Both in life and in Football Manager, it is prevalent that even the most carefully thought plans often go out the window when reality and particularly in FM, the simulation shows up on the stage. This was also the case with my AS Roma save that I used to present this article for Guido and Strikerless. As I originally wrote in the first part, I had very straightforward ideas for both my young players when I was loaning them out to get the much needed first team minutes. They needed those minutes to get themselves where I wanted them to be or more specifically I thought where they would be in the hierarchy of my AS Roma organisation. This time, however, I got to experience one of those lovely surprises that FM so kindly sometimes gives you to keep you going even further into the cave further away from the light some people call Real Life.
I already went over my initial plans and thoughts about loaning in the first part, so this one is all about the results and conclusions I ended up with loaning these chaps out on different teams over the course of few seasons. Both of them were loaned out as first team regulars or more to get them the most exposure a player can have as a loanee. Without any further ado, let us jump into action, shall we.
Gérson
This somewhat ambidextrous Brazilian was fresh off the boat from Fluminense as I started the save in the summer of 2016. Touted as very skilled technically but lacking on the physical and mental side, he was deemed to go on loan for me to see if he was able to withstand the needs of regular first team football. He spent the initial first season with us and in Braga Portugal. I usually like to use the first season I play as an evaluation phase for the team I am managing and therefore try to not chop and change so much in the first season. Gérson played 13 times for Braga posting out three goals, no assists and a 6.92 average rating. The first season saw him developing his determination with one point, that was it.
As I already had my doubts on this player due to his lowish values on the mental and physical side, I loaned him out to see how much there was to be salvaged or anything at all. Reading the match reports and looking at him closely after the first season, I had to drop the idea of him being the cornerstone of the future for Roma team. He might stick around to fill in and rotate in the AMC spot, but if someone showed up and took an interest, he would most likely be gone.
The Fluminense loan-deal was quite good for Gérson; he played in 22 games, notched up three goals, provided three assists and posted a 7.08 average rating. Still, when I was looking at the match reports, those showed him going on and off quite often. Having an excellent performance one week was easily followed up by total collapse and complete disappearance from the picture the next week.
After Fluminense, he went to Fenerbahçe A.Ş., at which point he mostly languished in agony on the reserves bench, and I was forced to pull him away with unkept promises. His latest loan stint was with SPO where the manager deemed him an integral part of their first team. He went on to play 33 games posting three goals and eight assists. These are fair numbers for any midfield player, but his average rating was a bit of a letdown at a mere 6.67. He returned to Roma at the end of 2018, and I decided not to loan him away for the spring of 2019 to see him more closely and make the final decision. He played so and so in the rotational role scoring one goal and having a 6.74 average rating but having no development at all whatsoever.
One would say that there should be more time for 22 years old to show his skill, but Gérson was out of time. During his loan tenure, AS Roma had changed to a side that would compete for the UCL trophy every year having won it already twice and the midfield was bursting with world-class talent in front of him. So the future will be somewhere else for him. He will be most likely loaned out more to hopefully raise his valuation and eventually sold when the right offer comes along. Also, it was not right for him that I quite rapidly changed into my high pressing, hard playing ways where I could have no use of his dismal mental stats. He is in the summer of 2019. Not too much happening here.
Marco Tumminello
When I first started the save Tumminello was a youngster fresh off from Palermo and I really, really liked some of his attributes. Mostly I was very fond of his Determination, Work Rate and Aggression; his physicals were also very good for a young player. However, I had already laid out plans for my attacking layout, and I really couldn´t groom Tumminello within the team while remaining competitive, so the only option for him was to go and play elsewhere. I was cautiously hoping that he would prove out to be if nothing else, a good source of income. I was planning some lower league or lower-ranked foreign Premier League action for the young man and the first assignment I got him was Trapani, his former team now in Serie B.
He put the shirt on for 17 matches and found the back of the net nine times, earning two POM`s and posting a 6.94 avg rating. I was positively elated with his success and very encouraged with his match reports which did not have any bad performances mentioned. After his first season out, our team had won Serie A and was pushing towards European glory. I had no practical usage for him at that stage of his development so I figured that next logical step would be a stint in the foreign premier league. Charleroi in the Belgium Jupiler Pro League offered us the best option available with guaranteed first team action for our budding young striker. The Belgian adventure was a success with 34 matches played. He scored 16 times, had five assists and received 3 POM´s posting a 6.84 average rating.
I was happy to see that Tumminello was really putting in the building blocks and at the start of the third season under my command, I was very confident that he would make waves in the future. Either in AS Roma or somewhere else. So it was time for the final test. Tumminello went on to play for Red Bull Salzburg in the Tipico Bundesliga in Austria. This time he had a key role, and the team was paying us good money to have him there. It was a make or break for the player. He wore their jersey for 34 times, scored 17 and had two assists to compliment his effort. At the end of the season, he posted a 7.10 average rating for the Austrians.
Tumminello is an excellent example of the ones that creep on you. It is his fourth off-season in AS Roma and most likely coming up is his first season playing for the team. For him going out on loan proved out to be just the right path in terms of his development.
Tumminello, summer 2019.
A father, A husband, An outdoorsman and veteran gamer( what a title!). Loving my family, my dog and PC-gaming not always in that order. Ranging from FM series to other games.
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