Fiorentina v Brescia Serie A match 2

Clemoza here, here's my next installment of my career with Fiorentina.

So last time if you read my blog, I encountered Udinese in the season opener, and lost. 2-1 wasn't bad for an away result, but I want to win trophies and the lads NEED to buck their ideas up.

Promising young 17 year old Goalkeeper, Simone David has been loaned out to Serie B Pescara for some experience.

The recession isn't just confined to the UK either. The highest spenders during the Italian summer transfer window were, drum roll, Fiorentina! with 4.23m spent! Also during pre season Khouma Babacar has come on leaps and bounds making his international debut and finding the net during the same game, remember this kid is 17, big things beckon for Khouma....

Despite missing the Udinese game Gamberini has been announced in the Italy squad to face Northern Ireland and Serbia. Also regarding our next game against Brescia at home, the board have announced that all Ambassadors and season ticket holders can bring a friend for half the standard ticket price, so I will be expecting to see a bumper crowd on Saturday evening. Good news regarding tricky winger Mario Santana, his expected return will be against Cagliari on 26/09/10 if all goes well.

As I mentioned about Gamberini being included in the Italy squad earlier, Guess what, he scored his first International goal against N.Ireland.

37,000 (sell out) tickets have been sold for Saturday's match and I really don't want to let 37,000 Tuscans down.....

It's game day, and the smell of pre match cuisine and cigarette smoke fill the mind with nostalgia.

Here is tonight's starting line up, noticed that I have thrown Matos in because he is fast and has great dribbling technique, also Gamberini is still banned for 1 more match so the centre back pairing of Natali and Bassong is kept. Kofi Agyei comes in for D'Agostino who was unconvincing last time out.

First Half: 14 minutes gone and the ball is being sprayed around comfortably by Fiorentina. Pasqual up the line finds Vargas, he looks and cant find an option so gives it back to Pasqual, Pasqual lumps the ball forward and accidentally finds Babacar who in turn finds Gilardino, Gilardino puts Babacar through to slot the ball home! Big calls for offside there by Brescia. 1-0 Viola. 38 minutes pass and Vargas, who is causing constant problems down this left flank squares the ball to Agyei who switches to Matos out on the far right, he takes on the Brescia left back and curls the ball round the goalkeeper only to come back off the angle of post and bar. 45 minutes gone and the game heats up, Ryder Matos picks the ball up deep in Brescia territory, he beats Adam Vass with a couple of step overs and a nutmeg only for Adam Vass to swipe his legs from under him, no attempt to win the ball just pure frustration....The referee brandishes a red card and rightly so. Several Fiorentina players surround Vass as stewards have to usher Vass down the tunnel and the Fiorentina fans are waving him goodbye. Half Time 1-0 Fiorentina, La Viola looking comfortable.

Second Half: 62 minutes gone and Ryder Matos is having the game of his young career so far, Brescia cant cope with him or Vargas on the opposite flank, and when Matos tee's up Montolivo all he can do is watch and hope when Montolivo's shot dips over Michele Archari in the Brescia goal, his hopes were in vain as the shot cannoned off the crossbar and out for a goal kick. OFF: Gilardino ON: Cerci. 79 minutes on the clock, Seba Frey throws the ball out to pasqual, who finds Vargas he plays in Cerci who switches to Matos, Matos plays it inside to Montolivo who traps the ball. Fiorentina are dictating the play here. Montolivo finds Vargas in space who runs to the Brescia byline, he fires the ball with pin point accuracy onto the head of the leaping Cerci to make it 2-0. The goalkeeper was rooted! OFF: Montolivo, Pasqual ON: D'agostino and making his senior debut from the Under 20's left back Alan Pereira Empurur. Bassong, Matos and Vargas have been the stand out performers this evening, 2-0 final score from the Artemio Franchi. Man of the Match: Juan Vargas

Stay tuned for the next match of my campaign with Fiorentina! PEACE

My Cardiff City Career

Hey guys, Clemoza here!

I just want to show you a couple of pictures from my Cardiff City Career, where I took Cardiff from Championship strugglers to UEFA Champions League Champions.

My Biography

A couple of my best players in 2020

Fiorentina v Udinese Serie A match 1

Hey Folks, Clemoza back for your Football Manager pleasure!

Well last time out we finished pre-season with Real Madrid away, a 1-0 loss but Fiorentina having the lion's share of possession. Plenty of positives to take from the Bernabeau to Udinese for the Serie A curtain raiser. Inter Milan have offered 2 million for co-ownership of Ryder Matos, and for good reason, Matos has been exceptional during pre season creating chances and scoring them to. Bags of potential for a 17 year old, already representing Brazil at under 20 level.

At the pre-match press conference at the Artemio Franchi. I was asked whether I was fully prepared for my first ever Serie A game as Fiorentina manager, I replied we have had a great pre season and we are well prepared for getting the win on Saturday! Also the press suggested that I would adopt a defensive approach against Udinese in fear of loosing. All I had to say was, I am not scared of any teams' attacking threat, and I certainly don't doubt my defences' ability to deal with any opposition they face.

We arrive at the Friuli, Udine at about 18:00 for a 20:45 kick off. The sunset is picturesque, but we aren't here for the view. As the floodlights switch on. La Viola are in their zone, all week preparation has been the buzz word. My philosophy is that a well prepared team cannot lose. The only team news tonight is that Alessandro Gamberini has a 2 match ban carried over from the last game of the 2009/2010 season. So we are without our best centre back. This is why I purchased Seba Bassong, 45 minutes before kick off I announce my Starting line up and bench.

First Half: The first 20 minutes are all Udinese, they have most of the possession but I'm glad my side are limiting them to shots from range. 21 minutes gone and Di Natale fires from 25 yards, pushed away by Frey only to the waiting Alexis Sanchez ready to finish Cooley. 1-0 Udinese. Immediately after on 23 minutes, Khouma Babacar cracks the underside of the bar after belting the ball from 20 yards, so close. 33 minutes gone and it's gone from bad to worse, Antonio Di Natali finishes a wonderful move that started from their own 18 yard box. 2-0. Some players will be having a word or two off me at half time. Half time 2-0

OFF: Riccardo Montolivo, Pasqual       ON: Dan Kofi Agyei, Valron Behrami

Second Half: 30 seconds in and Cerci puts Gilardino through 1 on 1 nutmegs, the keeper to make it 2-1!!! my words have had some impact! Both keeper make world class saves as the match goes on, 75 minutes, Ryder Matos makes his Serie A debut replacing D'Agostino as I switch to a 4-3-3. 80 minutes and Vargas passes to Babacar, he turns his man but has another laying in wait, he threads Matos into the clear, but all he can do is fire at the feet of the Udinese Goalkeeper. It finishes 2-1 and I know Udinese is no easy place to come, but I was expecting more.

Also tonight AC Milan drew at home to Bari 2-2

Lets get through pre-season! (July/August) Part 3

Hey guys! Clemoza here again!

This time round we are going to finish off our pre-season preparations for the 2010/2011 Serie A campaign. A trip to Reggio Calabria to face Reggina. 26 degrees and a dry pitch welcomed Fiorentina for this pre season clash in deepest southern Italy.

At some point this afternoon I want to introduce Juan Manuel Vargas back into action. Adem Ljaljic and Mario Santana are still out of contention. Goalkeeper Neto is making his first start of this pre season as well as a returning Per Kroldrup. Here is today's line up.

First Half: 90 seconds in and Alberto Gilardino fires past the on-rushing Reggina Goalie to make it 1-0, 5 minutes later Antonio Barilla strikes narrowly wide for Reggina. Corner kick on 25 minutes, taken by Montolivo and headed with gustov into the Reggina net by Natali to make it 2 for La Viola. Reggina hit the bar on 38 minutes after a misjudged corner kick overshot Neto to hit the crossbar. With the last kick of the first half, Per Kroldrup returning from injury smashed home a rebound that came from a poorly cleared corner to make it 3-0.

On come Agyei and Vargas for the second half.

Second Half: Alberto Gilardino has been receiving special attention from the Reggina defenders, this has allowed Alessio Cerci a world of space who makes it 4-0 after breaking free from the scattered Reggina back line. Antonio Cherillo rounds off a wonderful move by Reggina which consisted of 16 passes. 4-1. That is how it finished after a game of keep ball by both teams. Cesare Natali picked up man of the match with a goal to show for it.

I have been drawn against Empoli in the TIM cup third qualifying round on October 27th

Season ticket sales have reached 15,000 and are expected to reach 18,000 by the time the season opener against Udinese comes around.

As Fiorentina arrive at the Ennio Tardini there is a real feeling of togetherness and unity. This team mean business and are we are putting the final pieces of the puzzle together before we mount an assault on Serie A. For the Penultimate game of this pre-season it's a dry 24 degrees as the sun is setting over Parma on this warm Tuesday evening.

First Half: The first 10 minutes are all Fiorentina but no chances, keep ball is the name of the game. The game is then blown wide open when teenage Brazilian Ryder Matos makes the most of Agyei's through ball to fire home. 1-0. Hernan Crespo is the lone striker for Parma and his experience tells. Dribbling past Behrami to cross just an inch to far for Palladino on the far post. Almost 1-1. Ive decided to man mark Crespo since he is the lone striker, so Gamberini has his hands full.....the game descends into an end to end waste of chances, Long shots and mistakes litter the remainder of the first half.

Second Half: Neither goalkeeper had much to do in the second half, a lot of 'back and forth' football until Covic levelled with a minute of normal time to go. Boruc couldn't really do much in between the Viola posts, Covic struck the ball with real velocity from 5 yards out. Final whistle 1-1. Khouma Babacar was dominant in the air today.

My post match talk was one of reassurance to the players, some youngsters needed to realize that this is the standard of opposition that they would need to better week in week out if they wanted to become better players. Next up is a whole different ball game, literally.

The days leading up to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeau was one of focus and excitement, but also a cool composure that the senior players had influenced over the entire team.

My scouts give me a bit of good news to raise squad morale. Kaka, Benzema, Ozil and Garay are all out.

22nd August 2010, Real Madrid vs Fiorentina 17:00 Santiago Bernabeau.

It's a hot 30 degrees in the Spanish capital as we face possibly the world's most glamorous club. So lets look at the team I have put out to face Madrid.

First Half: 2 minutes in and Raul Albiol heads in a Fernando Gago cross to open the afternoons scoring. 20 minutes pass and it's all Fiorentina passing and crossing but to no avail. Gilardino was showing his world class ability, finding space with every blink of the eye. Babacar was dropping deep to help command the link between midfield and the Gilardino. Fiorentina seem to be holding their own against a strong Madrid line up including Di Maria, Alonso and Adebayor.

Second Half: Benzema has been brought on for Madrid and my Fiorentina side seem to be getting more confident as they venture forward. 65 minutes on the clock and Gilardino is played in by wonder kid Babacar and hits the bar. The match is a drab affair in the last 20 minutes, leading to a satisfactory 1-0 loss, but a lot to take away. My players can hold their heads high.....

Stay tuned for my final preperations ahead of the season opener and the first game against Udinese.

PEACE

Lets get through pre-season! (July/August) Part 2

Hey Clemoza here again!

Right, first game against SV Stuttgarter Kickers, in Stuttgart, it's a dry 18 degrees and the fans of Stuttgarter Kickers welcome the visit of such illustrious opposition. I have decided to give Sebastien Frey the gloves ahead of Artur Boruc and exciting prospects Matos, Carraro and Agyei a second half run out. Here is the Squad to face Stuttgarter Kickers.

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 17:30 late afternoon kick off

Pre-match I have told my players that they have to impress me to stay in the team.

First Half: Both teams are feeling each other out, Khouma Babacar is showing his confidence and vigour, very comfortable on the ball and getting past countless defenders, really enjoying himself. 18 minutes pass until Alessandro Gamberini powers a header into the crowd of Stuttgarter defenders, it passes all of them only to be palmed into the net by keeper Daniel Wagner, a sloppy own goal 1-0. The next goal didn't leave a question mark as the Stuttgarter defence pushes up and the quality difference shows as Ricardo Montolivo threads through Alberto Gilardino to slot past a Wagner who looks like a rabbit in the headlights.....2-0 21 minutes gone, this could be a long day..... two goals in three minutes from Babacar and a second from Gilardino makes in 4-0 at half time. The team talk doesn't really need any thought it's just common sense "More of the same please."

Second Half: On the hour mark Donadel, Gilardino and Cerci are replaced by Agyei, Matos and Carraro. Even though Gilardino was on a hat trick, this game isn't about glory it is about performance and fitness and I believe Alberto has done more than enough for today and deserves an early bath. No second half goals as the match finished 4-0. That's OK because its still a convincing margin.

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Next game against Union Royal Namur I will try and start as many different players as possible to see how they can gel as a squad.

Summer drizzle welcomes us to Namur at the Stade Communal. 15:00 kick off

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First half: Things aren't going to well as replacement right-back Gianluca Comotto see's red for a professional foul after only 8 minutes! which means I am going to play 3 at the back for the remainder of the first half. Things look very promising for Fiorentina in the immediate future. The strike partnership of Brazilian Ryder Matos and Senegalese Khouma Babacar look like a brilliant duo, finding space and turning veterans as if they were seasoned pros! Ryder Matos scoring a cool finish after going past 2 defenders AND the goalkeeper! 1-0 then Gaetano D'Agostino finished calmly from the spot to make it 2-0. Again  Babacar showed his coming of age when he broke the Namur offside trap to power past Servais in the Namur goal 3-0. Another youngster Carraro took on two defenders before slotting past the helpless Servais to make it 4-0. Let me remind you at this point I am playing with 10 men. 4 became 5 in first half stoppage time as Dan Kofi Agyei thundered past a defender only to smash the ball in off the upright.

Another self explanatory team talk, slow the pace down, keep possession and the game will be ours for sure.

Second half: The teams kick off the second half, Fiorentina now with 4 at the back and 1 up top, Matos giving way for Lorenzo De Silvestri. Fiorentina playing lovely training ground football, keeping Namur away as if they were school children. Cararro has picked up a slight knock so I replaced him with Alessio Cerci. ten minutes to go and De Silvestri whips the ball in, a routine catch was spilled by Servais right in front of Babacar to add his second of the afternoon. 6-0. Final whistle and another encouraging performance to take into the next warm up match. My youngsters are looking very fresh and chomping on the bit for a place in the starting eleven.

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Andalusia is the destination of our next game against Spanish second tier outfit, Recreativo CF

I have decided to go back on my self imposed transfer embargo by enquiring for Sebastien Bassong from Tottenham I will let you know how I am doing but for now we have a match against Recreativo.

Due to summer international friendlies I have had to call upon the services of 18 year old Pietro Iemmello from the under 20's

It's a warm but breezy summer afternoon as a less strengthened Fiorentina run out in the Spanish sun.

Apologies for not showing my Recreativo line-up, I had a minor problem with my Laptop, sorted now....

First Half: Fiorentina burst out of the blocks with a series of lovely flowing moves, from wing to wing La Viola seem imminent winners. But this is where you shouldn't be deceived by how good something looks, half time and it's 0-0 Fiorentina looking comfortable but no finishing product.
Second Half: The second half is very drab, both teams put chances together but neither can finish, I instructed my team in the last 20 minutes to pick up the tempo and look to the fullbacks for an overlap. To good effect, Cerci swings in the cross and Gilardino fires the ball against Alvaro Vega on the penalty spot, the ball was clearly going wide but Vega gifts Fiorentina with a winner in the 73rd minute. It turns out to be a sloppy 1-0 win but a win is a win, we had a depleted 2nd string squad and this game is only a team exercise. A plus point was the passing, my team enjoyed a 60/40 Possession advantage almost all game.

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 After the match Recreativo boss Carlos Rios understandably questions my tactical approach because of the result, if he only knew that this game was only a team building and fitness game he might have been a bit more understanding, but never the less I can understand his reason because the players couldn't finish a cooked dinner out there this afternoon.

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 NEW ARRIVAL: Some much needed help as Seba Bassong joins us after after a 4.2m transfer from Tottenham.

In a brief press conference, I told the Paps, Bassong will be a very useful member of the team and he can help a lot in this clubs fight for glory. I didn't want to talk about the financial details in public.

I have also secured the signature of this exciting young wing back, Romario. Due to arrive in 2012 due to Brazilian FA age restrictions.

Next on the agenda: Reggiana

After Grabbing his first cap and goal for Senegal, Khouma Babacar, would not be available for the Reggiana game, as would Bassong, Matos and Behrami. Things are coming along nicely, I will begin to give more serious team talks and give players a talking to if they don't pull their weight, because Parma and Real Madrid will not lie down easy.

Stay tuned for the final pre-season games!

PEACE

Lets get through pre-season! (July/August) Part 1

Now that I have finally got some sleep, lets get on with the real business. Right. So after evaluating my squad I've got a couple of problems. Juan Manuel Vargas my well rounded Peruvian winger will be struggling to be fit for the opening game of Serie A against Udinese on August 28th. Also Adam Ljaljic and Mario Santana are out for longer periods of time but I consider Vargas' injury to be the one the team could really do without. I am very excited about having Khouma Babacar in my squad because as you will see in a moment, he is only 17 years old and he is already dominant in the air (Look at Jumping and Heading) plus his physical attributes suggest that with a bit of nurturing he will be a serious force in Serie A.

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Here is the squad overview for your interest.

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I don't believe I need to improve my squad, based on my assistants' report and with my own analysis. This may prove to be a wise tactic to employ because, who knows, the board may decide to throw me a couple of million on top of my 7.5m.

Looking at this team I have decided to use the 4-4-2 system, with the wingers pushing up to provide extra attacking width. I will not have a settled starting eleven until we face Real Madrid in mid August.

In other news, my midfielder Daniel Kofi Agyei (18) has instructed his agent to ask me for a new contract, which I was more than happy to provide...

I have signed Roberto Baggio as a scout because he is a Viola icon and has good scouting skills (15 pot, 15 cur)

Stay tuned for the entire pre-season results and performance analysis...

Starting up.....

Hey folks!

Right lets get down to this. I like to keep updated whenever I'm playing FM11 so of course that means downloading the latest patches. At the time of this post the latest patch I have installed is 11.3. Here are my settings for starting my new game including countries selected.

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You will have noticed that I have unticked 'Attribute Masking' because I use scout reports anyway for buying players, so it wont make any difference. Below are the Leagues I have selected to load....

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I have decided to Choose A.C.F. Fiorentina as my team as I really admire the passion that 'La Viola' have towards their team.

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Let's not beat around the bush, first thing I have done is arranged a decent selection of freindlies, which starts off with lower reputation opposition to improve morale and fitness, leading onto more reputable opposition so I am able to see where my team is at in terms of quality and how well the tactics are working. If all goes well then my team should be well prepared for the onslaught of Serie A.

FIXTURES

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I have told the board that I believe that I can mount a serious title challenge which has led to a significant budget increase.

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Stay tuned for more, it's 2am and I am knackered. Peace out!!!!

Hey guys 'n' gals!

Clemoza here. 

Running out for my debut at Blogger!

In a nutshell I am here doing what millions of you do around the world....playing Football Manager, more specifically Football Manager 2011 (trailer). I aim to give you an insight into the highs and the lows of Football Manager.

Feel free to comment and express opinion, I'm always open to suggestions, tips, ect.

You can contact me on Facebook or e-mail me at clemoza@hotmail.com.

Stay Tuned for the start of my FM11 Career!

HAPPY GAMING!