[FM22] San Marino build a nation (Folgore/Falciano)

[TheNapalmNerd]

Champions League 2047

We

This as not a safe campaign. not by far. Everton we're ahead in both matches, and Inter were close to knocking us out. We're in the final for the 9th time in a row. which is totally crazy, but for the last many seasons we've ahd the greatest team, and for the last six seasons the ballon d'or winner is either one of our strikers: Ed Malyon or Joao Pereira, with the other coming second. so it's no surprise we've been so consistent, but it requires equal amounts of luck and we've had it this season when not performing.

Interestingly the 3-3 match against Everton, one of their players scored a hattrick. That guy was Tom Rhodes who they have on loan from us...

Edited December 18, 2023 by TheNapalmNerd

[TheNapalmNerd]

Champions League Final 2047: Bayern München (N)

Winners! in another tight match, but we came out winners in the end, and can celebrate once again.

Things shouldn't have been as tight as they were, but as has been all season our efficiency has gone down. This is our 9th victory in the champions league and we will soon reach the numbers of Real Madrid and become the biggest cclub in history, while also raising the standards of San Marinese football as well.

 

New players are coming into the squad and some of the elder players will soon be replaced.  Our wingers are getting old and could do well in central midfield next season. I feel like we've lacked dominance in midfield and they are still som eof the best players in the world at 31 and 32. Meanwhile we can make space for new talent on the wings, ensuring the generational shift.

[TheNapalmNerd]

San Marino in Europe 2047:

Status Quo from last year, but still very good that we haven't gone down again.

Actually last season wasn't that good on the individual side, as most teams didn't do too well. Tre Penne got smashed, while Virtus and Cosmos went out in the first knockout round of the conference league. It doesn't look good on their points tally.

 

Now this really is something good for the nation. but in this year we are already 3.000 behind Czech republic as we lose a good year and they lose a very bad year. We might struggle retaining 6th, but should regain it next year.

This also shows our struggle. Even with the other teams contributing a bit, our highest high is still only 12.000 in one season.

[TheNapalmNerd]

UEFA Super Cup 2047: Athletic Club (N)

A great win in a match where there should be no doubts about the winner. We were still of to a slow start however as they managed to come back two times before we smashed them in the second half.

The match marks the start of the new season and a new era at Folgore Falciano. This summer has seen the departures of lots of established footballers, who could easily have spent many seasons at the club still, but instead we're now making changes for the future and have switched to a much younger defence and and goalkeeper this season, meaning I will be expecting lots of mistakes at the back this season. They're still quality though, and the rest of the field should compensate if we let in too many goals.

[TheNapalmNerd]

Fantastic start to the season

We're in it. We have five teams in europe this season! This is an amazing chance to step up and consolidate sixth place in the national coefficient. Meanwhile our biggest rival Czech republic only has three teams in europe and are facing a tough task at defending their lead. Having five teams in europe was a bit utopic for us, as Virtus lost their first qualification match 3-0, but somehow they came back and won 4-0 at home before securing qualification in the next round.

 

Virtus has a great chance at progressing to the first knockout round in this group. Atalanta of course will win, but Linfield (who are in the progress of losing their best players right now ) and Omonoia should be doable.

 

Tough group for Cosmos. Gent, Trabzonspor and Rosenborg are all quality teams in the conference group stage. I doubt their progression, but we can hope. The other teams seem to mostly have grey players in their squads. That is okay, but their level is a lot better than the grey players we can get...

 

Tre Penne stand with an excellent chance of winning their group. LASK could be a problem, but Sepsi and Shkendija are a level under Tre Penne. Interestingly Tre Penne seem to mostly be buying San Marinese players, this could slow their progress in the long run if they don't change their vision soon.

 

We'll be lucky if they can salvage anything in this group.

 

Man Utd could be a problem for our squad after we've switched things up in defence, but our progression should never be in doubt. We should be getting about 14 points from this group.

[TheNapalmNerd]

Top 100!

Finally! After spending a long time on the brink of top 100 we finally broke into the top 100. Another huge step for San Marino. This last step took about six years since San Marino went up to 102.

There's potential for another step up the ranking in October.

[TheNapalmNerd]

End of an era for San Marino

The football year is over in terms of national football, and after failing qualification for the European Championships 2048 Riccardo Rosti announced his retirement. This is terrible news for the small nation. He's the only world class player San Marino has.

2047 has been a succesful year for the national squad and had one result gone the other way, then they would have qualified for the euros.

It has been a good year for the national squad, with a step further up the rankings. Things are really moving forward albeit still a bit slow. I don't know how much of an impact it will have on the national squad, that Rosti has stopped his international career, but it is something I will have in mind for the future as he no longer has potential to make an overall difference for the national squad. Instead we should perhaps start to prioritise the development of younger players, than playing Rosti as much as we have.

He will be missed.

 

I have been keeping track of the nations youth rating, and also kept a little track of Riccardo Rostis potential after we trained him up. Check below for hidden numbers.

Spoiler

In terms of youth rating San Marino has gone up quite a bit over the years. When the game started in 2021 San Marino had a youth rating of 29, and now it has gone all the way up to 46. This indicates we'll see bigger talents than before. The number is still quite low however, and there will be long between the big talents. So far we've only had Riccardo Rosti coming through who was 4,5 star at his best (CA 166, PA 173). The next best players so far have maxed out at 2,5 stars.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by TheNapalmNerd

[TheNapalmNerd]

Best season so far!

And there's no doubt about it actually. The numbers don't lie and right now we have consolidated 6th position in the nations coefficient ranking hopefully for some time to come:

I was worried about Czech Republic in summer, but they've been swept away and is no longer a threat to us. Actually no one really is at the moment. But how did things turn out this way?

 

Our own campaign is a huge succes so far, we did however manage to throw away a 2-0 lead at Old Trafford, but we can live with that:

Naturally we won the group, and secured a lot of points ourselves.

 

I did not expect much from this group but they did manage to secure 3rd and a few points after all.

They did okay in this group. Coming third against these teams is an okay feat for Cosmos.

 

Tre Penne is a big succes this season. Their unexpected run in the conference league continues and they secured 2nd place in their group.

 

3rd place in this group. I would have taken that deal any day. This is big. They beat Besiktas twice and secured third, coming very very very close to second.

SP Cailungo are through to the first knockout round of the Conference League, and it could easily have been Europa League instead had they had better direct results against Real Sporting.

 

Two wins, two draws, and two losses against Atalanta. That is highly acceptable for now. In the long run Linfield and Omonoia should never have gotten points against Virtus, but for now we'll take it. And they are through to the first knockout round as well.

 

 

This is a huge season for the little nation. Breaking into top 100 and four teams in the knockout stages in february.

We stand with a great chance at having the best season ever in Europe, even without us winning the Champions League this season.

[TheNapalmNerd]

Conference League Draw

Sparta Prague, APOEL and Dunajska Streda. All teams stand with an okay chance and I will be very disappointed if they're all out after the first knockout round.

[TheNapalmNerd]

New year 2048:

We're still going strong in the 27th season of the game. The last ten years have seen consistency in the Champions League and we're finally at a place where the other teams are starting to catch up a little bit in Europe. Overall things are looking very good this season as well. We're in the middle of a generational shift in our first team squad, and the younger players have been performing well, along with some of the more experienced players.

In summer we said goodbye to a lot of wageheavy players in order for us to introduce some of the younger ones and overall just lower our expenses while planning for the future. This resulted in us selling or lending our players who all together helped us lower our wages by 2M Euros per week. 

 

Of these players especially Peña, Byrne, Luciani, Anselmo, along with Sven Slor and Daniel who we sent out on loan helped us lower our wages:

They're all quality players, but their presence in our ssquad hampered the progression of some of the younger players and in the long run it seemed like an expensive solution to keep them. Peña never really performed well over longer periods and we had enough right backs and central midfielders to let go of him and move on. Darren Byrne was almost the perfect player except for the fact that he didn't like big matches. Luciani was replaced by the younger Solskjær who is homegrown and has turned out to become a quality player. Slor was good but small and that really showed in some of the matches, and then he was on high wages that I really want to get rid of. Daniel was bought in as a replacement for Milovanovic but our focus on training Brandon Jones while he should become homegrown has given us an unbelievable player. Now Daniels presence is hampering the younger players and his wages are high. Anselmo never really broke into the first team but was a talent I bought from Inter with way too high wages for a player we lent out all the time.

With many players going out we only really brought in one player for the first team, while we had some players from the loan farm joining the first team squad:

Leuteria was brought in for a high sum as part of the generational shift in defence.

We're working on some of the technical attributes especially his heading skill. Otherwise we have a player who can be part of the squad for many years to come. In the long run he can also be trained to play as a left back. Such versatility is worth a lot to the squad.

 

 

Right now we're fielding this team when we're at our strongest:

 

In goal we've switched away from 7 times worlds best goalkeeper in a row Federico Orzechowski, and are now playing with Dries Verfaille. Orzechowski is perhaps the best player, but at 35 he is beginning to quickly decline, while Verfaille still might have some potential to discover at 26. We're currently working on his reflexes in individual training.

 

Right Back:

Christopher Madden is our obvious first choice right back. We're already working on his replacement as Claude Cissé is given playing time, to see if he can do what Brandon Jones did. The potential seems to be there.

 

Centre Back:

In central defence we have our defensive superstar Brandon Jones who has really developed well and has become probably the best defender in the world. Along with Jones, Ryan Dean and Leuteria are also capable defenders with lots of potential and someone to who can be at the club in the future. Ryan Deans progress has probably been stalled as I made him homegrown at the club but didn't use him quite as much as I should have:

These guys are supported by Tom Laskowski, 30, who is also a four star player and Model Professional who we're using to mentor the younger players. We're not planning on playing him anymore.

 

Left Back:

Murad Ceferov is my preferred choice at left back, but ultimately we have both Gerega (the best player but hasn't performed) and Pelayo who can also do a good job there:

Gerega is also more of an option in midfield than at left back after underperforming a lot. But our Central Midfield is just too strong for him to claim first team football.

 

Central Midfield:

This field is hugely ruled by Maertens and Didier Dias who have been top performers at the club for the last ten seasons. I'm in the process of training up new midfielders and we have a high prospect in Axel Favre playing every match in San Marino to gain experience and develop. Riccardo Rosti of course is also at the club. He's just turned 30 now, and has been at the club for 12 years, claiming all nine of our Champions League medals along the way.

Favre really seems to have potential to go far already at 19. I'm working on him becoming homegrown. We are actually at a great advantage when it comes to homegrown players, but some of the younger players we're trying to keep a bit more track of right now, as we will soon be needing them in the squad. Dias and Maertens will soon be gone and Favre has to be ready for that moment. Then we might go with Gerega besides him for a while. We are not ready to replace all players yet. Midfield is okay. We're off far worse up front.

 

 

[TheNapalmNerd]

First team part two

Too many pictures for one post

 

Right Winger (inverted):

Here we have Solskjær as the best player. Or actually the best player is Maertens who I have put in central midfield. Solskjær is followed by Adam Grace, Marian Kunert and Muhittin Yoldas with the latter being our starting left winger.

Lots of great players. Kunert is primarily in the squad because he is homegrown. He was one I had high hopes for when I bought him at 18. He was a three star player already and he has become an okay player but never managed to make the step  up to that next level. Adam Grace is actually my preferred third striker, but I play him where needed in order for him to get some game time.

 

Left winger (inverted):

Yoldas is our starting player here, and then we have Didier Dias who can also play here as well. In the domestic matches we're fielding another youngster in Kolawolé Abiala:

Abiala is a player I have high expectations for. He reminds me of Kunert. I just hope he can become just that extra bit better in the long run. He's already in the national squad. Working on hijm to become homegrown as well.

 

Strikers:

This is our strongest area. I am sure we have the two best strikers in the world and I will be going for them a bit longer even though they are now at 30. Malyon and Pereira have shared the Ballon d'or amongst them for the last seven seasons (Malyon 3 - Pereira 4).

They actually also represent a problem in our squad because the obvious choice as their replacement is still nowhere to be seen. I believe we can have at least five more seasons with this duo though, so we still have time to train a player like Adam Grace as a replacement in the long run. Malyon has scored over 900 goals for the club already, and look at that statistic for the national squad. He's been the deadliest striker for many seasons now. The only one close to Malyon is of course Pereira who is just a tad better, but on the day they share most goals between them. Pereira is the record goalscorer at the club in one season with 100 goals. Overall Malyon still has the supreme lead though.

 

And that's it for now. I will be focusing on replacing the central midfield in the time coming, and then we will see what happens up front. For now defence and goal can be the same for the next 8 seasons without any problems.

[TheNapalmNerd]

Almost the end of a fantastic season!

The first knockout round became the end for Cailungo, but both Tre Penne and Virtus won their draws and went through to the next round.

The second round became the end for both teams. It's a shame, but still promising for things to come that they made it this far.

 

Meanwhile our own campaign was close to be done as well, but we managed to come back and win in penalties:

A bit too close for my liking, but none the less also a bit expected as our defence is not very experienced at the moment and it really showed in these matches. We're still in it though and have Man City in the next round.

[Spiklas]

I started reading this from the beginning, am only on page 2. Byt just want to ask how is it possible to play in the champions league on your first season if the San Marino league is so down in the ranking? 

This doesn't seem very real to me

[TheNapalmNerd]

On 01/01/2024 at 23:47, Spiklas said:

I started reading this from the beginning, am only on page 2. Byt just want to ask how is it possible to play in the champions league on your first season if the San Marino league is so down in the ranking? 

This doesn't seem very real to me

Somewhere in that comment there is a huge compliment and testiment to the results we got early on. It wasn't the champions League though. It was the Conference League We we're in the qualification for the Champions League as the reigning national champions though, and with that we were sent into the Europa League qualification and finally the conference League as we were knocked out along the way.

 

The reason we got into the conference league is mostly due to the fact that players want to join your club based on the current ability of the squad. At the start of the save, we could sign players on non contracts, thus rapidly increasing the current ability of the squad without any costs except for the scouting budget. When we qualified for the Conference League we got a huge amount of money for the level we were at, and that ensured our progress, as I spent it on foreign talent/newgens. After a few seasons we started getting in money when we sold most of the talent we couldn't use. And that's sort of how it all went underway.

 

We first went into the Champions League in the fourth season, and it wasn't good for us to go that quick into it, because we didn't really improve that much those seasons and our reputation still wasn't good. Overall if I would start it all over I would have stayed in the conference League for the first many seasons to ensure that our reputation would grow, and our domestic competitors would have benefitted much more.

 

It is very much real and thinking back I believe I could replicate the results in the first season again. With any other team for San Marino i'd be able to do it in the second season. The key is being the national champion and getting into the Champions League Qualification. Then you can easily end up in the conference league.

[TheNapalmNerd]

Champions League Final 2048

We've gone all the way to the final once again

It's been a bumpy ride but we're in the final, securing a season with a nations coefficient almost on par with some of the biggest nations, and one that will secure our foundation in the coefficient run for the next many seasons, hopefully. There is a worrying tendency however, as we've conceded in every knockout match we've played so far. Our defence simply isn't playing well enough.

Bayern will be an interesting opponent. We are the better team, but they have consistently been among the best and have lots of great players who can shake things up.

[TheNapalmNerd]

Champions League Final 2048: Bayern München (N)

As I feared...

Just as everything was about to end they came back and we didn't have any condition left. Terrible result...

Edited January 7 by TheNapalmNerd

[TheNapalmNerd]

San Marino in Europe 2048:

We've made it tom the top six in competition rankings for the domestic league. And that's about as good as it can get for the next long while. We've overtaken Portugal, but next up it's Ligue 1 from France. That will be a very long time, since we don't really ahve any great teams in San Marino other than Folgore.

Sixth place in competition ranking is equal to the nations coefficient list where we have consolidated our claim to the european competitions, and next season will have at least two teams in the champions league and two teams in the europa league.

Interestingly if we had won the Champions League, San Marino would have had a better season than Spain and at level of France. We can only hope for some of the other teams to get even more succes in the Conference League in the future. I have my doubts over how much help we'll get from the other teams in Champions League and Europa League in terms of coefficient points, but we can hope.

[TheNapalmNerd]

End of an era:

We say goodbye to Riccardo Rosti, the greatest San Marinese player to ever grace the game, and a player who has been a big part of the succes we've had over the years.

Rosti has never been the best player in terms of technical attributes, but he has made great contributions in most of our Champions League Campaigns over the years. We salute him and he is one of the most winning players of all time, but after his international retirement it was time to let him move on to a new adventure, and let new talent have their chance at the club. We have plenty of international talent to replace Rosti. On the domestic side things are looking a bit more shady though, but in time we will hopefully see more talent of his quality.