CM03/04: AS Roma - 2005

[bamcgee]

** AS Roma **

This my first dynasty, so please be gentle. I’m hoping to do some writeups about the 2005 season for my Roma squad. Last year was very successful from all perspectives, and now the pressure is on to win some trophies. I don’t use the so-called cheat tactics, which would make for some pretty boring reading. I’m basically an American NFL fan who’s learned everything he knows about soccer from this game, so if I misuse a term yet pretend like I know what I’m talking about, I apologize in advance.

Background – Last year rookie manager Maxwell came in and took Serie A by storm, leading Roma to the Serie A title, the UEFA cup championship, and the Italian Cup. Granted, Roma at the beginning of CM 3/4 is a fully-loaded team stocked with some of Europe’s best young talent. Nevertheless, there's a lot to be proud of, and it will be hard to match.

Now, the club is flush with cash and expectations are running rampant. The club’s previously average financial position has been greatly shored up by these successes, as well as from last year’s transfers of Vincenzo Montella (to Parma) for $6 million, Emerson (to Newcastle) for $20 million, and former captain Francesco Totti for $48 million (to Man U.)

Montella played quite well for us and was our leading goal scorer for a while, but the development of Evandro Roncatta as a big-time threat made him expendable. Emerson never quite fit into my tactics and I had decent quality depth at DMC, so I essentially swapped him for Kieron Dyer and some cash. Dyer has been a strong addition so far, and he is three years younger than Emerson. While Totti had great stats and was very popular, he never scored much or created many opportunities for us. Still, I never would have sold him had the transfer for Brazilian wonderkid Diego not gone through. Although I believe Diego will outplay Totti on the pitch, the effects of the Totti transfer on morale could be pretty bad. Still, with $50 million of additional cash in the account, it was the right move to make.

Overall, these moves force me to rely on some very young talent for this ‘05, so we’ll see if they come through. I’ve still got one last transfer up my sleeve, although the deadline has passed until January 1. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Tactics - I try to adapt to the squad’s strengths. In Roma’s case, we have exceptional attacking fullbacks – creative, pacey, and tough. I have loads of young talent at the forward and striker positions, but they occasionally act their age. It will be a challenge to to give everyone opportunities and keep them happy, so I plan on utilizing a fairly strict squad rotation at those spots, probably no more than 3-4 matches in a row for anyone. The youngsters will be watched especially closely. Defensively, I can’t imagine many other teams having a back line as strong as this one, so I feel comfortable playing three instead of four defenders. They’re young, fast, skilled, and brave. I’ll probably play a 3-5-3 or perhaps a 4-4-2 diamond. At any rate, Carew and Roncatta will be up front with Diego in the hole to offer support and assists. I could use another left winger in either case, and my defensive mids are uninspiring.

Typically I prefer short passes and cohesive teamwork, but several of my players are gifted dribblers, so we’ll let them play. I expect Roncatta with his deadly finishing and good “off the ball” skills to be the leading scorer, and Diego and Mancini to create most of the opportunities. It looks like Lucio, who has a full season at Roma under his belt, will be our captain this year. His determination, influence, positioning, and work rate all are top notch. I prefer giving him the armband over capable Roma veteran Tommasi, who might not play regularly. Set plays could be a weakness for our team, as Totti was the previous set piece taker of choice. Both Diego and Mancini have adequate skill in this area, but that could be targeted for improvement.

Training- I set up two schedules – one for attackers and one for defenders. This is part of the game that I feel really bogs down, and it’s too difficult to gauge the results of tweaking these settings. Therefore, I basically assign coaches at the beginning of the year in a fashion that makes some sense, and just forget about it. The schedules are predominantly devoted to overloading, with some pig in the middle, set piece, closing down, 5 on 5, and finishing tossed in. I do not train the day after a match – the season is just too long, and I have several very young players. Using these schedules last year, I did not have a single significant injury longer than 2 weeks. This was no doubt pivotal in our success, and I very much want to duplicate that result.

Player bios next!

[bamcgee]

Here’s a rundown of the roster for AS Roma 2005:

Attackers:
John Carew – A big and fast striker. He’s not the bravest and he’s only an average finisher, but I love his size and speed. I signed him from Valencia for $7 million while he was on loan here. Time and again, he demonstrates the ability to flick on a header to our streaking strikers for an assist. He gives squads that lack tall defenders fits. Typically the starting target man. He’s apparently ambitious, but I haven’t had any troubles so far.

Alessandro Simonetta – Young, talented, and still developing. He’s inconsistent at this point, but I’ve never had a chance to play him regularly. He should develop into a star if I don’t screw him up.

Evandro Roncatta – My scouts found this 18 yr old gem available in Brazil last year, and I signed him on a free. It appears that if you sign a foreigner as a free transfer, it does not count against your “one foreigner signing” cap in the Italian league. Maybe that’s a bug, maybe not. But at any rate, I picked up an eighteen-year old stud with superior finishing skills. He performed so well last season (picking up hat tricks against the likes of AC Milan) that I felt comfortable shipping Totti’s overrated skills over to Man U. for $48 million. He recently complained about his youth contract, so I upgraded him to a squad rotation deal – it’s still a big-time bargain. I plan on giving him as much playing time as he can handle.

Alessio Cerci – Another of Roma’s incredibly talented young strikers. Cerci is only 17 and already can start and hold his own against weaker squads. Three or four years from now, he should be fantastic. For now, he waits.

Antonio Cassano – He is a young star at Roma IRL (so I hear), but in the game I find that he’s a ballhogging flamboyant dribbler that has trouble finishing. He only seems to create chances for himself, and even then only when the mood strikes him. Despite my reservations, he could get playing time on the left wing, depending on which tactic I go with. He has a ton of value ($25+ million, 22 years old), so if somebody makes an offer, I might cash out. Extremely gifted, but not my type of player => low workrate, miserable teamwork. Still, he’s as skilled with the ball as they come.

Yilderay Basturk – I picked him up on a free last summer, liking his all-around skills as attacking mid. I had planned on starting him, but with Diego around, he’s going to have to fight for time. Maybe I’ll see if he can play on the left wing. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, so at worst he’ll make a quality backup.

Ossi Oskarrson – I regret this signing somewhat, although he came cheap. He just doesn’t have the technical skills, although he’s still only 23. Physically and mentally, he’s a beast. He would be an invaluable lower-leaguer. Still, I use him off the bench if I feel the squad appears lackadaisical, and he’s played reasonably well to date.

Diego – A surprise signing for 2005. I never expected Santos to sell him, but $20 mm for this topnotch wonderkid is a bargain. I’ve never owned him before, so I’m excited to see what he can do. His signing basically pushed Totti out the door. At 19, he’s going to be at Roma for a while.

Kieron Dyer – Fast, agile and dangerous. He’s creative and was a very solid mid season acquisition for us. Apparently he had a falling out with Laurent Robert up at Newcastle, so we got him fairly cheap. I was looking for someone to take some of the creative pressure off Mancini, and he did just that. Similar in skills to Diego, so I may have to move him around, possibly on the wing. When I played Newcastle before, Dyer got hurt a lot, so I’ll have to keep an eye on that. That seems to be true IRL too.

Marco Delvecchio – A big veteran. I’ve never liked Marco much, he’s just too inconsistent and has average skills and speed. He’s played ok in the past though and he’s the only other target man I have. Besides, I’d hate to get rid of another vet at this point.

Attacking Fullbacks
Mancini – He is perhaps our best player, and that’s saying something. I typically play him as a defensive mid running up into an attacking position, where he uses his ample tackling, ball handling, and creative skills to pressure the defense. Probably creates 60% of our scoring chances using these tactics, and when he’s out, we sometimes struggle to score. Plus, he’s only 24. When he needs a break, I typically play Oskarrson, a decent but imperfect fit at that spot.

Vincent Candela – Mancini’s left-footed counterpart. A solid veteran who really responded to coaching last year. He’s not quite as gifted offensively as Mancini, but still a force at both ends.

Max Tonetto – I signed him on a Bosman this summer to back up Candela, but he has the skills to start and play well. Last year I used DeRossi in this spot, but he lacks the pace and crossing ability necessary for the wing.

Defensive Mids
Damiano Tommasi – One of our influential veteran leaders. He’s got strong defensive skills and he works his a__ off, but he’s not most agile or pacey player. I occasionally use him to man mark and hassle premier forwards like Shevchenko or Adriano. Has substantial leadership ability.

Olivier Dacourt – Currently our starter. I ask the center mids to cover a lot of ground and win their share of balls, and Dacourt does ok but he’s not spectacular. I’m looking to upgrade here, and now I’ve got loads of cash to do it.

Daniele DeRossi – I’ve seen other CM games where DeRossi turns out to be worldclass, but that side of him hasn’t shown yet. Currently he’s a solid backup defensive mid, but there’s plenty of time for his skills to pop.

Fullbacks
Lucio – Pretty much every CM player knows that Lucio, a world class center-back, is one of the first transfers in the game because he’s got a minimum fee release clause of $16 mm at Leverkusen and he’s probably worth 1.5x more. I try to sign him every time I play with a major team. Incredibly talented and very reliable.

Walter Samuel – Roma’s other world-class defender. Between him and Lucio, the goalies have it pretty easy.

Lassissi – Solid veteran backup. He won’t get as much playing time this year.

Vincent Kompany – Yet another free transfer. He’s too young to contribute, although he’s got nice skills for an eighteen year-old. I made him available for loan to get him some experience, so he’ll likely be off soon. He’s too good for the Under 20s.

Jonathan Zebina – He started most of last year and played well, but since I typically play only three defenders, he’ll likely be the first sub off the bench and will get ample pt in the rotation.

Daniel Bonera – I picked up this guy on a free transfer from Brescia last year. I don’t know what they were thinking. Tough and talented, Bonera is a regular starter for the Italian nationals (if I recall correctly). IRL I read that he’s an acquisition target for Arsenal and Tottenham. Anyway, between Samuel, Lucio, and Bonera, I should have an impenetrable defense.

Christian Chivu – A very strong defender, albeit a step slow. He did not mesh well last year with Lucio and Samuel. Perhaps there were too many “commanding” personality types. Anyway, he’s the odd guy out so I have transfer listed him. I’ve cursed at the screen too many times as I’ve watched him bungle a play and then not have the recovery speed to make up for the mistake. He’d probably be better off in the middle, but that spot is spoken for. He has great looking stats otherwise, so I’m hesitant to sell him for cheap. On the other hand, he’s making the highest salary on the team ($4.1 mm per) and he’s a non-starter. I’ll see what the market offers, if anything.

Trianos Dellas – An ambitious bench warmer. He’s likely to cause me problems at some point, but for now I’ve been able to keep him happy with table scraps. Not a bad player really, just not the caliber of these other gentlemen.

Goalkeepers
Ivan Pelizzoli – I have a really hard time evaluating goalies by their skills. When comparing good ones, the differences can be so small that they seem insignificant. Therefore, I rate almost strictly by on-the-field performance. Pelizzoli is young and talented and was our starter for most of last year. That’s good enough for me. With a back line like this, he shouldn’t be facing many shots anyway.

Christian Lupatelli – He looks just as good as Pelizzoli to me. However, when given an opportunity to start several matches last year, he failed to take advantage of it. He’s also fairly young and cheap, so I’m going to hold on to him.

Kasper Schmeichel – This is a signing that I frequently make in my games. He’s only 17, but he’s got excellent skills and comes cheap. It will be tricky to get him some playing time, and Roma has another guy in the Under 20’s that’s not half bad, so I may end up loaning him. Still, I’ve been in too many situations where I need a third goalkeeper and didn’t have one, so I’m hesitant. He’s played well in the friendlies, so maybe he’s ready for more. A superior one-on-one defender.

Other - I typically ignore my reserves and get rid of the flotsam and jetsam, and allow my assistants to manage my youth squad. There's some talent there, although none that are close to cracking this lineup.

Facilities - Roma has excellent facilities according to the game. No need to upgrade. Furthermore, they seem to have a seemingly endless wage budget, although this has no doubt been increased due to last year's windfall. I'll have to be careful if we start to struggle - don't want to get overextended.


Our first match update is soon to come – it’s the elaborately titled Super Cup!

I believe (please correct me if I’m wrong) that this match is the first and second place teams from the prior year’s league rankings, and it’s worth a ton of cash money. It looks like this year’s match pits us against Juventus, and wow, have they upgraded their team. Fortunately it's a home game for us. More details soon.

(We did play some friendlies, but I’m going to skip those game recaps. Instead I will summarize key injuries or developments that took place and get on to the good stuff.)

[Desnudo]

Diego is the best. After a season to adjust, he is irreplaceable. IRL I've seen him in a couple of Santos games on Fox Sports World and I think he deserves the CM ratings.

[bamcgee]

Friendlies - Roma won its three friendlies by a combined score of 9:1 vs newly promoted Atalanta, Brescia, and Paris SG. No major injuries were recorded, and pretty much everyone played well. Carew won 2 man of the match awards, while Dyer won the other. Simonetta scored 2 goals, and Cerci picked up a nice one as well. All in all, it was an uneventful preseason.

Roma vs. Juventus, 9/3/2005

Tension is running high here in Monaco. It's a brisk 46 degrees, and the players take the pitch. Some new faces out there for Juventus, as they raided Real Madrid in the offseason. Now they've added the aging yet still formidable duo of Zenedine Zidane and Roberto Carlos (for about $30 mm total). We're going to have to find some answers for them.

Tonight Roma is starting its expected group, including Lucio, Samuel, and Bonera in the back, Mancini and Candela as attacking fullbacks, Olivier Dacourt in the middle, and Diego and Basturk attacking from central midfield behind Carew and Roncatta. The first highlight 3 minutes in, as Diego steals a throw in from Carlos and fires a long range shot, well saved by Juventus' Buffon.

At the five minute mark, Diego gets tripped just outside the box. Diego steps up to take the shot, an arcing shot towards the upper right corner... but Buffon gets his fingertips on it and pushes it aside. Great effort.

It's been all Roma early on, as Juventus hasn't put had a shot yet. That is sure to change. In fact, at 23 minutes, Dacourt loses the ball at midfield, allowing Del Piero to knock it away. Nedved picks it up and passes it on ahead to the streaking Del Piero. He fires just outside the box and it goes over the bar, well pressured by Samuel.

At this point, I get a little antsy and bring on Cassano for Basturk, who's earning a 4. He might snap out of it, but I don't intend to wait to find out.

Juventus has started to warm up, and had a couple of good chances, with one good save by Pelizzoli. Definitely feeling nervous.

At the 56 minute mark, Candela takes a throw in, tosses it back to Cassano. He spins on the ball unmarked and lobs one deep to Carew. Carew gets up over the Juventus defender and nods it towards an unmarked Diego sprinting up the middle. One on one versus Buffon... and Diego dips by him and easily rolls it into the net. What a start for Diego! Totti never made a play like that.

I contemplate shifting to a defensive stance, but decide against it. Too much time left to lose the initiative, and we're still leading in overall shots. Juventus, sufficiently frightened, makes three subs, including for Del Piero and the defender who gave up the assist to Carew.

At the 72 minute mark, the highlight focuses on a Juventus corner kick. Carlos lines up and lobs one in, Pelizzoli is forced to make a save, and Blasi sticks the rebound in for an equalizer. Dammit.

Just one minute later, Di Vaio has another great Juventus chance, outjumping Lucio (!) and sprinting to the ball, but it goes off the bar! Trezeguet is there for the follow... and Pelizzoli makes the save! Phew.

Nine minutes later, Dacourt sets up a brilliant through pass to Diego right in front of the goal... but he puts it over. That could be our last good chance. But it's not - at 89 minutes, Cassano gets a free shot off in the box (no sex reference) but it's such a sad looking thing... oh honey, it's ok.

So it goes to a shootout! I don't have a single guy shooting over 24 years of age. But I am glad that Juventus subbed Del Piero, a deadly penalty man.

Di Vaio steps up for Juve... and blows it!! Great save by Pelizzoli. Woo hoo!
Cassano steps up first for us... and doesn't choke! Nice shot.
Edgar Davids for Juve... wish he was on my team. He scores.
Carew is next... no problem. Sticks it in. We're up 2-1.
Blasi has a chance to tie it up... but he doesn't. cough cough.
Mancini steps up... and misses! Noooo.
Meanwhile, Roberto Carlos hits one in, tying it up at 2 apiece.

Time for the new addition, Diego. 19 years old. Brazilian international. The kid scores like Colin Farrell. Bless him.

Zidane has a chance to keep Juve in it... legendary midfielder... BLOWS IT! That's all she wrote.

What a great game! Evenly matched to the last, but it turned out that our young fellas simply have more cajones. Now a certain fan wants to name his baby after me! Next up, Brescia, Torino, and then Milan!

[bamcgee]

Roma vs Brescia

I'm feeling ambitious tonight, so I thought I would type up another write up. Tonight we're up against Brescia. They're fairly average, although Ariel Ortega is a solid forward.

We're at home tonight, the first home game of the year. Our lineup is Lucio, Samuel, and Chivu (Bonera ineligible) at the back. Mancini and Tonetto at the attacking fullbacks. DeRossi, Diego, and Dyer in the middle and Carew and Simonetta up front. This was a short week, so I chose to rest a few regulars and get some others match time.

Right off the bat, disaster strikes! DeRossi kicks out at someone and gets sent off! 89 minutes to go and we're already a man down. I still think we can generate some offense and maybe get lucky at home, so I don't completely turtle up, although I do have to sub Dyer for Tommasi to get another defender on the field. Sorry Dyer.

Things are relatively quiet for the first half until the 35 minute mark. Dacourt has to come on for an injured Tonetta - I hope it's not serious. Only 1 sub left. Anyway, Dacourt centers it to Tommasi, who drops it off for Diego outside the box. Diego tries a banana shot... and it's in! What a shot! Diego steps up again!

The next action takes place at the 57 minute mark. Chivu brings the ball up from the back unopposed. Unusual for a defender to make it all the way to the touchline, but he crosses it to Simonetta, who punches it in for goal #2! 2-0 Roma.

Brescia claws one back at 72, with Ortega setting up a nice shot for Chamagol. Pelizzoli was charging out and let one get by him. Things are now a little tighter, so I draw back some of my attackers to protect the lead.

It doesn't matter though, since at 89 minutes Carew catches a rebound from a corner kick into the net.

All in all, a very good performance after such an awful beginning. Carew picks up the man of the match, but he's exhausted and has picked up a few bruises. Diego, Simonetta, and Mancini all played well but look tired. Everyone else looks ok, and a board member expresses his "extreme pleasure" that even rivals his discovery of Viagra.

[bamcgee]

The Torino game has been postponed (I think due to a champions league match). Therefore I scheduled a friendly against Celtic here in Rome. It's another 10 days until our match against Milan, so I wanted to get our guys out on the pitch and get in shape.

It appears to me that since I did not do any preseason training - cross country stuff - and stuck to my usual routines, my players seem to be getting a little winded in the early going. A few more minor injuries than usual as well. I've got enough depth that I'm not really worried, but this is something to think about for next season.

[bamcgee]

Diego is the best.

He's certainly started out that way. I really wasn't expecting him to come in and make such an immediate impact.

I went ahead and did something rather rash - I bought Johann Vogel of PSV, the European Midfielder of the Year in 2004 (according to the game). Johann is a defensive mid with some of the best physical and mental stats I've seen. His technical skills (crossing, dribbling, etc.) are only average, but those are hardly critical for a defensive mid. Instead, he positions himself well, he can run forever, he's an excellent tackler and a very good creative passer - just the kind of guy I was looking for to control the midfield. He'll be a significant upgrade over my current crop, and at 27 - he should be in his prime for a few more years.

Here's the kicker - it cost me $43 million. Waaaay too much, but I had the cash and I didn't have many other holes. I tried to get Veira from Arsenal, but they just weren't selling. That leaves me with $16 million, which I probably won't spend. Plus, Vogel didn't ask for much in salary ($2.1 mm) relative to other worldclass mids (Veira would have cost $6+ mm). Chivu is costing me double that. The transfer won't go through until Jan 1, but this should really boost our prospects. Will I get a chance to add him to the Champion's League roster? I hope so, not sure what the rule is.

[bamcgee]

I've never printed from the game before, so I'll try to find some ways to liven up all this text. I noticed that Quiksand's thread is a bit easier to read.