fifa 09 - linguine!

date: 1/4/09
league position: 1st (49 pts)
league record: 16-1-0

it's the january transfer window, and we've been doing extremely well. we're first with 49 points, 18 ahead of modena in second. however, i am currently not a very happy manager.

the last few weeks have been pretty frustrating. we got knocked out of the cup by genova in the second round with a aggregate of 4-1. we lost the first leg at home 1-0 because of a total bullshit goal in the 93rd minute. we played so well in that first leg, controlling the run of play and defending well even after going down to 10 men around the 72nd minute. the return leg ended 3-3. we went ahead early due to a great half-volley by ventucci, but soon found ourselves down 3-1 at the half. we crawled back scoring our second goal around the 75th minute, and then getting the equalizer in the 89th. but, it wasn't enough. absolutely frustrating. we then drew the next league match, adding to my poor mood.

so, here's a quick list of problems i'm going to be tackling:
- weak defense: while our defenders have played well (mostly), we're still technically weakest in the back.
- midfield cluster-fuck: this is a two part problem. 1) we have some minor fitness problems. pisanu, ventucci, budel, and morrone get tired way too quickly, and it is becoming a bit of a problem since...2) we have a serious lack of depth in midfield. my options off the bench for the wings are ventucci and reginaldo, while my options for the middle are ventucci, papadoppoulus, and parravicini. those last two are defensive, parravicini being a defensive mid and papadoppolous being a center-back. so, we have no real offensive option for the middle of the pitch.

hopefully, these issues can be fixed during the transfer window. we'll see.

parma - fettucini!

league position: 1st (12 pts)
league record: 4-0-0

okay, so here's a recap so far.

bullet points!
- lucarelli's finishing looked like shite during the first friendly, but might not be as bad as i thought.
- switched to a 4-3-3 (my old stand-by) during the second friendly, and i like it better.
- upgraded my medical staff, scout, stadium, and negotiator.
- lost leon (an attacking mid playing as my left striker, and currently my leading scorer) due to injury until the end of december.
- apparently, paci (right back playing left back) has a laser cannon of a long-shot.
- aquired papadopoulos (cb) and venitucci (cm) off of free transfers.

pre-season friendlies
brandby if 0 - 1 parma
nottingham forrest 1 - 4 parma
parma 4 - 1 chicago fire

not a bad start. theoretically, we should win serie b. parma's rating is the highest in the league, but we'll see.