Career BG's 1-season challenges 5/5: DT with Ronni & Messi

[BatiGoal]

Welcome to the first installment of a series of short challenges that I've been wanting to do for a long time but for some reason never came round doing. I'd like to share these with you and get them out of the way before I embark on another long career. I hope you enjoy them. Here's the first one of this series..

 

BG's 1-season challenges 1/5

 

Juan Sebastián Verón

• Estudiantes - 1994-1996
• Boca Juniors - 1996
• Sampdoria - 1996-1998
• Parma - 1998-1999
• Lazio Roma - 1999-2001
• Manchester Utd - 2001-2003
• Chelsea - 2003-2007
• Internazionale - 2004-2006
• Estudiantes - 2006-2012
• Brandsen - 2012
• Estudiantes - 2013-2016
• Sampdoria - 2016-2017

        

 

 

Juan Sebastian Veron started his professional career all the way back in 1994 in Argentina. He was brought to Europe in 1996 by Sampdoria and now 20 years later I'm bringing him back to Sampdoria for a fairytale ending. It only seemed fitting to end the amazing career this Argentine's had at the European club where he started as a young talent. Of course I could've chosen a much bigger team with better players and more games, but this man is 41yo so I don't believe he's able to play 60+ games a season anymore. I'm more than happy to give him 38 Serie A league games and hopefully a decent run in the Coppa Italia. If I can keep this man healthy and injury free I'd be happy to see him start 50 games this season. Let's hope we can give this man one more cracking season with loads of assists to his name before he hangs up his FMM boots forever.

 

Challenge Creator: @Mikee1984 Big thanks to you!

Challenge Link: Assisting with JS Veron

 

I hope you'll enjoy this run of 5 short challenges with me and feel free to drop a comment or two. More updates will follow..

[mcandrew003]

I knew you had something intriguing under your sleeve, and this looks like it's going to be another enjoyable ride! Looking forward to your first season 

[Ashez]

Good luck  

[Brenty92]

Really intrigued to see how you drag him over the line pal! Good luck

[Mikee1984]

Wow I thought this had been forgot about, but the man himself @BatiGoal is going to smash this... Good luck

[samhardy]

Glad to see your most recent failure hasn't put you off the game.. Good luck!

[Real_Random]

Good luck mate. Veron has half decent stats so he should be fine

[BatiGoal]

Thanks for the love, guys!

Got the right formation and tactics for our Argentinian Assister (I hope) and we're all set to give this man one last killer season.

[Taff]

Good luck BG, I'm sure this will be another in a long line of killer threads from a master like yourself, now go charge his wheelchair and get him out there

Spoiler

"And the fans go crazy as Juan Sebastian Veron takes to the field"

 

[Brenty92]

40 minutes ago, Taff said:

Good luck BG, I'm sure this will be another in a long line of killer threads from a master like yourself, now go charge his wheelchair and get him out there

  Hide contents

"And the fans go crazy as Juan Sebastian Veron takes to the field"

 

So glad the pic in the spoiler worked here ? Actually lol' a bit, my kids are looking at me like a mental patient!

[BatiGoal]

5 hours ago, Taff said:

Good luck BG, I'm sure this will be another in a long line of killer threads from a master like yourself, now go charge his wheelchair and get him out there

  Reveal hidden contents

"And the fans go crazy as Juan Sebastian Veron takes to the field"

 

Lol I'm sure he'll appreciate the firey exit 

[Taff]

21 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

Lol I'm sure he'll appreciate the firey exit 

Like a Bat out of Hell

[BatiGoal]

BG's 1-season challenges 1/5

Juan Sebastián Verón

 

I have decided to go with a very simple format for these five 1-season challenges:

• Update 1: Intro to the challenge with formation-tactics-players
• Update 2: First half of the season
• Update 3: Second half of the season

The challenge only lasts one season so going with 3 updates is plenty and keeps the pace up. Let's run through the 1st update:

 

 

Juan Sebastian Veron

He looks awesome for his age. It's gotta be said! Of course his physical attributes aren't that of an athlete anymore but I'm very happy with his overall attribute numbers. His Strength actually moved up to a blue 10 after a couple weeks in training so I'm not at all worried about the upcoming season. Besides, I think I have a decent plan in place to get the best out of this Legend. With still a huge green for Technique, a fine 16 for that killer pass, an identical number for creative purposes and a welcome 20 Leadership which makes him also the Captain of this Sampdoria side.

 

Coach Report

Still a talent at 41yo

Some great positives, and a few negatives, you wouldn't have guessed this is the coach report of a 40+ veteran tbh.

 

Board Appraisal

This comes somewhat as a surprise to me. I know Veron is a Legend and I know Sampdoria aren't a European powerhouse with over-the-top expectations but it's still an ambitious club and I expected a few unhappy boardmen here. Glad we're on the same line.

 

Formation: 4-5-1

Let me explain why I went for this formation and why Veron is in CM and not AMC. Well.. his positioning was the easier decision since it was going to be between a Competent Veron in AMC versus a Natural Veron in CM. I think I can get more out of him in his natural spot than in one he's not so comfortable in. The second reason is that playing as a lone AMC will probably tire him out completely within the hour so having him play full games in CM seems more effective to me. Third reason is having two CMs on either side will spare his energy, we want to keep him fresh on the pitch for as long as possible. Let me say this tho, I'm not a fan of flat midfields, but in this case I think it's the smartest way to go. Fourth reason I opted for a 4-5-1 is that multiple strikers would probably provide assists between themselves and we can't have that. So a lone man up front looks like our best bet for Veron to serve as our provider for. He's done well in his first games of the season having his buddies Cigarini and Torreira doing the dirtier defensive work for him so Veron gets to spend most of his energy on attacking duties; He is our Captain + Primary Outlet in this set up.

 

Veron's Role Traits

We have all seen much better Advanced Playmakers in our FMM lives but I'm delighted with that green Tries Killer Balls Often which works a treat with a speedy striker like Muriel. That's gotta be good for a fair amount of assists this season. Looks good on paper tho.

 

Game 1

The first competitive game wasn't great for Veron or the team but we scraped through. It was an "easy" Coppa Italia qualifier Vs Verona and we only manage to put them aside after winning the shoot-out. An unnecessary early scare in game 1.

 

Game 2

A very solid game from our main man and I'm delighted to see his first assist of this challenge in. We've broken the ice.

 

Game 3

Captain Veron leads the team to a 2nd consecutive Serie A victory. And it's another assist. That's two in three games. A fantastic start to his final season and at this rate it could be his best yet. Very promising signs so far.

 

Veron's Form: 2 assists

We haven't faced top sides yet but he's gotta do it against the little ones as well. What I'm perhaps even more satisfied about is the fact that at his age and with his physicals he's able to stay on the pitch for 90min in this formation. With enough rest inbetween games and praying he remains free of any injuries it's looking more likely that he'll be able to play the majority of the games. Question is tho, how will this Sampdoria side fare against the likes of Milan, Juve, Roma, Napoli etc.. I guess we'll have to find out in the next update which will be of the first half season of this challenge.

 

Thanks for reading and feel free to drop Veron some supportive fanmail. Cheers!

[Brenty92]

2 in 3 games is unreal for someone the wrong side of 40! Just out of curiosity do you know what his wages would be in pounds monthly rather than euros yearly? He could well be obtainable by championship squads tbf

[mcandrew003]

Wow, Veron has taken to life in Italy! Nice going BG, can see you smashing this out of the park if he continues that kind of form. Like the presentation of the updates too, all together a lovely read 

[BatiGoal]

7 hours ago, Brenty92 said:

2 in 3 games is unreal for someone the wrong side of 40! Just out of curiosity do you know what his wages would be in pounds monthly rather than euros yearly? He could well be obtainable by championship squads tbf

Just checked with Newcastle.

• Best price - £1.3M
• Best wages - £90k/m

Couldn't get him under 1.3M but with Sampdoria I only paid 100k + player (3.5M) so a player exchange is probably the better alternative if you're carrying dead wood in your squad.

As for his wages, he accepts nothing under 90k (+ manager job release clause) despite insisting the club can't meet his demands. A decent creative force for a Championship side I think especially if you can swap him for a player you can't manage to sell otherwise.

 

6 hours ago, mcandrew003 said:

Wow, Veron has taken to life in Italy! Nice going BG, can see you smashing this out of the park if he continues that kind of form. Like the presentation of the updates too, all together a lovely read 

Thanks for the fanmail, mate, will pass it on

[Real_Random]

Great start mate. Let's see how long his physical shape lasts. KIU

[BatiGoal]

9 minutes ago, Real_Random said:

Great start mate. Let's see how long his physical shape lasts. KIU

Thanks RR. I think I made the right call getting him to a club that doesn't play in Europe. Looks like he's got just the right amount of games and rest this way.

[Brenty92]

@BatiGoal 90k is a bit much but maybe the likes of Newcastle/Villa could muster up just enough lol

[Ashez]

Very enjoyable start Bati, I really enjoyed the style you've gone with! I personally can't wait for more! 

[BatiGoal]

15 hours ago, Brenty92 said:

@BatiGoal 90k is a bit much but maybe the likes of Newcastle/Villa could muster up just enough lol

And maybe persuade him to stay on as a coach afterwards

 

7 hours ago, Ashez said:

Very enjoyable start Bati, I really enjoyed the style you've gone with! I personally can't wait for more! 

Thanks. Then more shall come a couple injuries have dented his upward line but things are still looking pretty decent.

[AndersJ]

I really like this experiment, best of luck mate!

[BatiGoal]

1 hour ago, AndersJ said:

I really like this experiment, best of luck mate!

Thanks mate!

[Taff]

Can't believe he hasn't fractured his hip yet

Spoiler

Great going BG, but I expect nothing less from you

 

[BatiGoal]

BG's 1-season challenges 1/5

Juan Sebastián Verón

 

Recap First Half Season

 

Veron Injury

Had to happen. Not the worst of injuries but at this age (41) it's almost impossible to keep players free of injuries for an entire season. It's three weeks on the sidelines with possibly an extra week to regain fitness. 4-5 games lost here.

 

Veron Back in Training

His physicals took a hit during his absence from the game. Pace in particular. 4. Ouch! It isn't an essential attribute but moving around at walking pace surely won't do his game any good. Glad to see that his essential greens are still part of his arsenal so with a week of recovery we're back live.

 

Game 10

Bit of an odd game this one. 1-2 up with 5min left. Leave the phone to get a celebratory coffee and we're down 3-2. Glad with the Veron assist but a needless loss against a mediocre team. Our only loss of the season btw so far.

 

Game 12

A game where I expected a loss perhaps but it's a massive 3 points vs one of our main rivals. Good game and delighted with another assist. We're on 5 now and counting..

 

Game 15

A brace of assists. I was hoping for a good game vs a Serie B side and Veron delivered. Maybe not the scoreline we'd settled for but with +2 assists we're more than happy to take this.

 

Game 18

We're in late December and only a few games left this year for Veron to get his assist tally up. I set a number of 10 for the first half season and our AP recorded his 9th assist in all competitions vs Udinese. One game to go this year.

 

Game 19

A second brace of assists. I'm delighted with Captain Veron's performance but the stoppage time equalizer means we lost valuable points again. It's not a race to the top of the Serie A table but I hate losing points this way. It's another draw and we're 2nd in the league 4 pts behind leaders Napoli.

 

Veron Assists

I wanted 10 by this time but we're on 11. Despite the injury and the few games he missed as a result. So we're halfway in now and it's looking pretty good for Veron. Saying this nearly 42yo man's past his prime is an understatement so I'll be happy with anything over 20. With 19 league games left and a couple Coppa Italia games in the mix as well I say we stand a good chance to get 20 to maybe 25 assists in Veron's farewell-to-the-game-of-football season. I hope I can do the Argentine proud.

 

Next update wraps this challenge up. Thanks for reading and comments of any kind welcome. Cheers!

[Brenty92]

11 assists for a 42yo in half a season is unbelievable pal, a 5 man flat midfield is doing his legs the world of good! Keep it up!

[Taff]

Great first half season there and the OAP is proving me wrong 11 assists plus a 4 week absence is incredible (especially with 4 for pace)

[BatiGoal]

9 hours ago, Brenty92 said:

11 assists for a 42yo in half a season is unbelievable pal, a 5 man flat midfield is doing his legs the world of good! Keep it up!

Thanks mate. He's a class player and one never losses his class. Simple

 

9 hours ago, Taff said:

Great first half season there and the OAP is proving me wrong 11 assists plus a 4 week absence is incredible (especially with 4 for pace)

4 pace during recovery process. Up to 6-7 now. Always happy to prove non-believers wrong  cheers!

[Idol]

Awesome start Bati, It's just a shame Juan Roman retired a few years ago or you could have used a decent player! 

 

[Real_Random]

Great job mate, 11 assists with a man who looks he should have been sent to the retirement home. KIU