Eternity RPC Board
06-20-2017, 07:16 PM
The Dark Arts
![[Image: uFfWy4O.jpg?1]](http://i.imgur.com/uFfWy4O.jpg?1)
Even in ugliness there can be beauty. I couldn't resist to begin a new season in this new game with AC Milan. For once I'm trying to do something different though: develop young players, rebuild the club, and develop a positive, stylish kind of football based on technique and skill, balance and flexibility.
In the pre-season the team got on quite well immediately, mostly because the squad excels in passing skills and I am working on a system that relies on passing. So far in the pre-season, the team hadn't even conceded a single goal, while being quite effective in attack. I intend to stick with my balanced, possession-oriented style, as I want it to become part of the club identity while I let the youth players grow into it. The board wants me to play attacking football, so I'll give them that.
Bayern Munich
But then I saw I had to play against Bayern Munich in the pre-season. For just this one match, I wanted to see if this team could also play a bit more ...cynical. I wanted to see whether they can take on the big Bayern Munich of ex-Milan legend Carlo Ancelotti - not by out-passing Bayern in the possession game, or beating them by skill (they have better players), but by out-smarting them on a tactical level. I wanted to see if it's possible, because then I know whether it is another weapon in our arsenal in case we play against big boys like Juventus for the Serie A title. I have committed myself to attacking football with this team, but the results remain the highest priority.
Bayern Munich arrived in a 4-3-3 formation in San Siro with most of its stars, except Robben and Neuer. My team was lined up in its standard 3-4-1-2 formation, only now the players were encouraged to resort to the Dark Arts. Win by all means necessary. I sat down to watch the entire match so that I can precisely see what the players are doing on the pitch. I believe I have never seen a team of mine in FM play football in such a dirty, cynical, scandalous manner. I can already reveal now that they won 3-1. But its the way they did it that makes me proud: Milan has shown they are a mature team, ready to do whatever it takes to go for the kill.
The opening phase of the match was rather poor as both my team and Bayern failed to hold the ball long enough to generate some serious attacks. A typical midfield battle, I'd say. Besides, both sides tended to kick eachother's players down as soon as something of an attack started to get going. After 10 minutes, Keisuke Honda - the creative mind of my team - received the ball on the edge of Bayern's penalty box from a throw in and perfectly placed the ball into the far corner of their goal.
From then on, the bullying started. The frustrating, the provoking, the kicking, the harassing and annoying of Bayern took off. Apparently, my Rossoneri are experts when it comes to taking their opponents out of the game. Bayern meanwhile, struggled to break down my defensive organization. By the 30th minute, one of Bayern's players had had enough of it. While hanging on to the ball, Bayern defender Rafinha, without any reason, tackled him from the back with both legs forward. Rafinha was sent off with a red card, and my Milan was now in a comfortable position. Four minutes later, Suso, my right midfielder, showed up in Bayern's penalty box but he remained calm, reached my striker who finished it clinically from nearby. Another sudden goal.
The game carried on with Milan frustrating Bayern, and Bayern being more or less powerless to change the tide. My players continued to knock down a Bayern player occassionally, with the referee not even noticing. At some point Gustavo Gomez, one of my defenders, knocked down Bayern-star Lewandowski, forcing him to leave the pitch with a head-wound. The referee didn't see it. In the 70th minute Romagnoli also knocked a Bayern player down, just outside my own penalty area (he was waiting for the player to leave the penalty box and as soon as he did he struck him down). That wasn't a very clever move because David Alaba scored 2-1 from the free kick. The team focussed on defending the lead for the remaining minutes of the game. After a dive by my striker, Carlos Bacca, in Bayern's penalty box however the players managed to secure their victory. Bacca scored from the penalty kick in the 86th minute.
Afterwards the newspapers wrote ''AC Milan take the spoils in ding-dong battle'', and they defined the game as ''heated'', ''emotional'' and a ''remarkable victory''. The spokesman of one of the Milan supporters' clubs refused to even celebrate the win. The players went out on the pitch, and they broke Bayern emotionally and physically to win the game. It was anti-football in its purest form, and Milan won 3-1 without creating a single goal-scoring opportunity. But that is precisely why it is beautiful. If the best team would always win, nobody would watch football anymore.
Even in ugliness there can be beauty. I couldn't resist to begin a new season in this new game with AC Milan. For once I'm trying to do something different though: develop young players, rebuild the club, and develop a positive, stylish kind of football based on technique and skill, balance and flexibility.
In the pre-season the team got on quite well immediately, mostly because the squad excels in passing skills and I am working on a system that relies on passing. So far in the pre-season, the team hadn't even conceded a single goal, while being quite effective in attack. I intend to stick with my balanced, possession-oriented style, as I want it to become part of the club identity while I let the youth players grow into it. The board wants me to play attacking football, so I'll give them that.
Bayern Munich
But then I saw I had to play against Bayern Munich in the pre-season. For just this one match, I wanted to see if this team could also play a bit more ...cynical. I wanted to see whether they can take on the big Bayern Munich of ex-Milan legend Carlo Ancelotti - not by out-passing Bayern in the possession game, or beating them by skill (they have better players), but by out-smarting them on a tactical level. I wanted to see if it's possible, because then I know whether it is another weapon in our arsenal in case we play against big boys like Juventus for the Serie A title. I have committed myself to attacking football with this team, but the results remain the highest priority.
Bayern Munich arrived in a 4-3-3 formation in San Siro with most of its stars, except Robben and Neuer. My team was lined up in its standard 3-4-1-2 formation, only now the players were encouraged to resort to the Dark Arts. Win by all means necessary. I sat down to watch the entire match so that I can precisely see what the players are doing on the pitch. I believe I have never seen a team of mine in FM play football in such a dirty, cynical, scandalous manner. I can already reveal now that they won 3-1. But its the way they did it that makes me proud: Milan has shown they are a mature team, ready to do whatever it takes to go for the kill.
The opening phase of the match was rather poor as both my team and Bayern failed to hold the ball long enough to generate some serious attacks. A typical midfield battle, I'd say. Besides, both sides tended to kick eachother's players down as soon as something of an attack started to get going. After 10 minutes, Keisuke Honda - the creative mind of my team - received the ball on the edge of Bayern's penalty box from a throw in and perfectly placed the ball into the far corner of their goal.
From then on, the bullying started. The frustrating, the provoking, the kicking, the harassing and annoying of Bayern took off. Apparently, my Rossoneri are experts when it comes to taking their opponents out of the game. Bayern meanwhile, struggled to break down my defensive organization. By the 30th minute, one of Bayern's players had had enough of it. While hanging on to the ball, Bayern defender Rafinha, without any reason, tackled him from the back with both legs forward. Rafinha was sent off with a red card, and my Milan was now in a comfortable position. Four minutes later, Suso, my right midfielder, showed up in Bayern's penalty box but he remained calm, reached my striker who finished it clinically from nearby. Another sudden goal.
The game carried on with Milan frustrating Bayern, and Bayern being more or less powerless to change the tide. My players continued to knock down a Bayern player occassionally, with the referee not even noticing. At some point Gustavo Gomez, one of my defenders, knocked down Bayern-star Lewandowski, forcing him to leave the pitch with a head-wound. The referee didn't see it. In the 70th minute Romagnoli also knocked a Bayern player down, just outside my own penalty area (he was waiting for the player to leave the penalty box and as soon as he did he struck him down). That wasn't a very clever move because David Alaba scored 2-1 from the free kick. The team focussed on defending the lead for the remaining minutes of the game. After a dive by my striker, Carlos Bacca, in Bayern's penalty box however the players managed to secure their victory. Bacca scored from the penalty kick in the 86th minute.
Afterwards the newspapers wrote ''AC Milan take the spoils in ding-dong battle'', and they defined the game as ''heated'', ''emotional'' and a ''remarkable victory''. The spokesman of one of the Milan supporters' clubs refused to even celebrate the win. The players went out on the pitch, and they broke Bayern emotionally and physically to win the game. It was anti-football in its purest form, and Milan won 3-1 without creating a single goal-scoring opportunity. But that is precisely why it is beautiful. If the best team would always win, nobody would watch football anymore.