Hello and welcome back to my story. I left you last time with 6 games left in Serie A, and still with a shout for the Coppa Italia and the Champions League trophy. Before I show you how I got on, CsAtlantis wanted to see Kouma Babacar’s profile so have quickly added that in now.
I have seen in other games that he has a very bright future. Hopefully I can nurture him and turn him into the World Class striker he is destined to be.
League
I was 15 points clear but still a little nervous that I could throw it all away. Next up were Lazio in 8th place so a potential banana skin
Not an entirely convincing performance but still better than no points at all I guess! Gilardino getting injured had me worried as well….
A week later was this home tie against Chievo. A team I would normally expect to beat, but on current form anything can happen.
Huge relief! Still a very nervy performance even after we scored the first goal. Pazienza was then sent off which left me fuming considering he is one of my more senior players. Luckily within 3 minutes of the sending off, Cavani broke away from the defence and score. This acted like a huge weight off our shoulders and you could physically see it on the pitch. Vargas scored a cracking free-kick to finish things off for us.
After the game I received a couple of lovely messages
So pleased to see them! I Instantly made the decision to play reserves and get everyone some game time and match fitness, leaving my first teamers to concentrate on the Champions League and the Italian Cup.
Remaining fixtures look like this
Wasn’t too sure about the Palermo result considering I still had to play them in the Cup and it might give them a psychological boost. Was very happy to still beat Inter and Udinese though!
Final table looked like this
Comfortable in the end and breaking the league record for most points in a season too!
Coppa Italia
The first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final was played between the Lazio and Chievo league games so the team were still fraught with nerves
We were behind twice so to come back both times showed courage. Dede ensuring that we go into the 2nd leg still with a chance but it won’t be easy going to the Isle of Sicily. So onto the 2nd leg….
2 very flukey goals to get us off and running then a nicely crafted 3rd means we were off to the Olimpico in Rome for the final! Even better news was that Catania had knocked out AC Milan in the other semi-final! Could things be swinging our way?! Only one way to find out….
We did it but not without a huge scare! After Gilardino scored in the 4th minute, I thought it was going to be easy. Slack defending allowed them to equalise on the hour mark. My side responded in the 76th minute and I thought surely I had it in the bag but then they scored in the 91st minute! I was gutted! Desperate not to allow the match to goto a penalty shoot-out, I sent my team into all out attack mode and it paid off. Matias Silvestre scoring an own goal in the 100th minute was ever so sweet!
I received the above message after the game which I found a bit odd! Winning the double is an absolutely amazing feat with Fiorentina but I would hardly call myself one of the most successful English managers of all time!
So that was mission accomplished for Italy. I still had the Champions League to sort out but facing tough opposition (as you will see later), I was treating it as an added bonus and not expecting much to come from it.
Champions League
In my last update, I had played the 1st leg of the quarter final cup tie against Leverkusen and drew 1-1 at home. Bit disappointing especially after dispatching of Real Madrid in the previous round. It meant that they had an away goal and I had to try and turn it around at the BayArena.
And I did it! Reasonably comfortable in the end although I would have preferred more goals to make completely sure! I was drawn against Bayern Munich in the semi-final whilst the other game would be contested between Porto and Liverpool. I would have preferred Porto but it looks like if I am going to get to the Final, I would be doing it the difficult way!
First leg was away from home which I prefer but the Allianz-Arena is not an easy place to go to. I would have been happy with a 1 nil loss, anything better than that would give me a massive chance of progressing.
As you can see, a pretty good result. Babacar getting an away goal for us after Robben’s superb opener. I was frustrated with Ribery scoring in the dying moments of the game but overall, a satisfactory result meaning we only needed one goal at home.
What happens next defies all belief. I still can’t believe it. Watch the next clip and you will see why
6 nil?! against Bayern Munich?! Absolutely stunning! Babacar took just 6 minutes to open the scoring but the rest of the half was nothing spectacular. Then in the 60th minute, Babacar scores again and the flood gates just open. We added further goals in the 64th, 72nd, 85th and 88th as Bayern just crumbled before my very eyes. Unbelievable!
Luck was on our side in the Italian Cup when we got Catania in the final instead of AC Milan and the same stroke of luck happened for the Champions League final. Porto beat Liverpool on away goals! We now have an absolutely amazing chance of completing an unprecedented treble. 3 things I had to be weary of were
— Porto obviously must be a decent side to have gotten to the final in the first place
— The final would take place at Benfica’s ground so Porto had home country advantage of sorts
— In Darren’s European challenge, he lost to Porto in the final so will have to take them very seriously.
I had my first choice starting XI available to me so all I needed from them was one final push.
More extra time but I done it! Lorenzo De Silvestri my right back didn’t make things easy for us after being sent off for 2 bookings in the 60th minute but we managed to cling on and scoring 2 very well taken goals. I have completed a treble for the first time in any of my FM games!
That wasn’t all. My players came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the best player award just to show our domination
The future
What an amazing season and one I certainly wasn’t expecting. The question now is where do I go from here? About 2 thirds of the way through the season Valencia approached me. I delayed the offer until the end of the season. I knew I was still in with a chance of winning all 3 trophies at that point, completing the Italian stage of the challenge if I did it. Valencia come back to me literally after I finished my last game of the season but I still had the Italian Cup final and the Champions League final to participate in. I tried to delay the offer again for a week but they refused and demanded an answer straight away. It would have been very foolish of me to have accepted the offer at that stage so I told them to stuff it!
This left me in limbo. I have really enjoyed my Fiorentina save plus I had Sergio Romero coming in on a free transfer. Sebastien Frey was after ridiculous wages with his contract fast running out so I snapped Romero up quick. I also had stirker Guido Marilungo coming in on a free from Sampdoria as well as popular FM 11 striker Alberto Paloschi. It was very tempting to stay on to see how the new additions fared. I continued playing the game, uncertain of what to do when I received this offer
I have found a new home :D
Steesh85
27 января, 2011 at 15:11
Thats a beast of a season like David! I am currently doing the challenge again with Fiorentina, if i can have the joys you had theni will be one happy bloke! Keep it up, cant wait to see what you do with Liverpool
Davewig1980
27 января, 2011 at 22:47
Thanks Steesh! Hope you have as great a season with Fiorentina as I did! Keep an eye on the youngsters, there are a few in there that could do a decent job for you!
Wazz
27 января, 2011 at 15:28
Oh yeah David! Winning a treble is really great and you have just found yourself a lovely new home! Really can’t wait for your career with Liverpool. Keep it up! Good luck!
Davewig1980
27 января, 2011 at 23:04
Cheers! Anfield is looking as good as ever! If the team can hit the stride quickly then more good time could be round the corner!
Laxeyman
27 января, 2011 at 16:05
Brilliant Dave, what a fabulous season you’ve had, well done! Winning the treble is a great achievement, and I’m sure you’ll do a great job at Liverpool too. Good luck :)
Davewig1980
27 января, 2011 at 23:57
Thanks a lot, i’m still surprised that I managed to do it! Think I had a lot of luck swing my way particularly with both cup finals!
warren
27 января, 2011 at 17:09
Well done David
To complete the treble is a very good achievement and Im sure you’ll be able to do a simliar job at Liverpool. Its always hard to leave a club as you have brought players for the future and you want to progress them but I guess you have made the right option and you will soon be winning things with Liverpool
Davewig1980
27 января, 2011 at 23:59
Thank you very much! Once I have got all the right sort of players in at Liverpool then I should be fine. Anything in the first season will be a bonus!
I have actually saved the Fiorentina game under a different name so I can continue it at a later date!
Sears
27 января, 2011 at 17:17
Great season and good luck with Liverpool!
ps can you post a download link for your tactic? Thanks.
Davewig1980
28 января, 2011 at 00:19
Thank you very much! I hope I can gain more glory there but they are a completely different kettle of fish compared to Fiorentina.
Not sure how to add download links but webpage I have got my tactic from is http://thedugout.net/community/showthread.php?t=72079
Darren Smith
27 января, 2011 at 18:36
Who’s the Daddy! :) That treble win was simply brilliant Dave and you did what I couldn’t…beat Porto. Well done mate, taking the Liverpool job was a no brainer and I think I may follow you out of Italy come the seasons end. Its a good league with great players, but I find it a little frustrating at times. My players seem to miss easy chances and I fear this will cost me come the seasons conclusion. Anyway, well done mate…those points will look mighty handsome in the rankings. :)
ps Great post full of suspense and an enjoyable read. :)
Davewig1980
28 января, 2011 at 00:44
I am indeed the father! I think you made the right choice staying on at Milan for this season purely for the Champions League. If that doesn’t work out, then hopefully you will get the league and cup and that would be more points on the board for you! Delighted that I am on a 1000 points though :D
Glad you liked the suspense! I tried to make the reader feel the pain and suffering I was going through!
Birdy
27 января, 2011 at 20:50
Awesome Dave great work and good luck with Liverpool. Babacar was turning into and Absolute beast. Imagine Sanogo Bababacar Paloschi :D. NIce work Dave. I can see you doing well with Liverpool and you might get some nice results if they still have Torres and Gerrard.
Davewig1980
28 января, 2011 at 01:04
Thanks Birdy! That striking trio would destroy everyone so I would have had two thirds of it if I had stayed!
Torres and Gerrard are indeed still at Liverpool but Gerrard is 33 in my game now so not sure if his legs can hold out! Torres is 29 so could be good for another couple of seasons
CsAtlantis
27 января, 2011 at 23:04
Wow you finished the treble with Viola already!
Bobacar looks like a fine predator, amazing physical stats, strong, fast and a good header of the ball
There seems to be a bit of a trap in this challenge though, as you may have to get past your old team in the Champions League if you want to win it again
The Liverpool transfer budget is a far cry from past seasons where they could barely spare money for some average players, so should be easy to build a team around with (there’s some youth talent at Liverpool too, Pacheco, Martin Kelly and Jonjo Shelvey should have pretty good potential)
Davewig1980
28 января, 2011 at 01:36
I’m surprised too! Very happy with the team and Babacar. Will come back to that game at some point as i’ve saved it under a different name before accepting the Liverpool job!
I was thinking earlier about the chances of me meeting Fiorentina with Liverpool in the near future. I would imagine that it would be an extremely interesting game!
Pacheco is still about, so is Shelvey but I have loaned him out but Martin Kelly has moved on to Crystal Palace. Not sure Shelvey could fit into my system when he gets back so will have to wait and see
kevin
28 января, 2011 at 09:21
Hi Dave
Fabulous stuff in winning the treble and that was an amazing 2nd leg win over Bayern Munich to say the least. All the best with your new adventure on Merseyside!