What better way to officially kick off “Shades of Deep Purple” than with arguably the most memorable track from that album, which came out 50 years ago? (I may not may not have rummaged my father’s record collection for that particular gem.)
Anyway, I get the feeling you’re not here for a monologue about 60s psychadelic rock. You’re here for the start of my first Football Manager 2019 career – and the first story on Fuller FM.
This opening post will see me introduce you to the Fiorentina squad and outline my initial tactical plans for the season ahead. If you missed the preview detailing the history of this great club, you can still find it here.
A NEW STORY
So… this is me. In recent years, I’ve either used an alter ego as a manager, or at the very least made myself look rather less like the grandson of Mr Creosote from Monty Python. For FM19, though, I’ve been a bit more truthful when creating my manager.
Yes, I am quite tall (6ft 4in, to be exact). Yes, I am rather… bulky. (Sigh) And yes, I do have a face only a mother could mildly tolerate. No, I don’t own a UEFA Pro Licence, but I suppose you’ve got to take a few liberties when you’re managing at this level in FM.
In terms of the game database, I have loaded 25 leagues from 15 European nations, and there are a little over 60,000 players. The first summer transfer window has been disabled, which means there will be no incomings or outgoings until January.
I will also be using the Euro currency throughout this story, seeing as I am managing on the continent. Apologies to my fellow British readers.
SQUAD REPORT
So what have I got to work with? Let’s have a look at the first-team players at my disposal. I have also attached the profiles of eight players that I feel will be key to our success (or otherwise) this season. First up is our new number 1…
Alban Lafont must have loved watching Barney the Dinosaur on TV as a kid, because he’s swapped one purple-clad team (Toulouse) for another. At just 19, he certainly won’t be going extinct any time soon. Indeed, the Burkina Faso-born France youth international might be our first-choice goalkeeper for many years to come.
€7million has got us an agile shotstopper with fantastic reflexes and a cool head on young shoulders. Lafont’s distribution could do with some work, and I’m not yet confident enough in his technique to use him as a sweeper keeper, but he certainly could develop into a world-beater. Gianluigi Donnarumma, watch out.
Lafont’s understudy is another raw talent – the Poland Under-21s starlet Bartlomiej Dragowski. Bart is not quite up to Serie A standard yet, but he too has great reflexes and is a resolute character.
We move on to the defenders now, and where better to start than our new captain? Germán Pezzella – a 27-year-old Argentinian who also has an Italian passport – joined the club permanently this summer after a successful loan spell from Real Betis. He has taken the captaincy from Davide Astori, and he will wear a special armband this season in tribute to the club’s fallen hero.
Though not the tallest of centre-halves, Pezzella is a fearless beast in the air and has a resolute personality. His decision-making does leave a little to be desired at the top level, but I’m expecting nothing short of consistency from my defensive rock.
I’m also hoping Pezzella will have a great influence on wonderkid Nikola Milenkovic. The 20-year-old has already been capped six times by Serbia, and at 6ft 5in, he’s the only player at this club who can literally look down on me. Unfortunately, he suffered blisters on the second day of pre-season training (yes, really), so he’ll miss our first few friendlies.
Competing with those two for places at the heart of our backline are Vítor Hugo and Federico Ceccherini, both in their mid-20s. The former is a consistent Brazilian who has a bit of a competitive streak. The latter is an athletic ball-playing defender who has just got his big move to the Artemio Franchi after impressing over two seasons with Crotone.
Milenkovic is technically the best right-back at the club, but he’s obviously needed elsewhere, so I’ll likely plump for Vincent Laurini in that position instead. At 29, the French-born wing-back is one of the older players at the club, and he has plenty of top-flight experience. He also seems to have a problem with injuries.
Laurini is perhaps not the long-term pick for that role, but hopes are high that Kevin Diks can step up soon. The fresh-faced Dutchman joined Fiorentina in 2016 but has only just joined our senior squad after two years on loan in the Eredivisie. He has a good work rate but needs to improve on his crossing.
In contrast, left-back Cristiano Biraghi has a great cross in him, and an impressive first season with the Viola has put him on the brink of an Italy call-up. Biraghi’s understudy for this season will be the Uruguayan Maximiliano Olivera, who looks decent without being amazing. Olivera only made seven league appearances for us last season, which suggests that he might have fitness problems.
A promising future option for the left-back role is David Hancko – a €3million acquisition from Slovakia’s MSK Žilina. The 20-year-old does have some potential, but I can’t risk throwing him into the big time until he muscles up and greatly improves his athletic attributes.
When I first realised I had Jordan Veretout in my squad, I feared that he would be little-improved from the player who got relegated with Aston Villa in 2016. Actually, though… he’s not bad! In retrospect, the €7million Fiorentina forked out for Veretout last summer looks like incredible business. No wonder Villa are still having problems now.
I love an energetic, hard-working midfielder, and Veretout certainly fits the bill. His versatility in terms of the roles he can play will also make him a key player, no matter what system we use. Unfortunately, he has to sit out our first two Serie A matches after losing his temper during the Viola’s home defeat to Cagliari late last term.
The club’s best defensive midfielder is apparently Christian Nørgaard, who was a €3.5million summer acquisition from Brøndby. Nørgaard is best at home as a deep-lying playmaker, though a player with his movement could be effectively deployed as a regista.
Marco Benassi (sadly no relation to Marco ‘Benny’ Benassi) is next to get special attention from yours truly. He’s a well-rounded box-to-box midfielder who can make significant contributions defensively and going forward. His long-range shooting could also be a sight to behold.
I’ll now give a mention to utility man Bryan Dabo, who is in some ways a reverse Lafont (born in France, plays for Burkina Faso). He’s an agile dribbler with plenty of strings to his bow and can even play at right-back if I’m absolutely desperate. Dabo also spent time on loan at Blackburn once… but I doubt that even the most ardent Rovers fans remember him.
The first of our four loanees is Edimilson Fernandes, who was a West Ham United regular under Slaven Bilic before injuries took their toll. The Hammers lent us the young, technically-gifted Swiss international for a season… and we in turn gave them Carlos Sánchez. I’d say that was incredible business on the part of our director of football Carlos Freitas!
Another gem who’s been brought in for the forthcoming campaign is 21-year-old Gérson. The on-loan Roma star has a sublime first touch and can be used as a midfield playmaker or as an inside-forward on the right flank. A player of Gérson’s quality will probably cost too much to sign permanently, but if he’s as good as we think he is, I’ll at least try.
Juventus did another Baggio by snatching Federico Bernardeschi from our grasp last term, but at least they had the decency to lend us Marko Pjaca‘s services for this season. Possessing outstanding dribbling ability and technique, he’s primarily an inside-forward on the left flank. Pjaca will miss a large chunk of pre-season, as he’s been given time to recuperate after helping Luka Modric to almost win the World Cup.
Belgian right-winger Kevin Mirallas is the last of our four loan rangers. Once a favourite amongst Everton fans, the 30-year-old free-kick specialist is now on the decline after several injury setbacks. He’s currently out with a pulled calf muscle and won’t feature until September at the earliest.
And now here’s arguably the most exciting talent on this club’s books. Federico Chiesa emerged from the Primavera (youth team) just two years ago, but he’s already a seasoned first-teamer and our new vice-captain, not to mention a full Azzurri international. Is that any wonder when you look at the spirit and the physical attributes this lad has?
There’s no point ignoring the elephant in the room, though. Qualifying for next season’s Champions League is almost a prerequisite for keeping Chiesa in the long-term, as most of England’s top six clubs have at least a passing interest in him. If we don’t kick on and Federico gets antsy, we might have to listen to offers.
We might already have Chiesa’s long-term replacement on the fringes. 21-year-old youth graduate Simone Minelli is flamboyant and pacey, but he is still incredibly raw, with his only senior experience coming from a couple of loan spells in Serie C. If Minelli does hit the big time, though, I’ve got a very obvious nickname lined up for him.
In the meantime, Valentin Eysseric will likely be Chiesa’s stand-in. The Frenchman has great acceleration and is also one of the few current Viola players who can naturally play as an attacking midfielder.
And lastly, we’ll move on to the strikers, of which we don’t have many. Giovanni Simeone – the eldest of Diego’s three sons – scored 12 league goals for Genoa in 2016/2017. He then moved on to Fiorentina, grabbing another 14 upon inheriting the Viola shirt once worn by a certain Gabriel Batistuta. If Simeone goes on to become even half as great as his compatriot Batigol, then we’re in for a treat.
Gio’s biggest strengths arguably lie in the mental aspects of his game, most notably his anticipation and his off-the-ball awareness. Those finishing and heading attributes are also a sight to behold, so if I can find the ideal role for him as my lone centre-forward, expect goals aplenty.
Last but not least, we have 35-year-old Cyril Théréau, who completes our French quintet. The pressing forward has graced Serie A for close to a decade, mainly with Chievo and Udinese, but his best years are behind him. A hamstring tear sustained earlier this year will only set Théréau back further, and I suspect he’ll be one of the first players to leave under my stewardship.
INTRODUCTIONS
After assessing my players for the first time, I formally introduced myself to them. Pezzella gave me a warm welcome to Fiorentina, further underlining his captaincy credentials.
When I told the players of my short-term plans, though, I saw some divisions. Only six players agreed that we should be aiming to qualify for the Europa League. As it so happened, those players were arguably the best half-dozen we had at the club, and they were the ones I was most keen to have at the club for the long haul.
The others – headed by Benassi – expressed concerns that I was perhaps shooting too high. I’d say the Europa League wasn’t at all beyond our expectations. We’re predicted to finish 7th in Serie A this season, and the top six qualify for Europe next year alongside the Coppa Italia, so it’s certainly not unrealistic.
I’m sure I’ll win over the sceptics soon enough. Having a strong pre-season campaign would be a good start.
TACTICS
As I’ve said before in this blog, I am not a tactical mastermind by any means (there are people in the FM community who’ve forgotten more about tactics than I’ll ever know). That said, I will quickly explain my initial plans, and the rationale behind the basic formation I have chosen.
Defensively, we don’t have a huge amount of depth. We’ve got four senior central defenders, and our wing-backs aren’t the best (indeed, I’ll be targetting improvements as soon as I can). Therefore, it’s perhaps best that we play with a flat back four.
Thankfully, we’re blessed with rather more talent in the middle, though we’re struggling for quality when it comes to attacking midfielders. Further upfield, we’ve got at least two excellent inside-forwards (plus substantial cover), while Simeone and Théréau are our only out-and-out strikers.
In conclusion, we’ll use the 4-1-4-1 DM Wide (effectively a modern 4-3-3) as our primary formation. I’ve set up a couple of tactics around this formation, each with different tactical styles:
This will likely be my go-to tactic for most matches. While we lack the stamina to ‘gegenpress’ everyone to death, we can still hassle our opponents with some regularly. We are also comfortable enough in possession to play expressive, vertical tiki-taka football like a certain Maurizio Sarri, though with a few tweaks to compensate for any deficiencies we currently have.
‘Fullerball’ is very much a work in progress, and that’s certainly the case in midfield. I’m aware that the three roles I’ve selected above may not leave us particularly solid at the back, but I’ll test out various combinations over pre-season to try and find a good mix. Ideally, I want to have one creator, one destroyer and one runner, whilst not leaving the defenders too exposed.
It’ll also take some trial and error to work out which role would work best for Simeone as a lone frontman. In the past, I’ve found that using just one striker generally leads to more frustration than elation, but maybe that could change in FM19.
Realistically, we can’t play attractive football all the time. We certainly can’t do it against Juventus yet, else Cristiano and his mates will hand our backsides to us on silver platters. A more pragmatic Plan B is needed for the more difficult matches.
The defensive midfielder gives our centre-backs a bit more security, though we will look to counter-press and then counter-attack with pace. Again, some of the roles are subject to change, and it may be a while before I can explain my tactics with a bit more confidence.
I guess that’ll be all for now. Join me again soon for Part 2, where I’ll take you through pre-season. Who knows, I might even throw in our first two matches of the Serie A season as well.
Finally, thanks to all of you for supporting me during the first week of this new blog. Fuller FM has had more views in the last six days than my previous FM blog got in two months, and that really gives me a lot of confidence.
“Forza viola!”
Fuller FM 
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