Lee Young-pyo : inter galactic (continental?) journeyman and tactical visionary - Chapter 3 - Napoli

[Hootieleece]

I always like balanced squads with basically two interchangeable players for each position. I usually try to find similar players who can play different roles for "important" positions in a tactic. (IE a Trequarista vs. an Advanced Playmaker, or Shadow Striker at AMC) or (Poacher vs. Advanced Forward, or Pressing Forward and #9)

I have been playing with three at the back trying out the WCB roles using the 5-2-1-2 WB Nesselquist Tactic.   I have varied the roles due to available players.....I am now in MLS with my local team in 2028 in my journeyman save.

[Sahaj Oberoi]

Interesting journey so far. This is a very good thread. I was wondering if you would consider PSV Eindhoven as your next club since Lee Young-Pyo played for them in real life. Also dipping into the MLS and Australian League would be a cool idea. Maybe even Qatar or UAE leagues? Since a lot of good Asian players play for clubs in those regions.

[karanhsingh]

8 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

I always like balanced squads with basically two interchangeable players for each position. I usually try to find similar players who can play different roles for "important" positions in a tactic. (IE a Trequarista vs. an Advanced Playmaker, or Shadow Striker at AMC) or (Poacher vs. Advanced Forward, or Pressing Forward and #9)

I have been playing with three at the back trying out the WCB roles using the 5-2-1-2 WB Nesselquist Tactic.   I have varied the roles due to available players.....I am now in MLS with my local team in 2028 in my journeyman save.

I do too. And now i think i have players who can perform to a good level in multiple roles. 

Also we can definitely switch to a back 3 if needed that flexibility also remains. 

Which is your local team? I guess you aren't writing about this save. 

[karanhsingh]

6 hours ago, Sahajpal Oberoi said:

Interesting journey so far. This is a very good thread. I was wondering if you would consider PSV Eindhoven as your next club since Lee Young-Pyo played for them in real life. Also dipping into the MLS and Australian League would be a cool idea. Maybe even Qatar or UAE leagues? Since a lot of good Asian players play for clubs in those regions.

Thanks for your kind words!

I agree with you that PSV would be good but unfortunately (?) They are doing well on the save already and even won the Dutch league under AI control. The same goes for his other former European clubs Dortmund & Spurs. 

MLS could have been cool given that he ended his playing career in Canada IRL but I've never been able to wrap my head around their rules. I don't have the other leagues loaded. 

There is still a lot of work to be done at Napoli and after that will see which other European club comes up that presents and interesting project! For now I'm glad I turned down England and ended up in Italy. 

[Hootieleece]

4 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Which is your local team? I guess you aren't writing about this save. 

New England Revolution.

I am not writing about this save but enjoying learning the nuances of the Back 3 and the WCB Role.

MLS is easy. You can pay up to 3 players (Designated Players) whatever you want. Everyone counts against the Salary Cap. (No player counts more than 550K towards cap of $7M) No more than 30 players on the team and no more than 8 Internationals. Easiest way to build the team is through the draft and signing aging European Super Stars as DP's. (See LAFC with Bale and Chiellini now or LA Galaxy with Beckham, Zlatan, Stevie G, etc. prior to today)

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, Hootieleece said:

New England Revolution.

I am not writing about this save but enjoying learning the nuances of the Back 3 and the WCB Role.

MLS is easy. You can pay up to 3 players (Designated Players) whatever you want. Everyone counts against the Salary Cap. (No player counts more than 550K towards cap of $7M) No more than 30 players on the team and no more than 8 Internationals. Easiest way to build the team is through the draft and signing aging European Super Stars as DP's. (See LAFC with Bale and Chiellini now or LA Galaxy with Beckham, Zlatan, Stevie G, etc. prior to today)

That's the simplest way I've seen anyone describe it. May need to give it a shot sometime soon. 

I was quite surprised IRL to see Toronto sign Insigne who i consider to be a player still somewhat in his prime. 

[Sahaj Oberoi]

Jesse Lingard could be going to the MLS too. Gareth Bale may not be in his "prime" but he is still good enough for clubs like Newcastle, Spurs and Everton. He is at LAFC now in the MLS.

[karanhsingh]

27 minutes ago, Sahajpal Oberoi said:

Jesse Lingard could be going to the MLS too. Gareth Bale may not be in his "prime" but he is still good enough for clubs like Newcastle, Spurs and Everton. He is at LAFC now in the MLS.

Lingard i think will stay in England. Bale i don't think wanted to slug it out at a mid table side. But fair enough. 

[DavidBeckham]

Marcio Santos is going to be unbelievable in a few years. I will go hard tackling on him at every opportunity! If you can't have him, stop him  

[karanhsingh]

32 minutes ago, DavidBeckham said:

Marcio Santos is going to be unbelievable in a few years. I will go hard tackling on him at every opportunity! If you can't have him, stop him  

Haha that might have to be the plan!

[karanhsingh]

2027 Winter Break Review

I don't understand what's happening this season. It's all been a bit insane.

The new tactic seems pretty deadly up front. We've had some ridiculous scorelines including scoring ten at home in the Europa league and hitting nine away at Lecce.

The only defeat was extremely unlucky as we went down 1-2 in Rome to Lazio. That was followed by a dour draw at home vs Inter but we did go into the winter break on a high with a massive late win in Turin.

Somehow despite the on-pitch heroics we are only topping the table on goal difference, as it is looking like a very tight 3 horse race between ourselves, Milan and Juventus. The standards in Serie A are now very high indeed.

Juve of course have had a world class squad for sometime now, whereas Milan basically have a new lease of life thanks to afore-mentioned Marcio Santos who already has 13 goals in his first few months there.

We will need to keep up this level of performance to have any hope of actually winning the Scudetto.

[karanhsingh]

This is the tactic in more detail, @Cheez3yas you can see mate I have tweaked it and gone back to using wing backs as the IWBs were just not working for me.

I must say that this tactic is the best I've played with on FM22 so far, the combinations at the front are absolutely electric.

At the same time, I am a bit lost as to why the same strike force was just not firing for my earlier tactic which was more of a 3-4-3. It's literally like a world of a difference. Everything I thought the forwards should be doing, they are doing now.

The difference mainly is that the wing backs were more pushed up while the RPM was an extra central defender - which ideally should not make such a massive difference on the field. But ah well, no looking back now.

[karanhsingh]

Finally, the squad stats from a fantastic few months:

The two young strikers got from Portugal are leading the scoring charts, although there is no doubt in my mind that Francisco has been the main man with most of his goals coming in the league and being rested in Europe. With Carreiro it's the opposite as he's scored I think 3 separate hat-tricks in our European games.

Lozano seems to be rolling back the years and Pessina has proved a shrewd acquisition even deputizing very ably as a SS due to a long-term injury to Cancellieri. 

At the back our two primary wing-backs Di Lorenzo and Sosa continue to impress, while Papetti & Araujo are developing a very good partnership indeed. I don't expect many changes in January, let's see what we can achieve this season!

[DaNascimento]

Holy. 10-0, 9-2 and a 6-1 against Roma. Looks like the team is on fire 

[karanhsingh]

14 minutes ago, DaNascimento said:

Holy. 10-0, 9-2 and a 6-1 against Roma. Looks like the team is on fire 

Yeah it's a bit nuts 

But seems to have settled down in December 

[Cheez3y]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

This is the tactic in more detail, @Cheez3yas you can see mate I have tweaked it and gone back to using wing backs as the IWBs were just not working for me.

I must say that this tactic is the best I've played with on FM22 so far, the combinations at the front are absolutely electric.

At the same time, I am a bit lost as to why the same strike force was just not firing for my earlier tactic which was more of a 3-4-3. It's literally like a world of a difference. Everything I thought the forwards should be doing, they are doing now.

The difference mainly is that the wing backs were more pushed up while the RPM was an extra central defender - which ideally should not make such a massive difference on the field. But ah well, no looking back now.

Well...then I guess my one with the IWBs must be a bit broken.

[karanhsingh]

Just now, Cheez3y said:

Well...then I guess my one with the IWBs must be a bit broken.

I think it can work with IWBs too of course but my squad is better suited to regular wing backs who can provide the width.

Anyway I am definitely not complaining right now.

[Sahaj Oberoi]

Atalanta in the relegation zone. That's insane. Also where is Victor Osimhen?

[karanhsingh]

45 minutes ago, Sahajpal Oberoi said:

Atalanta in the relegation zone. That's insane. Also where is Victor Osimhen?

Juventus, of course. Along with Chiesa, Jesus, Vini Jr, Richarlison and God knows who else. 

Atalanta sold us their best midfielder and defender without really replacing either. Go figure. 

[karanhsingh]

Our two wonderkid strikers are certainly winning some accolades now 

Not sure what the difference between the two awards is, but super happy to see this!

 

[karanhsingh]

Will do monthly updates now through the end of the season...

January was a perfect month in the league, but we unfortunately lost the Italian Super Cup to Juventus (of course) in a one-off match in Abu Dhabi.

They fully deserved the win too. Make no mistake, this is a world class side from top to bottom.

They've also kept up the pressure in the league with a succession of late wins, only dropping points in an away draw at fellow title challengers Milan.

We have a 3 point lead at the top but some important fixtures coming up soon.

Looking at our Goal Difference and xG superiority over our closest challenges, I would be disappointed if we don't see it out from here.

[karanhsingh]

Latest installment in the "we hate Juventus" series

This popped up in my news feed at the end of Jan... their wage bill leaves the rest of us in their wake and is almost 3x of ours. Not only that -

They also went and signed one of my favorite players from Benfica who was discovered at Incheon and I was eyeing up a move for the summer - had no money to make a bid in January or even a non-EU spot. And now he's gone to the enemy.

Edited July 13, 2022 by karanhsingh

[Sahaj Oberoi]

You're like many Napoli managers in real life. Let's hope that your Napoli side doesn't fall away and come up a bit short in the league.

[karanhsingh]

February 2028

Another perfect month in the league, although this time after heavy rotation we crash out early of the Copa Italia.

However I was most pleased with the wins over Roma (they seem to have no clue how to play us ) and Milan which was a very hard game. What's more, Juve finally have dropped some points.

We should do it from here, although we have some hard games left notably against Inter (a) and Juventus (h).

[karanhsingh]

Bottled it?

It's a two month update this time:

Was all going very well, until those last 2 league games. Inter away and Juventus at home.

2 huge matches against teams around us. 

36 shots in all taken by us, with only 11 on target. And 1 measly goal.

A grand total of just 9 shots against, with 4 on target. 4 goals conceded. 

0 points. 2 massive defeats. Especially against Juve, we needed at least a draw to keep them at bay. What's more is that due to the head to head record (I think) they will win the league if we finish level on points.

So this is either the most spectacular case of "being FM'd" I've experienced or seen, or my players are completely bottling it.

EDIT - also I must mention the Juventus winner coming from my former player and protege Kim Sung-Jin. Just for another kick in the teeth.

Edited July 14, 2022 by karanhsingh

[karanhsingh]

And so here is the table after all of that.

Juventus win all their games in hand (of course) which means an 8 point lead is now 2 points.

We will probably need to win our last 3 games which are Spezia (h), Bologna (a) and Fiorentina (a). The last one is the one I am worried about. The only solace is that Juventus and AC Milan also square off against each other on the final day of the season.

[karanhsingh]

Meanwhile we have made it to the Europa League final which will be an all Italian affair:

Wish me luck!

[Sheriff7]

They will drop some points in the end, i'm pretty sure for it.So league title is on your hands.Good luck!

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, Sheriff7 said:

They will drop some points in the end, i'm pretty sure for it.So league title is on your hands.Good luck!

Cheers man, I hope so! 

[13th Man]

You’ve been a lot of places since I’ve been away!

Interesting start in Korea, and great stuff in Portugal. The tactical evolution has been fun to watch as well, especially at lightning pace! The front trio is definitely a fun combo.

Its also fun that I’m catching up at such an exciting moment!

[SinlessCity]

10 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Meanwhile we have made it to the Europa League final which will be an all Italian affair:

Wish me luck!

After thumping them in the league, surely this is in the bag...

Do you stick to what worked, or shake it it up for the final?

[ManUtd1]

12 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Meanwhile we have made it to the Europa League final which will be an all Italian affair:

Wish me luck!

[karanhsingh]

14 hours ago, 13th Man said:

You’ve been a lot of places since I’ve been away!

Interesting start in Korea, and great stuff in Portugal. The tactical evolution has been fun to watch as well, especially at lightning pace! The front trio is definitely a fun combo.

Its also fun that I’m catching up at such an exciting moment!

Thanks! A rather large update for you to catch up on 

13 hours ago, SinlessCity said:

After thumping them in the league, surely this is in the bag...

Do you stick to what worked, or shake it it up for the final?

Definitely sticking to what worked, this formation is like magic!

[karanhsingh]

Brace yourselves guys.. lot of updates coming through

Spezia at home.. routine win. Nothing to worry about here.

[karanhsingh]

Bologna away.. a little nervy especially as we conceded first but we fought back and got a deserved winner

[karanhsingh]

And so it all comes down to the final day of the season. We have to match whatever Juventus do at home vs AC Milan.

The line-ups for the final battle.

We make a shocking start to the match, conceding 2 goals in the first half hour. It looks like nerves have got the better of us. Meanwhile at the other end we are missing some gilt edged chances. Finally, Papetti manages to pull one back from a corner. It is 2-1 to Fiorentina at HT.

In the second half, we mount a real fight back. The Juve-Milan game is tied 0-0 so we cannot rely on that outcome. We need to push ahead and find goals somehow.

We manage to make it 2-2 in the 50th minute when a cross is diverted into his own goal by Arrey-Mbi. After this it is a case of pushing on for the winner. As we push forward, there are some openings for Fiorentina to exploit. For us, a defeat or draw is one and the same. We huff & puff for the goal but alas, it does not come.

Final score is 2-2. The question being - would it be enough? Or would Juventus overtake us on the final day?

[karanhsingh]

Turns out it was enough  Juventus bottled it at home and in fact even lost the game to Milan giving up 2nd spot to them in the process.

And with that, Napoli have won the Scudetto !! 

An incredible season and one look at the table shows you just how strong the top 3 were.

97 points for us, and 94 each for Milan & Juve. Goal Differences of 85, 81 and 74. Ourselves and Milan crossed 100 goals scored for the season.

Insane stuff. I have to say - if we did not switch to the 4-1-2-1-2 diamond there is absolutely no way we would have even challenged for the title. This tactic is amazing! The best I have seen on the game so far.

[karanhsingh]

As for the Europa League Final...

It ended up being pretty comprehensive. We dominated the first half and were 2 goals to the good at HT. Lazio pulled one back to give us a scare but we went on to score another 2 late goals to finish them off.

I must thank them for eliminating Real Madrid in the semis which would almost certainly have been a tougher match up

[karanhsingh]

With that I am thinking of calling it a day for this save as Napoli feels like it was the end game... the main reason to go on would be to see just how good the likes of Francisco and Carreiro could get.

6 seasons, 3 clubs, 261 games played, 182 wins, 69% win rate, 6 cups and 4 league titles.

It's been quite the ride!

Lee also finishes on top of the South Korean HoF ranking.

[DavidBeckham]

Fantastic career! Would love to see him keep going to be honest! Or do you already have an interesting idea for a new save?  

[karanhsingh]

3 minutes ago, DavidBeckham said:

Fantastic career! Would love to see him keep going to be honest! Or do you already have an interesting idea for a new save?  

You know me.. it's the latter

I've already started it but working through the first season as we speak. 

[13th Man]

Congrats! Nervy last day, but a comprehensive win against Lazio - who I have a double dislike for after my Livorno save. 
Looking forward to your next adventure!

[ManUtd1]

7 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

With that I am thinking of calling it a day for this save as Napoli feels like it was the end game... the main reason to go on would be to see just how good the likes of Francisco and Carreiro could get.

6 seasons, 3 clubs, 261 games played, 182 wins, 69% win rate, 6 cups and 4 league titles.

It's been quite the ride!

Lee also finishes on top of the South Korean HoF ranking.

[Sheriff7]

[Cheez3y]

[SinlessCity]

A fitting end to a sparkling career...... Or is it?

 

 

A fantastic journey to follow, well done mate. Already looking forward to the next one!

[karanhsingh]

12 hours ago, 13th Man said:

Congrats! Nervy last day, but a comprehensive win against Lazio - who I have a double dislike for after my Livorno save. 
Looking forward to your next adventure!

Thanks mate! Always had a dislike for Lazio too. They actually offered me the job before Napoli and were of course swiftly turned down. 

[karanhsingh]

12 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

 

11 hours ago, Sheriff7 said:

 

11 hours ago, Cheez3y said:

 

9 hours ago, SinlessCity said:

A fitting end to a sparkling career...... Or is it?

 

 

A fantastic journey to follow, well done mate. Already looking forward to the next one!

Cheers everyone!

Will have a post about the next one up very soon

[karanhsingh]

Hey guys! 

My new thread is up, please give it a read if you like