#fm2016

MAKING ARSENAL GREAT AGAIN.

Football Manager 2016 İnceleme

Ülkemizde en sevilen sporun futbol olduğu ortada ve bu durum yakın gelecekte değişmeyecek gibi görünüyor. Elbette bir seyirci olarak zevk alıyorsanız yeri geldiğinde FIFA ya da PES gibi oyunlarla zaman geçirip takımınızı zaferle tanıştırmak için gamepad’in düğmelerini aşındırıyor olabilirsiniz. İşin diğer boyutuysa teknik direktör koltuğuna oturup takım yönetmek. Bu alandaki en popüler serilerden biri olan Football Manager bir kez daha bizlerle. 2016 yılına özel Football Manager 2016 güncellemesi kısa süre önce oyuncuların beğenisine sunuldu. Bu serinin on seneyi aşan bir süreden beri senede bir güncellendiğini görüyoruz. Simülasyon türünün en iyi örneklerinden biri olan Football Manager serisinde dağıtıcı SEGA olarak karşımıza çıkmakta. Futbolun anavatanı olarak bilinen İngiltere’nin başkenti Londra’da merkezi bulunan Sports Interactive firması aslında çok daha önceden beri Championship Manager serisini geliştirmekteydi ama dağıtıcı firma Eidos ile işbirliği sona erdikten sonra telif haklarından ötürü serinin adı 2005 yılında Football Manager olarak değiştirildi. Bir sene sonra Sporst Interactive firmasını Sega satın aldı. Geçen seneki FM2015 ile Twitch entegrasyonunun standart geldiğini görmüştük. Böylece oyuncular canlı yayın yapar hale gelmişti.

  Bu seneki FM2016 ile ilgili duyuru 7 Eylül tarihinde gelmişti. Oyun çıkmadan kısa süre önce Beta sürümü sunuldu. 13 Kasım tarihinde daha önceki sürümler gibi sadece Windows, OS X ve Linux kullanıcılarına sunuldu. Ancak gelecek sene içinde Football Manager Touch 2016 adlı tablet uygulaması ve Football Manager Mobile 2016 adlı iOS/Android uygulamaları da sunulacak. Türkçe dahil 16 farklı dil desteğiyle Steam ortamında dijital olarak dağıtıma sunulan FM 2016 için şu aşamada 100 TL isteniyor. Ancak en azından oyunu deneme imkanı veren bir demo sürümü de bulunmakta. Gördüğümüz kadarıyla demo kurulumu başlatıldığında 4161 MB boş disk alanı talep ediliyor. Çok sayıda DLC oyun ile aynı anda markete eklenmiş olsa da bunların büyük kısmı sadece dokunmatik modda kullanılabilen ve sınırlamaları kaldıran bazı hileler diyebiliriz. Sistem gereksinimlerine baktığımızda Windows Vista, Intel Pentium 4 işlemci, 2 GB RAM bellek, GeForce FX 5900 gibi DirectX 9.0c dönemlerinden kalma son derece mütevazi istekler görüyoruz yani güçlü bir sistem şart değil. Bu bir simülasyon ve yönetim oyunu olduğu için oyunculara ait grafik detaylarının çok detaylı olmasını beklemiyoruz ve önceki sürüme kıyasla belirgin bir ilerleme göremiyoruz. Diğer yandan oyundaki arabirimler iyileştirilmiş. Oyun çıkar çıkmaz büyük ilgi gördü ve Steam listelerinde ilk ona girmesini sağlayacak biçimde 30 binden fazla kullanıcıya ulaştı bile.

  İlginç biçimde bu seriye aşina olanların senede bir yerine birkaç senede bir güncellemeyi tercih ettiğini görüyoruz çünkü senede bir sunulan yeni sürümlerde çok fazla yenilik olmayabiliyor ve oyuncular bütçelerini korumak için bir sonraki seneyi bekleyebiliyor. Örneğin geçen seneki FM 2015’e sahip olanların FM 2016 güncellemesi için çok acele etmeyip incelemeleri ve yorumları beklemesini yadırgayamayız. Peki bu seneki FM 2016, geçen seneki FM 2015’e kıyasla ne gibi yenilikler içeriyor? Bu seneki sürümle ilgili olarak dikkat çeken iki yeni oyun modu bulunuyor. Fantasy Draft adlı yeni modda birden fazla oyuncu birlikte oynayarak belirli bir sabit bütçe dahilinde oyuncuları ekiplerine dahil ediyor. Create-A-Club adlı diğer yeni modsa benzer biçimde belirli bir bütçe dahilinde bir takımı sıfırdan oluşturma imkanı veriyor. Elbette Football Manager oyununu gerçek futbol takımlarına mümkün derece yakın olmak için oynayanlar var ve Create-A-Club modu onlar açısından çok cazip gelmeyebilir. Diğer yeniliklerden biri takım ve oyuncu tanıtım ekranlarının yeniden tasarlanmış olması. Gerçekçi hale gelen arabirimle oyunculardan ne istediğinizi belirtmeniz kolaylaşıyor. Basın toplantıları sırasında daha fazla soru sorulabilmesine imkan veren ince düzenlemeler de dikkat çekiyor.

Atalanta: The Rise of La Dea – 2015/2016 End of Season Awards & Round Up

As the last balls were kicked in anger, final whistles sounded across the continent and the curtain came down on Europe’s club competitions.  The 2015/2016 season drew to a close and the European Championships and awards season drew near. The big questions were on everyone’s lips; who would be top dog in France?  Who would the surprise package be?  Who would SeenThem GivenFM be wearing at the…

We held a six point lead over Fiorentina and Inter and a maximum points haul from April’s first four fixtures was a must before heading into a difficult end to the Serie A season.

03.04.2016 – Serie A – Udinese (H)

You may remember back to back to November when Stefano Pioli’s side gave us a proper FMing at the Friuli – desperately clinging onto a undeserved point as we bombarded their goal.

This was not a time for us to show them that sort of mercy – like killing a circus, we had to go straight for the juggler jugular.

We went for the jugular, but armed with the safety scissors handed out to pre-school children.

Udinese eventually succumbed to the bludgeoning and a drab game was only settled by an Alberto Palsochi goal mid-way through the second half.  The goal itself was a bizarre one, the away defence seemingly intent on carrying out a Mannequin Challenge, were more than happy to let Paloschi react first after keeper Karnezis had spilled Augustinsson’s shot.

Meanwhile, our closest rivals exchanged places as Inter lost 2-1 at home to Lazio and Fiorentina recorded a win over Napoli by the same scoreline.

10.04.2016 – Serie A – Cagliari (H)

Cagliari travelled north from the island of Sardinia in high spirits having pulled themselves out of the relegation dogfight and were sitting in a respectable 13th position.

This fact relegated this game to the sort of dead rubber for the away side that would allow them to play fearlessly and with freedom, with all the pressure being on us.  Tits.

The stats make this look like we’ve got out of jail here.  In truth it was a terrible game but we came closest to winning it; Paletta heading a Gómez free kick onto the bar.  This provided little comfort in what were two points dropped rather than a point gained.

A further bittersweet feeling followed with the news that both Inter and Fiorentina had surprisingly dropped points in a 1-1 draw with Sampdoria and a 2-0 defeat at Crotone respectively.

Our cushion between automatic Champions League qualification and a play off now stood at seven points and nine between us and dropping into the Europa League.

17.04.2016 – Serie A – Pescara (A)

We travelled east looking to build on said lead.  Pescara had inhabited the bottom spot in the table from match day 12 and were already relegated at this point.  Another dead rubber, another team playing with freedom.  Gordon Bennett.

Thankfully we made lighter work of this than we had with Cagliari.

Marco D’Alessandro was nigh on unplayable,  firstly setting up Mo Besic for the opener.  Rey Manaj equalised for Pescara after our defenders, clearly swept up in the craze,  decided to carry out their own Mannequin Challenge following Sportiello’s save from a Memushaj shot.

D’Alessandro then hit La Dea’s second of the afternoon before turning provider again and crossing for Paloschi to nod in.  D’Alessandro got his second of the game, firing in from a Svensson free kick.

The game ebbed and flowed towards completion before Memushaj got on the scoresheet with a penalty in the 88th minute to reduce the arrears.

Inter and Fiorentina both kept the pressure on us; Inter recording a 1-0 win in the Derby della Madonnina against Milan and La Viola securing a 2-1 home win over Palermo.

20.04.2016 – Serie A – Sassuolo (H)

After struggling at the start of the season to balance their Europa League and Serie A commitments, Sassuolo had benefitted from having a less hectic schedule once the group stage had finished and had once again started to push for Europe, sitting in 8th position.

In team news, Stendardo came in for the suspended Paletta, Susic for the defensively minded Besic.

Two headline makers at either end of the pitch ensured another narrow win for La Dea.  Alberto Paloschi‘s 18th league goal of the season was a screamer – from a narrow-ish angle, he swivelled and cracked a first time effort off the underside of the cross bar following Karim Laribi’s poor back-pass.

However, Marco Sportiello’s performance was a thing of true beauty.  He single handedly (p-unintended) kept out Alfred Duncan, Alessandro Matri and Domenico Berardi – including one magnificent double save from the latter duo.  In the dressing room, I laid down the law and forced Jonas Svensson to give Sportiello his man-of-the-match award.

This result all but confirmed Champions League qualification – whether it be automatic or play off was yet to be decided.  While Fiorentina beat Lazio 1-0 at the Olimpico in Rome, Inter were suffering a 2-0 reverse at Torino’s own Olimpico, thus creating a twelve point gap between us with four left to play – including Inter v Atalanta.

23.04.2016 – Serie A – Roma (A)

This was it.  This is what it all boils down to.  A win at Roma and we had guaranteed Champions League football at Atleti Azzurri d’Italia for next season…providing Fiorentina lost at home to Sampdoria.

We were dealt a blow with the news that Jasmin Kurtic would miss the run in with a strained stomach.  Diego Poyet replaced him as we went on the attack in the Olimpico.

Roma had suffered a huge dip mid season – not winning in six games – and although they had started to pick up again, I smelt blood.  (This later turned out to be a nose bleed caused by me continually picking my hooter).

WE ONLY WENT AND RUDDY DID IT.  News had filtered through of Fiorentina’s 1-0 defeat and a wave of emotions washed over me as I stood on the touchline as the referee’s whistle blew, weighing up what we had achieved.

A series of monumental highs – crushing wins over Lazio and Napoli, tactical mastery against Juve, Inter and Roma – and what turned out to be insignificant lows – a five game goalless streak and threatening to piss in the corners of the ground to break it, a fall out with my assistant using a booby pen after being sabotaged by him on the eve of the new season.

Putting the result and what it subsequently meant aside, the game was fantastic – real end to end stuff.  Ludwig Augustinsson rammed in his first for Atalanta in the 15th minute, firing low across the Roma keeper.  Diego Poyet also found an ideal time to come up with his first goal for the club, firing in five minutes later following a scramble at a corner.

From then on it was like a game of five-a-side before the leisure centre staff flick the lights on and off – real end to end stuff, desperate defending, inspired goalkeeping and wayward finishing.  It could have easily finished 6-3 to La Dea.

And so, we head into May, an initially treacherous looking month, with everything sewed up.  The inevitable had happened and Juve had tied up the league title, we were confirmed in second with Fiorentina and Inter fighting out for third.

One surprising title was left within our grasp – Alberto Paloschi (18) was a single goal behind Gol-zalo Higuain (19) in the race for the illustrious Capocannoniere title.

A home game against struggling Genoa (with all the pressure on them now, for once) gave the former Swansea man a good chance to nudge in front before we finished the season at the Giuseppe Meazza to face Inter and a home game against champions elect Juve.  Surely it wouldn’t come down to a direct shoot-out in that final game…..

Serie A Position: 2nd

Fixtures/Results:

I am now appearing on The Higher Tempo Press – check it out for fantastic FM-related blogs contributed by some of the community’s top writers.

STGFM

The remaining eleven fixtures were very much divided; I felt we had to restart our momentum and take maximum points from the first six games before hoping for bonus points in our last five against teams with spoils to fight over at both ends of the table.

First up was a trip to Turin to face Joe Hart’s Torino for the third time this season.  We then welcomed a struggling Bologna side to Atleti Azzurri d’Italia in front of the TV cameras before ending the month at an Empoli side who were also punching well above their weight in 7th.

06.03.2016 – Serie A – Torino (H)

After a slow start, Joe Hart’s Torino had dragged themselves up the table and were sitting in 9th as we made the two hour journey west to Turin in early March.

With Tino Susic unavailable due to injury, we dropped Besic in beside Kurtic to give more protection to the defence.

Now would be a bad time to get the wobbles.  The last time we played this badly, we managed to win (a 2-0 win over Palermo) but we failed to replicate this.  Joe Hart’s Torino could and should have had more after a nervous, stuttering performance by their opposition.

Paloschi looked to have stopped the rot by striking in the 3rd minute, but Joe Hart’s Torino could have levelled up after five minutes had Dani Avelar not seen his penalty turned away by Sportiello.

This didn’t deter Il Toro as they slipped through gears, creating chance after chance.  We held onto our lead until the break but two quick fire goals from Parigini – his first being a curling beauty from outside the box – gave Joe Hart’s Torino the lead, and ultimately win, they deserved.

While Fiorentina faltered, losing at home to Juve, Inter seized the opportunity to cut into our lead by squeaking past Napoli at the San Paolo.

12.03.2016 – Serie A –  Bologna (H)

While no wins in three caused concern, the pathetic performance at Joe Hart’s Torino’s Olimpico was a greater worry.  The fight seemed to be sucked out of the players as Adem Ljajić, Andrea Belotti and Daniele Baselli played their triangles and toyed with the Dea players.

Bologna at home was the opportunity to rectify this.  To avoid the languid Timor getting overran in midfield, I pushed Besic further up, but still in a ball-winning role.

Boom.  Back on it.  Donadoni’s Bologna had no answers as we hit them for three without reply.

Gómez got us off and running in the 37th minute, ghosting between two defenders to knock in Marco D’Alessandro’s low cross.  Ten minutes into the second half and we were two clear – D’Alessandro scoring a carbon copy of Gómez’ goal, this time knocking in an Augustinsson cross.  D’Alessandro turned provider once again with ten minutes to go, swinging in a cross that Pierre-Michel Lasogga headed in, despite Bologna’s Mirante getting a good hand to the ball.

Wins for Inter and Fiorentina against Crotone and Chievo respectively meant there was no change in the European places.

20.03.2016 – Serie A – Empoli (A)

If any fixture could derail any positivity from the Bologna result, this would be it.  Empoli were flying in 7th and confounding their pre-season prediction of 18th, swapping a relegation battle for a fight to get into Europe.

Despite this, I felt we had to go for it considering the fixtures at the end of the season so string puller Susic came in for the more defensive minded Besic.

A game that failed to ignite.  Ricky Saponara came closest for Empoli, hitting the inside of Sportiello’s post in the first half.  Gómez came closest for Atalanta, striking the only clear cut chance of the game directly at Douchez from a tight angle.

A good result but had Gómez’ converted his chance we would have been a lot more comfortable heading into April – Inter suffered a surprising 3-0 defeat at Palermo while Fiorentina dropped two points in a 1-1 draw at Udinese.

The first three games of April represented a huge chance to seal Champions League football.  After that we faced Roma, Inter and Juve and a Genoa side battling to stay in the league.

We were well and truly entering Fergie’s much vaunted squeaky bum time – and we couldn’t blame the parmesan and our lactose-intolerance.

Serie A Position: 2nd

Results/Fixtures:

Youth Intake

March saw my first youth intake at Atleti Azzurri d’Italia and it threw up a few interesting prospects.

One in particular was Felix Iuzzolino – a player that immediately attracted interest from the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.  His natural position is a CAM but I will be retraining him as an advanced forward and he will spend the 2016/17 out on loan.

Another decent prospect is Gabriele Pasiani – more eye catching than his stats though is the impressive beard he has at the age of 16.  Again, he will be re-trained, this time as a poacher, and will spend 2016/17 out on loan.

The best of the rest is Ghanian winger David Yakubu.  He looks quite rough round the edges but with the right training and exposure to first team football when the time is right, I am hoping he can make an impression in the first team.

The final prospect on show has little to no chance of ever kicking a ball in anger for the first team but deserves a mention for being a Liverpool-born, Northern Ireland under-20 international plying his trade in northern Italy.  Say “what about ye, la” to Richard Downey.

I am now appearing on The Higher Tempo Press – check it out for fantastic FM-related blogs contributed by some of the community’s top writers.

STGFM

This month represented a chance to take a huge stride towards the Champions League; 2nd to qualify automatically for the group stages or 3rd and having to negotiate a play off.

Let’s do this.

03.02.2016 – Serie A – Crotone (H)

Crotone had proven to be a tough nut to crack in the corresponding away leg on the sole of Italy’s boot back in September.  They ventured north with the sole (p-unintended) intention of frustrating the players, the fans, the management, any anyone within a 5-mile radius of their heavily defended goal.

I’d also made a huge boob in allowing number 17, Mattia Caldara, to play against us – his parent side from which he was on loan to Crotone for the season.  Surely he wouldn’t score…

I lined the team up in a sort of anchor shape, wanting to control the huge no-man’s land that Crotone would leave between the abomination above and their three forwards.

This will be filed under the “Big Opportunity Missed” category.  We looked far more comfortable than we did against Crotone first time round and took a deserved lead when David Timor fired in a 25th minute opener.

However, a second goal to kill the game remained aggravatingly elusive and in a rare Crotone attack, Tolói helpfully pushed de Giorgio’s cross into his own net.  1-1.  Belter.

Oh and of course, Caldara had a great game (7.3 rating) – thanks Mattia, you Judas.  More pertinently, Fiorentina did not make a similar mess of things at Pescara and won 3-0, cutting our lead down to two points.

07.02.2016 – Serie A – Palermo (A)

We visited Sicily with Palermo, disappointingly, only on their second manager of the season – it is normally the case with the Rosanero that they end each season with more managers than wins.

Having dropped two points against Crotone, it was imperative we bounced back with a win.  As a result, I stopped trying to be clever and returned to the old faithful formation.

We did bounce back with a win but we were bloody awful.  Any hangover from the Crotone result looked to be banished when Paloschi headed in off the bar after nice build up between Svensson and Susic with just 34 seconds gone.

Then we sat back and allowed Palermo to dictate.  They had more of the ball, more shots and more clear cut chances.  With a fear that Palermo would get themselves level and kick on, it was a huge relief when Palsochi got his second of the game from man-of-the-match Svensson’s cross.

Also, with this win our five point lead over Fiorentina had been restored with la Viola being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Sassuolo.

14.02.2016 – Serie A – Lazio (H)

A week later we faced Lazio for the third time this season, having drawn 0-0 at the Olimpico in the league and beaten them 4-2 at the same ground in the Coppa Italia.  As stated above, they were sitting in 6th in Serie A having climbed the table after a slow start – this would be no Bergamese spring walk in the park.

No shocks in the team selected bar Bruno coming in for his first start ahead of an injured D’Alessandro.

What a performance.  I mean, just look at those ratings (below).

We were unfortunate to go behind to a Caceido goal on the stroke of half time but put our foot to the floor early in the second.  Paloschi pulled the game back to all square, firing in Augustinsson’s low centre, before Gómez put La Dea ahead just four minutes after the break following a lovely close control build up involving Timor, Kurtic, Susic and Paloschi.

In the closing stages Lasogga put the icing on the whole thing, holding off two defenders to fire past Marchetti for his first goal for the club.

21.02.2016 – Serie A – Sampdoria (A)

Having comfortably saw off the highest ranked team we faced this month, we travelled to the port of Genoa in high spirits to face a struggling Samp.

For once, I named an unchanged team.  The team talk was simple: Same again, lads.

Editor’s singer Tom Smith once mused that “the saddest thing that I’d ever seen, was smokers outside the hospital door”.

I dread to think what mournful, melancholic, indie prose he would pen having seen Marco Sportiello’s face as our unbeaten league run finally come to an end.

That run, spanning 18 games and nearly six months, was ended when Sampdoria’s Sala volleyed Cigarini’s cross against a post only to see the ball hit Sportiello on the back and roll into the unguarded net, with a mere three minutes left on the clock following a drab, goalless 87 minutes.

“Heartbreak Hotel?  Yes, I’ll have a room for one please.”

My mood was somewhat lifted by Fiorentina’s surprised 3-1 home defeat to struggling Genoa, though our defeats allowed Inter back into the Champions League race.  We could ill afford any further slip ups.

27.02.2016 – Serie A – Milan (H)

Still shellshocked after how we had lost at Sampdoria, I led us into a home tie against a Milan side resurgent under new boss Rudi Garcia.

If you can remember back to mid October, we clung on by our fingernails for a 0-0 draw at the San Siro as Milan laid siege to our goal.  I expected similar today and with Sportiello’s confidence surely shot to pieces, I was worried.

Despite this, and for the third game in a row, I named an unchanged team.

Another Milan siege survived.  Abate and de Sciglio battered us down the flanks, firing in cross after cross.  However, it was a penalty from Bacca – after a foul by Svensson on Montilivo following a Milan breakaway from a rare corner for us – that gave Milan the lead.

Just under twenty minutes later, Alberto Paloschi popped up with another goal, wriggling away from the attentions of Romagnoli and Zapata to fire Atalanta level.

While we picked up a valuable, yet undeserved, point – Fiorentina travelled to San Siro to face Inter in another Champions League qualification six pointer.  The Nerazzurri gubbed La Viola 4-0 and the two sides swapped places as the race with ourselves for the remaining two Champions League places intensified.

So, like a fat man who has done no training for a marathon, the run is over.  A hit and miss month; a superb performance against Lazio being a highlight and Sportiello’s moment of misfortune being an obvious low.

However, there is still plenty to be positive about – we’re still second and Fiorentina and Inter look capable of dropping points.  Plus – next month is Youth Intake month and I’m expecting big things from a club notorious for developing talent like Atalanta are.

Serie A Position: 2nd

Results/Fixtures:

After the weekend win at Chievo Verona, a midweek home tie in the Coppa Italia vs Ternana followed.  Three days later we faced the only side yet to beat us this season, Paulo Sousa’s Fiorentina, before a long trip to Naples the following Saturday.

Having let the likes of Pinilla leave, I suddenly got cold feet about the youngsters.  Petagna, Tulissi et al had shown what they could do in a 30 minute blast against a tiring Lazio, but could they do it when the pressure was on, could they do it when the club needed them to get a result and – the most accurate litmus test of all players – could they do it on a cold, Tuesday night in Stoke Sassuolo?

Even forgetting the above complete 180, we were light in the striking department with only Palsochi and Petagna as recognised, out and out strikers.  I decided to bring in a man who seemed to come alive in the last few months of the season to drag his club out of their perennial relegation fight in the Bundesliga; Hamburg’s Pierre-Michel Lasogga.

This brute would sit on the bench and give us the battering ram option if Paloschi’s attempts to either score himself or bring Gómez, D’Alessandro, Susic etc into play wasn’t working.  I’ll freely admit it would restrict young Petagna, but I was keen not to have to rely on him if Paloschi started misfiring.

20.01.2016 – Coppa Italia – Ternana (H)

Considering the intensity of this month’s fixtures, I decided to rotate for this game.  The front three remained unchanged (Lasogga had a minor knock and wouldn’t make the bench), Valzania came into the midfield for his full debut and there were three changes at the back; old timer Bellini replaced Svensson, Brivio came in for Augustinsson and Uvini, having scored in the previous round, replaced Paletta.

Disaster.  Having beaten Inter and Napoli, drawn with Milan and Juventus, we surrender our only realistic chance of silverware against a side who were treading water in the division below us.

The changes at the back didn’t help – only 14 minutes in, Brivio failed to close down man-of-the-match Ceravolo whose pinpoint cross was gratefully nodded in by Avenatti, who had gotten the wrong side of Uvini.

Five minutes later Gómez pulled us level from the spot.  Time to kick on, right?  Wrong.  Another cross from the right evaded everyone, Sportiello made a mess of it and Felicioli tapped into an open goal.

A rollicking at half time, the first I’d dished out in my time at the club, led to an improvement in the second half.  Within ten minutes we were level through Paloschi‘s fine solo effort and fifteen minutes later Ternana were down to ten with Vitale picking up his second yellow card.

It was now absolutely, undeniably the time to kick on, right?  Wrong.  In the 90th minute, Ceravolo seized on some weak defending by Tolói to send us crashing out of the cup.

Having given the players a second bollocking within an hour, I returned to the rain-soaked dugout at the Azzurri d’Italia alone to contemplate one burning question – is this where it all goes tits up?

23.01.2016 – Serie A – Fiorentina (H)

Even though la Viola were now not the only team to have beaten us this season, the desire to get one over them was still great.

In August, they had cruelly taken advantage of a team in its infancy and acted the playground bully as they sent us back to Bergamo with a rather large, uncomfortable wedgie.  But no more.  We can stand up for ourselves and no longer have to run to teacher….Ternana result aside.

Having tried, and failed, to smother Fiorentina to death at the Artemio Franchi we opted for a slightly more offensive version – but with the security of regista Kurtic and ball-winner Besic in front of a fully restored defence, minus the tired Svensson.

Aaaand we’re back.  The Ternana result had been well and truly banished from the memory and, more importantly, we went back above Fiorentina after winning this Champions League qualification (yes, screw it, we’re going for the big ‘un) six-pointer.

The game was a horrible one.  Tense and tetchy with both sides not wanting to make express themselves too much for fear of making an error.  As with most of those types of matches, it was settled by a set piece.

Ludwig Augustinsson continued his fine form by floating in a free kick from the right that the much travelled youngster Gaetano Monachello guided into the far corner with a deft header for his first Atalanta goal.

Before the Napoli game I completed our last signing of the season – Massimo Bruno on a season long loan from RB Leipzig (boo!).  He would provide right wing cover for the tireless Marco D’Alessandro.

30.01.2016 – Serie A – Napoli (A)

In a reverse of the feelings felt by both sides before the Fiorentina game, Napoli were very much out for revenge over us having been on the wrong end of a 4-1 thumping in Bergamo at the start of the season.

Like with the Fiorentina game, we set up to restrict their attacking midfielders – namely the mohican-sporting Marek Hamsik.  However, as we so delightfully exploited at home, Napoli tend to play very narrow so we welcomed back flying right back Jonas Svensson and would aim once again to attack down the wide areas.

To paraphrase Justin Bieber, is it too late now to say Sarri?  He learnt absolutely diddly squat from the hammering at Azzurri d’Italia and once again lined up in a narrow style.

Fearing a backlash due to Napoli’s struggles (they sat 9th heading into this game) I set the team out in a pretty standard frame of mind in regards to attacking, playing wide etc to test the water.  As in the home game, we went a goal down.  This time Calléjon fired home for the Partenopei after getting between Paletta and Tolói.  And also like the first game, a first half equaliser appeared – Paloschi sweeping in Timor’s delicately measured pass.

At half time I stepped things up – Napoli were offering little so we went more attacking, exploited the wings with Svensson and Augustinsson overlapping.  Within five minutes we hit what ended up being the winner – D’Alessandro ghosting in ahead of Ghoulam to tap in Gómez’ cross.

A huge double over Napoli had just been completed and our joy was compounded as Fiorentina were held to a 1-1 draw by Cagliari opening up a gap of five points between us in 2nd and the chasing pack.

So after much panic and many prayers uttered, we left our winter of discontent pretty content.  The Ternana cup loss was a real kick to the stones but we bounced back with two superb wins to build on the three positive league results we’d secured against Inter, Juve and Chievo.

February, on paper, looked a lot less testing than January and would hopefully allow us to continue to push towards Europe for next season.

And we’re STILL unbeaten!

Serie A Position: 2nd

Results/Fixtures:

STGFM