- 23 rivals??? How did they manage to become hated by so many teams?

Thanks for all the great posts.

things go back a long long way to the maradona era.

the peak of S.S.C Napoli's reign was then. the trio of Maradona, Careca and Giordano, along with the likes of ciro ferriera, the emerging zola, and other good players were really strong.

they won the UEFA cup in the 1989 season (if im not wrong), and won the Serie A about the same time. they dominated till their downfall in the early 90s, then the club went burst at around 2004 and went into the dreaded administration. they were relegated all the way down to Serie C, but gradually started their climb up.

this is a team of character, die hard fans, and of course, good players and history.

about the rival thingy im not sure why too, but all i know is that napoli's number one rivals is roma. due to the close proximity

[tansrb]

oh yes. and not to forget, the great Dino Zoff played between the sticks in Napoli colors before too

[tansrb]

alrght guys... wont be playing FM till after my exams, which are coming in two weeks' time.

will be stopping by once in a while to see how's everyone doing but yeah for now i think i'd stop playing.

up for Napoli

[Dov Saan!!!]

Fancied having a go with Napoli myself so i thought id give it a bash.

Club makes a steady profit evey month and after selling Hamsik to Man City you get a good amoung to spend!!

Ins:

Ustari

Youngster from Barca (Cb transfer listed for 12 mill or sumthin!) Carceres possibly??

Vicente

Arshavin

Hugo Viana

Pogrebnyak

To be honest the season isnt going that great

In April just now and sitting in 7th in the league but squad is sooo inconsistent its annoying!!

Struggling to get goals also as Lavezzi & Pogrebnyak are not doing the business Got Saviola coming in the summer for £3million and thought it was quite a bargain!

Gk - Ustari

Rb - Santacroce

Lb - Vitale

Cb - Carceres

Cb - Cannavaro

Dm - Blasi

Rm - Maggio

Lm - Vicente

Am - Arshavin

St - Pogrebnyak

St - Lavezzi

As i said Saviola coming in July and really hoping to get Miguel Veloso if my budget allows

Any help would be great!

Thanks x

[tansrb]

season's heading downhill for me after a bright start. got veloso out, van der vaart out, lavezzi out, hildebrand out, and maggio out.

damn i hate the engine of this game... too injury prone alr...