Career 1759 - The Diego Maradona Napoli Challenge - Final Season

[Ian]

Hello everybody,

After struggling to get to grips with the latest update I kind of fell out of love with the game so I wanted to attempt a nice easy going challenge to get me back into the game.

Anyway the challenge I’ve chosen is....

The Diego Maradona Napoli Challenge

The challenge was originally created by @danovic78 and was added to the FMM19 forum by @Foxy so credit to the both of you.

Not going to say too much on Maradona as whatever you think of him as a person it’s hard to deny that he was a pure magician on the football pitch.

Team: Napoli

Player: Rodrigo De Paul

Here is my chosen player. It took £26m to prize him away from Udinese and I’m hoping he’ll do well for me.

Whilst he’s not in the same league as Maradona he has got good numbers in dribbling, technique and aggression and although his shooting and movement is fairly poor I’m hopeful that we can get those up to green levels in a season or two.

Tactically there is a strong possibility that I’ll be going with this in the first season as the wide players seem more playmaker types and are too good to replace at this stage so we’ll just see how they get on.

Anyway that’s the introduction and I’ll crack on and get the first season done. I have no idea how it’ll go as I’ve found the new update a bit of a struggle at times.

Should have next update out tomorrow or Wednesday.

Thanks for reading

Edited May 10, 2019 by 1759

[FuddledFox]

Interesting pick of a player as he’s not someone I’m that familiar with and a nice little bit of strikerless as well so maybe @Rob might have some competition if this goes well.

Good luck mate.

[Chris]

All the best of luck! I feel your pain with the latest update mate, and have been putting off my own challenges because of it. 

Im sure you'll smash this out the park and I'll be following intently. 

[Rob]

Good luck chap! 

[Ian]

16 hours ago, Foxy said:

Interesting pick of a player as he’s not someone I’m that familiar with and a nice little bit of strikerless as well so maybe @Rob might have some competition if this goes well.

Good luck mate.

Thank you, yeah me too but when I did my search he stood out straight away for some reason so had to go with him. We’ll see how he gets on I guess.😀

14 hours ago, itzChris92 said:

All the best of luck! I feel your pain with the latest update mate, and have been putting off my own challenges because of it. 

Im sure you'll smash this out the park and I'll be following intently. 

Thanks mate, yeah I’ve been having trouble too so just decided to do this as if all else fails I should be able to get some good team results with these.😀

7 hours ago, Rob said:

Good luck chap! 

Thank you Rob, I will try my best.😀

[Zakan]

Looks like a good player so far good luck I'm sure you'll smash it 😀

[Ian]

3 hours ago, Zakan said:

Looks like a good player so far good luck I'm sure you'll smash it 😀

Thank you, I hope I can do alright.😀

[Ian]

Season 1

Here I am with an update of my first season. The main target this season was to shape the squad a bit and hopefully win at least the league.

Lets see how we got on.

Transfers

Incomings

• Rolando Mandragora - A great young midfielder who I’ve used before.
• Andrew Robertson - Our new first choice left wing back.
• Rodrigo De Paul - The main man.
• Gerry Rodrigues - Brought him in during the January window as another option in the wide positions.
• Claud Adjapong - Brought in to battle for the right wing back position. 
• Niklas Start - A defender that has often came up my searches so I thought I’d give him a try.
• Thomas Koubek - A new first choice goalie.
• Scott McKenna - The old faithful centre back returns but it’s hard to overlook him when he’s so good value for money.

I’ll not go through the outgoings but the screenshots are below.

Spoiler

League

A great unbeaten campaign from a results perspective but whilst we were watertight at the back we were rather limp in the final third with only 67 goals scored.

Italian Cup

We battled through the early rounds and found ourselves in the final. Roma were the opposition and we were rather clinical in front of goal and deserved the win. The main man bagged himself a nice brace as well which was a great bonus.

Champions League

A solitary goal from De Paul was enough to give us the win in the Champions League final against a great Bayern side.

Fixtures

We were lacking a bit in the final third all season but I’m happy with the results and looking back I can see we only lost one game in all competitions and that was the last group game in the Champions League away against Real Madrid where we fielded a weakened team. 

Spoiler

Rodrigo De Paul

He’s really improved this season but his stamina and strength haven’t budged and the stamina in particular has been a bit of a problem in terms of his game time so hopefully that’ll increase a bit in the next couple of seasons.

How did he perform? 

Not fantastically with only 29 goals in all competitions and 22 in the league. He did play 45 games but not sure how many full 90 minutes he managed. I think I might try and just play him in the league games next season and the odd cup game.

How did he do in the league goalscoring charts?

Equal second with Icardi on 22 goals. I’m still confident we can get him a few more goals in future seasons and let’s face it Ronaldo won’t be able to keep his goal scoring up for many more years I wouldn’t think.

Manager

Challenge

League Winners: 2018/19

Champions League Winners: 2018/19

Italian Cup Winners: 2018/19

Rodrigo De Paul Goals: 29/115

Conclusion

A great season in terms of results but couldn’t get enough goals. I did make a few tactical changes at times to try for more goals but didn’t want to change too much as we were playing well and didn’t want to mess things up.

I’m not sure how I’m going to go tactically next season. I may try a pushed up inside forward on one side but I think I’ll definitely stick with a playmaker on the other flank. I need to decide now so I know what type of players to buy.

Thanks for reading.

[Rob]

Very good start. Winning those trophies ain’t to be sniffed at, especially with that formation you opted for. The difficult first season is out of the way, and has been a success, so KIU!

[Gunners Rishi]

Great start Ian, that defence is incredible!

 

And also, Dries Mertens obviously signed for Palace...

[samhardy]

You might want to shift some of those finest quality buses you parked ready for next season

[Ian]

3 hours ago, Rob said:

Very good start. Winning those trophies ain’t to be sniffed at, especially with that formation you opted for. The difficult first season is out of the way, and has been a success, so KIU!

Thank you Rob, It was an enjoyable season even though I couldn’t get the goals going.😀

3 hours ago, Gunners Rishi said:

Great start Ian, that defence is incredible!

 

And also, Dries Mertens obviously signed for Palace...

Thanks, yes some quality defending going on this season.😀

55 minutes ago, samhardy said:

You might want to shift some of those finest quality buses you parked ready for next season

Thanks Sam, yes I’m going to have to change my approach a little I think but I just love a clean sheet me.😂

[smoggy90]

Great start mate, looking forward to the next update.

[FuddledFox]

Really good first season team wise especially going unbeaten and winning the cups. Looks like you have the defence all sorted and I’m sure you can use that as a base to get more goals going forward especially as the main man is looking pretty tasty now.

[Ian]

1 hour ago, smoggy90 said:

Great start mate, looking forward to the next update.

Thank you Smoggy, nice little save this for me.😀

36 minutes ago, Foxy said:

Really good first season team wise especially going unbeaten and winning the cups. Looks like you have the defence all sorted and I’m sure you can use that as a base to get more goals going forward especially as the main man is looking pretty tasty now.

Cheers, yeah the team results were great and once I started getting 1-0 and 2-0’s I was in heaven as those are my favourite results. I’ll have to try and get more goals though next season.😀

[Ian]

Season 2

Hello Vibe,

I’ve got the keys to the Stagecoach and I’m ready for more bus action.

I’ll start with the transfers.

Transfers

We had a fairly busy transfer window and it didn’t all go to plan as I had trouble getting most of my preferred targets.

Incomings:

• Florian Thauvin - A decent inside forward.
• Nathan Ake - A great ball playing defender.
• Marcelo Brozovic - We needed a new midfield playmaker and he was the player we ended up with.
• Geronimo Rulli - We wanted a sweeper keeper and he was brought in for decent money.
• Roberto Gagliardini - A new Italian midfielder that will probably play in the box to box role this season.
• Federico Mattiello - A nice Italian wing back who can play on both sides and will be a great back up player.
• Gianluca Mancini - A good Italian centre back who will be a rotation option. All these Italian signings should help my domestic player bias too so all is good.

Outgoings:

• Kalidou Koulibaly - We didn’t intend to get rid of him but interest was declared and he became an outcast so took the option to get rid.
• Marco Rog - Again we didn’t want him to leave but he became an outcast so had to get rid.
• Marek Hamsik - Wanted to cash in on him whilst we could still get a decent fee.
• Raul Albiol - Wasn’t sure whether to let him go or not. He was getting on but still playing great and when the offer came in I decided to sell.
• Piotr Zielinski - He left at the end of the season for a decent fee.
• Adam Ounas - Again sold at end of the season.

Those were the main transfers but the complete list is below.

Spoiler

League

We had another decent campaign but we did lose a game away to Inter and conceded 10 goals. I think my squad was slightly weaker this season so I’m ok with this.

European Super Cup

A tidy win against SLB with the main man bagging a brace.

World Club Championship

Four goals from De Paul helped the team beat Boca 6-0 in the final.

Italian Super Cup

We were rather clinical in front of goal and ran out 3-1 winners against Roma.

Italian Cup

We battled all the way to the final where we faced off against Roma. It’s safe to say it was a one sided affair as we won 2-0 to win another cup.

Champions League

We sailed through to the final and had Liverpool to get through to win the thing. We were the better side but a late goal from Firmino forced extra time. Insigne scored a free kick on the 100th minute and that was that.

Fixtures

Decent form for the most part. Had a bit of a shaky spell in February to March time but no real problems.

Spoiler

Rodrigo De Paul

Slight improvements in some areas but nothing to write home about. His stamina hasn’t improved and is proving to be a bit of a pain as he just isn’t on the pitch enough. Obviously I know my set up isn’t the best for him to shine but it’s frustrating when in plenty of games he really should come off at half time.

How did he perform?

A slight improvement on last season with 37 goals. He played 49 games but again didn’t finish many if any in fact.

How did he do in the league goalscoring chart?

He topped it with 26 league goals.

Manager

Challenge

League Champions: 2018/19, 2019/20

Champions League Winners: 2018/19, 2019/20

Italian Cup Winners: 2018/19, 2019/20

Italian Super Cup: 2019/20

European Super Cup: 2019/20

World Club Championship: 2019/20

Top League Goalscorer: 2019/20

Rodrigo De Paul Goals: 66/115

Conclusion

Nice season for the team again with the clean sweep and at least the main man got top league goalscorer. Conceded more goals than last season but as I said earlier I think the squad and defence in particular may have been slightly weaker this year with younger defenders coming in.

You never know I may surprise you all and go Keegan style in one of the seasons.

Thanks for reading.

Edited April 27, 2019 by 1759
Spelling

[Rob]

Let’s go Keegan! Another season of delivery. The goals will come. First couple of seasons are always the hardest for goals.

[Ian]

55 minutes ago, Rob said:

Let’s go Keegan! Another season of delivery. The goals will come. First couple of seasons are always the hardest for goals.

Thanks Rob, hopefully we can add a few more goals to our domination in the coming seasons.😀

[FuddledFox]

Great season again mate and good to see De Paul get a few more goals this year. That defensive record 😍

[Ian]

23 minutes ago, Foxy said:

Great season again mate and good to see De Paul get a few more goals this year. That defensive record 😍

Thank you, I seem to have mastered the art of defending (with a big team anyway) but it’s goals I often struggle with.

I’ll try to get a few more again next season.😀

[FuddledFox]

34 minutes ago, 1759 said:

Thank you, I seem to have mastered the art of defending (with a big team anyway) but it’s goals I often struggle with.

I’ll try to get a few more again next season.😀

Nothing wrong with being good at setting up a teams defence. I was going to suggest you check out the Park the Bus challenge until I already saw your name is on the Porto leaderboard 😂

[samhardy]

The Northumbrian Mourinho!!

[FuddledFox]

2 minutes ago, samhardy said:

The Northumbrian Mourinho!!

Doesn’t illiterate so I don’t like it.

[samhardy]

1 minute ago, Foxy said:

Doesn’t illiterate so I don’t like it.

I don’t like you.

[FuddledFox]

3 minutes ago, samhardy said:

I don’t like you.

Feelings mutual.

[Ian]

Thank you @Foxy and @samhardy for the nice compliments. (I think).😂

I’ve done all the teams on the park the bus challenge except Man Utd and I may do them next to complete the set.

[Gunners Rishi]

2 hours ago, 1759 said:

Season 2

Hello Vibe,

I’ve got the keys to the Stagecoach and I’m ready for more bus action.

I’ll start with the transfers.

Transfers

We had a fairly busy transfers window and it didn’t all go to plan as I had trouble getting most of my preferred options.

Incomings:

• Florian Thauvin - A decent inside forward.
• Nathan Ake - A great battle playing defender.
• Marcelo Brozovic - We needed a new midfield playmaker and he was the player we ended up with.
• Geronimo Rulli - We wanted a sweeper keeper and he was brought in for decent money.
• Roberto Gagliardini - A new Italian midfielder that will probably play in the box to box role this season.
• Federico Mattiello - A nice Italian wing back who can play on both sides who will be a great back up player.
• Gianluca Mancini - An Italian centre back who will be a rotation option. All these Italian signings should help my domestic player bias too so all is good.

Outgoings:

• Kalidou Koulibaly - We didn’t intend to get rid of him but interest was declared and he became an outcast so took the option to get rid.
• Marco Rog - Again we didn’t want him to leave but he became an outcast so had to get rid.
• Marek Hamsik - Wanted to cash in on him whilst we could still getha decent fee.
• Raul Albiol - Wasn’t sure whether to let him go or not. He was getting on but still playing great but when the offer came I decided to sell.
• Piotr Zielinski - He left at the end of the season for a decent fee.
• Adam Ounas - Again sold at end of season.

Those were the main transfers but the complete list is below.

  Hide contents

League

We had another decent campaign but we did lose a game away to Inter and conceded 10 goals. I think my squad was slightly weaker this season so I’m ok with this.

European Super Cup

A tidy win against SLB with the main man bagging a brace.

World Club Championship

Four goals from De Paul helped the team beat Boca 6-0 in the final.

Italian Super Cup

We were rather clinical in front of goal and ran out 3-1 winners against Roma.

Italian Cup

We battled all the way to the final where we faced off against Roma. It’s safe to say it was a one sided affair as we won 2-0 to win another cup.

Champions League

We sailed through to the final and had Liverpool to get through to win the thing. We were the better side but a late goal from Firmino forced extra time. Insigne scored a free kick on the 100th minute and that was that:

Fixtures

Decent form for the most part. Had a bit of a shaky spell in February to March time but no real problems.

  Reveal hidden contents

Rodrigo De Paul

Slight improvements in some areas but nothing to write home about. His stamina hasn’t improved and is proving to be a bit of a pain as he just isn’t on the pitch enough. Obviously I know my set up isn’t the best for him to shine but it’s frustrating when in plenty of games he really should come off at half time.

How did he perform?

A slight improvement on last season with 37 goals. He played 49 games but again didn’t finish many if any in fact.

How did he do in the league goalscoring chart?

He topped it with 26 league goals.

Manager

Challenge

League Champions: 2018/19, 2019/20

Champions League Winners: 2018/19, 2019/20

Italian Cup Winners: 2018/19, 2019/20

Italian Super Cup: 2019/20

European Super Cup: 2019/20

World Club Championship: 2019/20

Top League Goalscorer: 2019/20

Rodrigo De Paul Goals: 66/115

Conclusion

Nice season for the team again with the clean sweep and at least the main man got top league goalscorer. Conceded more goals than last season but as I said earlier I think the squad and defence in particular may have been slightly weaker this year with younger defenders coming in.

You never know I may surprise you all and go Keegan style in one of the seasons.

Thanks for reading.

The defending is just incredible. I just won League Two with Aldershot ranking 15th for goals conceded.

added 0 minutes later

26 minutes ago, samhardy said:

I don’t like you.

😂 watch two men become little toddlers now...

[Gunners Rishi]

23 minutes ago, Foxy said:

Feelings mutual.

Cold 😆 

[Ian]

21 hours ago, Gunners Rishi said:

The defending is just incredible. I just won League Two with Aldershot ranking 15th for goals conceded.

added 0 minutes later

😂 watch two men become little toddlers now...

Yes we can defend but we aren’t so prolific at the other end but I may try and open things up a bit next season.😀

[Zakan]

Great first few seasons! Good to see the main man improving hopefully the goals start coming in thick and fast!