Wow, the greatest Ups and Downs of Napoli right now...........

   My Napoli played three games more. Two friendlies, against Salernitana and Vitesse, both away. And the 1st round for the Uefa against Voljvojina, that is a Serbian squad, away. In this games, I played more or less great, it could have been 100% great if I didn't lose to Salernitana, but I did. Now, i'm going to show you this Napoli's ups and downs in the last three games.

    Ups:

1)Russotto- I thought he couldn't get better, evidently I was wrong.

2)Hamsik- In the first games of my Napoli career, Hamsik was disastrous, but he managed to improve, he also got a man of the match against Voljvojina with an 8.0 performance.

3)Blasi- He improved. Like in the last games, he got a lot of shots, but almost no one on goal. In these matches not only almost of the shots were on goal, he managed to score against Vitesse after a great match.

4) Grava and Cannavaro- Man, they were playing already good, but now, when they are together in th defense, only some great chances can get through them.

5)Savini- He improved the little that it wanted to make him so far the best player in Napoli's defense.

6)Dalla Bona- He didn't play nothing, but his game against Vitesse was almost perfect.

    Downs:

1)Denis: If you don't count a great goal against Salernitana, he's even worse than what he did in last matches.

2)Lavezzi- He did well against Vitesse and Voljovjina, but his performance against Salerntana ruined it all.

Now match reports:

Salernitana-Napoli: L 2-1. I went in the game with 4-3-3 formation with many youngsters.

    My Napoli started great. In the first ten minutes I got 3 great chances for a goal, but the ball couldn't get in the net. But the biggest chance of the first half is in Pulzetti's feet at the 23rd when he got the post at the left of U-20 goalie Antonio Coglitore. These are some of the half time stats: Lavezzi 5.5, Bernardo 5.7. Second half. Out Vitagliano in Lombardi. At the 51st minute, long ball for Fava and Salernitana goes ahead of one goal. At the 69th Denis gets the ball from a distance of 30 meters of the net, shoots and makes a great goal. At the 72nd minute error from Napoli's goalie Coglitore who doesn't hold the ball and Pestrin scores the winning ball.

Here's the video:

Vitesse-Napoli: W 2-4

At 13th after a great Napoli, there was no Vitesse but Hofs from 30 yards distance to the net, places it down near the left post of Iezzo and Vitesse is up. At 20th Savini crosses it from the left and Russotto scores. At the 22nd minut counter attack for Napoli with Lavezzi taht gets a long pass and runs to Vitesse's goal, passes it to the right for Blasi, he crosses and Pazienza scores. 1-2 for Napoli. At the 38th minute Maggio crosses it to Pia who gets the top of the bar. First half finishes and Napoli is winning although Hofs scored a great goal for Vitesse. Some stats after the first half: Russotto 7.4, Lavezzi 7.1. Pazienza goes out and Dalla Bona gets in the game. At 64th Maggio fouls Janssen in his own box and it's penalty for Vitesse. Borges shoots. He scores. All square again. I change my formation to this:

At the 80th minute, great goal for Napoli in a fast action. Yakubu makes a back pass from the midfield on the left, but no one is there to take the ball, so Dalla Bona gets it and goes running. Now comes the great thing, he passes it to Pia, who gives it fastly to Russotto, meanwhile, Dalla Bona is running into the box, Russotto gives a through ball to Dalla Bona, he shoots, hits the post and Maggio scores with no goalie to save it. At the 88th minute freekick for Napoli, Dalla Bona takes it and hits his second post of the day. Two minutes later, in the 91st, Iezzo throws it long, Lavezzi heads it, Blasi takes it, runs toward the goal and scores.

Here's the video of the game:

Voljvojdina-Napoli: W 1-2. 1st Leg of the 1st round of qualification to the Uefa Cup. They play 4-4-2. I should play throught the middle. So I try 4-2-2-2. Here's the formation:

First 15 minutes only Napoli with a lot of good chances. At the 15th minute penalty for a foul made by Tadic on Hamsik. Hamsik takes it. Voljvojdina 0-1 Napoli.In the 25th minute out an injured Maggio and into the game Grava. At the 45+3, Jeferson Batista is shown a red card. In the second half out Lavezzi in youngster Bernardo. At the 58th min. Zivkovic takes a freekick for Voljvoljina and scores. At the 82nd min., Bernardo shoots, the goalie saves it but doesn't catch it and Hamsik scored.

Stats of the players at full time: Hamsik 8.0 and man of the match. Grava 7.4, Iezzo 7.0, Savini 7.1, Cannavaro 7.1, Rinaudo 7.1, and Blasi 7.2.

Palermo's insane

Martin Palermo, at least in Football Manager 2009, is completely insane,I'll explain why. This is how the story starts: My Napoli team is not really complete, so I needed to buy more players. I decided, after looking at the strikers in the first team I had, Denis, Lavezzi, Zalayeta, and Pia, that I needed to buy another one.

    

    My first idea was to buy the 21 years old Turkish player that currently played in Sochaux, Mevlut Erdinc. The problem was that my Napoli had only 8,000,000 budget for transfers and I was over the salary budget. Mevlut Erdinc costs averagely 5,700,000. I, however, tried to take him. I offered 6,000,000. Sochaux refused. However, I tried again, that player is great. 6,300,000. Refused. I sort of cried after that but got over with it. Shame.

   In my first press conference, I remember they asked me if it was true that Napoli was interested in Boca's striker, Martin Palermo. By that time, I didn't even remember who Palermo was, so I said no. After Sochaux refused my offer for Erdinc, I didn't know who to buy. So I went scouting and looking by myself. I found a cheap brazilian striker called Jared, the problem was that he was 34 years old, but I tried to make an offer.

    After finding Jared, I looked for more strikers, I found Pippo Inzaghi, he did cost a bit, was old, but he scored a goal per match. I didn't make an offer. Why? Because I saw Martin Palermo, pacy, finishes well, good thecnique, but old. I offered. More teams wanted him, but teams like Bologna. I also think my offer was the best. My plan was to buy him and pass the other lot of my transfer budget to salary budget.

    Boca accepted my offer, just like Bologna's. When I was about to offer him a contract, I saw that also Jared's offer was accepted. I couldn't afford both, so I withdrawed Jared's offer. I made a contract for Palermo. Great contract. It was also the best. I was really happy, you see, I thought he was mine already. But Palermo's insane. He accepted Bologna's offer, that was like 10,000 k per week less!!! 

    I couldn't believe it. I needed a new striker. I was ready to go searching again when I saw something about the 22 years old (i think its 22), Alessandro Matri from Cagliari, he's great. I offered for him. I bought him. He's not bad. At least, they say he's not bad. I haven't tried him.

    Morale of this: Never ever try to buy Martin Palermo, he's old and insane.

Why we all hate the conditions in which a player is..............

    Man, everyone wants to play their best eleven every match, but unfortunately, you can't. Guys, telling the thruth, the best eleven are the ones who win the most, so we need for the safety of our club, that the best eleven play every match, but you can't. It's really not wise to let the best eleven play matches that are not vital, maybe you can put 4 or 5, but not everyone. As you saw in the last posts, I had a friendly cup created by me. In that cup, in the semifinal against Palermo and final against Catania, I made play my best eleven, that was my error, I didn't think of my players' condition. 

    After the friendly cup, I had two vital matches, the 1st and 2nd Leg of the EURO Vase against Rosenborg. And all my first eleven were exhausted!!! Some of my first eleven could play, but not all..... My scout told me that they were likely to play a 4-4-2. He also told me to play with fast players to take the counter attack. 

  

    As you already know, my first eleven was exhausted, but some could play. I was hoping to play in the left fullback a great Marko Savini and in the right fullback an averagely good Christian Maggio, but they were completely unavailable. So in the left I tried the 20 years old Luigi Vitale and in the right an almost great Salvatore Aronica. In the center of the midfield I played Montervino and the 19 years old Massimiliano Esposito. In the left the U-20 player Gennaro Di Nardo and in the right Manuele Blasi. Behind the only striker, who was Denis, played a really great promise for the future, the 20 years old Andrea Russotto, nicknamed by me Russogol. Man, I really did make an error letting play my best eleven playing frendlies. Here's my official 4-4-1-1 for the start:

   Now the report of the match:

   Rosenberg-Napoli: W 1-1. At 15th minute Russotto gets the first key occasion of the match from long range and almost scores. At the 34th Russotto shots again from longe range and gets it just over the bar. At the 39th, the incredible thing happens, it happens so fast, Vitale in the left plays it fastly to Di Nardo, who runs a bit and gets it to Montervino, who plays it fast to the right to Blasi, who is alone, he gets to the box, passes it to the middle and Russotto scores a deserved goal. In the half time, stats for the impressive Russotto are 7.2. Denis played really bad and got a 5.7, Montervino and Esposito didn't do well either getting 5.9 but incredibly Contini got a 7.0. Second half starts, out Denis in Lavezzi, out Esposito in 18 years old Manuel Marino. In the 54th Blasi makes an air through ball from his own midfield to Lavezzi, who fails it. Shame on him. At 58th, Marino tries it from long range, Rosenborg gets lucky and the ball's out. At 76th out Montervino in U-20 player Luca Giannone. A 80th counter attack of Rosenberg with Strand who changes the ball from right to left perfectly for Foldoy, he crosses and Iversen equalizes. 1-1. At 83rd again Russotto from long range, and Rosenborg gets lucky for the millionth time today. Finishes 1-1. Russoto great gets 7.2 (future star), Blasi 7.1, Contini 7.0, and Lavezzi played awfula and got a 5.6. I now know which players are going to be in Napoli's best eleven in the future, Vitale, Russotto. 

    Napoli-Rosenborg: W 2-1. They will start again with a 4-4-2 and playing in the air.  I go like this: 4-1-3-2 Attacking.

    At the 3rd, Blasi runs in the right, crosses to Hamsik and ball just over the bar. At 12th, Iversen from inside the box gets it over the bar. At 26th, Lavezzi just out of the box, passes it to Blasi, who's parallel to him. Blasi shots and the ball gets the bar. At 36th Berisha just in the box gets it over the bar. Second half. Out injured Denis in Russotto. Out exhausted Pazienza in Pia. At 50 injured Maggio goes out and Rinaudo gets in the match. At 58th great air pass to Traore alone with Iezzo, but he fails it for Rosenborg. At the 64th Iversen looses the ball to Contini who passes it long in the air to Russotto, who overruns Lustin, exchanges the ball with Hamsik, crosses it to Blasi and the game is 1-0.  At 81st Rinaudo just out of the box gets it in the box for Pia who is alone in front of the goalie and its 2-0 for Napoli!!!! At 92 Megalvis gets a cross in Napoli's box and Rosenberg gets at least one goal. Napoli wins. 2-1. We passed. Blasi man of the match. Here the video: again sorry for the quality.

Benevento-Napoli: W 0-1. I decided to rest my players and in came only youths if you exclude Denis. Formation:

At 45th Cejas gets his second yellow card in 1 minute and he's off. At the 50th Denis gets the cross from Bernardo and scores the only goal. No more emotions. Only some shots that were really close from Lombardi. Great G.Marotta, 7.5, Izzo 7.5, Marino 7.1, and Denis 7.6.

      

Here's Denis goal against Palermo!!!!!!!!

guys, only thing i need to say is sorry for the bad quality.......

A "non-important final"

     We all know what every soccer player or team wants, if you don't know it's getting a cup. But to get a cup, you need to get to a final, and that's the problem, finals are never easy.But some finals are not important, because they are friendly touraments. And remember, I'm not saying this because I lost..............

     Remember my first match ever?? It was against Palermo, the semifinal of a friendly cup invented by me: "Cup Tim del Sud".  The game finished 1-0 for me. Denis scored the winning goal at the 47th. By the way, I told you I was getting the video of the goal, maybe later I can get it.

    In the other semifinal, Catania humiliated Messina 7-0. So that's it, the final is Catania-Napoli. There was me, deciding the best tactic to get Catania's 4-3-2-1 ruined and attack a lot. I think deciding the best tactic to attack made me completely don-t think about my defense. This was my official starting XI:                     ----Iezzo----

                                           Rinaudo---Cannavaro---Aronica

                                Maggio------------------------------Savini

                                                     Gargano---Hamsik

                                                          -----Pia-----

                                                    Lavezzi---Denis

    This formation in the game is  called: "5-3-2 Deffensive", but I prefer calling it "3-4-3" or even better "3-2-2-1-2".

    For the game against Palermo and this game against Catania there won't be a real full-match report, but from the next game and on, there will be, I think you''ll like it.

    The match started calm rythms and continued like that onto the second half. In the half time, I decided I had to make some changes if I wanted a chance to win this. The "not-so" problem was, who was I going to get subbed out. easy. Denis got a 5.7 and Lavezzi 5.9. But there wasn't a good player in the bench to substitute my forwards and there was Pia injured. So i got Pia out, in Montervino. With this change it was the prefect moment to change tactics, so I got Montervino playing where Hamsik played and got Hamsik were Pia was playing, and Lavezzi stayed with Hamsik to support Denis. 

    We were all up trying to score, but no one could put it in the net. So Zenga, (Catania's manager), seeing that his team had problems, got his formation to 4-4-1-1. So i changed it too, i got it to 4-2-1-2 with Cannavaro out and Blasi in i got Blasi and Montervino to play just in front of the defense, Hamsik to play supporting Denis and Lavezzi.

    That was when it all got bad. At the 87th Baiocco got the top bar and at the 91th Iezzo made a great save in a Baiocco throw. Ended 0-0. Penalties. Hate penalties.

    I just can get to explain what happened, so here you got the photo: 

   When i can, i'll get you the video of the penalties.

My first match ever!!!!!!!!

My first match was in a friendly cup organized by me......... The four teams in the tournament were: Napoli, Palermo, Catania and Messina. The semifinal I was going to play was against Palermo. I started with a 4-4-2 Diamond Attacking. It went well. I decided to man mark of the two Palermo strikers, Lanzafame and Cavani, obviously, Cavani. In the first half we played it great, with a lot of headers on goal and almost no shots from Palermo. Luckily, in the 46th minute, when I was deciding who will play in the second half, Gargano gave a great through ball in the air, from the defense, to Denis and that was it, 1-0 for Napoli. Viva. No emotions in the second half, it finished like that. I'll see if I can get a video of Denis's goal.

Here, prove that I won that game: (You need to click on the image to see it......)

Hey guys, this is my first entry

Hey, as you see up there, I am a Football Manager 2009 manager that is starting and that is going to share with you every thing that happens in his new career at Napoli.