FMG Pass The Save FM24

[Derek]

FMG Pass The Save - FM24 Season 1

The idea is simple. Play one season, make your own decisions, play your own way and pass the save on to the next member at the end of the season.

 

Unione Calcio Sampdoria

Traditionally one of the largest teams in Italy, Sampdoria find themselves relegated to Serie B and handed a two point deduction due to financial difficulties under the previous owner.

Now under the control of Andrea Radrizzani, Sampdoria have appointed a seasoned manager in Genoa born Davide Marzano.

Marzano is known for his possession based attacking style of football which is sure to make the Blucerchiati an attractive side to watch this season.

Davide Marzano

 

The Squad

 

Competitions & Expectations

The board expect a top four finish this season in Serie B and for the club to be competitive in the Coppa Italia.

 

League Table - Rock Bottom

Sampdoria currently sitting bottom of Serie B heading into the new season due to the two point deduction.

 

Media Expectation

Sampdoria are predicted to finish 6th in this seasons Serie B with another sleeping 'giant' Parma firm favourites.

 

Finances

Despite relegation and previous financial difficulties Sampdoria start with a healthy €11m in the bank and a transfer budget of €3m.

 

[Derek]

A decent start to the season for Davide Marzano and Sampdoria with the side sitting in third after the closure of the transfer window.

The sides attacking play means they are top scorers in the league with 15 goals with Borini, Verre and Predrola all netting 3 time. Esposito and La Gumina have also chipped in with two goals a piece as the pair battle for a starting place up front.

The new look centre back pairing of Papetti (signed from Brescia) and loan signing Dalle Mura have conceded four in six games seeing the side stay undefeated early on.

 

Transfer

It's been a quiet summer window with two in and two out since Marzano took over.

Alex Ferrari (Injured for 12 months) was the only recognised CB which meant signing Papetti from Brescia and Dalle Mura on loan from Fiorentina was imperative. So far the young pairing have proved a good partnership but any injuries will leave youth team cover in an important position.

 

 

[VyKing]

This stadium is like a second home for me after doing Genoa last year. Loved every minute in that save. 

Promotion is very do able, your main struggle will be finances with it hard to generate in Italy.

Look forward to see your progress in the first season Davide!

[Derek]

One defeat in ten see Davide Marzano's Sampdoria sitting one point off second place. Currently sitting in 6th a good run of results could see Sampdoria cement their place near the top approaching the half way mark.

Things took a turn for the worse as Christian Dalle Mura (on load from Fiorentina) damaged his cruciate ligament and will be rulled out for 6-8 months. Already having another key centre back Alex Ferrari out for a further 7-9 months with the same injury, this is going to be a huge ask for the new manager. Marzano will have to see through the next 10 games with a very inexperienced defence until the January transfer window.

League Table

Fixtures/Results

Injuries

 

[Derek]

 

After a disappointing result which saw Sampdoria knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Monza, Davide Marzano sought to change things up by bringing in tactical guru @a31632.

introducing a new attacking style has seen Marzano's side win 7 out of 8 since their elimination.

Albeit injuries are few and far between, they have been significant in who they've ruled out. First choice keeper Filip Stankovic went off injured in the top of the table draw against Modena, ruling him out for five weeks and seeing him join their first choice centre back pairing.

Now at the half way mark, Sampdoria sit top of the table with a three point lead over Modena.

Top of the table

 

 

8 Unbeaten

 

 

Injuries

 

 

 

[Derek]

Davide Marzano has taken Sampdoria back where they belong in Serie A as CHAMPIONS of Serie B!

A stunning finish to the campaign saw his side finish ten points clear of second placed Modena with a attractive attacking style.

Exciting times to be Davide Marzano!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Derek]

This years challenge has seen Italian manager Davide Marzano take Sampdoria out of Serie B by winning promotion to Serie A as champions!

Take up the challenge as take Davide's career whichever direction you wish.

FMG Pass The Save

It's quite simple, put your name down and take up the challenge for one season only before passing it on to the next member.

You make the decisions on what's next for Davide. Does he attempt to establish Sampdoria as a Serie A force again or has he decided his journey will take him elsewhere?

Time will tell....

 

Links to Davide Marzano images

 

Who's next?

[a31632]

8 hours ago, Derek said:

This years challenge has seen Italian manager Davide Marzano take Sampdoria out of Serie B by winning promotion to Serie A as champions!

Take up the challenge as take Davide's career whichever direction you wish.

FMG Pass The Save

It's quite simple, put your name down and take up the challenge for one season only before passing it on to the next member.

You make the decisions on what's next for Davide. Does he attempt to establish Sampdoria as a Serie A force again or has he decided his journey will take him elsewhere?

Time will tell....

 

Links to Davide Marzano images

 

Who's next?

I'm willing to give it a shot and try to keep them in the Serie A (or better still a mid-table position maybe?) I have tweaked my tactic a bit, little more possession and slightly more solid at the back, not sure how it will work out but will start the second season shortly!

[Derek]

Brilliant mate! In fairness it was your tactic that brought the title as it was a game changer!

I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on with this. Not much in the way of centre backs at the moment but some decent young talent.

[a31632]

Still very early in the 2nd season, I play all matches in 3D and do not use any "cheating tools" like FMRTE or FMScout. Since there was no budget anyways after promotion I wasn't able to strengthen the squad so I used the current squad. 

I tweaked the tactic, pre-season I tried to play more possession based with much shorter passing, lower tempo but result were lacking. I decided, since in Serie A a "gentle approach" with patient and more beautiful football would likely not pay off to build on the existing PORTO 4-2-3-1 ATT tactic. I added "get stuck in" so my players would fight for every ball, which I thought would help at this higher level. Added "pass into space" and switched between "overlap" and "underlap" versions. Replaced WB with FB to be more solid at the back.

So far have been "lucky" with a relatively easy schedule, no real top teams yet, not sure if AS Roma qualifies as a title candidate at the moment. 

Won very easy in the 1st Round of Coppa Italia, but that was no surprise. 0-0 home against Fiorentina to start off, 3-1 win away at Monza which was a big win only to lose 0-2 at home to Sassuolo a team that after 6 matches is still unbeaten. After that had a good run with 3 wins in a row (Modena and Roma away and Frosinone home), see screenshots.

Got offered a new contract by the board, so they must be happy

Still a long way to go and no doubt will not be able to maintain the current league position, but a good begin in a new season always helps for the morale!!!

 

[a31632]

Now 11 matches in the 2nd season and still sitting high up in the league. Just blew away Lazio (away) with 3-0!!!

Lost at home to Napoli a few weeks ago with 0-2, long distance effort and penalty killed me, should have been a draw according to xG, but can't complain. Many injuries and still not fading so far.......... now Juve, AC Milan and Internazionale coming up, so might be the last screenshots with a really good position on the board

[Derek]

Great start to the season mate. If you manage to sustain this it will be a huge achievement!

[Tempelman]

Wow, nice! Where did you get that AI face @Derek?

[Derek]

2 hours ago, Tempelman said:

Wow, nice! Where did you get that AI face @Derek?

I got it from Free Pik who have an image generator. Free accounts get 20 images per day in sets of 4.

https://www.freepik.com/ai/image-editor

[a31632]

Now 20 matches into the season. As to be expected had a bumpy road with 2 defeats in a row (1-2 at home against Torino and 3-4 away (while missing a penalty kick!) at AC Milan. With a lot of luck managed to draw 1-1 away to Internazionale and at home 1-1 against Juventus (Conte was sacked just prior). 2 times a disappointing 0-0 against "weaker teams" Cremonese and Salernitana, so left a lot points on the table there.

After that I made (again) some very minor tweaks (removed "get stuck in" as the suspensions and the sick bay were not helping me, removed "run with ball" to try to minimize cheap loss of the ball in midfield), after this suddenly the momentum changed and I started winning games again, see screenshots (most noticeable the wins against Fiorentina for Coppa Italia and immediately after that for the Serie A (both away!!!). With now a small budget for transfers to work with in the January 2025 window finally looking at some reinforcements.

Sitting in 5th place, way off the Champions League spots, but eh......... I'm competitive and don't have to worry about relegation anymore

Having a little break now as I'm away for a few days, so until Monday I'm gone, see screenshots for the progress:

 

 

Updated (tweaked) tactic here:

PORTO FM24 ATT 4-2-3-1 FB-OVRLP-NO STCK-DRBBL.fmf

[a31632]

Leaving now for the week (back on Monday), just finished up a few more games. Sadly lost in the Quarter Finals of the Coppa Italia against Juventus (away) with 2-1. But a Quarter Final spot was not a bad achievement.

On a positive note, I just keep winning now (won 10 games in a row in the Serie A!!!), latest win was the  0-1 away at Napoli and it was even well deserved, so now cruising into the Champions League qualification spots, sitting in 4th. Big smile on the face of Marzano now. Too bad I can only play one season, will have to hand over to the next volunteer, but will for sure continue the save (just for my own satisfaction and for fun) after my relay has been done @Derek

 

[a31632]

"MARZANO GUIDES SAMPDORIA TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOR THE 2025-2026 SEASON!!!!!"

Davide Marzano managed the "impossible" this 2nd season, with only a permanent signing for 1.9 MM (young Goalkeeper Stankovic from Inter, who was previously on loan at Sampdoria) and no other additions and a challenging sized and quality (compared to most teams in Serie A and an almost non-existent budget in combination with a bad month from Mid March till Mid April where the team was unable to win any matches (3 lost, 1 draw). After this bad run, a 6 games winning streak secured a CHAMPIONS LEAGUE qualification spot, in 3rd overall. Overtaking Fiorentina on the final day given result elsewhere.

After winning promotion last season to Serie A and now guiding his team to an amazing European Adventure, the main question remains "what now from here"? I have posted the link to the save game where we just finished up our 2nd season below. No doubt Marzano will get many offers given his achievements with Sampdoria in the past two seasons, so with likely many options away.......will Davide Marzano stay loyal to his team and his tactical approach, or will he decide otherwise?

Added tweaked set pieces, massive thanks to user @han106 for creating a mix of best set pieces set ups out there, which includes set pieces by "CSTG KANE!", "DELICIOUS", "ZIMSMULA" and "CHOU"  and others likely, ensured even more solid results in the final few games, with wins against Internazionale, Juve and Atalanta as highlights. The set pieces download is included below with the last used tactics where I removed "get stuck in" and removed "run with ball" which with Sampdoria worked both even better.

Signed Mason Greenwood on a free transfer, joining the team for Season 3 as the only real reinforcement (hopefully).

So...............who will be taking on SEASON 3 in this relay? What will the future hold for Davide Marzano and Sampdoria????

Many thanks to @Derek again for this great concept, really enjoyed being part of this relay!

 

 

 

 

PORTO FM24 ATT 4-2-3-1 FB-OVRLP-NO STCK-DRBBL.fmf1-24 Set Piece Best Hits FROM HAN106.fmfFMG Pass The Save - Season 3.fm

[Derek]

@a31632 Absolutely amazing work mate!!! I honestly couldn't have got that team anywhere near third place so well done on a fantastic achievement.  

Very strong finish to the season mate.

 

Who's up next guys to guide Davide Marzano's Sampdoria into the Champions League?

Anyone can get involved by simply posting in here next and downloading the FMG Pass The Save - Season 3 file in a31632's post above.

@Markitos @Tempelman @VyKing @Johno @kristo @Shark @NassFas

[VyKing]

On 04/02/2024 at 23:31, Derek said:

@a31632 Absolutely amazing work mate!!! I honestly couldn't have got that team anywhere near third place so well done on a fantastic achievement.  

Very strong finish to the season mate.

 

Who's up next guys to guide Davide Marzano's Sampdoria into the Champions League?

Anyone can get involved by simply posting in here next and downloading the FMG Pass The Save - Season 3 file in a31632's post above.

@Markitos @Tempelman @VyKing @Johno @kristo @Shark @NassFas

Go on then, 

Birthday week so lets get this done

[VyKing]

Season 3 Day 1

Pre Pre Season

Champions League football? Or a trip to the South of France? A project has been started and one I plan on seeing out as tempting as Marseille is. My goal is to do as well as we can in the Champions League while finding players for the future that can help take us to that next step.

Transfers

for 300k the first player through the door is Ghanian Kamal Sowah from Club Brugge

To play that Raumdeuter role or AM role depending on the situation

On a free from Man City, we have taken the Dortmund route and brought in a young Englishman by the name of Max Alleyne.

The defender is one for the future with a view to play as a WCB

An ambitious freebie and another young Englishman looking to restart his career, Mason Greenwood.

Going out is last years number 1 bringing in much needed money Emil Audero for £6mill.

Austrian WCB Christoph Klarer joins the new look defence for 2.6mill, the 25 year old goes straight into the starting squad

 

[VyKing]

It was a mixed bag for Davide Marzano in pre season, but an undefeated pre season. With the team gelling well with the new players to the squad and a new formation to boot. Davide needs to embed the squad into the tactic in order to be competitive in both League and Europe. 

First up in the League is a home game vs Fiorentina which is destined to be a hard fought game.

[VyKing]

Transfer deadline day wasn't a day Davide Marzano expected to be busy, in fact he was already planning for the next game after beating Udinese 2-1. But this is Serie A this is Sampdoria and nothing ever goes the way you plan it.

Real Madrid complete a deal that is potentially worth £52 Million for Spanish AML Pedrola, a player that has been ever present at the start of the season but an offer that Sampdoria and Merzano knew they couldn't reject. They couldn't stand in the way of Pedrola.

Pedrola hadn't left the tarmac and the players wanted an explanation "Why are you letting our best player go?", Marzano knew "I couldn't stand in his way" was not a good enough excuse so with that he told him team "I'm looking at replacements" Mama mia.

First through the door Juventus' Turkish wonderkid for a bargain of £6.5million Kenan Yildiz.

Shortly followed by Danish DM Oscar Fraulo from Gladbach in Germany for £3.7mill

The signings did not stop there with with French U21 WBR Sael Kumbedi from Lyon for £6.5million

And last but not least Argentinian AMC wonderkid from River Plate for 8.5mill Claudio Echeverri.

 

[VyKing]

Mid Season Report

Davide Marzano has had an up and down first half of the season while trying to emulate last seasons astonishing 3rd place finish. Currently sitting 7th in Serie A, still pushing for a spot in one of Europe's competitions. Guaranteed a Play off spot in the next phase of the champions league with 2 games to go. In the final of the EA Sports Super Cup, so trophies are still available.

The standout game so far was the 2-1 win vs Juventus away from home, which allowed Marzano and Sampdoria to go on a little run.

The only incoming so far in January being Brenno the Brazilian/Italian goal keeper for 4mill.

After turning down an interview at the beginning of the season with Marseille, Lyon tried their best efforts midway through the season. Marzano instead opted to sign a 5 year contract with Sampdoria.

 

Davide Marzano did indeed text his good friend @Tempelman the following "That's how you beat Ajax"

 

[VyKing]

End of Season Roundup.

It was a tough second half to the season for Marzano and Sampdoria, finally finishing in 11th in the league.

Having to balance Europe and the league proved to be the deciding factor with strength in depth a deciding factor once injuries started taking their toll. But with the downs Marzano has a exciting squad for the future with the incoming Ademola Lookman coming in on a free.

with £16million to spend next season, the chance to strengthen the depth of the squad is there to build with the right additions.

A front 4 of Echiverri, Yildiz, Lookman and Greenwood and the permanent signing of your French CB Bitshiabu from RB Liepzig the future looks bright.

FMG Pass The Save - Season 3.fm 

@Derek over to you bud, Thank you for this opportunity onwards and upwards.

[Derek]

Loved this mate and happy belated birthday 

Given the fact that CL football came so soon, along with a limited budget I think that's a cracking season.

Who's up next to see where Davide Marzano's career takes him?