Jogo Bonito
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Posts posted by Jogo Bonito
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This has been an incredibly strong first season in Serie A, I am impressed and to be honest very surprised. But very well done and good luck for the closing three fixtures!
I've only managed 5th, 3rd and 3rd in my three seasons so great to see you're already mixing it with the big boys! As I know you already appreciate, whatever the outcome this has been a tremendous effort from you and your carefully managed boys
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A very strong season completed, 2nd to Benfica is good and with other successes too. One day your time will surely come to land the title! The new season has started well indeed.
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Season 2026/27 - Part 4 (February-March 2027)
A difficult February saw Bologna eliminated from two out of three competitions
Defeat to a strong AS Roma side in the Coppa Italia was not unexpected or surprising, and in truth gave us a chance to focus on the bigger challenges ahead
Initially this reduction in the work load seemed to spark us in to life, with two nice wins in Serie A and an excellent 3-1 home victory over Brighton in Europe
Unfortunately, we just could not cope with the Premier League side in the return leg in England, and a 3-0 loss dumped us out of the Champions League too
On the back of that we then had to face AC Milan away, and we were totally outplayed with our only goal in the 3-1 reverse coming in stoppage time
We did at least manage to salvage some pride with a late and narrow win in Sardinia against Cagliari and a slightly better one at home to Torino
It was probably good for us that March only had three fixtures after the busy month before, and we have to be pleased with how it turned out
The 3-0 win at Sassuolo was somewhat flattering - we were good but needed two goals late on to make the outcome look easier than it actually was
Atalanta (away) also presented a stern test, and we were grateful for the narrow 1-0 win with a solitary goal just after half-time to secure the points
Last time out we would have expected to beat Hellas Verona on home turf, with the relegation-threatened visitors in 16th and on a four-game losing streak
Even that was challenging though, going a goal behind before second-half goals from two substitutes delivered another late and narrow win
So whilst the green result icons suggest we are flying, we really don't feel at our best and we definitely need to sharpen up our act
The league table shows we are closer to the leaders than before, but the top five will all play a part in the closing two months for sure
We are still struggling to find a regular marksman, but the goals are being shared around as we search for the right formula
We recently changed our attacking structure to play two 'number 10s' with the inverted winger on the right now ditched and becoming another attacking midfielder
We are working on our squad plans for next season too, and wing-back Dan Ndoye is the latest player we have decided to move on
He'll be joining Al-Wahda (UAE) for 20 million Euros in June after reaching a transfer agreement on 23rd February 2027
We have also decided to cash in on loaned-out defender Alan Matturro as Salernitana will convert his loan in to a permanent 3.9 million Euros move in June
The Uruguayan has only averaged 6.39 in his spell there this season, and it's just not good enough to keep a player here who is performing like that
The pre-arranged departure of Jesper Karlsson to Palermo for 37.5 million Euros also completes in June, so financially we are in a good place already
Several others will be released in the summer at the end of their contracts too, so the wage bill is going to significantly reduce ahead of next season
We now have eight Serie A games left to play, including Internazionale (home) & Juventus (away) in April and AS Roma (away) & Napoli (home) in May
The leaders are still red-hot favourites for the title, but with the gap reduced any one of the top three still have a chance of securing the Scudetto
For our part, we have to perform better in those clashes with the big sides if we want to secure Champions League football
If we can do that, maybe we might have an outside chance of stealing the title after finishing 5th, 3rd and 3rd in the previous three seasons
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I hadn't caught up with this for a while but skimmed through and see a very good 2nd last year and another strong challenge this year. The gap is definitely closing!
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Glad to hear Serie A is going well so far! Fully agree the dual-nationals in Italy is a really important approach to take, not just with the Argentines but there are also some Uruguayan and Brazilians that come up too.
Yes agreed on the newgens. A special talent that you see coming through yourself, watching them developing and making an impact is exciting for the manager. It probably says more more about me and my own preference than anything else, as I rarely play more than 2-3 season saves so probably don't often connect with them even if they're my own.
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2 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:
So, I can only go on how I play it. Whether or not this will suit you or it is the 'right' way, I have no idea.
Much more detailed and specific than my brief thoughts, an interesting read!
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That will be an interesting side story to follow. I've done lots of work on my U-20 squad with many of my signings being specifically for that group. The difficulty is what you do with them if you have too many or they become too old. I took the decision to loan the best of the too-old ones out in season 4, with a clear plan to put those who perform well in the mix for promotion to my senior side when they return.
I'd say that about 22/23 players for that group is about right. But you also have to consider what is coming up from the U-18 side as they will quickly get too old for that group and swell your numbers at U-20 level (if good enough to keep).
I'd look to try and promote a couple each year from U-20 to Seniors, replacing those with expiring contracts or sold.
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1 minute ago, warlock said:
I'm sure you meant to say that an assertive halftime team talk resulted in improved performances
. And rightly so!
Haha exactly that! Google translate issues of course
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1 hour ago, warlock said:
Always difficult when, as you say, you don't have a reliable source of goals. Maldini seems to be doing alright but it would be nice if some of your other AMs/strikers could pick up a bit of slack. I'm sure you'll figure it out
Yes you're spot on, we had relied on Mateta alot since he signed and now that he is not delivering we need others to contribute. The January update just posted above shows a few of them are doing that a little bit better, but they don't inspire complete confidence like JP had been doing before.
30 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:Huge fan of the way you've worked Bologna up and loving the U-20 updates! Keep going!
Thanks for that, really appreciated! The U-20 squad is having another great season, and it's definitely time to move some to the seniors next season. We should still have a decent pool of players at that level too, but not as many as we have until now. Next year due to age we will begin to see a more 'newgen' dominated squad.
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Season 2026/27 - Part 3 (January 2027)
This is a short post just to review results on the pitch in January 2027 and to round-up the winter transfer window activities
On the pitch, we had a really good month this time around and neither of the two defeats were delivered in Serie A
The first challenge of the New Year was a trip to high-flying Napoli and a hard-fought 2-1 win down South was probably our best result of the season to date
Competitions like the Supercoppa carry no importance at all to me and quite honestly losing to the same side a few days later in that was totally irrelevant
Even the Coppa Italia is a sideshow that we rotate for, but we did scrape past Monza either side of narrow but necessary Serie A wins over Lecce & Genoa
The other defeat came in Munich as Bayern beat us 3-1 in the CL league stage, but only after we missed an 80th minute penalty at 2-1
The hangover from that was worse than expected though, as we went 3-0 down in the first half at home to Empoli next time out
A rare manager tantrum followed during the interval and the players salvaged some pride by rescuing a 3-3 draw at the death
It was a game we should have been winning and still a bad day at the office, but we supposedly have to take some positives from it in the end
The month was closed with two better results, beating RB Salzburg in Europe and Salernitana in the league -late goals in both gave flattering margins though
The other plus in January was that Jean-Philippe Mateta scored three goals in this period, and Andrea Colpani finally made some sort of impact too
Our Coppa Italia journey will probably come to and end in our first match of February as we travel to the capital to face AS Roma
In Serie A, it seems Internazionale would only fail to win the title by way of an epic collapse, but we are one of four sides competing for the next three CL spots
Mateta now has 9 goals in total with 7 from 21 in the league and just 2 from 8 in Europe, but he needs to deliver much more in the coming months
Despite plans to shed some senior pros in the window, transfer activity was somewhat less than we were predicting
The only first-team departure was on 14th January 2027 when central defender Sam Beukema was allowed to join AC Milan for 22 million Euros
Sam had been captain for three years until this summer, but as one our non-Itaiy trained players we were willing to let him move on now
His starts had been less this term with 13 appearances including 9 starts in Serie A but he had always been a good performer
In his Bologna career he made 116 league appearances with 114 of them being starts and his average rating was always around the 7.00 mark
The only arrival came on 26th January 2027 with Nadir Zortea coming in as we looked to re-shape our options at right wing-back
With Dan Ndoye being offered out and attracting interest, and Michael Folorunsho not being certain of a new contract, we just wanted another Italian option here
The modest fee of 250,000 Euros and sensible wages seemed to support moving for a player who has been averaging around 7.00 in his last few Serie A campaigns
The only other departure was our third-choice goalkeeper who had signed for free and was too old to keep playing in the U-20 squad
This looks like we didn't try to do too much business, but the simple truth is we failed to complete exit deals for seven or eight squad members to leave
It's no real issue as we can sort most of this in the summer when promoting a whole host of our U-20 starlets to the senior squad for next year
One of those ready to step up is attacking midfielder Mattia Liberali (19) who we rejected multiple bids for from PSG and top Premier League clubs in January
In his first season with our U-20 side our future-star has so far recorded 28 goals and 18 assists in 36 games at an average rating of 7.85
We now look forward to the final 16 games in Serie A, and Brighton over two legs in our CL knockout play-off
But next up is that Coppa Italia test away to AS Roma...
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Welcome to Italy! Just seeing this tonight for the first time, but great to have you join those of us already here.
A great start here, and it already looks inevitable that you'll be in Serie A next season. They have a decent squad (better than decent for Serie B) and keeping Berardi was a real bonus for you. I agree what you said about the difficulty of players not quite at first-team squad level but too old for the U-20 squad, it's a really tough one to balance out and although you can play a small number of over-age players in the U-20 matches, it's still tricky and gets harder over years!
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Great updates again here, nicely told and always superbly presented with the graphics. Nice to see some more youngsters pushing their claims for action, and seems like good sensible work in the transfer market (in and out). 3rd is a strong season, although I guess you could hear some moaning Spurs fans saying you're rubbish for only being two points clear of Norwich after 28 games
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Just caught up again now, some really excellent recent posts since i was last online.
With great transfer-business summaries, an impressive squad review and excellent graphics, all else I can say is 'congrats on the well-deserved promotion' and good luck in your preparations for the new season.
Italian sides with an Argentina influence is a real plus for me, and my next Italian save (for FM25) will surely see me take a different approach from domestic-inspired Bologna to a cosmopolitan recruitment strategy. I usually lose interest reading about stories after 3-5 years when players are 'fake', but still enjoying how you have taken this with small steps until now, well done indeed.
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28 minutes ago, warlock said:
Somehow missed your last update
. Rough form in October but no real cause for concern yet, and you're well-placed for another Champions League qualification.
No worries mate. Yes I think we have to aim for CL again but we aren't really as strong this year as we had hoped to be.
I need to have a look at your new journey once my updates are finished too (one is above and one is coming soon).
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Season 2026/27 - Part 2 (November-December 2026)
November saw a slow start on both the domestic and continental fronts, but we did manage to grind out two narrow but valuable wins to close the month off
Jean-Philippe Mateta has been playing like the old cartoon character Billy's Boots before he found his magical footwear (youngsters can google it)
So others needed to deliver goals - and luckily the rarely-used Daniel Maldini achieved this on a few occasions in November
The final month of the year got off to a great start with an important win in Europe which was memorable for Mateta actually hitting the target again
League-leaders Internazionale were next and are always a tough opponent, but we battled well there and were unlucky to be handed a 2-1 away defeat
We then hoped to bounce back by beating Juventus at home, but the Turin outfit smothered us well and the 0-0 result was another frustrating day
Central midfielder Marco Brescianini eased some pressure by continuing his good personal form with a brace as we brushed aside Palermo next time out though
The calendar year ended with us hosting AS Roma (4th) and although we always want to win at home,a point against them was a good one for us
Below shows where we sat at the turn of the New Year, 5th was solid but we are already 15 points behind the leaders
A lack of a regular goalscorer this season is very disappointing, but defensively we are doing OK (4th best at this stage)
One other interesting thing occurred on 15th November 2026, something I have rarely seen in FM
Hellas Verona are currently in Serie A and were mid-table at the time the below message was delivered
Also, they haven't had any points deducted and seem to have survived without any other drama so maybe they got a new board and/or investment
Another update is not far away as January has been played already, and we can round-up the transfer window too
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On 26/08/2024 at 20:55, Cheez3y said:
Rough October after a nice victory vs Milan.
Thank you and sorry for the very slow response, I have not been online for a week or two. I struggle to beat any of the big clubs except Juventus, so any win over Milan is satisfying!
On 26/08/2024 at 21:16, Hootieleece said:Good work so far. What is wrong with Juventus?
Again sorry for the slow reply. I don't know! They haven't been good in any of the years so far, which isn't what I expected at all. it's always the same four teams showing power - the two from Milan, plus Roma and Napoli.
On 26/08/2024 at 23:44, john1 said:Finally caught up with all this
What an achievement you have done so far, squad looking epic!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting. Encouragement like that is always appreciated!
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Good luck for the new season! I took a good look at Bruno Zapelli in my early seasons at Bologna, due to his second nationality of Italian. We seem to be finding similar player types, but you're a few levels below so whilst they were not quite right for me, I can fully support you in signing them for your team. I have confidence that you might see it through this year, but whatever happens I hope you're allowed to stay true to your philosophies.
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Part 2 of the squad review is superb again. The release clause for Ferdi makes that a no-brainer and he seems like an ideal 'Tottenham-type' to me. Apart from the fact he will soon be announced at Brighton of course.
Really pleased that Donley has impressed already. And I love the transfer-listed price tags, excellent presentation again.
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Another very good season, 4th and some trophies is a decent effort. Good luck for the next season!
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Season 2026/27 - Part 1 (August-October 2026)
Bologna's board and fans have cautious optimism that our 4th term together will serve up another good season
As mentioned in the squad review, our group of players is stacked with numbers and (we hope) enough quality to make an impression
This will be the last year of this particular cycle, as 2027/28 will see a refresh as some familiar faces will be moving on
Our approach stays consistent with a back-three and wing-backs, a defensive and central midfielder, and a lone striker supported by two attacking midfielders
August got off to a good start with two wins and one draw as we launched our campaign with confidence
Attacking midfielder Daniel Maldini made an unexpected impact at shadow striker after taking advantage of injuries to score a couple of early goals
September was also a good month in the league with three wins from three including an excellent win over AC Milan who won eight of their first nine
Unfortunately we also had two Champions League games and couldn't win either - the defeat against Juventus was a big blow as they scored after 94 minutes
October was less impressive as - perhaps slowed by European action - we laboured to two home draws and a defeat in Serie A before a good win last time out
We also couldn't rack up our first Champions League win of the season as Manchester United came and played out a goalless draw in Italy
Jean-Philippe Mateta had a good start to the season but the goals dried up for him last month where he failed to net at all
In fact, midfielder Marco Brescianini was the unlikely hero recently after scoring a pair of important goals from the bench in his last two cameos
Hopefully that last victory might inspire the team to push on before Napoli and the two Milan teams put any more distance between us
We now rank 4th in the table after dipping a little last month, and 5th in goals scored and conceded standings
Financially we don't look as strong as usual, but we are about to reign in some serious transfer funds in the next few months
The mandatory future fee for Jesper Karlsson (on loan at Palermo) should net us 35 million Euros after 20 appearances there
Meanwhile, defender Sam Beukema could earn us close to 70 million Euros if he moves to Saudi Arabia as he is keen to do
Whether these monies come in or not, we have no plans to buy any new players this season - but it will be nice to boost the bank balance again
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On 25/08/2024 at 13:45, danyates8 said:
Sounds like we run a similar method in terms of squad building and wage structure. Having a nice mix of experience and youth whilst staying within a wage structure that is fairly strict. I still get caught out by contract clauses every now and then though!
You won't hear me arguing against your strategies then! I'm always trying to think ahead on expiring contracts, renewing those I want and can afford before they get in to the last year. But if we can't get close to the new (over) inflated demands, I don't worry much about letting 30 year-old players leave for free. Afterall, that's what the youth pipeline was built for.
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Wow! Possibly the best-displayed squad review ever, I love the way you presented this! Looking forward to seeing the second part
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Good form in the league and in Europe, good luck against Braga in the Allianz Cup Final!
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Sorry for Kessie, but it was an interesting gamble. Another season where you've done well but were closer to achieving more. Lots of goals is what I am seeing!
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. Rough form in October but no real cause for concern yet, and you're well-placed for another Champions League qualification.
What an achievement you have done so far, squad looking epic! 
[FM24] Sassuolo: A New Beginning
in FM Career Updates
Posted
Whilst awaiting the update (hope Mrs W's birthday bash was good) it's clear to see you had another outstanding and successful season.
Well done mate and good luck preparing to take Serie A by storm.
Two player questions please. How has Berardi done for you, has he been the star I would have expected? And how reliable is Turati? it looks like he has done well but is that a bit flattering because he rarely gets tested in a dominant Serie B side?