[FM 24] | Cittá Di Palermo | C'è sempre il sole in Sicilia

[Cloud9]

2 hours ago, El Payaso said:

https://imgur.com/itdEuS1

This is the full tactic. 

Ahh I see now! Cool graphics    

18 hours ago, El Payaso said:

We have been one of the worst teams in Serie A both going forward and defending. Most of the time the performances have been really painful to watch as we don’t do many things well in the pitch. We are an error-prone team that doesn’t produce anything going forward. Even though we don't score any goals, we are still overachieving in this department. The reason why we do not score goals is on the other hand just because we don't create chances. To add to this, we have also been quite lucky in terms of defending as we are facing the second most shots in the league. We also let the opponents dominate the games in terms of passing. 

 To follow up on your question from the other thread:

• On overachieving your XG, I would expect this on a mid block counter attack. You're likely to have less chances overall, but when you do you're more likely to score. 
• On not creating chances...again you will have less on a midblock counter. 27 chances from 18 games is a real concern however. 
  • There's not that many roles attacking the space when you win the ball back. If in doubt run a spearheading striker on a midblock counter  Facilitating strikers are possible, but are more nuanced.
  • Attack roles are a nice user friendly way to designate who you'd like to attack the space on the counter.
• In terms of defending: 
  • High shots against is not necessarily an issue. If you're forcing shots from range I would consider that a good thing. 
  • High XG against w/low conceded against isn't necessarily a huge problem, but I would be concerned about the defensive structure with the Libero stepping into midfield leaving two at the back in transition. 
    • If you want to keep the Libero. I'd consider shutting up shop a little. There are a lot of fancy roles in the midfield 4. I'd recommend keeping it simple. Presumably the Libero can step up into the DM strata with an expansive passing range (redundant with the Regista) while his 6 partner serves as the holding, simple passing, defensively responsible pivot member (Rodri like). This will allow the SV(s) to bomb forward still.
    • I would recommend trying a double responsible wingback pairing, since otherwise the two WCB(d) will be the only two holding the fort in possession. I would recommend a double WB(d) and channeling your attacking force through the center of the pitch. To that end (central movement) it would benefit you to open up the width slider a notch. 
    • I'm not sure if you'd want to keep the WCB(d) role in that case, a double CD(d) might be what you're looking for. 
  • On the front 3...I would recommend the spearheading forward I mentioned earlier for the 9. It will be extremely beneficial if he is tall and quick. 
    • AM(s) is just fine as long as he's getting involved enough, might recommend an AP(s) who can link up with the SV(s), but a Treq is quite inactive out of possession. In a mid block I might prefer a SS who will be industrious while providing a burst forward. 

Edited April 15 by Cloud9

[El Payaso]

9 hours ago, Cloud9 said:

Ahh I see now! Cool graphics    

 To follow up on your question from the other thread:

• On overachieving your XG, I would expect this on a mid block counter attack. You're likely to have less chances overall, but when you do you're more likely to score. 
• On not creating chances...again you will have less on a midblock counter. 27 chances from 18 games is a real concern however. 
  • There's not that many roles attacking the space when you win the ball back. If in doubt run a spearheading striker on a midblock counter  Facilitating strikers are possible, but are more nuanced.
  • Attack roles are a nice user friendly way to designate who you'd like to attack the space on the counter.
• In terms of defending: 
  • High shots against is not necessarily an issue. If you're forcing shots from range I would consider that a good thing. 
  • High XG against w/low conceded against isn't necessarily a huge problem, but I would be concerned about the defensive structure with the Libero stepping into midfield leaving two at the back in transition. 
    • If you want to keep the Libero. I'd consider shutting up shop a little. There are a lot of fancy roles in the midfield 4. I'd recommend keeping it simple. Presumably the Libero can step up into the DM strata with an expansive passing range (redundant with the Regista) while his 6 partner serves as the holding, simple passing, defensively responsible pivot member (Rodri like). This will allow the SV(s) to bomb forward still.
    • I would recommend trying a double responsible wingback pairing, since otherwise the two WCB(d) will be the only two holding the fort in possession. I would recommend a double WB(d) and channeling your attacking force through the center of the pitch. To that end (central movement) it would benefit you to open up the width slider a notch. 
    • I'm not sure if you'd want to keep the WCB(d) role in that case, a double CD(d) might be what you're looking for. 
  • On the front 3...I would recommend the spearheading forward I mentioned earlier for the 9. It will be extremely beneficial if he is tall and quick. 
    • AM(s) is just fine as long as he's getting involved enough, might recommend an AP(s) who can link up with the SV(s), but a Treq is quite inactive out of possession. In a mid block I might prefer a SS who will be industrious while providing a burst forward. 

Thank you. This is all good stuff. Even though I am usually quite capable if picking up areas of problems in other people's tactical approaches, I sometimes become really blind to my own. 

It might be that I will spend most of the second half of the season tinkering with a 4-3-3 but at some point I would be definitely interested in trying to make the 3-man defensive line to work. 

[Jogo Bonito]

Just catching up on this again! Making very good progress in my opinion and loving the view of the story as always. Keep up the great work!

[Fantasista10]

On 14/04/2024 at 12:57, El Payaso said:

We have been one of the worst teams in Serie A both going forward and defending. Most of the time the performances have been really painful to watch as we don’t do many things well in the pitch. We are an error-prone team that doesn’t produce anything going forward. Even though we don't score any goals, we are still overachieving in this department. The reason why we do not score goals is on the other hand just because we don't create chances. To add to this, we have also been quite lucky in terms of defending as we are facing the second most shots in the league. We also let the opponents dominate the games in terms of passing. 

I think your assessment here is completely understandable, and after all, you watch the games and can come to this conclusion. But if I can add my two cents: I think you've had a great first half of the season, purely based on where Palermo should be. Sometimes stats, especially midway through the season, can be misleading and don't tell the full story. 

On 14/04/2024 at 12:57, El Payaso said:

Tactically we have tried many things so far but at any point haven't ditched the three important roles that are hard-coded to our tactics. A bit of Ancelotti's Christmas Tree, Antonio Conte's direct counter-attacks at Chelsea, Simeone's new 3-3-2-2 system, and other quite hopeless attempts but nothing has been working for us. We aren't really beaten down or hammered in any of the games but the big errors that we make have become regularity and we are quite deservedly losing games. 

My only piece of advice is to be wary of changing too much as it can have an adverse affect on performances/familiarity but I'm sure you know this already. If you were to stick with the same system (and principles) you may find performances improve to match the results and over achievement to this date. Errors are part of football, even from top players, so it's something promoted sides will always have an issue with unfortunately. Over time try looking for players with high levels of Concentration and Composure, and avoid those who 'Dread Playing in Big Matches'. 

Superb work though, mate - I'm really enjoying this thread and your graphics / presentation makes it a beautiful read!

[El Payaso]

@Jogo Bonito thank you so much. Happy to have you on board.

@Fantasista10 yeah, these claims are actually based on assessment of the comprehensive highlights. In the past I have managed many promoted teams but I think this Palermo side is playing the worst football I have ever seen. During the first half of the season I constantly had the feeling that we were getting more than we deserved, practically scoring from all the good opportunities that we got. And also scored five goals from corners, while only conceding once.

I think for the second half of the season, it is time to ditch the initial tactical thinking and get back to basics. As we don't have players suitable to play the fancy roles yet, there is no point to give that much slack to the opponents. I also feel that getting 6.0-.6.4 ratings for a player like Minerva is going to slow down his development. 

My only real regret at this point of the career is the amount of players that we need to sign. I would be more than happy to sign only 2-3 players each season and use rest of the money to make long-term improvements on coaching and facilities. 

The second minor thing is reporting the matches. I like some aspects of my visuals but haven't yet found a good way for the results. 

[El Payaso]

La classe del 2005

I wasn't expecting much for the second intake of youth as the youth development platform of the club is still quite strongly underway. We have of course used all the extra money that we have gotten through the promotion and good business in terms of squad building but the club still shouldn't be there in terms of producing its talent. Thereby it was a nice surprise to see the new intake of youth which seems to include three names that are rated as elite talents.

Carmine Capurro seems to be an interesting player profile for sure. Technical player with lots of flair and determination but on the other hand he seems to lack bravery and a general eye for the game. If he had had higher vision, he would have definitely suited the trequartista mold almost perfectly. Now it is going to be interesting to see how we can develop him and where he could find his own role. I like his trait of ‘argues with officials’ as I do like strong personalities instead of grey mass with no character at all. 

Elia Frascadore is also an interesting name. He has a decent starting personality to start with as well as some vital attributes for a two-way midfielder. I think with his lack of vision, he is not going to be a regista for the club but a hard-working role that creates space for the more creative players could well work for him. 

Andrea Locatelli is yet another quite technical player with no real football intelligence sadly. I think a pure wide-area role is going to be the only one where he can shine. His tallness also makes him an interesting winger and you can already see the size in his attributes as he is quite good aerially. This could be some kind of asset too. 

Juan Galván is our first Argentinian newgen and luckily he seems to have decent potential. The dark blue parts in his club DNA area tell you that there is a lot of work to be done with him though, and the same sadly applies to his personality. Decision-making and physical attributes seem to have a decent starting platform but otherwise, he is definitely a work in our hands. 

The same applies to the rest of the group which includes Manuel Milani, Luciano Romano, and Michele Leonardi. Out of these three, Leonardi seems to be the most well-rounded player at this point and luckily he is a right-sided defender where we don’t have many long-term options as Alessio Buttaro is the only one and he also is quite a one-sided player with no real attacking talent in him. 

Coaching staff

Our board has not been willing to increase the number of coaches in the first team but luckily they have allowed us to build quite an army with the U-18 club. This makes the quality of the coaching staff quite good. The latest addition to the coaching staff has been Javier Pastore who spent two years with the club in 2009-11 before his big move to PSG. The next addition will probably be Salvatore Sirigu who is going to retire at the end of the season at the age of 38. It would be nice to see both of them as part of the backroom staff of the first team at some point when they have done their coaching courses. 

As I don't feel it is a realistic approach, I haven't taken control of the under-18s or under-20s training. Those teams both have their own managers and backroom staff, so it is not my responsibility to interfere. 

At the end of April, the club completed yet another renovation to our youth facilities which are now in 'great' level. 

Edited April 17 by El Payaso

[El Payaso]

Second half schedule

 

Nothing too dramatic about the schedule here as we play four games each month. The only real thing to notice here are the last two months: if we want to keep ourselves up, things should definitely be secured during April which is a month where we will be meeting teams that we should be able to take points from.

May on the other hand is the polar opposite as we will be facing only good teams and each point that we can salvage is going to be a bonus.

New tactical approach

New year sadly means a new tactical approach to us. The dream was to make a 3-man defensive line to work for us but as I wasn’t able to do it or even make any kind of progress during the last couple of months, I simply just decided to ditch the idea. At least for now.

The thinking behind the new 4-3-3 system is that we would always have 4-5 players under the ball and that we could still keep all the fancy roles in the system which should offer us enough going forward.

The left-sided midfielder plays a key role here as he needs to be able to cover for the defensive weakness that the trequartista will be leaving. If this doesn’t happen, we are probably going to be really fragile in overlaps. In situations where we need a goal, this role could be changed to a box-to-box midfielder or even attacking central midfielder. In those games where we are clear underdogs, this role will be CM(D) or Ball Winning Midfielder. 

The striker has now also been turned into just a goalscorer who should offer an outlet for longer through-balls. Down the right-hand side, I am looking for the inside forward and mezzala to combine well. The starting point of the inverted winger is going to be quite wide but he should be stepping in at times which should create space for the mezzala’s overlaps. They both also should offer through-ball assets to the trequartista. 

The reason why I decided to change the passing style to short was the fact that I wasn’t able to see my team being good enough to utilize mixed passing as usually the decisions to pass the ball more directly or longer proved out to be wasteful.

In general this might be a system that works but it could also turn into a disaster. Of course, it is going to be a work-in-process during the second half of the season and tweaking will once again start based on what happens during matches. Sadly on FM we are not able to investigate this on the training pitch.  

First signing of the year

Luka Romero is a player that fits both the club philosophy and the new tactical approach like a glove. The 20-year-old is an interesting name as he was born in Mexico to Argentinian parents but moved to Spain at very young age. Romero debuted in La Liga with Mallorca already in season 2019/20 but never made his real breakthrough at the club. He then moved to Lazio in 2021 where he appeared in 14 Serie A games in two seasons before another free transfer to AC Milan. He had an uneventful loan with Almeria last season with 16 games and zero goal contributions before a return to Milan this season where he has played in four games, scoring one goal. 

January 2025

We decided to throw the new tactical approach immediately to the deep end in an away game at Napoli. The team did incredibly well, limiting the hosts to 1.46 xG. The result wasn’t meant to be though as we conceded yet another heartbreaker in the dying seconds of the game when a low cross saw our centre-backs falling asleep.

There was no relief either against Lecce as we labored to a draw. It was a tight game where we conceded from a direct free-kick for the first time this season but were able to get one point through Ellertsson feeding Antonio Raimondo with a through-ball.

Disaster struck us on the 13th of January when Atalanta finally got their will through and our board decided to accept the 13 million euro bid for Kristoffer Lund. It was a sad day for the club as we lost both our best player as well a player that could have easily been thought of as a forever player. We did a great job developing him as he hit his peak as a ‘Good Serie A player’. This was quite a growth for the Yank/Dane as he started in season one as Giuseppe Aurelio’s backup and ended up wiping the floor with the Italian. Just a day later Francesco Di Mariano also packed his stuff and moved to Tenerife for 400 thousand euros. 

The 8-game winless streak finally came to an end at Genoa where we were once again mainly forced to defend the 0-0. It was the first game without Kristoffer Lund but I think the team did well anyway. We conceded a disappointing late goal through Brightelli’s mistake from a long-range shot but responded magnificently through substitute Matteo Brunori who scored only his fourth and fifth goal of the season late in the game. This took our cushion back to eight points. 

The month-ending fixture against Parma was another frustrating one. We were in control of the game and limited the home side to only one shot against our ten. Sadly we weren’t able to find a way through here despite coming close a couple of times. Parma are a good side at nullifying our attack.

Despite the wobbly form, I am quite happy with the way the team responded. We are still far from safety but at least we are now looking like we’re going to fight. Filippo Ranocchia was the single player to show that. I decided to give the young midfielder the game-time he needs and he responded well both on the pitch as well as in training. 

Our new loanee Luka Romero had a slow start to his career. The Argentinian started in all four fixtures but only produced 0.18 xG and zero key passes. 

Deadline Day

Transfers in

Transfers out

The deadline turned out to be a busy one after all, mainly due to the departure of Kristoffer Lund earlier this month. 

Patryk Peda found a loan deal that was really hard to turn down: a regular starter role in La Liga without an optional signing fee. The three others were dead wood to us. None of them has featured basically at all or offers anything in terms of mentoring, so we decided to just loan them out cheaply. Good riddance. 

Ángelo Martino was signed as the direct replacement for the United States international. This was once again a signing that we made with a minimum amount of knowledge of the player. I still don’t know where these scout reports from South America appear but I’m not going to worry about it too much either. As I knew that the player was already 26 years old the thinking was that we would be getting a decent replacement for the former best player of the team. With his personality, Martino is only going to be a short-term solution to our left-back area but I think he is a good player. While Lund had developed himself to be a good Serie A player already, Martino also is a decent one based on our backroom staff’s opinion. He was also fairly cheap, which is a good thing.

Valentín Carboni was the second Argentinian to arrive, this time on loan from Inter Milan. With Di Francesco’s and Di Mariano’s departure, we needed one player to bring depth to the area. As the young Argentine was not willing to join the club on loan in the summer and Inter also trying to pull a really expensive deal for us in July, I am not going to be following the terms that we agreed for the loan. So, not a lot of game time or playing him in a preferred role. 

Andrea Papetti was the final one to arrive. He is a player that we have been scouting for more than a year already. He has been ever-present for Brescia this season but hasn’t developed a lot with them. With his nationality and personality, he could easily become a forever player for us. We just need to be intelligent with his development and take the risk of giving him enough minutes already this season.

February 2025

The month started with yet another draw as Matteo Brunori’s first-half goal was canceled by yet another penalty we had conceded. Sassuolo were the better side in terms of stats but once again our well-working defense limited them to half chances. Ángelo Martin marked his debut with a Man of the Match performance.

Avoiding defeat against our bitter rivals Frosinone was the minimum we could ask for as the draw kept the cushion to eight points. It was an even match with 10 shots against 9 and 0.86 xG against 0.94. A better performance could have easily seen us winning the game but we did do the minimum here. What was also delightful was the fact that our newly born Filippo Ranocchia continued his fine form with a stunning long-range effort.

Our best defensive display of the season sadly was canceled again by Milan with an unnecessary goal where Rafael Leão was left unmarked after a corner that he delivered and he was able to beat Brignoli from a narrow angle. We have conceded way too many of those this season.

The month-ending visit to Torino was a real bummer. After a solid first half and a narrow lead, we had two good opportunities early on in the second half to make it 3-1. This failed and we then showed the worst side of our defending once again. Jon Pachedo was back in the lineup as a centre-back and that was noticeable as the Spaniard was the main culprit for the second and third goals.

March 2025

Fiorentina were the best team in terms of form when they traveled to meet us, and you could easily see why. We were run over but managed to score a late goal in the first half with our first shot of the game. I have no idea why Brunori’s effort was turned into an own goal as his shot seemed to be on target. This also took away Franco Miranda’s first assist of the season as the Argentine was back in our starting XI after his international commitment. 

Fiorentina on the other hand were so strong that it was impossible to contain them to zero goals even though they missed many good opportunities. The gaps that we left especially for their wide players were huge and we should have conceded 3 or 4 here.

We did concede those four against Roma as the fellow strugglers hit us four times with their first four shots of the game. It was a shocking first 45 minutes which I responded by giving the team a silent treatment at half-time, along with all five substitutions, including the goalkeeper. I am quite speechless at how the team responded. Three stunning goals and a superb fightback to retain our cushion to the relegation zone at five points. This could be a big boost to our hopes of staying up, as well as to our confidence.

The unexpected comeback against Roma seemed to give the team a big confidence boost as we coasted to a victory against Cremonese who have had a good first season in Serie A. As Matteo Brunori is again suffering from small injuries, Antonio Raimondo has answered the call by scoring braces in two consecutive games. I also had waited for about 150 games to see the first direct free-kick goal in the game, and this had to come from Emil Krafth from 30 meters out. The Swede has been a reliable working horse for us. He has been moved to the centre-back area lately to give us some ability as a libero and he has done well. This was also the first time when our Argentinian loanee Luka Romero appeared by providing two assists. 

This game was the first one where we had all our three Argentinian youngsters playing at the same time as I opted to go with a deep 4-2-3-1 formation. Another Argentine’s season was over though as Ángelo Martin injured his back and is set to miss the next two months. The victory was quite sweet as it was only our third in the last 17 matches and it also grew our gap to Frosinone back to eight points. This might well be enough for us to stay up.

The month ended in an away fixture against league-leader Atalanta. Even though they hit the bar after just 20 seconds of play, it wasn’t any kind of a signal for things to come as we did incredibly well against them. They got the first goal quite early on from a corner kick but we came back to the game, especially in the second half where we had Filippo Ranocchia’s goal turned over by a narrow offside, Antonio Raimondo missing a through-on-goal type of a chance and Mikael Egill Ellertsson hitting the crossbar. Atalanta on the other hand got their second good chance of the game which they also converted to put the game in bed. 

We finished the month still with an eight-point advantage to Frosinone. And also with a left-back as Filippo Aurelio joined Ángelo Martin in the sickbay with a muscle injury. Big month ahead of us as we will play four games that should be winnable for us. 

April 2025

As Frosinone had lost their away game against Napoli, our fixture against Monza was a moment to grow the gap. As we were now lacking left-backs, Jacopo Segre was forced to play in the inverted fullback position. It was his mistake also that made Monza score from their second shot of the game as the midfielder had for some reason drifted inside the penalty area instead of marking the opposition winger who now got a free cross in. 

It was looking bad for a long time but two late goals from Emil Krafth and Luka Romero saw us through. The latter was probably our goal of the season as Alessio Buttaro released a 40-yard cross or through-ball to the run of the Argentinian who put the ball in from a narrow angle clipping the post on the way.

We managed to avoid defeats also in the next two. Bologna at home was a game where we kinda threw a victory away. We probably should have been losing after a poor first half but on the other hand, gave them nothing in the second and had two good chances to take the three points. 

Udinese on the other hand was a good robbery from the team as we hit them twice in the second half with quick counters where Mikael Egil Ellertsson set up Antonio Raimondo to score. Due to multiple small injuries, the young centre-back Andrea Papetti was only now able to make his Palermo debut which ended in a clean sheet and a 7.2 rating. 

The end of the month again left us with a bitter taste in the mouth as the relegation candidate Cagliari took three points from La Favorita thanks to yet another bad corner kick clearance. Raimondo’s equalizer late in the last five minutes of the game was taken away by the VAR. 

May 2025

With an 11-point cushion, we were practically safe and there wasn’t much else than teasing the bigger clubs left in May.

And teased we indeed did. We had nice victories against both Lazio and Napoli and also came close to results against the two other teams that we faced. The first victory of the month also meant that we had sealed our place in Serie A for the upcoming season.

Against Juventus, who were on top of the form table, we should have even won the game based on the stats. We missed three good chances and gave away the only goal of the game with a poor pass in our defense.  

In the final game of the season, we were able to give a debut to last year’s graduate Marcelo Lieto who played little less than 30 minutes after coming on for our second goalscorer Antonio Raimondo. 

In general, the second half of the season was way more productive even though we struggled a lot during the first half of it. We now looked more like a worthy football club and this culminated in both Antonio Raimondo and Mikael Egil Ellertsson. 13 goals for the young striker and 7 assists for the midfielder are both good numbers.

Frosinone were eventually the team to survive as they beat Udinese 3-2 on aggregate after being 2-0 down after the first leg. Atalanta managed to throw away their title with a weak end to the season. Same applied to Parma who were looking comfortable at some point. Cremonese salvaged themselves with a final-day victory. 

Simone Insaghi's reign at Inter came to an end while AC Milan won the tile eventually with their interim manager Alberico Evani as Stefano Pioli decided to accept Liverpool's job offer at the beginning of May. 

The loanees

Out of our own two loanees, Luka Romero had a slow start at the club but he became a vital part of the squad in the final stretch scoring three times and assisting as many. We have a 6 million euro buyout option for the youngster but he isn’t currently interested in joining the club unless we offer him some crazy money. Milan on the other hand don’t want to extend the loan with us.

Valentin Carboni turned out to be just a backup option as I wanted to give my players the maximum amount of game time. 12 games, zero goal contributions, and an average rating of 6.53 was something that none of the parties was looking for. We did manage to mentor him in a good way as his personality is now ‘resolute’ instead of ‘very ambitious’. We have a buyout option for him but that is 12.75 million euros which is way too high even though the player would be an ideal addition to our club DNA.

The only significant outgoing loan was Patryk Peda who played half a season with Granada. He got off to a slow start and didn’t play a game until March. The young Polish finally got his opportunity and ended up playing in the last eight games of the season. His development turned out to be rapid in Spain which means that he is now ready for the first team with us. He also earned his first cap with the Polish senior national team. 

One player who wasn’t a loanee is Kristoffer Lund whose move to Atalanta has been on the sour side so far. He has only appeared in four games for the title contenders and is already very worried about his game. At Palermo, he was one of the best left-sided defenders in the league but for some reason, Atalanta were not willing to give him a chance. 

Finances at the end of the season

Financially the season wasn't as beneficial as I would probably have liked to. But there are many reasons behind this. The main things are the loan repayments that started early this year, and they cost us about 200 thousand euros each month. Also, we have used a lot of the profits on improving our youth team coaching, youth facilities and training facilities. I think the club is going in a fantastic direction and the past youth intake already proved that we are on the correct path. We are also making progress in commercial areas:

During the last year, we were the fifth most profitable club in Italy. We are still far away from big teams like the Milan sides, Juventus, etc. but we are in the right way for sure. A second season in Serie A should also be beneficial to us. 

For the upcoming season, I have been given a transfer budget of 5 million euros and wages worth 400k a week to spend. So, it is going to be another summer of building with peanuts for us. More about this in the next post though as we analyze the team performance, and player development and assess the areas that we need to improve on in our attempt to stay up also next season. 

 

[El Payaso]

Squad analysis

Player development

After the rather depressing first half of the season, things seemed to kick off again for us in terms of player development. Here is a summary of what happened.

Mikael Egil Ellertsson started as a star player of the club but he was also thrown into the mentoring group along with one of our most influential players Jacopo Segre. He started as a fairly determined personality but as the effects of the mentoring were good, he ended up being resolute like Segre also is. He was also one of our best trainers which saw him become a good Serie A player while he started the season as a leading Serie B player. A brilliant year for the Iceland international.

Antonio Raimondo came into the club as somewhat of a rebel but he ended up being a grade-A student. He was in the same mentoring group with club captain Matteo Brunori, and soon became a resolute personality, learned multiple traits from his senior and also developed into a decent Serie A player already while he started as a leading Serie C player. Combine this with 13 goals in Serie A and you have almost a perfect season for the young forward.

Alessio Buttaro has taken leaps forward as a player and has already shown that he can make it in Serie A. His personality and mental attributes still need a lot of work but I’m sure that he will get there eventually. He is at the moment a good Serie B player but could turn out to be a good Serie A player according to our coaching staff.

Kacper Urbanski didn’t set the world on fire in season one but he was a steady developer for us as well as a useful option on the pitch. He came to the club as an ambitious youngster but with mentoring, he has developed his personality to be fairly professional. We still need to sign a new contract with no release clauses for him. He is already good enough to play at this level and there still isn't a clear picture of how good the Polish youngster could become. 

Filippo Ranocchia made the biggest change in the club last season after January. The Italian made his way to the starting eleven, kept his place, and developed nicely. He would still need a bit of work with his personality which still is only fairly professional but otherwise, he is on his way to becoming a real club icon as his potential could make him a good Serie A player. 

Franco Minerva was the biggest disappointment for us last season. The Argentine started well, scoring two goals in his first three games. As he struggled on the pitch after that, this also affected his development. With his lack of strength, Serie A could be a bit too big a pill to swallow for him at the moment but we will keep trying. He also still needs a lot of mentoring as his mentals and personality are a challenge. 

Andrea Papetti had a slow start to his Palermo career but luckily we managed to induct him to the starting eleven from March on. The player responded well by producing decent performances both on the pitch as well as in the training area. 

Patryk Peda had a superb loan spell at Granada where he first struggled to get any game-time. After the young Polish made his way to the starting eleven, his development was fast! This gives you a dilemma: should we keep him as a rotation option for the upcoming season or give him one more season as a starter in Spain for example where many La Liga clubs would like to have him. He started the season as a leading Serie C player but is already a decent option in Serie A. 

Giuseppe Aurelio looked like a lost cause but he kicked off with his development after Kristoffer Lund left the club. At the age of 25, he is considered a good Serie B player and with the potential to be a decent Serie A player. Combined with his balanced personality, I am not too hopeful for a world-breaking career but I'd be happy to keep the Italian as a rotation option. 

Aljosa Vasic's spell at Palermo might well be at its end now. I decided to give the youngster plenty of minutes at the beginning of last season but only saw him performing badly both on the pitch as well as in training. He did improve at the end of the season but that is a bit too little and a bit too late. With him being already 23 years old and still just a balanced personality, I don't see big things happening for him at Palermo. 

Mentoring groups

I like the way the mentoring groups are working with our young players. They are usually slow processes that keep on the running background but we have also seen quick and interesting results such as last season’s loanee Valentín Carboni having his personality almost immediately changing from ‘ambitious’ to ‘resolute’. 

The biggest thing from last season was Mikael Egil Ellertsson also finding a suitable mentoring group with team leader Jacopo Segre, which led to his personality changing from ‘fairly determined’ to ‘resolute’ which makes the 20-times-capped Iceland international a forever player to us. 

The three most important mentors for the club are the already mentioned Jacopo Segre, team captain Matteo Brunori, and vice-captain Pietro Ceccaroni. All of them have already fallen into rotation roles, at least for now, but have kept their influential status in the squad hierarchy:

After the season, I have now cleared all our mentoring groups as I am looking to rebuild them again based on both effects and player traits. 

What we would need in an ideal situation would be a ball-playing center-back with a good personality and player traits. This player would be working closely with Patryk Peda and Andrea Papetti to mold the defensive duo’s style of play to a more desired direction.

Desired traits:

• Brings the ball out of defense
• Tries to play way out of trouble
• Tries long-range passes

The second would be an experienced attacking midfielder with the right personality and style of play to take especially Franco Miranda and even Aljosa Vasic forward with their development. Roberto Insigne. who has fallen out of grace at the club, has the style but not the mental attributes to do this job.

Desired traits:

• Tries killer balls
• Tries tricks
• Moves into channels
• Runs with the ball through the middle
• Comes deep to get the ball

Scouting just got better

For the last two years, we have been restricted to scouting just Southern Europe which has been a real challenge for our squad building. When the holiday started this year, I opted to allocate some of the wage and transfer budget to increase the area worldwide. 

We have now immediately started to scout South America, especially Argentina, and hoping to get some good results there. 

The amount of scouts has also been increased which means that we are in a good spot at the moment. 

The forever club

As I have talked about forever players a million times already, it is time to reveal the current list. 

A forever player means to me players that we will look to keep hold of as long as possible and not sell them at any price. I have a few criteria for the players to qualify for this list. 

Right personality and mentality: I am looking for players that are the right type to be valuable enough for us to hold on for a long period. This means that the players need to be influential enough within the club to be respected by other players. The right personality on the other hand means first of all that the players can work as good mentors for younger players as well as not complain if they happen to drop into rotation options like many of these already have. 

Time at the club: the longer time a player stays at Palermo the stronger the bond to the forever list becomes. I know that Mikael Egil Ellertsson has only been with the club for one season but what he did in just one year, has left me in awe. He went through mentoring with Jacopo Segre, became a resolute personality, and was both our best player and developer last season. This tells me that the Iceland international is going to be a club icon as well as probably captain in the future. 

Attributes: technical and creative attributes can be limited for the players but all of them need to work hard for the team and be good team players. 

I know that Alessio Buttaro still lacks in some of the areas to qualify but as he is one of the players who were part of the team when I took over, he is going to be getting some slack. His mentoring is still in the process, and even though he is already an influential member of the squad, he seems to be getting significant influence from this. 

Who might become one in the future?

I have a few names that might find themselves on this list:

Patryk Peda - the right personality (resolute) and already a couple of years with the club. If he becomes a starter for the club in the upcoming season and performs well, he might well find himself in this list even though he is not Italian or Argentinian.

Giuseppe Aurelio - The full-back has fought himself back to my plans after a strong second half of last season. He only would need his personality to change from ‘balanced’ to at least fairly professional. He might not be far from that as I haven’t seen anything poor in terms of his behavior so far. This means that he is not one of those worse 'balanced' players.

Filippo Ranocchia is another player who has risen from death in my eyes. In January I was already looking to sell him but the former Juventus midfielder fought his way to become a starter and was along with Ellersson our best performer in training.

Antonio Raimondo is already close at the age of 22. 13 goals in Serie A, huge development, and one of the best performers in training. Could easily already qualify but let's give it another season and see how he does. 

Who do we need to sign?

• Young first-choice goalkeeper to replace the experienced and only okayish Brignoli. 
• Ball-playing center-back or Libero with great personality and traits. His job is to mentor Patryk Peda and Andrea Papetti as well as replace underperforming Gian Marco Ferrari as our defense's leader. 
• Midfield destroyer or a pure Regista to fix the holes in our midfield. 
• Experienced and creative attacking midfielder with good personality and traits to mentor Franco Miranda and provide creativity to our attack.
• Young and promising, but already capable, right-sided winger to drive our attacking play forward. This needs to be a permanent signing this time instead of a loan. 

Who has to leave?

There is a lot of deadwood still in the squad and as we don’t have any budget available for transfers, the list of leaving players is quite long. 

Simon Graves - The Dane was a reliable centre-back option in season one but due to his balanced personality and lack of potential, he was loaned out to Sampdoria in season two. With only Serie B potential in him, we should cash out on the 25-year-old, who is currently valued at 2 million euros.

Jon Pachedo - Mr. Liability did not turn out to be a big positive surprise for us. He has made some progress as a player but at the age of 24 it will be impossible to mentor him to be something else than a balanced personality with a fairly low determination. He simply doesn’t fit the squad anymore and we are hoping for some Spanish club to take the bait and sign him this summer. 

Salim Diakité - A fringe player at most also in the Serie B season. The 25-year-old right-back should have the potential to be a decent Serie A player but he is never going to reach that here. He has been part of our mentoring groups for two seasons but remains a ‘fairly determined’ player. It is more than likely that the Frenchman returns to his home country first on loan and later on permanently. 

Dario Saric - Even though the Bosnia & Herzegovina midfielder still is ranked as one of our best players, he did absolutely nothing but whine about his game time last season. A 6.65 average rating and just one assist in a whole season tells a lot. With his personality being only ‘fairly ambitious’ I simply don’t see a place for him in the club. At the age of 28, it should be an ideal moment to sell him a couple of million euros. 

Federico Di Francesco - A rotation option in season one, nothing else after that. He had a poor loan spell at Brescia during the latter half of last season and the Serie B club is not willing to sign him. It would be important to get rid of him and get at least +1 million euros in the deal. Could be easier said than done though. 

Roberto Insigne - Only one goal contribution last season after seven goals and 13 assists in season one. I should have relied on my gut feeling instead of offering him a contract extension. At the age of 31, he could prove difficult to move on and with a 20k per week contract, he could turn out to be a real drag for the club. 

Aljosa Vasic - Two years of mentoring and lots of game time and his personality remains as balanced. He still has the potential but at the age of 23, he is too far away from it. He could be a player who could get us a couple of million euros. We got the first offers for him right after transfer listing him, which is a good sign.

Edoardo Soleri - Scored a few important goals in season one but hasn’t appeared since. Spent half a year on loan at Benevento, scoring 9 goals for them. This could easily lead to the Serie C side signing him permanently. 

Leonardo Mancuso - Signing Mancuso for 1.3 million euros as well as the club paying his €50k per week salary in season one is still a shocking piece of business. According to our board, it is also my fault even though I didn’t have anything to do with either of them. The 33-year-old is a decent mentor but that is just about everything. It might be impossible to sell him which means that he might well spend the upcoming season with our U-18 or U-20 squad and concentrate on mentoring them. 

Edited April 22 by El Payaso

[Jogo Bonito]

I've seen you hopped from Sicily to Turin so will comment there too, but wanted to say I really enjoyed your few years with Palermo.

It's a club I considered taking on (again) as I will be going to Sicily in June and in Serie B it's really one of the best starting points for FM24. Ironically, I then also considered Atalanta and Torino as alternatives to Palermo, but both are already being written about on these pages.

[El Payaso]

18 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I've seen you hopped from Sicily to Turin so will comment there too, but wanted to say I really enjoyed your few years with Palermo.

It's a club I considered taking on (again) as I will be going to Sicily in June and in Serie B it's really one of the best starting points for FM24. Ironically, I then also considered Atalanta and Torino as alternatives to Palermo, but both are already being written about on these pages.

Thank you. It was a nice save as long as the interest lasted. I ended up losing the path that I wanted to follow, like I often do and ended up losing the interest. This is why I wanted to immediately set quite strick house rules to my new save. Those should keep me 100% loyal to the way that I enjoy playing this game. Sadly the time in my hands is almost non existent at the moment so it might take a bit of time before I even get the first mid-season update written.