Football Italia: Season 9 – European Fun

Season Nine: European fun!

Ten more games down as our European adventure continues! In wider immersion news, I’ve now got a nice working Serie A contributions and all-time Serie A table that I want to use going forward in my posts.

Our trip to Turkey was the absolute highlight of this little run of games where, against a very strong Trabzonspor team – top of the Turkish Super Lig – we absolutely ran riot. Five goals, with the first three inside thirteen minutes calmed all of my pre-match nerves. The return leg allowed me to field a whole host of promising youngsters, with Luca De Cicco netting his first goal for the club from the right wing back role. The league form has been relatively strong, too – wins over bottom-half Lazio and a strong performance against Juventus, who edged the game but maybe could consider themselves lucky to take all three points – suggests that we do still have a chance at finishing inside the European places. Although, honestly, the extra fixtures have not helped the team and have come at somewhat of a distraction. We probably won’t win the Europa League with Spurs up next, and, whilst it’s given lots of opportunities for minutes for squad players, has taken the shine off our domestic performance and, moreso, highlighted some gaping holes within depth and quality of my side.

But, we hold on. Just about. With four points back to Roma in ninth and a game in hand that could see us just two off Milan, there is hope.

Milan must be kicking themselves with the season they’re having – the most xG and the least xGA but, somehow, they are not top of the league and look set to finish some twenty-odd points back from their tally set last season. Their expected goal difference is below their actual goal difference, painting virtually the opposite story of the likes of Napoli and Juventus, who have scored, and saved, way more than than expected. Monzo are holding their own and have already surpassed their points from last year, whereas we look to be falling behind somewhat, relying on a strong defence and a somewhat impotent offence.

The same cannot be said for our U18 team who are storming their league under Michael Beale, with a host of strong performers:

Joining them are my new group of youth candidates (oddly, already having their faces generated – presumably from a config file for an old save?!), led by Celesti and Shehaj with Firenze and Baldacci also looking useful. Each of the sixteen will get at least one year with the club to progress as I try to increase the pool of Messina-trained players from the current total of eighty, although, most importantly – ensuring that the older players are playing at a better level than they are now.

Forza Biancoscudati!