[FM 2024] Torino FC - Sogni di battere la Juve

[Jogo Bonito]

Awesome update and as always loving the graphical presentation each and every time! You're really well placed there, with the game in hand. 

I love the improving goals-against returns, nearly down to one per game again. As one of your heavy focus areas, I know this is important to you and something I am also trying to achieve at Bologna. You talk about Buongiorno's long run of no bookings, I guess it had to end one day. My side has won the Serie A fair play award in both seasons, perhaps you may get there too?

[El Payaso]

5 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Awesome update and as always loving the graphical presentation each and every time! You're really well placed there, with the game in hand. 

I love the improving goals-against returns, nearly down to one per game again. As one of your heavy focus areas, I know this is important to you and something I am also trying to achieve at Bologna. You talk about Buongiorno's long run of no bookings, I guess it had to end one day. My side has won the Serie A fair play award in both seasons, perhaps you may get there too?

Thank you once again! 

I think the biggest difference has been Marvin Keller who finally had a solid month with a couple of really good performances. Also the rest of the team seems to fire up in big games which means that we show most spirit against big opponents. 

I'm still a bit 50/50 about Keller. Probably on the side of selling him in the summer and looking to get the best possible goalkeeper option that we can lure.

The number one candidate currently is Lyon's Lucas Perri who has had solid time spell in France and who fits almost all the requirements that I have for the keeper. But then on the other hand, could I find a leading Serie A keeper instead and actually see the goalkeeper being our best individual? 

We also won the Serie A fair play award in the first season and are probably heading to another. Against Milan I decided to apply heavier tackling and you could immediately see it in the bookings. 

It might also be an affecting factor that as we defend heavily as a team, all our centre-backs are having quite humble personal stats compared to their Serie A colleagues. This might also be a reason why they are playing such clean game. 

[Jogo Bonito]

Interesting stuff on the clean-play and defenders.

Good to see the keeper getting better but if any of the best become available and affordable it could be a game-changer. My understudy is decent but I really see the difference when my main man is in goal. 

[El Payaso]

JANUARY 2025

CONTRACT & TRANSFER TALK

Despite surviving two transfer windows with dry feet, I instructed the Director of Football to renew some of our important players’ contracts. 

Although not all of the deals were ideal regarding finances, this should ensure that we will go through another transfer window without losing any of our key players. 

Club captain Alessandro Buongiorno is now the first player in the club holding the star player status which isn’t something I would have wished for.

This on the other hand would allow us to get rid of Koffi Djidji as Buongiorno will probably expect to be playing also in our Conference League playoffs which will start in February. 

Karol Linetty and Stefano Sensi are the two players whose contracts run out in the summer. 

Linetty’s performances in the Conference League, the emergence of Marc Casadó, and his 50k per week salary mean that his contract will probably not be renewed. 

It is a bit of bad business for us as we would have been able to get about 7.5 million euros for him just last year. 

Sensi on the other hand is an interesting one. His performances haven’t been bad, and in theory, he should be at his prime now, despite declining slightly recently.

As a big fan of his player type, I would be willing to consider a deal for him in the upcoming months if his salary request would be way before the current deal. 

We will also have to be aware of his injury proneness as the 29-year-old is again out and going to miss the whole January where he would have had plenty of opportunities to show his worth. 

Antonio Sanabria was the only key player not willing to discuss a new deal with the club. 

As his current deal at Torino is running out in 18 months and Saudi Arabia is a tempting option for the Paraguayan striker, it might be time to say goodbye to him in January. 

Despite not being as effective as a striker should be in terms of goals, I have been a big fan of Toni during this career update and the stuff that Batman and Robin produced for us last spring will be forever remembered. 

In terms of business, this would probably be the best moment to sell him as a deal worth 15 million euros has been mentioned in the media. 

This money would allow us to try and bring in a replacement that we have already scouted for a long time and who would be a familiar name to the Torino fans. This man is no other than a product of our youth academy Lorenzo Lucca.

Full comparison of the attributes

The towering striker has continued to torment defenses in Pisa-shirt this season and has already recorded 12 goals in Serie B this season. 

Along with his higher goal contribution, Lucca is missing the negative tendency of not enjoying big matches and as a perfectionist personality, he would be a fantastic mentor in the future while balanced Sanabria is useless in this aspect. 

Seeing the 2.01m tall striker alongside just 13cm shorter Pietro Pellegri would surely make many of the Serie A defenses fearful. 

In terms of tactics, bringing in Lucca would allow me to experience even more with the route-one and traditional target-man options that I am a big fan of and which we have already tried with both Pellegri and Sanabria. 

If Sanabria is going to leave the club and Lucca joins us, there would also be a new name to the striking duo: 911.

FIXTURES

(H) SALERNITANA

The horrors of the season-starting fixture against Salernitana were still freshly in our minds in a home game where many people probably expected us to whip them. 

I opted not to go back to a single-forward system, and also not to play Demba Seck here. This meant that our 16-year-old Michele Piazza was given his Serie A debut for the club.

It didn’t look like a European qualification candidate vs relegation candidate at all since the beginning as the old men of Salernitana, led by Antonio Candreva were more than up to our level. 

Michele Piazza had the three first scoring chances of the game but he was twice denied by Guillermo Ochoa and once blocked by Federico Fazio. A 0.7 in xG means that the debutant probably should have scored today. 

Fazio was the one also scoring the opener from an Antonio Candreva corner. 

We replied almost immediately from Samuele Ricci’s through-ball to Antonio Sanabria but were again rattled by a crossbar shot from the opposition from their next attack. 

Piazza’s brightest moment of the game came in the 42nd minute when he released Sanabria through on goal but the Paraguayan managed to place his shot straight at Ochoa. 

Salernitana scared us once more in the first half from a corner kick as Fazio hit the post just before half-time. 

We were the better team in the second half as Salernitana started to tire up. But when the goal didn’t just come our way, we ended up making a huge mistake in defense:

Even though Samuele Ricci and Alessandro Buongiorno have to take most of the blame here, it was a real piece of bad defending from the whole team which quite nicely summarizes our evening. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Mateusz Legowski | 1/1 shots on target | 1 goal | 7.70

(A) COMO

I decided to go back to a double-pivot and deep-lying forward & advanced combination against Como. I also set the team to a clean sleight in terms of team instructions, except counter-attacking and low block. 

In terms of players, Samuele Ricci was given a much-needed rest and Emirhan Ilkhan a rare start as our number 10.

The first 20 minutes didn't promise us much as Como controlled the ball and was getting corner kick after another. 

We improved though and finished the first half as the only teams with shots on goal and with 0.67 xG. But without goals. 

The second half couldn't have started any better as Perr Schuurs scored his second free-kick of the season. 

There was a sour taste in our mouth soon as after Toni Sanabria had missed a penalty kick, Como finally got their first shots on goal and from rather decent positions too. 

Emirhan thanked for his starting position by setting up Demba Seck through on goal from a quick counter. 

As things were looking good, we succumbed to another defensive error, this time from Ricardo Rodríguez who missed a rather easy interception which allowed Patric Cutrone to escape from Buongiorno to angle to score. 

The end of the game was a rather two-bladed sword. We deservedly hit Como twice more from quick counters which also saw Emirhan scoring his first for the club, but there was also a worry as Alessandro Buongiorno had to leave the pitch due to an ankle injury. 

Emirhan’s player of the match performance (8.5) and Seck’s (7.4) goal were the clear positives here. Michele Piazza (6.8) also got another 30 minutes of top-level football after replacing Sanabria. 

The more experienced players need to play better though. Missing penalties and making personal mistakes aren't what we hope from team leaders like Rodriguez and Sanabria. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Emirhan Ilkhan | 3 key passes | 1 goal and 1 assist | 8.50

(A) UDINESE

We had a shocking display against Udinese at home at the start of the season which we wanted to improve on.

Emirhan Ilkhan was handed another start as number ten. In defense, Valentino Lazaro had gotten a small knock before the game and as Mergïm Vojvoda was tired too, I decided to go with Gvidas Gineitis as a left wing-back. 

The Lithuanian only lasted on the pitch for about 30 minutes as he had already gotten himself booked and was constantly in trouble against Festy Ebosele.

We struck Udinese again with a quick counter which ended in an unexpected way as Pietro Pellegri, who was back in the starting lineup, set up Antonio Sanabria through on goal to score. It was only the second time ever this combination had worked this way. 

The second half started in the best possible way for us as Perr Schuurs scored in a back-to-back game, this time from a corner kick to increase his tally to 3 in total. 

Numbers might tell you that Udinese were the better team here, but out of their 16 attempts in total, a whopping 12 came from set pieces where we were in trouble both with their near-post corner kicks as well as long throw-ins from Ebosele. 

A win and a clean sheet were both big bonuses here as Udinese could have scored multiple goals from their dangerous set plays. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Perr Schuurs | 1/2 shots on target | 78% headers won | 2/2 tackles won | 7.80

(H) MONZA 

I decided to go to the game with our second-choice team as Coppa Italia is a secondary object for the club. 

As there has also been a lot of time since our last European tie, this was a good chance to give minutes to those who were losing their match fitness. 

The match itself was largely decided through set pieces as out of 6 in total, 5 were scored from set plays. Monza took the lead from a long throw-in and we replied from a corner kick by the towering Saba Sazonov. 

We were close to a victory inside the 90 minutes as Gvidas Gineitis had scored from long range after a poor clearance from a corner kick. Monza came back once more though as a back post corner kick found its way in. 

I welcomed an extra time as we would have a ten-day break before the next game. 

Real collector's items kept going as Ricardo Rodríguez placed in a direct free kick from the edge of the penalty area. 

The only open-play goal was seen late on as Gvidas Gineitis released somewhat quiet Demba Seck through from the left-hand channel and he was able to set up Michele Piazza to score his first senior goal for the club:

The youngster also became the youngest goalscorer in the club's history in his final senior game for now as both Pietro Pellegri and José Manuel López are going to be fit in the next game against Bologna. 

I was surprised by the victory as Monza had just previously shown some fighting spirit by beating Allegri’s former team Juventus 2-0 in Serie A.

The defensive performance with a fully changed line was chaotic but these were once again important minutes, especially for Alessandro Dellavalle who did better here than Saba Sazonov and Adrien Tameze. The 20-year-old is already ranked as a 4-star prospect by our coaching staff. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Luca Caldirola | 2 assists | 3 key passes | 8.20

THE SWITCH 

The Coppa Italia fixture against Monza turned out to be the last one at Torino for Antonio Sanabria from whom we received a 15.75 million euro bid from Saudi Arabia. 

The striker had earlier quite surprisingly shown an interest in negotiating for a new deal with us but with his 85k per week wage demands, our Director of Football was not able to agree with him.  Toni would have soon been 29 years old and with his balanced personality, he isn't worth it either. 

Instead of delaying, we had already made a successful bid for Lorenzo Lucca, just waiting for Sanabria’s decision, and were able to confirm the signature just a day later. 

Even though I would say that Sanabria was one of the real personas of this career update who will be missed, not the least by me, bringing back our youth product is something that fills the gap quite nicely. 

With Lucca’s transfer fee and salary both being lower than Sanabria’s, combined with his age, playing style, and personality, I would call this a really good deal. 

(H) BOLOGNA

It was a strange break for the club as a player after player seemed to pick up injuries or get sick. Raoul Bellanova, Saba Sazonov, Marc Casadó, Lorenzo Lucca and Jacopo Sassi were all missing. 

We had already produced some of our best performances against Bologna and had not yet conceded a goal against them. That didn't happen this time. Since the start, we were the second-best team but defending our own penalty area bravely. 

We didn't seem to find any answers to the opposition wide play, which led to crosses and a massive amount of corners. This was also once again where we conceded after a poor clearance straight to Joshua Zirkzee. 

We had our own chances to score and the best fell straight after the goal to Pietro Pellegri who missed his one against one versus the opposition keeper.

After I brought in both Nikola Vlasic and Stefano Sensi from the bench, there were also plenty of promising-looking breaks as Sensi was able to pass through Bologna’s line of active press. More often than not the Bologna midfield successfully tracked back and took the ball away from us even with ease. This was largely down to Samuele Ricci having a tiring game in the midfield and his legs being largely gone when needed most. 

Marvin Keller (7.4) was once again by far our best player here with 8 saves. He would have deserved a clean sheet too. 

Our corner kick defending has already fallen to 17th best in the league with 7 goals conceded. This is a real worry. 

The biggest thing we need to change is how we defend down the flanks. I have tried applying the pressing trap to the middle of the pitch with no effect. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Riccardo Calafiori | 1 assist | 2 key passes | 8.00

END OF TRANSFER WINDOW

We took a risk by allowing three of our backup centre-backs to leave the club. 

Alessandro Dellavalle and Fabio Desole were both on the development list which means that our loan manager acted when certain criteria were fulfilled. 

Fabio Desole is still so far from first-team football that a loan to Serie C with decent facilities could be a good move for him. He has been mentored throughout the season but we haven't yet seen a big difference for him which encouraged me to go ahead with these moves. The young man already had his debut where he scored a goal too. 

Alessandro Dellavalle is a different story. He is already a spirited individual whose development has been good this season. He has featured heavily also in the Conference League and played well. But a loan move to Serie C leaders Ternana where he was promised a starting centre-back status was something too hard to refuse. I think this should take him closer to the Serie A level than playing minutes here and there with us. Dellavalle was immediately included in the team's starting lineup and played 90 minutes in his debut. 

Gvidas Gineitis was the third loan out. Again a player who has been heavily involved in Europe and who appeared in 28 Serie A games last season. A starting role in La Liga was something too good to turn down again and luckily we also have the option to recall him in a month if Alavés won't play him. 

Koffi Djidji was the only one leaving the club permanently. Last year we could have gotten 5 million for him but the plan was to use him in Europe to cover for our best centre-backs, the 32-year-old wasn't happy with that though, and after almost a year of not getting game time, he started to complain and I promised to sell him. 

These transfers take our number of natural centre-backs down to four. Even though it is a small number, we luckily have players like Adrien Tameze who can play the position. 

In the deadline day we also received a tempting offer to loan Jacopo Sassi out to Frosinone who were offering the youngster a first-choice goalkeeper role. Going with Marvin Keller and Pietro Passador would have been too risky though as with an injury to Keller, we would be facing a disaster. 

STANDINGS

Despite having a turbulent month, two of our first teamers made it to the team of the month as Perr Schuurs and Samuele Ricci were selected. 

Lorenzo Lucca’s return to the starting lineup will be touch and go in our first fixture next month against Frosinone. Getting the human mountain to do his debut and cutting off the starting goal drought of Pietro Pellegri are going to be vital for us. 

Our tactical approach also needs work. We're not conceding many goals from open play but on the other hand, are currently giving away so many set pieces opportunities that eventually those will always lead to us conceding goals. 

The situation is currently good in terms of health as we have both Stefano Sensi and Nikola Vlasic back on the team. The only longer-term injured is Marc Casadó who could be expected to return to the team midway next month. 

Just two months ago I couldn't have thought that Marvin Keller is currently the rock we can rely on. The keeper has quietly climbed on the goalkeeping stats charts:

• 82% save percentage (2nd best in the league)
• 87% expected save percentage (2nd best in the league)
• 17 goals conceded (3rd best in the league)
• 1.10 goals conceded per 90mins (8th best in the league)
• 3.94 saves per 90min (4th best in the league)

The improved performances have also seen Keller developing as a player which sees our coaches now ranking him as a good Serie A player. The biggest difference is in the aerial ability which now seems to be his main strength as a player and one of the most important areas that we are looking for from our keeper. 

Along with Jacopo Sassi and Marc Casadó, Keller has probably been the most developed player this season. 

All this means that we are probably going to rely on his services also in the next season which is a huge turn to what I wrote just two months ago. 

TWO SIGNINGS CONFIRMED

As you can see, we have secured two of our three (projected) signings for the upcoming season. 

The Argentinian centre-back Valentín Gómez has found it difficult to fight his way to Napoli’s playing squad and opted to look elsewhere just a year after joining the big Italian club from Vélez. Despite his development stalling at Napoli, I am going to give him a big role as a replacement for Ricardo Rodriguez as our left centre-back. 

Rodríguez himself has had a way better season than last year and he has even still improved his level as a player that it will be interesting to see whether we will keep him as an option for left wing-back and centre-back. If so, then we probably wouldn't be in a dying need of finding a starting wing-back which has turned out to be a nightmare in terms of scouting. 

The Spanish U21 international Cristhian Mosquera is a superb long-term addition to our team. He has already played regularly for Valencia and surprisingly he hadn't been given a contract extension. 

His mental attributes need work still but as we have both Schuurs and Buongiorno to mentor him, I expect great things for him. Like his Argentinian colleague, Mosquera is also good on the ball and brings us a modern centre-back option different from Alessandro Dellavalle and Saba Sazonov who are of course staying at the club as rotation options. 

As we now have 6-7 centre-back options, 4 wing-backs, and one reliable goalkeeper ready for next season, it is going to be difficult to decide where we invest in our third signing. 

• Do we go with an experienced backup keeper who can both mentor Sassi and even compete against Marvin Keller for the starter place if the Swiss keeper starts to crumble again? 
• Do we want to bring in an upgraded wing-back who could make the starting lineup better? 
• Or do we want to bring in a defensive-minded midfielder who would take our double pivot to another level and allow us to play Samuele Ricci in the number ten position as a hard-working, yet productive, option? 
• The fourth option is of course to be happy with the squad and only make a signing if we lose one of our key players or if we can see a clear weakness within the team based on performances.

***

At this point, I need to apologize for the missing match stats in this post. Might add them later on or not. 

Edited August 10 by El Payaso

[_Ben_]

You're back! Lovely update to start back off. I'm really excited to read about your recruitment and think that you've already broken the back of it with a strong deal for Lucca and two long term centre back options. Keep going!

[El Payaso]

12 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

You're back! Lovely update to start back off. I'm really excited to read about your recruitment and think that you've already broken the back of it with a strong deal for Lucca and two long term centre back options. Keep going!

Yeah, finally found an hour of time to finish the graphical stuff for this update. 

I'm happy how the transfers went this month. Of course losing Sanabria hurts but in terms of business, there was no point keeping him here. And obviously as I have wanted to bring in Lorenzo Lucca back to Torino since the beginning, it salvaged a lot. 

The two centre-backs were awesome finds. I didn't have much idea about either of them but both should slot in easily. I also like it that they are not finished products which gives a lot of room for mentoring. As Schuurs and Buongiorno are getting more experienced every month, we are going to have a nice mix of youth and experience at the back. And like said: centre-back department for a long time. 

I'm going to start following your way of dealing with the transfers starting from next summer. Still no idea how this works for outgoing transfers but luckily I have plenty of time to figure it out. 

[Jogo Bonito]

Another fantastic update, great delivery of the previews and match reports, tactical discussions and transfer news. All delivered with the superb graphical standards which you always achieve.

Away from the graphics, I'm always really keen to see your transfer moves and the though process behind them. Delighted for you to get Lucca back to the club, i agree it was a no-brainer do let Sanabria go at that point, and hopefully Lorenzo will do more for you than he has me (so far) at Bologna. I also really like the two new central defenders you recruited (Mosquera and Gomez). I wrote about the latter at Bologna, as I turned down the chance to sign him only because I wanted to get more Italians in to my main squad, but he's a player I do really rate.

I'm also pleased you got to extend your key players contracts, fantastic to keep the core group together. i got slightly closer to signing Buongiorno at Bologna recently, but couldn't find the funds to get the monster deal completed. Another fun fact relating to our two clubs, is that the new real-life Torino manager Paolo Vanoli was appointed as my U-20 manager at Bologna last summer.

[El Payaso]

7 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Another fantastic update, great delivery of the previews and match reports, tactical discussions and transfer news. All delivered with the superb graphical standards which you always achieve.

Away from the graphics, I'm always really keen to see your transfer moves and the though process behind them. Delighted for you to get Lucca back to the club, i agree it was a no-brainer do let Sanabria go at that point, and hopefully Lorenzo will do more for you than he has me (so far) at Bologna. I also really like the two new central defenders you recruited (Mosquera and Gomez). I wrote about the latter at Bologna, as I turned down the chance to sign him only because I wanted to get more Italians in to my main squad, but he's a player I do really rate.

I'm also pleased you got to extend your key players contracts, fantastic to keep the core group together. i got slightly closer to signing Buongiorno at Bologna recently, but couldn't find the funds to get the monster deal completed. Another fun fact relating to our two clubs, is that the new real-life Torino manager Paolo Vanoli was appointed as my U-20 manager at Bologna last summer.

Thank you once again for the kind words. 

Losing Sanabria was almost as big blow for me as it was with Vanja but I was able to deal with it thanks to the fact that we had Lucca lined up for us. 

And as Lucca is a real special weapon type of player, this also allowed me to adjust the tactical approach a bit. Not sure if I'm going to write about this part in my next update or later on. 

The two centre-backs are a big addition to the squad, especially as Ricardo Rodríguez has never been a player that I totally trust in that area. His season has been better this time around with +0.22 in his average rating and a boost in many of the metrics. As he still also seems to keep up with his level as a player and has high fitness profile, I'm seriously thinking of moving him to the wing-back area. 

Currently it seems that Ivan Ilic is the only key player that we are likely going to lose in the future. Obviously European qualification and especially if we cannot make it, could change this. But keeping hold of Schuurs, Buongiorno, Bellanova, Ricci, Vlasic, Pellegri is going to be important. 

Then on the other hand we have a few project players that I definitely want to include in my plans. These are Dellavalle, Sassi, Gineitis and Emirhan. 

At the moment I'm really out of motivation. In general, I have loved this save game and career update but the amount of set pieces goals (especially throw-ins) are killing my joy in terms of managing games. I know it doesn't happen in all saves, especially if you are playing a higher pressing system but with a low block I now practically concede goals from set pieces for fun. 

Anyway, I'm through February and as I've done the writing and graphics while playing, the next update is close to ready. 

 

[danyates8]

1 hour ago, El Payaso said:

but the amount of set pieces goals

There are for sure elements of the game that can be very frustrating, I find I'm hitting the woodwork a staggering amount of times

[El Payaso]

39 minutes ago, danyates8 said:

There are for sure elements of the game that can be very frustrating, I find I'm hitting the woodwork a staggering amount of times

I think that is also a common issue with some people. I have been complaining about throw-ins for about ten years already, and thanks to that I am probably one of the likeliest to notice when these type of goals and chances start to pile up. 

I have absolutely nothing against the opposition beating me and scoring against me as long as these come from events that are somehow related to football and my tactical mistakes, but throw-ins is something that I have zero influence on. Corner kicks are of course another thing but also on those there is no way to influence the fact that the same players who can head the ball while attacking suddenly lose this ability when defending. Even totally free headers often just rise up in the air and create danger... This is once again something that doesn't make any sense at all and has nothing to do with what the matches should be about. 

And I don't look at the conceding only. I also look scoring in the same critical manner. It is a worrying trend that I am also currently scoring a slightly excessive amount from set plays. 

For me there are currently maybe three possibilities. 

I could bite the bullet, ignore the match engine and just keep going, hoping that the things balance up magically at some point. 

I could wait three months until FM 2025 and hope that the ME will be less set pieces dominated and more about tactical and football stuff. 

I could also wait for FM 2025 and start the new project that I have been planning for the last couple of weeks. 

Abandoning this save game and career update would be heartbreaking as it has been so interesting but currently the ME is so hard to enjoy that it is a serious option. 

Edited August 13 by El Payaso

[danyates8]

1 hour ago, El Payaso said:

I have been complaining about throw-ins for about ten years already

I noticed when using 'key' highlights a lot of mine and the  oppositions attacks originated from throw ins though in my experience FM23 was significantly worse. 

 

1 hour ago, El Payaso said:

I could bite the bullet, ignore the match engine and just keep going, hoping that the things balance up magically at some point

Don't let me influence your decision but with the quality of your blog it would be a shame for it to stop here, on FM24 I simply hire a set piece coach and have the mindset 'what will be will be'

[El Payaso]

34 minutes ago, danyates8 said:

I noticed when using 'key' highlights a lot of mine and the  oppositions attacks originated from throw ins though in my experience FM23 was significantly worse. 

 

Don't let me influence your decision but with the quality of your blog it would be a shame for it to stop here, on FM24 I simply hire a set piece coach and have the mindset 'what will be will be'

Yep, the ME seems to have for years the same problem that it cannot create enough attacking play through open play and that is why set pieces play such a big part. These have certain starting positions combined with a switching off element from the defensive team that create the scenarios that often lead to dangerous situations and also in goals. 

And this influence should not be mixed with real life number if goals from set pieces. I'm talking about the influence to the buildups instead. 

I'd say that I am going to continue at least for now and do my best to nullify the effects of set pieces in my matches. If this doesn't work thought, then it might be that it is time to say goodbye to FM 2024 and wait for 2025.

Anyway, I'm going to report again on FM 2025, so it wouldn't be a end of the road for me.

But the first priority is obviously to try and fix this save game and make it playable again. 

[leobiazzi]

Not related to this save (which is one of the best in the forum btw), but did SI confirm it is implementing big changes to the ME in FM25? I definitely relate to a lot of the stuff you mentioned.

Every time I see a corner, I think there's a 60%+ chance my team will score or concede :/

[El Payaso]

39 minutes ago, leobiazzi said:

Not related to this save (which is one of the best in the forum btw), but did SI confirm it is implementing big changes to the ME in FM25? I definitely relate to a lot of the stuff you mentioned.

Every time I see a corner, I think there's a 60%+ chance my team will score or concede :/

No idea. It's been awfully quiet in terms of news about FM 2025. 

But as some repetitive and illogical things have been dragging along since forever, the ME definitely needs an overhaul to look like a new game. 

Things like the positional play features are a fantastic thing but don't really help if 70-80% of build-ups still start from set plays. 

I have added the Monza match pkm to a couple of threads but might as well have it here too. I think nobody enjoys matches like this. Torino v Monza.pkm

Edited August 13 by El Payaso

[danyates8]

43 minutes ago, El Payaso said:

No idea. It's been awfully quiet in terms of news about FM 2025. 

But as some repetitive and illogical things have been dragging along since forever, the ME definitely needs an overhaul to look like a new game. 

Things like the positional play features are a fantastic thing but don't really help if 70-80% of build-ups still start from set plays. 

I have added the Monza match pkm to a couple of threads but might as well have it here too. I think nobody enjoys matches like this. Torino v Monza.pkm

I could be wrong but I've heard the match engine is remaining the same its just the graphics engine that's undergoing the overhaul

[El Payaso]

3 minutes ago, danyates8 said:

I could be wrong but I've heard the match engine is remaining the same its just the graphics engine that's undergoing the overhaul

Okay. Then it might be that I will make my decision to buy based on the demo version. If the thing related to set pieces remains, I will not be able to enjoy the match day experience which is a huge part of the gameplay. 

[danyates8]

3 minutes ago, El Payaso said:

Okay. Then it might be that I will make my decision to buy based on the demo version. If the thing related to set pieces remains, I will not be able to enjoy the match day experience which is a huge part of the gameplay. 

I usually buy the latest FM after the winter update anyway, its something I've done for years now as I got tired of the usual broken mechanics at the beginning of the game. I always lost interest in a save too because of all the deals being done in the Jan transfer window.

[Captain_T]

vor 5 Stunden schrieb El Payaso:

I think that is also a common issue with some people. I have been complaining about throw-ins for about ten years already, and thanks to that I am probably one of the likeliest to notice when these type of goals and chances start to pile up. 

I have absolutely nothing against the opposition beating me and scoring against me as long as these come from events that are somehow related to football and my tactical mistakes, but throw-ins is something that I have zero influence on. Corner kicks are of course another thing but also on those there is no way to influence the fact that the same players who can head the ball while attacking suddenly lose this ability when defending. Even totally free headers often just rise up in the air and create danger... This is once again something that doesn't make any sense at all and has nothing to do with what the matches should be about. 

And I don't look at the conceding only. I also look scoring in the same critical manner. It is a worrying trend that I am also currently scoring a slightly excessive amount from set plays. 

For me there are currently maybe three possibilities. 

I could bite the bullet, ignore the match engine and just keep going, hoping that the things balance up magically at some point. 

I could wait three months until FM 2025 and hope that the ME will be less set pieces dominated and more about tactical and football stuff. 

I could also wait for FM 2025 and start the new project that I have been planning for the last couple of weeks. 

Abandoning this save game and career update would be heartbreaking as it has been so interesting but currently the ME is so hard to enjoy that it is a serious option. 

Did you experience the same things about set pieces in FM23? Or was FM23 a little "better" balanced in this regard?

[El Payaso]

2 minutes ago, Captain_T said:

Did you experience the same things about set pieces in FM23? Or was FM23 a little "better" balanced in this regard?

I had a years of hiatus from FM and before this year's version FM 2018 was the last one I had played. 

On my older laptop that I don't use anymore, I have tons if pkm files since FM 2015 about the issues with throw-ins. So practically they have been an issue for almost ten years. Don't remember if this was the case in 14 and 13 already and as I don't have a DVD drive, it's not possible to test this. 

[El Payaso]

THE EVOLUTION

With Lorenzo Lucca's arrival, I have made a few adjustments to the tactical approach. After all, the 2,01m tall striker is an asset and a special weapon that we want to utilize to the maximum. 

First, I will be changing the striker role to a target forward and instructing our keeper to favor long distribution towards him. 

Also when using Saba Sazonov type of centre-back, I am going to play him as a no-nonsense type of central defender to encourage the longer ball approach. 

In the double pivot, I am going to change the stay-put and moving combination around by using Samuele Ricci as a deep-lying playmaker on support duty on the left and a ball-winning midfielder down the right. Ricci will also be encouraged to play more direct balls. 

In terms of team instructions, I am going to try out a direct approach for the first time and I'm going to combine this with a slow tempo. This is so that the strikers will have time to get forward to a more dangerous position after the ball has been won back. In a lower block, the striking duo tends to drop to the edge of our penalty area in some situations to help in defense. 

Other changes to the team instructions are the removal of regroup and slightly more often pressing. 

In terms of pressing traps, I am now trying a combination of trap inside and invite crosses which will hopefully make the team squeeze the space away from the outside through the wing-backs coming inside. And then on the other hand hopefully limit the amount of corner kicks and throw-ins we are giving away as the team now should allow crosses to come in instead of blocking them out of play. I'd much rather give away chances from open play than end up all the time conceding from crappy set plays. 

FEBRUARY 2025

(A) FROSINONE

SHOTS: 16-16 | ON-TARGET: 6-10 | xG: 1.74-2.78 | POSSESSION: 54-46

Due to our recent wide-play troubles, the trip to Frosinone was always going to be a big test taking into account that the club plays with a 4-3-3 with Anthony Elanga and Nicolas Pepe down the flanks. 

We had our secret weapon available as Lorenzo Lucca was fit enough to start after his virus disease. 

It took Lucca a total of one minute and 41 seconds to hit the crossbar for the first time. 

Despite starting brightly, it was the set pieces that undid us again. This time from a throw-in where a couple of passes sliced our defense up. 

We responded well from an unlikely source as Samuele Ricci fed Mergim Vojvoda with a through-ball. 

Vojvoda’s run inside the penalty area was also the source of our second as Pietro Pellegri scored a relieving goal in a typical fashion. 

Lorenzo Lucca had chances to score a hat-trick in his debut and he finally got the first one from Nikola Vlasic’s corner kick after the half-hour mark. 

The crazy game was summarised in the second half when Vojvoda got his second with a screamer that he was a specialist in last season. Lucca played an important role here by winning the header in a long ball before Karol Linetty laid the ball to the on-rushing wing-back. 

Lorenzo Lucca’s appearance allowed us to finally try a real direct approach and place Samuele Ricci in a playmaking role. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Mergïm Vojvoda | 2 key passes | 7 crosses attempted | 1 assist | 2 goals | 9.40

(A) NAPOLI

SHOTS: 10-10 | ON-TARGET: 5-2 | xG: 2.42-1.03 | POSSESSION: 62-38

The first round of the back-to-back fixtures against Napoli was the one I felt expendable. The team also seemed to agree with me. 

After a fairly fresh-looking start, Napoli got the first one from a lucky deflection that fell to the wrong man called Victor Osimhen. 

Less than 10 minutes later we found ourselves two down as Emile Smith Rowe first set up Zambo Anguissa and then won a penalty from a throw-in. 

The hope of salvaging anything was far gone after this even though the team matched Napoli completely on the pitch. 

Set pieces goals kept flowing as Saba Sazonov got one back late on from a corner but the somewhat respectable result was then thrown away by Karol Linetty who set up Smith Rowe to score his first goal for the hosts. 

Victor Osimhen continued to haunt us with yet another player-of-the-match performance. Seeing him leave for La Liga or the Premier League would be a huge relief for us. 

Our young goalkeeper Jacopo Sassi (5.9) continued his shocking form in front of the goal by making only one save for his team. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Victor Osimhen | 2/4 shots on target | 2 goals | 8.40

(H) NAPOLI

SHOTS: 9-12| ON-TARGET: 4-6 | xG: 1.00-2.42 | POSSESSION: 46-54

Different day, different venue, and different keeper but the same result. Vinnie Kompany’s men went to the game with a 4-4-2 this time and rotated quite much against us. 

The game couldn't have started more commonly as the throw-in and Victor Osimhen combination was giving them the lead. 

We responded well with a beauty as Ivan Ilic hit one in from 30 yards out to make it level. 

The first half display that we produced was so good that I had high hopes for the second. 

Those hopes crumbled soon enough as Napoli hit us early on from a counter after a scenario that we are looking for with our new tactical approach: a long ball to Lucca which he drops to the attacking midfielder. This time round Nikola Vlasic lost the ball trying to find Pietro Pellegri behind the line which cost us. 

We weren't able to bounce back from this and were hit another time from a situation where Samuele Ricci first gave the ball away and in an attempt to win the ball back from Osimhen set up his striking partner Popovic up for the third. 

Probably doesn't come as a big surprise if I say that the fourth one again came from a throw-in where our new signing Valentín Gómez set up Smith Rowe with a one-two. 

Without the throw-ins and some glaring errors, we could have easily gotten a result here. Sadly our strikers seemed to be more interested in being offside than scoring today. Even though both Lucca and Pellegri had chances that they should have converted. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Mario Rui | 2 key passes | 2 CCCs created | 1 assist | 7.80

(H) MACCABI TEL AVIV

SHOTS: 10-6 | ON-TARGET: 6-2 | xG: 1.76-0.32 | POSSESSION: 53-47

We replicated the result from last autumn with a solid performance. 

The two first goals came exactly in the way that we would like as the opposition was patiently looking for an opening and running into our trap in the middle. These were followed with long balls forward, a quick setup play, and goals. 

Emirhan Ilkhan was brilliant until his injury in the buildup to our second. The Turkish youngster was a constant threat with his movement and would have deserved at least one assist during his 40-minute outing. 

Injury was also the fate of Marc Casadó who also pulled his groin in a tackling situation. We had taken a risk with him and paid with another 3-6 weeks of injury. The same applies to Emirhan. 

With no need to push, we did our utmost to secure a somewhat rare clean sheet. Probably a progression also as Seck got his second from Ricardo Rodríguez’s free-kick delivery. 

The result practically means that we are going to qualify to the next phase if nothing crazy happens in the second leg. Considering the fact we have let our rotation centre-backs go and combined with the injuries, this could be a really bad thing for us. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Demba Seck | 50% shots on target (2/4) | 2 goals | 8.90

(A) SPEZIA 

SHOTS: 4-16 | ON-TARGET: 0-6 | xG: 0.56-2.72 | POSSESSION: 45-55

A clean sheet and a confident performance were the ones we were looking for here, and that is quite close to what we got. 

Things started in the worst possible way though as Marvin Keller injured his wrist after just five minutes of play. And less than ten minutes later it was Ricardo Rodríguez’s turn to leave the pitch after a second knock to his knee. 

After knocking our head to the wall for almost the whole first half, Samuele Ricci’s strong run to the penalty area finally brought us the result as Lorenzo Lucca found the open goal ahead of him. Something that Nikola Vlasic was able to miss ten minutes earlier. 

Spezia’s lone shot of the game was for a long time from the 25th minute when they hit the crossbar. As the game progressed, the hosts had to take more risks and they started to test our defense out. 

Luckily it was us with the second one, and with a route one approach that we have shifted towards lately:

Pietro Pellegri found it difficult once again to find the net here but at least he was able to set up Lucca for his second. 

When the final whistle rang, it was a huge relief. Clean sheets have been so rare for us that each and each one is a big bonus. 

Marvin Keller’s wrist injury was sadly serious and will keep the Swiss keeper out for the next 5-6 weeks. Ricardo Rodríguez got away lucky with his injury and will only miss the upcoming second leg against Tel Aviv. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Lorenzo Lucca | 45% headers won | ¾ shots on target | 2 goals | 8.20

(A) MACCABI TEL AVIV

SHOTS: 13-6 | ON-TARGET: 3-2 | xG: 1.23-0.65 | POSSESSION: 53-47

A professional job was all we needed in the second leg and that is what we did, even though conceding twice from set pieces once again. 

As Mergim Vojvoda was our next injured player, we were running out of options in defense and that saw Adrien Tameze this time taking the place of our left wing-back. 

I decided to try and avoid further harm by telling the boys to press way less and stay on their feet. This luckily worked and we didn't suffer any further issues with injuries. 

The second goal we conceded here was a comical one already as Lorenzo Lucca had all the time and space to make a good header to clear the ball out but somehow the towering striker who can head the ball with power in attack again managed to lose this ability when defending. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Eran Zahavi | 1 key pass and 1 CCC created | 2 assist | 7.60

***

INJURIES HIT

An injury crisis was something that we were not expecting at this point of the season but for some reason, these seem to pile up now. 

Getting rid of our backup centre-backs could turn out to be a costly decision and a big error on my behalf. 

A ten-day break between our fixture against Genoa could salvage something as well should at least be able to fill the substitutes’ bench. 

NEXT IN THE CONFERENCE LEAGUE

Not the worst possible opposition but Hoffenheim are still going to be tough. I would have been happy to see us out of the competition already against Tel Aviv as we certainly don't need the extra games. Even with zero injuries we would barely be able to rotate enough. 

STANDINGS
 

[Adonalsium]

Two tall bastards in the striker role is a secret favorite of mine. And it's two Italian former FM wonderkids Pellegri and Lucca too! The ball-winning midfielder, if it was me, that's a project position that really needs to a headhunted player (or a miracle from the youth system) to have the best fit for that position. Nicolo Barella is probably my top pick for that role in the game currently, but really anyone with elite aggression, tackling, marking, physical attributes and work rate should do a job there.

Edited August 13 by Adonalsium

[El Payaso]

8 minutes ago, Adonalsium said:

Two tall bastards in the striker role is a secret favorite of mine. And it's two Italian former FM wonderkids Pellegri and Lucca too! The ball-winning midfielder, if it was me, that's a project position that really needs to a headhunted player (or a miracle from the youth system) to have the best fit for that position. Nicolo Barella is probably my top pick for that role in the game currently, but really anyone with elite aggression, tackling, marking, physical attributes and work rate should do a job there.

I'm also starting to think that this is the likeliest area to focus on during summer. Marc Casadó has improved a lot but his constant injuries are hampering the progress now. I'm any way going to be giving him as much minutes as possible when he gets back. Tameze and Linetty don't seem to be up to this task. 

[El Payaso]

MARCH 2025

The schedule is almost identical to the dates of February but luckily we also have one relieving international break as we start the month in an unexpected injury crisis. The main focus here will be the league where the schedule should be fairly kind if we exclude AS Roma. I wouldn’t expect us to do too well against Hoffenheim in Europe but that is kinda difficult to predict.

(A) GENOA 

MATCH OVERVIEW

We are as deep in it as I feared when Marvin Keller got injured. Jacopo Sassi (6.1) was the culprit for the first two goals of the game, and Perr Schuurs crowned his evening with the third goal which he guided in. 

The performance itself was alright and we were on top of the game since the first minute. We also hit the woodwork twice through Nikola Vlasic and Perr Schuurs. 

At the moment we lack confidence in our defense and it starts to feel that every shot we face will fly in. 

To make matters worse, Pietro Pellegri collected his fourth knee injury of the season which leaves us in even bigger trouble here. 

If we have to try and find some positives here, both Ivan Ilic and Stefano Sensi came in well from the bench and the first one also set up our only goal of the game. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Mateo Retegui | 1 shot on target (33% accuracy) | 62% headers won | 1 goal | 8.20

(H) HOFFENHEIM 

MATCH OVERVIEW

Based on the expectations and with all the injury worries considered, the team did very well here. 

Until close to the 60th minute, the game looked like it would finish 0-0. Then in the 56th minute, Hoffenheim recorded their first shot on target, and from the following corner kick, they were awarded a penalty kick as Jose Manuel López handled the ball which Andrej Kramatic converted. 

Nikola Vlasic and Raoul Bellanova were brought on from the bench and the duo played a big role in our equalizer which was one of the best counter-attacks we had produced the whole season. 

Hoffenheim looked much more dangerous after their goal and challenged us well but Pietro Passador, having his first start for the club, did well in his goal. 

The end to the game was dramatic as Alessandro Buongiorno pulled his knee ligament when being tackled while it was the culprit Alejo Veliz who had to leave the pitch which reduced Hoffenheim to ten men. 

Demba Seck had been almost useless throughout the game, losing possession multiple times inside the penalty area but in the 94th minute he made a great interception high up the pitch and finished a solo run with his 11th goal of the season. 

Alessandro Buongiorno became our eighth first-team player to be injured. The knee injury will keep the captain sidelined for the next three weeks. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Demba Seck | 1 key pass, 1 CCC created | ¾ shots on target | 1 goal | 8.10

(H) LECCE

MATCH OVERVIEW

Lecce’s season had gone quite a bit in the same way as ours. They had started strongly but fallen a bit since then and now holding a ninth position which is still close to excellent to their standard. 

Even though I'm not going to get ahead of things, we are slowly starting to look like the familiar Torino again. This can also be seen in the stats and even the scoreline this time. 

Goals didn't come easily this time and Nikola Vlasic hitting the post in a third consecutive game was for a long time the closest any of the teams got. 

Luckily we scored from a counter-attack again as Raoul Bellanova made a strong run after winning the ball back close to the halfway line and then set up Samuele Ricci for his third game-winning goal from the edge of the penalty area. 

Lecce started to attack after this and came close once from a corner kick as Nicolo Sansone hit the crossbar. 

Patrick Dorgu was also a constant thorn in our side and seemed very hard to stop even when doubled with Karol Linetty and Marc Casadó who made his return from the bench. 

There was a huge scare in the 94th minute when Demba Seck started a counter and was hacked down with two feet. Another injury would have been disastrous at this point but luckily the striker got up and was able to continue. 

A 1-0 victory with a rather solid defensive display is something we needed at this point. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Samuele Ricci | 2 key tackles | 2 interceptions | 66% shots on target | 1 goal

(H) HOFFENHEIM

MATCH OVERVIEW

The interesting tie against the German side went all the way to the extra time before a winner was found. 

It was a very intriguing matchup. We held reasonably solid for long periods but made two costly mistakes to let the home side have one of their feet in the next round. 

I didn't expect the team to have anything left to turn it around but I turned out to be wrong as our substitutes made all the difference. 

Lorenzo Lucca won us a penalty late on to let Ricardo Rodríguez take us to the extra time. 

Then it turned out to be a show of Samuele Ricci and Demba Seck who both scored twice from quick breaks. Assists were provided by other substitutes Lucca, Emirhan Ilkhan, and Valentino Lazaro. Especially Emirhan’s setup was delightful as he ran against the opposition defense and took a small turn to the right before finding Ricci with pinpoint accuracy through-ball. 

Hoffenheim hit us once more from those all too familiar corner kick scrambles but that wasn't enough. 

It is a weird thing that I have wanted us out of this competition for ages but still, the team keeps on going. Our next challenge in Europe will be the Swedish side AIK who are the surprise package of the last eight.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Samuele Ricci | 3 key passes & 3 CCCs created | 2 goals & 1 assist | 9.50

(A) AS ROMA

MATCH OVERVIEW

We have usually played good games against Roma, beating them twice and drawing against them once. As Daniele De Rossi was now gone and David Moyes was in charge at the capital, this one turned out to be a different story. 

The game was gone for us in the first 45 minutes after a tactical mistake by me. The idea was to sit back and let Roma work hard for their chances. Their strong wing-play was poison for us though and them getting the first one from a long throw-in was the thing we needed the least. 

The next three goals were almost identical as they worked around with quick combos down the flanks after which Arkadiusz Mikik beat Ricardo Rodríguez twice inside the penalty area and Bryan Cristante hit us from the edge of the penalty area. 

Last season we made a wonder comeback against the capital city team and it wasn't that far away this time either as we hit them twice from quick breaks. 

There was also a double woodwork in the 85th minute when Samuele Ricci hit the post from 25 yards out and Stefano Sensi hit the other post from the rebound. 

If we would have played the first half in the way we did in the second, we probably would have won this game. 

Even though it is a team effort, Jacopo Sassi (6.2) continues to be the main thing that is lacking. Having a goalkeeper who doesn't seem to save anything at the moment and who isn't showing any leadership inside your penalty area simply doesn't give you much of a chance to win the games that you don't control. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Arkadiusz Milik | 50% headers won | 3 shots on target | 2 goals | 9.20

(H) MONZA 

MATCH OVERVIEW

The injury crisis that we had faced earlier was starting to be over after the much-needed international break. 

As we were more concentrated on the upcoming Atalanta game, I decided to give a risky start for both Emirhan Ilkhan and Marc Casadó who both were some way off from full match fitness. Alessandro Buongiorno also made it to the starting lineup while Pietro Pellegri was on the bench. 

It wasn't as convincing as numbers tell you. The first half was for a long time poor performance but it was edged out by Samuele Ricci's screamer from 25 yards out. 

After slightly edging the first one, the second was all Torino. Lorenzo Lucca had three good chances to give us the second which he finally did from a Valentino Lazaro’s corner kick. 

Raoul Bellanova also crowned his good substitute appearance by dribbling past two players inside the penalty area from Adrien Tameze’s set-up play. 

A clean sheet was something I wanted so much but once again we were undone from a too familiar scenario: a throw-in which was followed by a poor clearance and a goal. Would be interesting, if not frustrating, to study how many of these we have conceded this season. Our defensive record would be quite solid without them. 

Otherwise, we did a solid defensive job here. 

Emirhan and Marc Casadó both played about 70 minutes while Pietro Pellegri was brought on for the last 30 minutes or so and had two good chances to extend our lead. The main thing was that none of them got injured. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Raoul Bellanova | 4 interceptions | 2/4 shots on target | 4 tackles won | 7.90

STANDINGS 

The biggest story of the month was Xabi Alonso getting sacked after Juventus fell to the eighth position. The Spaniard was replaced by Leonardo Jardim. Atalanta have been the most injury-prone team in Serie A this season and due to their injury crisis, it looks like AC Milan might still retain their title. It is a big game for the second-placed side against us in Torino on the first of April. 

Samuele Ricci has been the standout player for us lately. The 23-year-old midfielder is currently running the show in winning the ball back, getting the ball forward, and finishing the attacking moves from both long distance and close range. 

The form of Ricci meant that he was included in the team of the month for the second time this year. The rumored Italy call-up ain't going to happen though as this area of the game is poorly made.

OTHER NEWS

Fiorentina have gained our advantage as the most efficiently converting team in the league. We both now sit at 18%.

We haven't been as clinical as in the first half of the season but we do over-exceed our expected goals with about 17 in total. 

The biggest difference compared to last season is our goalkeepers both having conceded more goals than expected. Last season we were almost 15 goals on the plus side compared to the expected goal and going below zero is huge. 

Both our keepers boast over 80% save percentage but their prevented xG stats show that most of these are coming from shots that they should be saving. 

The rest of the season will be the time for Marvin Keller to show whether he is up to the task of being our number one for the upcoming season. Even though he is rated as a good Serie A player, I still have to put performances first as we are probably talking about the most important playing position in our team. 

Our defensive record is already ruined for this season but solving the goalkeeping issue along with being able to defend against throw-ins would make a big difference. After a quick calculation, we have conceded 14 of our 37 in total from throw-ins. 

This is something that SI simply needs to fix in the next version for the ME to be more playable. 

We can't blame everything on the keepers and it is quite odd to see players like Alessandro Buongiorno and Perr Schuurs performing way below in all the key metrics compared to other centre-backs in the league. Saba Sazonov, while not being brilliant, has outperformed both of his more famous counterparts. 

NO CONTRACT FOR SENSI

The negotiations with Stefano Sensi and our director of football were unsuccessful which means that the experienced midfielder will leave the club in the summer. 

Karol Linetty, who has become an important part of the team due to the injury crisis was tied up with a two-year-long extension as the Polish midfielder agreed to a €14k per week pay-cut. 

Another one extending his contract is Saba Sazonov who extended his stay until 2028. The Georgian international has also played a surprisingly big part for us and even pushed Ricardo Rodríguez back to a wing-back role. 

THE YOUTH INTAKE

Our second youth intake was described as an excellent one. I would say that excluding Pasquele Napolitano, this is a fairly mediocre one based on the first impression. 

The young midfielder himself looks like something that we exactly wanted to get. An aggressive ball-winning midfielder with good skills in possession. Maybe something like a hybrid between young Marc Casadó and Samuele Ricci who are going to form the double pivot of the club for the upcoming years. As Napolitano also has a good personality in him, I could see him making his way to the first team quite early on. I am going to train him as a ball-winning midfielder and try to work on his technical attributes at a young age. I wouldn't be surprised to see him making his Serie A debut already this season. 

Edited August 17 by El Payaso

[Adonalsium]

Ricci is an interesting player. He has all the attributes necessary to be a deep-lying holding tempo controller in theory, but his player traits make him unsuitable for such a role (at least in my game, he has the Gets Further Forward player trait) - he really does his best work as an 8.

Napolitano looks interesting. He combines some good technicals and mentals with tackling ability. The high flair is curious in that mix of attributes. On first glance he does not seem like a deep-lying player, though. Especially his height and lack of agility, pace and heading ability could compromise him at such a deep role. Maybe he could become a Regista?

Edited August 17 by Adonalsium

[El Payaso]

24 minutes ago, Adonalsium said:

Ricci is an interesting player. He has all the attributes necessary to be a deep-lying holding tempo controller in theory, but his player traits make him unsuitable for such a role (at least in my game, he has the Gets Further Forward player trait) - he really does his best work as an 8.

Napolitano looks interesting. He combines some good technicals and mentals with tackling ability. The high flair is curious in that mix of attributes. On first glance he does not seem like a deep-lying player, though. Especially his height and lack of agility, pace and heading ability could compromise him at such a deep role. Maybe he could become a Regista?

Ricci has been good lately on all the three roles he has been playing. In the double pivot, I have moved him back to a segundo volante role while in the MC position he's been carrillero or box-to-box where he scored those two goals and assisted one against Hoffenheim. It's actually odd that he is on fire at the moment as I was for a long time wondering why I can't anything out if him. 

The aim with Napolitano is to make him as complete midfielder as possible so that he can play in all roles and control the midfield. Many attributes seem to have good starting points and then some illogical ones like the low agility which makes no sense for that height and weight. If there are going to be games with no real importance, I'm definitely going to him a debut in Serie A this season. 

[Jogo Bonito]

Pleased to hear the positives of Ricci, one of the three top Torino talents I would love to have at Bologna but can never afford.

Usual great presentation, sorry it is repetitive praise! Feeling your pain about the throw-in goals conceded, it's not something I have noticed but you expect that pair of centre-backs to easily repel such attacks. I've suffered from balls being pulled back to the edge of the box and smashed in from 25-30 yards as not one of my players go out to close down. It seems to happen over and over again (probably feels worse than it is) both from open play and from corners.

Back to the pitch, you're still developing the club in a good away with a healthy league rank and sensible managerial control.

I'll get back to watching Milan v Torino in Serie A now, but I hope you keep up the great work.

[El Payaso]

12 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Pleased to hear the positives of Ricci, one of the three top Torino talents I would love to have at Bologna but can never afford.

Usual great presentation, sorry it is repetitive praise! Feeling your pain about the throw-in goals conceded, it's not something I have noticed but you expect that pair of centre-backs to easily repel such attacks. I've suffered from balls being pulled back to the edge of the box and smashed in from 25-30 yards as not one of my players go out to close down. It seems to happen over and over again (probably feels worse than it is) both from open play and from corners.

Back to the pitch, you're still developing the club in a good away with a healthy league rank and sensible managerial control.

I'll get back to watching Milan v Torino in Serie A now, but I hope you keep up the great work.

Thank you again. Much appreciated. 

Set pieces in general have been a mess for years and it was a big surprise when many of the same issues from FM 2018, which was my latest version before 2024, still exist. 

The league position is likely to be close to last season which I am happy with. Behind the scenes we have used the extra money to improve both the facilities and youth recruitment which are both in excellent level at the moment. 

Qualifying to Europe isn't important to me personally as I prefer less games as I don't enjoy managing matches. But on the other hand this is likely to keep some of the key players happy at the club. They also give me a good chance to rotate the squad. 

If I exclude the ME, this save has been really interesting and I might well continue with this one for some time on FM 2025 if the game doesn't look like a finished product. I don't usually like newgens at all but as I don't follow international football much nowadays and as I use the cut-out faces on them, they luckily got mixed quite well with real players. And developing someone like Napolitano is something that I really want to do. 

[Jogo Bonito]

I've never really noticed the set-piece issue but we probably all see different stuff and then it's hard to get it out of our mind (like the edge of box pull-back and screamer for me).

I echo your views on European football, it does really pad out the season beyond what I can easily handle. But yes it does play a part in building financial strength and keeping key players at the club (plus attracting new ones). The negative is, more money, more perceived success means very unrealistic new contract demands which I have really got bored of fending off.

I also agree on the new-gens, I love the 'newgan' faces that have been created by the community but really found the instructions to get them in game beyond my tolerance and energy level. After three seasons, only my U18 squad has any new-gens though, so not going to be an issue for me.

I hope you keep this up as it's very enjoyable watching your progress. For me, FM25 will bring new clubs to the front, but at this stage I cannot see myself managing another club before it launches.

 

[El Payaso]

 

***

At this point, I would like to thank every reader and commenter. Even though the story was again cut short, it has been an enjoyable journey. 

The thought of quitting has been looming in my mind for a long time now and the recent results:

 

were telling me that I would not be able to turn this ship around anymore. The goals galore from set pieces simply became unbearable and as my aim for this save has been to play solid defensive football, I was as far away from this as I possibly could be. 

I think I have now played through FM 2024 and even if I would happen to start another save in this version, I am not going to be reporting about that. 

I'm hoping to be back with FM 2025 after testing out the demo and I have another story already planned for the new version. 

Thank you once again for reading!

[Jogo Bonito]

41 minutes ago, El Payaso said:

At this point, I would like to thank every reader and commenter. Even though the story was again cut short, it has been an enjoyable journey. 

The thought of quitting has been looming in my mind for a long time now and the recent resultswere telling me that I would not be able to turn this ship around anymore. The goals galore from set pieces simply became unbearable and as my aim for this save has been to play solid defensive football, I was as far away from this as I possibly could be. 

I think I have now played through FM 2024 and even if I would happen to start another save in this version, I am not going to be reporting about that. 

I'm hoping to be back with FM 2025 after testing out the demo and I have another story already planned for the new version. 

Thank you once again for reading!

Understandable as you were struggling to maintain the desired defensive outputs achieved in your first season. It was very enjoyable reading for me though, particulalrly visually, but the story itself too with the attention to detail and defensive preferences. I hope to see you back in due course even if FM25.

In the meantime, if you want to keep practicing your graphical stuff, feel free to help me in my journey with Bologna! 

[El Payaso]

6 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Understandable as you were struggling to maintain the desired defensive outputs achieved in your first season. It was very enjoyable reading for me though, particulalrly visually, but the story itself too with the attention to detail and defensive preferences. I hope to see you back in due course even if FM25.

In the meantime, if you want to keep practicing your graphical stuff, feel free to help me in my journey with Bologna! 

Thank you for tagging along in the journey and being the most active at commenting! 

I actually spent a lot of time reading multiple sources about defensive football on FM to try and fix my problems. But I honestly didn't have a clue anymore on how I could fix things and as I had drifted so far away from what I was aiming to do, there was no point to try anymore. Conceding three and scoring two from set pieces against Fiorentina was the final straw and I ended up just quitting the game without saving. 

I had set two main tactical rules for the save which were a 3-man defense and low-block football thag I wouldn't compromise on, but then I just ran out of skill to make them work. 

It feels like a heartbreak to leave this save as it had so many good and addictive aspects in it. 

If you want, send me a pm about the graphics that you need and I can possibly create them for you. If it is not too time consuming, I'm always happy to help. 

[_Ben_]

Sad to see this end as I took a lot of inspiration from your writing and tactical choices. Is there one more foray into FM24 left in you or is it time for a break?

[Jogo Bonito]

2 hours ago, El Payaso said:

Thank you for tagging along in the journey and being the most active at commenting! 

It feels like a heartbreak to leave this save as it had so many good and addictive aspects in it. 

If you want, send me a pm about the graphics that you need and I can possibly create them for you. If it is not too time consuming, I'm always happy to help. 

Yours was the nearest save to my level of club and I may have gone with Torino if you hadn't already done so. It was a pleasure to read, follow and comment on.

That's very kind of you to offer with help on the graphics, I will give it some thought. If I can come up with one or two simple ideas that I can use repeatedly and may not be too time-consuming to make, that would be super. But for now, take a nice rest!

[El Payaso]

30 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Sad to see this end as I took a lot of inspiration from your writing and tactical choices. Is there one more foray into FM24 left in you or is it time for a break?

Probably no. I have the new project already in my mind but I would like to start that one on FM 2025. Obviously a lot of things depend on at what stage the first version of the game is.

It would obviously be easy to start in 2024 on the current version with updated squads etc. but I doubt that would be an ideal solution. 

The new project would probably less prone to suffer from the problems that I had with this save but anyway. I feel that I've seen FM 2024 now and want to move on. 

[leobiazzi]

Sad to see you quit this save @El Payaso as I quite enjoyed your writing and graphics, but I totally understand you.

Actually, after you mentioned the throw-ins I started paying more attention to how many goals happen because of it, and it's kind of disgusting. 

I hope this year's ME is better so you can create another successful save.

[El Payaso]

54 minutes ago, leobiazzi said:

Sad to see you quit this save @El Payaso as I quite enjoyed your writing and graphics, but I totally understand you.

Actually, after you mentioned the throw-ins I started paying more attention to how many goals happen because of it, and it's kind of disgusting. 

I hope this year's ME is better so you can create another successful save.

Thank you for the comment. 

Actually the biggest hope for the new ME would be that the set pieces would see an overhaul. I doubt that anyone can enjoy how they play out at the moment. 

But like said, I think the new project wouldn't be as prone to the set pieces so I think it's going to fine. Obviously waiting for FM 2025 is going to be a long time but luckily I van spend these weeks in my marathon training and enjoying the upcoming hockey season.