chesterfan2 Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 Sunday January 21st 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (14th ) vs. Aston Villa (12th ) Lopez starts his first game for Liverpool on the right wing, replacing the injured Sterling. A largely forgettable first half, the only item of note in its entirety being an injury to Ivan Piris just before half time, Johnson on to replace him. At half time, I told them to play for the fans, not too inspiring I thought but we did play a lot better in the second half and won the game with two goals in a seven minute spell just ten minutes into the second period. On 55 Kjaer fired through a group of players following a poorly cleared corner, and on 62 Drage cut in from the right and beat the keeper at his near post. The chances dried up after that and we strolled to a comfortable win. Final Score: Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa League Position: 12th Scorers : Kjaer, Drage Man Of The Match: Thomas Drage Team: Reina, Piris (Johnson 44), Nagatomo, Wilson, Kjaer , Lucas, Schweinsteiger, Drage, Yarmolenko, Lopez, Torres We got busy in the transfer market again. Sime Lagator is a central defender bought from Malaga for £3.3million. He’s 22, a Croatian international and an upgrade at centre back. We also got 30 year old, Giuseppe Rossi on loan until the end of the season from PSG, he adds depth. We signed another lad from PSG on loan as well. Fabrizzio Benedetti is a 19 year old Italian right back. Meanwhile we turned down £5million for Jack Robinson from WBA, I was tempted by that though, and Nicholas Bendtner went to Zenit for £2.9million. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 Saturday January 27th 2018 FA Cup Fourth Round Venue: Anfield Liverpool (PRM 12th ) vs. West Ham (PRM 7th ) Debuts for Lagator and Benedetti, Rossi gets a spot on the bench. The first half was one way traffic. We hit the post after 82 seconds of the half and we carried on from there. It wasn’t, however, until, the 29th minute that we took the lead, Yarmolenko coming off his wing and setting up Drage for the simple finish from 8 yards out. On 44 minutes Drage returned the favour putting over the cross that Yarmolenko headed home. Two-nil up at half time, I told them not to get complacent. I’m not sure they liked hearing that but they did play a professional game in the second half, controlling progression and on 70 minutes adding a third goal, a cross to the back post and Benedetti, arriving at the back stick, powered the ball home. That was it for the goals, though West Ham did have one disallowed for offside late on. We move on, to Round 5. Final Score: Liverpool 3-0 West Ham Scorers : Drage, Yarmolenko, Benedetti Man Of The Match: Thomas Drage Team: Reina, Benedetti, Nagatomo, Wilson, Lagator , Lucas, Schweinsteiger, Drage, Yarmolenko, Lopez, Torres For the Fifth Round we get another home tie, this one against my former employers, Fulham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 Tuesday January 30th 2018 Premier League Venue: Stamford Bridge Chelsea (2nd ) vs. Liverpool (12th ) Glen Johnson returns for our visit to his former employers. We also give Rossi a run out in our ultra-defensive 4-2-2-1-1 formation that worked so well for us at United. Let’s hope it has a similar effect here. On three minutes we were behind, a Reina error and own goal, he should have done better. The rest of the half was mainly Chelsea though we did blaze wide a few opportunities. Interesting point that here Drage shot from all angles, something he has never, ever done before. Why start here ? Half time was a muted affair and things got worse on the restart as Reina made his second costly error of the match, merely blocking an innocuous shot into the path of the onrushing forward who had a simple task of prodding it home, 46 minutes and we were two down. To our credit we prevented it from becoming any worse, and defended well from that point on. In injury time we scored a consolation goal, Drage cross and Lopez on hand to head home his first goal for the club. It was too little too late, and the result here was a defeat. Final Score: Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool League Position: 13th Scorers : Lopez Man Of The Match: Danny Wilson Team: Reina, Johnson, Nagatomo, Wilson, Lagator , Lucas, Schweinsteiger, Drage, Yarmolenko, Rossi (Torres 65), Lopez And so to the last day of the transfer window, we had a bid in for Jack Robinson for £5.75 million from WBA which I accepted, and we had Newcastle sniffing around Jon Williams and I was more than prepared to do a deal there. Anticipating Robinson’s departure I put in a bid for a young Mexican left back with promise. Robinson went as planned, and was followed out of the door by Sean Murray a £3.9million transfer to Wigan. I tried to tempt West Ham for their wonderkid fullback Martin Dance, I offered £15million plus Jon Williams, they came back saying they wanted £50 million plus Williams. The lad’s good for sure, but he’s not worth that ! After an appeal a work permit was granted to Mexican left back, 21 year old Raziel Salazar bought for £3.8million from Chivas he’s quick and aggressive, tons of upside but more than capable of challenging Nagatomo for the starting slot in the short run. So just over none hours of the window remaining. Hopeful of getting one more (Williams) out and a couple of home grown players in the time remaining. But the deals just didn’t look to be there, and so I resigned myself to not improving the squad. Then with two hours of the windows to go Newcastle bought Jon Williams, our Director of Football confirming the deal, £2million up front, £5million in monthly instalments. Time to pull my finger out, there had to be some good players out there. In the end we signed two more deals, one for a veteran midfielder, the 33 year old Swiss international , Gokhan Inler, just £850,000 from Napoli and one for 22 year old boy wonder Will Hughes from Norwich for £16million, some of it in instalments. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 Saturday February 3rd 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (13th ) vs. Bolton Wanderers (18th ) New signing Salazar would start at left back, and Hughes who came to us a little tired will start on the bench. We’ll go with a 4-2-3-1 formation to try and get some goals against this lot, who have struggled all season. Only 90 seconds into this one we got a free kick on the left. Drage curled it in, Kjaer rose to plant his head on it, but then got an almighty shove in the back, the ball went into the Kop end but the referee saw it all and pointed to the spot. Drage has been pretty reliable from the spot so far, and once again made no mistake from the twelve yards out. On 18 minutes Drage played an inch perfect through ball, playing Lopez in, the Mexican did everything right, drew the keeper, but his shot went inches wide. It didn’t turn out to be an issue though as on 24 Yarmolenko won the ball on the half way line and left the full back in the dust. He ran into the space, eluded the full back who, back on his feet, had charged back, and then crossed for Lopez arriving at the front post to turn the ball past the keeper for two-nil. The Bolton keeper did well to turn a rasping Rossi drive over on 31 minutes, after which, though we controlled the play, we didn’t create any more clear cut chances in the half. Half time, two up, things were going to plan, and it told the lads how pleased I was. I switched them to play on the counter attack as I expected Bolton to come out fighting. I have to say there wasn’t that much sign of fight in Bolton at the start of the second half, though to be fair we weren’t letting them have the ball much. Just pat the hour mark we got a free kick 35 yards from goal, Drage swung it over and Yarmolenko was the man at the front of the pack who’s flicked header diverted the ball past the statuesque Bolton keeper. Bolton got one back, a mere consolation, on 78, but we saw the game out comfortably from there. Up to 11th, ready for an assault on the top half of the table. Final Score: Liverpool 3-1 Bolton Wanderers League Position: 11th Scorers : Drage (pen), Lopez, Yarmolenko Man Of The Match: Andriy Yarmolenko Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Kjaer, Lagator , Lucas, Schweinsteiger, Drage, Yarmolenko, Rossi, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 Tuesday February 6th 2018 Premier League Venue: The City Of Manchester Stadium Manchester City (13th ) vs. Liverpool (11th ) Moneybags Man City have had a poor season thus far, but they remain a formidable proposal at home, so we go into this game quite cautious of the wounded beast that this club represents right now. As with many midweek games we go into this with a lot of tired players, we don’t have enough depth to adequately replace the tired ones so Drage and Yarmolenko will play tired, whilst Lopez and Lucas will warm the bench. Will Hughes gets his debut on the right. On 7 minutes we took a free kick short and played it to Yarmolenko, a couple of yards outside the box, he went on a mazy run, more across the face of goal than towards it, then turned into the box, ghosted past a man and tucked the ball just inside the near post for a fabulous goal. We defended stoutly for the rest of the half holding City at bay right until the 44th minute when a lucky ricochet fell the way of Dzeko and he made no mistake from ten yards out. One all at half time, but that didn’t last into the second half long as City took the lead on 47 minutes, young Salazar switching off and allowing the right winger in on goal. We gave up a third goal late on, the fight had gone out of us, and that was worrying to see. Final Score: Man City 3-1 Liverpool League Position: 13th Scorers : Yarmolenko Man Of The Match: Andriy Yarmolenko Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Kjaer, Lagator , Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Drage, Yarmolenko, Hughes, Rossi (Lopez 63) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 Saturday February 10th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (13th ) vs. Norwich City (7th ) Back to Anfield and a game I feel we can and should win. Norwich have done very well so far this season and have two forwards we’ll need to watch out for, but if we want to break into the top half of the table these games are ones that we should be winning, especially at Anfield. This game just didn’t fire in the first half, as dull a game as I have ever seen, at least since I used to watch Chester City when they were in the bottom half of Division 4 as a lad. Few chances, even less in the way of creativity. When they came in goalless at half time I must have looked like thunder. I told them I didn’t care if this lot were 7th, Nothing I had seen told me they were high flyers, so go out there and play some footy, score some goals. We started the second half much better after my harsh words at half time, and just shy of the hour mark we went in front, a Lucas corner, headed home by Wilson. On 70 I took off a struggling Benedetti and put Nagatomo on in his place. A minute later Yarmolenko went on a driving run down the left, beat two defenders but saw his shot tipped round the post. Norwich upped their game but on 82 minutes we broke down the right, Schweinsteiger finding Hughes who played the ball into Lopez. the young striker still had a lot to do but he turned his man, burst into the box and shot home powerfully from a narrow angle. Norwich really poured it on now, but for the first time in a while I didn’t really fear a late comeback. We were resolute, clearing the ball to Row Z if required, and holding the attacking prowess of Norwich at bay with some ease. A two-nil win, but a far better performance than even that scoreline suggests. Final Score: Liverpool 2-0 Norwich City League Position: 11th Scorers : Wilson, Lopez Man Of The Match: Danny Wilson Team: Reina, Benedetti (Nagatomo 70), Salazar, Wilson, Lagator , Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Lucas, Yarmolenko, Hughes, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 Saturday February 18th 2018 FA Cup Fifth Round Venue: Anfield Liverpool (PRM 12th ) vs. Fulham (PRM 15th ) A trip to Bolton would be the reward for the winners of this tie, avoiding Man Utd and the winners of this afternoon’s other tie between Arsenal and Spurs appearing to be the main benefit of that draw. Hughes is cup tied for this one, so Drage returns on the right after his rest. Yarmolenko needs a rest too, but he’ll have to wait until Hughes is available again for his turn on the bench. Boy, were we made to work hard to win this one. It didn’t start well as Fulham grabbed an 11th minute lead on the break. We attacked with style and verve but found a keeper in rare form (he never seemed to do that for me), which combined with a certain degree of wastefulness led to us being one down at half time. I threw the book at them at half time, and a few teacups as well. In the second half we carried on from where we left off in the first creating chance after chance and either missing them or seeing them well saved. We did eventually get on level terms, Drage catching the keeper out from a narrow angle on 58 minutes. Then more of the same, one way yet ineffective traffic. Just as it was looking like it would go for the draw we crafted a move of such beauty that it would have deserved to win the final never mind this game, sweet one touch football pinged the ball down the right and into the feet of Lopez clear in on goal, he committed the keeper and then rolled the ball square for Drage to knock it into the unguarded net for his second of the afternoon. 83 minutes gone, and no way back for Fulham from there. Final Score: Liverpool 2-1 Fulham Scorers : Drage 2 Man Of The Match: Thomas Drage Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez, Lucas, Yarmolenko, Drage, Schweinsteiger, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Thursday February 22nd 2018 Euro Cup First Knockout Round First Leg Venue: Spartak Moskva Spartak Moscow vs. Liverpool Both Suarez and Sterling returned to training yesterday. Tonight is too soon to throw them back in, but the second leg might be the one to see them warm the bench. We go with a defensive 4-2-2-1-1 formation this evening with Hughes behind the lone striker as I feel it’s important to not give the game away in the first leg. Only 5 minutes were gone when we took the lead, Hughes broke down the right and played it into the near post where the defender’s desperate efforts to prevent Lopez from scoring resulted in him putting the ball into his own net ! The rest of the half sped by, both sides created chances, but blew them, there not being another on-target shot in the half. We went in and I told them to give the fans a lead into the second leg. It wasn’t going to happen though and Spartak got an equaliser on 77 minutes, we held firm after that and we had a draw and an away goal to take back to Anfield. Final Score: Spartak Moscow 1-1 Liverpool Scorers : own goal Man Of The Match: Lucas Leiva Team: Reina, Piris, Nagatomo, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez, Lucas, Yarmolenko, Drage, Hughes, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Thursday March 1st 2018 Euro Cup First Knockout Round Second Leg Venue: Anfield Liverpool vs. Spartak Moscow (Agg 1-1) Suarez and Sterling both start on the bench as they lack the match fitness required for a start. Onto the match and it only took us two minutes and 43 seconds to open the scoring Drage setting up Hughes for the finish. Moscow tried and failed to get back on level terms, and on 32 we extended the lead, the ball being forced home by Lucas in a goalmouth scramble. Half time and I told them not to get complacent out there, and I don’t think they appreciated that one much. On 57 our concentrations lapsed as Spartak got a goal back, a fizzing shot from the edge of the box. Spartak pressed, and pressed and couldn’t find the way through for an equaliser. Instead, and in the fourth minute of injury time Yarmolenko broke down the left, crossed to the far post where Drage was arriving to add the coup-de-grace , 3-1 on the night, 4-2 on aggregate, and a route through to knockout round two. Final Score: Liverpool 3-1 Spartak Moscow Scorers : Hughes, Lucas, Drage Man Of The Match: Thomas Drage Team: Reina, Piris, Nagatomo, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez, Lucas, Hughes, Yarmolenko, Drage, Lopez We got Dynamo Kiev in the second round, first leg at their place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Just catching up with your exploits at new club Liverpool, plenty of new signings which I hope gel for you soon. Top effort with this story, cf2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 Thank you Spav, much appreciated. Results remain a bit up and down, and that's the reason I feel we need to rebuild. Sunday March 11th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (13th ) vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers (7th ) A win here would only see us go up one spot, but at least we would stay in touch with the pack of teams just ahead of us. If Wolves win they’ll go up two to 5th, and the top of that pack which are beginning to lose touch with the top four. Suarez returns to first team action today, in the hole behind the lone attacker, as I don’t want to take the impressive Lopez out of the front line just yet. Hughes the one to miss out, and he’s on the bench if I come to regret doing that. Suarez played ok on his return, but the rest of the team didn’t and Wolves were all over us in the first period. They got a goal on 31, woeful marking at fault, and frankly we were fortunate that they didn’t get any more. A goal down at half time, and I was not happy. I asked them if they wanted to win this game, virtually challenging any of them to say ‘no’ which, of course, none of them did. So, second half, and we were much better getting an equaliser on 51 minutes, a Drage free kick from deep, swung in, and Lopez with the powerful header home from ten yards out. Lopez nearly did it again on the hour as his shot pinged back off the left hand post. We weren’t to be denied though and, once again, Drage was the creator with a chipped ball to the far post that Yarmolenko powered home with his head. Sadly the win wasn’t to be, as Wolves became the latest team to grab a late equaliser. To my mind Enriquez was fouled in the build up for the goal, but on a more general level we need to be much better at holding leads, this has already cost us so many points. Final Score: Liverpool 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers League Position: 13th Scorers : Lopez, Yarmolenko Man Of The Match: Thomas Drage Team: Reina, Benedetti, Nagatomo, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez, Lucas, Yarmolenko, Suarez, Drage, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 Thursday March 15th 2018 Euro Cup Second Knockout Round First Leg Venue: NSC Olympiyskiy Dynamo Kyiv vs. Liverpool Lopez needs a rest so Suarez resumes duties up front. We go in a defensive formation and will look to get a good result out of this game. We lost a goal early on in a quite ridiculous fashion. Long throw from the right, it must have gone 20ft into to the air, we watched it, not the man on the end of it who nodded it home. We weathered the storm that followed, and on 21 made a goal for ourselves , Yarmolenko hitting the post, and then being sharp enough to slide the rebound home. We got to half time level at one apiece. I told them to carry on playing the way there were and the win would come. I wasn’t sure it would, but I wanted to give them a bit of confidence. Kyiv started the second half strongly too, though they shot early and wild, and didn’t trouble Reina. On 54 we got a second goal, a Drage corner fell to Kjaer who hit the ball on the turn, and fired it into the net. Kyiv threw the kitchen sink at us but we defended resolutely, refused to dive in, made them shoot from range, harried them into mistakes, kept them at bay, Reina only having to make a couple of routine saves throughout the half. We had ourselves an away win, and two away goals to boot ! Final Score: Dynamo Kyiv 1-2 Liverpool Scorers : Yarmolenko, Kjaer Man Of The Match: Simon Kjaer Team: Reina, Piris, Nagatomo, Kjaer, Lagator, Enriquez, Lucas, Yarmolenko, Drage, Hughes, Suarez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Sunday March 18th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (13th ) vs. Tottenham Hotspur (4th ) Drage, Lucas and Enriquez are all in need of a rest today and Suarez isn’t yet match fit, so Inler, Torres and Hughes step in for what will be a difficult match. The first 20 minutes were all Liverpool but we couldn’t score, moves were continually broken up at the last gasp, and chance after chance went a begging. On 23 Spurs managed their first attack, and scored from it, their 21 goal striker allowed the freedom of Anfield to pick his spot. We gave up a second on 35, a shot from a narrow angle whilst their goalkeeper produced miracle save after miracle save. I wasn’t happy at half time and took off Nagatomo who had played terrible but was still unlucky to have been singled out in that regard, and replaced him with Piris, and put Suarez on for Torres who was having a miserable day in front of goal. We didn’t score in the second half, but at least we didn’t concede again either, which was at least a bit of an improvement. Games are running out and if we can’t compete in games against the top sides, then maybe it’s time I thought of an even bigger rebuild. Final Score: Liverpool 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur League Position: 13th Scorers : Man Of The Match: Danny Wilson Team: Reina, Benedetti, Nagatomo (Piris 45), Wilson, Lagator, Inler, Hughes (Shelvey 66), Schweinsteiger, Yarmolenko, Lopez, Torres (Suarez 45) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Thursday March 22nd 2018 Euro Cup Second Knockout Round Second Leg Venue: Anfield Liverpool (2) vs. Dynamo Kyiv (1) A cold and wet Merseyside evening, a set of tired players but a game, the first of two with the FA Cup quarter final coming up, that we’d really like to win. Lopez takes a rest, and Suarez goes up front. Sterling returns on the wing. Salazar gets the nod at left back. Otherwise it’s pretty much as you were. I told them in the team talk that I didn’t care that we were ahead on the tie, I wanted them to go out and take control of the game. And in the early exchanges we did just that with Drage hitting the post on three minutes. Slowly Kyiv came back into the game, had the ball in the bet on 38, but a clear yard offside. Goalless at half time. In the second half it became clear it wasn’t going to be our day in front of goal as Yarmolenko headed the ball against the bar following good work by Sterling. On 75 minutes the game got more interesting though as Kyiv did manage to score. Reina coming out for a cross he was never going to get and leaving an easy task for the forward to head it in. But they never looked like getting the decisive goal, the one that would take them ahead of our two away goals. We forced a number of corners near the end and saw our way through to the next round on the away goals rule. Final Score: Liverpool 0-1 Dynamo Kyiv (agg 2-2 Liverpool win on away goals) Scorers : Man Of The Match: Sime Lagator Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Kjaer, Lagator, Enriquez, Lucas, Drage, Yarmolenko, Sterling , Suarez In the draw for the final rounds of the competition we get Palermo in the quarter final, away leg first. The winners of that will face the winners of the Getafe vs. Lille quarter final, first leg away again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Our FA Cup quarter final was pushed back to Sunday due to our participation in the Euro Cup, and then back further to be one of the live TV games. This meant the draw for the semi-final was made before kick-off. So both we and our opponents knew that our semi was going to be against Championship side Derby whilst the two Manchester clubs would face each other in the other semi. Sunday March 25th 2018 FA Cup Quarter Final Venue: The Reebok Stadium Bolton Wanderers vs. Liverpool We put out a quite attacking formation as Bolton have struggled lately, and it was us who had the best of the game early on. We went close a few times, and took the lead on 32 minutes as Lopez strode into the box and beat the keeper at his near post. We got a second on 41 as Bolton tried to get back into the game. We broke in numbers, Sterling pulling the ball back for Suarez, his shot was blocked and Lopez lashed in the rebound for his second of the afternoon. Two up at half time and cruising. Into the second half and it suddenly got difficult as Reina made a huge blunder coming out to fly hack a ball away and completely miskicking it, gifting Bolton a goal. 52 minutes gone. This got Bolton’s tails up, and they hit the post on 64, the rebound going well wide. That proved to be Bolton’s high point as from the goal kick, Schweinsteiger flicked the ball on, Lopez saw his first shot saved, but pounced onto the rebound and knocked it home for his hatrick. Yet Bolton weren’t finished, as they got a second goal on 79 minutes, a period of pressure finally resulting in a clinical strike from the edge of the box. Reina redeemed himself a couple of minutes later as he flew headlong to turn a shot away. The chances didn’t come for Bolton again and we ran out slightly more comfortable winners than the final scoreline would suggest. Final Score: Bolton 2-3 Liverpool Scorers : Lopez 3 Man Of The Match: Alfredo Lopez Team: Reina, Benedetti, Nagatomo, Wilson, Lagator, Schweinsteiger, Lucas, Suarez, Torres, Sterling , Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Wednesday March 28th 2018 Premier League Venue: Upton Park West Ham United (8th ) vs. Liverpool (14th ) This was going to be a difficult match, our game in hand, so one we need to win to keep pace in the division, but West Ham have done really well this season, especially at home. Their lofty position in the league is down to their home form, pretty much, so we’ll need to be careful. The early pressure in the match is all West Ham, their shooting is wayward but it looks fairly ominous. However by the 15 minute mark we are probing forward, Sterling, as ever, effective in going past people, his final ball a disappointment, yet it was from one such attack that we got some joy, Sterling’s cross was headed away, but Schweinsteiger poked the ball back into the box, to Drage who looked to turn, but was clattered by the West Ham defender, a clear penalty. Drage picked himself up and sent the keeper the wrong way. The lead didn’t last, West Ham pushed forward, and eventually a goalmouth scramble, on 25 minutes, ended up in the net. The rest of the half was end to end but both sides lacked quality in front of goal and we went in level. It was obvious as the second half began that West Ham had been given a rocket by their manager, they played us off the park for long periods in that second half, but strangely Reina was very rarely tested such was their wastefulness. We were rocked and surely a goal would come. 85 minutes, and a goal did come, but we got it. Sterling picked up a long clearance on the half way line and had space to run into so he did, when he got to the corner of the box, he cut in, and from 10 yards out slid the ball under the keeper for a very well taken goal. The last five minutes, made a little easier on 86, when one of the West Ham midfielders picked up a second yellow from a pretty card happy ref, and took an early bath. But one man down or not the last five or so minutes were like the Alamo for us. Shots rained in on Reina’s goal, none on target. Crosses were fired in. Kjaer was a rock in the heart of the defence. We held out, and secured a very valuable win. Final Score: West Ham 1-2 Liverpool League Position: 13th Scorers : Drage (pen), Sterling Man Of The Match: Simon Kjaer Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Kjaer, Lagator, Lucas, Schweinsteiger, Yarmolenko, Drage, Sterling, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Sunday April 1st 2018 Premier League Venue: Goodison Park Everton (17th ) vs. Liverpool (13th ) Apparently it’s my 300th game in football management, on April Fool’s Day, of course, and in front of the cameras for a local derby against Everton. It’s blowing a gale and raining, so it’s not going to be any fun out there. Lopez and Lucas get a rest, Torres and Enriquez deputising. We keep the 4-2-3-1 formation that has served us well for the last couple of games and hope that our understanding of tradition is better than theirs. We got off to a good start, and were the first out of the blocks. Pressure built up and we took the lead in the 11th minute, as Drage found Torres 30 yards out in space. The Mexican took it to the edge of the box unchallenged and fired in a low shot as he was closed down. It seemed to surprise the keeper, who dived over it, and there, it nestled in the corner, we were one up. Everton equalised on 22, as their striker, the one flagged up before the game as not having scored in 597 minutes of football, yes him, scored a wonder goal, as always seems to happen when the press bring these little bits of info up. It was end-to-end at this point and on 35 we retook the lead, Drage the one this time to stride into acres of space unmolested and unleash an unstoppable drive into the back of the net from 25 yards. We got to half time 2-1 up. I told them they were doing well but could do even better, which drew a kind of unenthusiastic response, which is better than a negative one, but perhaps not by much. A quiet opening to the second period, which was a bit of a surprise. It took the fans a little while to get going, as the play on the pitch wasn’t amounting to a lot. Finally on the hour mark we pushed up enough to win a corner. Drage lofted it to the middle, the defence, at sixes and sevens for no apparent reason let it drop and Sterling was there, making a nuisance of himself in front of the keeper, to blast the ball in from close range. A bizarre goal, but one that put us two goals up. We went to a 4-1-2-2-1 formation at this point, and went pretty defensive. But we then went and did our best to throw some of our advantage away when, on 68, Kjaer was caught backing in, and a penalty was awarded to the hosts. They made no mistake and our advantage was down to one. But thereafter it was comfortable, for all their possession Everton didn’t threaten our goal again. We even had time for Yarmolenko to miss an open goal, fluffing his shot having gone round the keeper. Finally the final whistle came, we had won, and beaten Everton to boot. Final Score: Everton 2-3 Liverpool League Position: 12th Scorers : Torres, Drage, Sterling Man Of The Match: Thomas Drage Team: Reina, Benedetti, Nagatomo, Kjaer, Lagator, Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Yarmolenko, Drage, Sterling, Torres Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 Thursday April 5th 2018 Euro Cup Quarter Final First Leg Venue: Renzo Barbera Citta di Palermo vs. Liverpool We might have been expected to come here and defend but instead we surprised the Italians by coming out of the traps on the attack. After only 80 seconds Lopez saw a header come back off the bar, In the sixth minute, Lopez drew the defence and allowed Hughes to run into the box and slip it past the keeper for a potentially crucial away goal. On 8 minutes it was the same combination again, Lopez to Hughes running onto the ball, and firing, this time from an angle, past the keeper, two-nil. A fabulous start. Slowly Palermo took control of the game, but found Reina in top form and a defence that coped with their attacks pretty well. Well that is until the second minute of injury time at the end of the first half when Lagator committed a howler to gift them a goal back. 2-1 at half time, I just had to tell myself I would have taken that 45 minutes ago, so don’t be too disappointed about it now. I brought Drage on for Suarez, booked and ineffectual once more, and switched to a defensive 4-2-2-1-1 formation. The changes paid off immediately as we won an early second half corner, Drage played it to the near post, where Lagator had pulled away from his marker, took the ball down, and had time to turn, and blast the ball through a crowd and into the net. 46 minutes gone, 3-1 up. On 56 Palermo got another one back, a slick move down the left, and a ball into the box that their forward quite clearly wanted to get to first and turn home. We had a match on. Palermo had incessant pressure now and they equalised on 75, a long range drive beating Reina, not the first time he’s been beaten from range lately. They got another right at the death, and we ended up losing this game, not sure how. But we did get three away goals out of it. Final Score: Palermo 4-3 Liverpool Scorers : Hughes 2, Lagator Man Of The Match: Thomas Drage Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez, Lucas, Yarmolenko, Hughes, Suarez (Drage 45), Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 Sunday April 8th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (12th ) vs. West Bromwich Albion (6th ) A lovely day here at Anfield, and a real chance to add some more points to our tally. West Brom are another side who’s relative success this year has been down to dominant home form, whilst not being too clever on their travels. We need to win, but to my mind there’s no reason why away form should automatically be worse than home form so this is obviously a capable side. We set up in the 4-1-2-2-1 formation that serves us against the better sides, as I think in sixth spot West Brom are showing they are one of the better sides in this league. We start ok but not brilliantly and lose our way even from that low starting point. West Brom gain control and it’s no surprise when they take the lead on 28 minutes, our Achilles heel, defending corners, once more our downfall. From there West Brom’s possession stats just grew and we struggled. Yet it wasn’t all bad in the first period. Though second to most things we did manage to go in level thanks to a goal on the break, well taken by Lopez on 38. A bit of a rant and telling the lads they could still win this game didn’t go down too well, and didn’t look, at least initially, like it would come true. Yet we stuck to our guns and slowly came back into contention, and on 58 minutes we took the lead, once again on the break, Sterling taking the ball on the edge of the box, going past two and shooting home from a narrow angle. We went on the defensive having got the lead and managed to snuff out the West Brom threat, they ended up shooting from too far out, with predictably inaccurate effects. Schweinsteiger, brilliant all day, limped off on 84, replaced by Drage and Yarmolenko was replaced by Suarez on 87, just to waste some time really. Four minutes of injury time, went by without incident and we ran out winners. Still 12th but with a game in hand, that, if we win, could lift us up a couple of places. Final Score: Liverpool 2-1 West Bromwich Albion League Position: 12th Scorers : Lopez, Sterling Man Of The Match: Jorge Enriquez Team: Reina, Benedetti, Salazar, Kjaer, Lagator, Enriquez, Schweinsteiger (Drage 84), Yarmolenko (Suarez 87), Hughes, Sterling, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamillePunk Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 Checking in to say I'm still keeping up with this. Nice to see you managing the club I support. Bring home some silverware! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 Thanks CamilleP, it sure looks good for the Reds at the mo, even more so after this one ! Thursday April 12th 2018 Euro Cup Quarter Final Second Leg Venue: Anfield Liverpool vs. Citta di Palermo I’d grown up watching in awe nights just like this one. ‘European Nights’ are a part of Liverpool folk lore, and it was like that tonight, packed to the gills and rocking. We need to win, by a single goal (as long as it’s lower than a reverse of the 4-3 scoreline in the first leg) so that gives me a quandary, obviously we want to score, but we can’t afford to be too lax at the back. We stick with the 4-1-2-2-1 formation with Drage in for Schweinsteiger, who’s knock in the last match will keep him out for 2 weeks. Suarez gets a chance to prove his worth one more time, Lopez is on the bench if he fails. The first half was one way traffic, we pressed forward from the very first minute, but struggled to make chances against a well organised defence. The old story of them forcing us to take our shots too early and from too far a distance. We did get one break though, on 38 minutes a freekick on the right side of the pitch level with the edge of the box, was swung in by Drage and Wilson got in front of his man to force the ball home. The goal we needed ahead, we saw out the game to a very welcome half time. At half time I told them not to get complacent and to play more defensively. That went down well, and we fought like lions against a side clearly up for the fight. On 58 Hughes won the ball in his own half against the Palermo full back and ran into the space behind the lad he had so adeptly left on the deck. He ran into the box, passed the ball in, Suarez was floored, but Lucas was on hand to steer the loose ball into the net. No penalty, but a second goal. Palermo pressed forward but on 63 Suarez picked up the ball in his own half, ran a good 50 yards, before screaming one into the top left hand corner for a contender for goal of the season, and there was me, thinking he was finished. On 73 it was 4-0, as a Drage free kick from just inside the Palermo half was lofted in, it took one bounce and Will Hughes lashed it home, 4-0, and now Palermo needed three to force extra time, or four to win. 17 minutes of normal time to do it in. And it got even harder for them on 76 as Suarez cleverly played Yarmolenko into space down the left, his cross was met at the far post by Drage, his header beat the keeper easily, 5-0. Palermo’s ambition died with that goal and we saw the game out from that point with ease. We ran out extremely convincing winners and we were now in the Euro Cup Semi Finals. Final Score: Liverpool 5-0 Palermo (agg 8-4) Scorers : Wilson, Lucas, Suarez, Drage, Hughes Man Of The Match: Thomas Drage Team: Reina, Piris, Nagatomo, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez, Lucas, Hughes, Yarmolenko, Drage, Suarez LOSC Lille came through the other quarter final in our half of the draw, and so we would face them in a semi-final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 Wednesday April 18th 2018 Premier League Venue: Loftus Road Queen’s Park Rangers (5th ) vs. Liverpool (12th ) QPR are an example of what you can achieve in this league, level on points with us when I joined Liverpool they have been consistently good since then and that’s seen them rise to the heady heights of 5th in the table. The fact is though they are 13 points behind Arsenal in 4th, and only six ahead of us in 12th and we have a couple of games in hand too, so there’s really nothing for us to fear here. Be careful, sure, but scared ? no. The game started fairly even but we soon had the ascendancy, and not long after that the lead. On 11 we put together a glorious passing move that took us from the half way line on the right to the edge of the ‘D’ where Will Hughes was on hand to fire the ball low into the bottom left hand corner. On 25 QPR were level. Their centre forward, throughout the match showed that he liked a shot. Aiming wasn’t terribly consistent though, he even hit the corner flag with one shot, but obviously the occasional one comes off as this one flew in from 30 yards, completely against the run of play. Try as we might we couldn’t get our noses back in front and went in to half time level. I had a bit of a go in the half time team talk, not that you would have noticed in the play in the second half as we squandered the few chances we did have, as did our opponents. However on 85 minutes the game changed as Sterling, Hughes and Enriquez passed their way through the QPR defence and fed the ball into Lopez who tends not to miss the target from 8 yards out, the keeper was easily beaten and we had the lead, with only five minutes left. And hold out we did, only one place up to 11th today, but now within striking distance of 5th place with our game in hand. Final Score: QPR 1-2 Liverpool League Position: 11th Scorers : Hughes, Lopez Man Of The Match: Will Hughes Team: Reina, Piris, Nagatomo, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez, Lucas, Yarmolenko, Hughes, Sterling, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 Saturday April 21st 2018 FA Cup Semi Final Venue: Wembley Derby County vs. Liverpool A day out at Wembley for the fans, a day of work for us. Derby have struggled in the league, but done very well in the cup. We’ll need to be cautious but we should be the better side so let’s press on. The first action of the game was Sterling limping off with an injury with only 4 minutes gone. Suarez came on to replace him. In the match itself Derby were defending deep and preventing us from getting anywhere near making a chance. Our lads worked the issue out and by playing more patiently they were able to pass their way through the massed ranks and create chances. On 11 minutes we got down to the byline, crossed and Suarez was arriving at the back to force the ball home. 1-0. It was one way traffic thereafter but it wasn’t until the 36th minute that we added to the scoreline, and when we did it was fairly straightforward stuff. A Drage corner, a Wilson header, 2-0. Derby finally came to life, and pressed forward, they failed to trouble Reina greatly, due to shooting from too far out. Enriquez got injured in injury time, and was replaced by Schweinsteiger, himself just back in training, for the last two minutes of the half. Two up at half time, and very good value for it. I said as much to the lads, and they went back out and carried straight on. We added a third on 63 as Drage weaved through a static defence before tucking it past the keeper. Lopez got in on the action with a fourth goal on 83, a sharp shot from the edge of the box the method of addition. That was it for the scoring, we were into the FA Cup Final, and at a canter too. Final Score: Derby County 0-4 Liverpool Scorers : Suarez, Wilson, Drage, Lopez Man Of The Match: Thomas Drage Team: Reina, Piris, Nagatomo, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez (Schweinsteiger 45), Lucas, Yarmolenko, Drage, Sterling (Suarez 4), Lopez In the other semi-final Man City beat Man Utd, which means that as City don’t look capable of breaking into the European slots, unlike United who are pretty much guaranteed of one, being, as they are, well established in the top four of the league, that we’ll have to win the final if we want to be sure of an automatic place in the Euro Cup for next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 Thursday April 26th 2018 Euro Cup Semi Final First Leg Venue: Grand Stade Lille Metropole LOSC Lille vs. Liverpool The game was scrappy, with both sides reluctant to give anything away. Shots from distance, keepers by and large untroubled. Out of the blue on 35 minutes, though, we got a penalty as the ref saw a hand punch the ball clear from a corner. Drage our usual penalty taker was out due to being one yellow away from a ban, so Enriquez stepped up. He favours a blast down the middle technique. It worked today and we were a goal up, an away goal. At half time we went ultra-defensive and bought Torres on for Suarez, Hughes moving into the more reserved right midfielder role vacated by Suarez. The result was that we pretty much killed the match right there and then, the second half saw very little by the way of creative play, and but for a desperate goal line clearance in the 92nd of 93 minutes, we saw it out with ease. Final Score: LOSC Lille 0-1 Liverpool Scorers : Enriquez (pen) Man Of The Match: Lucas Leiva Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez, Lucas, Hughes, Yarmolenko, Suarez (Torres 45), Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 Sunday April 29th 2018 Premier League Venue: Old Trafford Manchester United (3rd ) vs. Liverpool (12th ) The TV cameras are out for this, one of the most keenly awaited fixtures of the TV Football calendar. I suspect that given our league placings in the last few years that many United fans merely regard us as an irrelevance now, but that’s by-the-by. Today’s game is different. United lie in third, a point and a game behind Spurs in second but ten points behind first placed Chelsea with only four games left. This means that if we win, United will lose the league, and lose it today. That would certainly give our fans a warm glow ! United made the early running, as a team clinging onto the hope of retaining their title might well be expected to do, a header from a corner that flashed past the post as close as they got in the opening period. On 28 minutes we got a freekick 30 yards out. Drage has quite clearly been watching the videos of Danny Murphy doing this for the Reds, as he curled the freekick round the end of the wall and into the top corner. He’s been trying to do that all year and not even got remotely close, but this was sublime. United redoubled their efforts but we held firm, and went in at half time a goal up. I told them how proud I was of them and set them up for a siege at The Alamo in the second half. Untied came out like scalded cats, their superstar forwards, Rooney and Neymar ran rings round the midfield but United still weren’t patient enough and shot too early, failing to trouble Reina. Then on the hour we made a rare foray forward and won a corner. They failed to clear Drage’s corner, the ball pinged around and Kjaer was on hand to thunder the ball through a crowd and into the net, 2-0 up, at Old Trafford. Dreamland. Rooney got one back within two minutes, a screamer from 30 yards, and the fightback was on. The pressure was incessant, save for one foray up field where Hughes put the ball in row Z rather than getting it any closer to target, meanwhile Reina was playing out of his skin, the defence were steadfast and lion-like, and Salazar found the ‘anywhere will do’ ball and added it to his ever growing armoury. Time ticked past, I replaced Suarez who had run himself into the ground in the sole forward role, with Lopez who went on to do the same, harrying the United defence, wasting time. Enriquez was awesome. Kjaer a rock, Drage a good outlet, but the man of the match was Bastian Schweinsteiger a wise head on old shoulders, an outlet, a disruptor, a go-to guy, today. He didn’t deserve to be on anything other than to be one the winning side, and when the whistle went for full time he was. Ecstasy doesn’t quite cover it. A small corner of the ground could be heard singing ‘You Lost The League, from Merseyside’ over and over. Probably the best result of my time here, certainly the most satisfying. Final Score: Manchester United 1-2 Liverpool League Position: 9th Scorers : Drage, Kjaer Man Of The Match: Bastian Schweinsteiger Team: Reina, Nagatomo, Salazar, Kjaer, Lagator, Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Hughes, Yarmolenko, Drage, Suarez (Lopez 72) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamillePunk Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Tremendous victory! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Thanks Camille, it most surely was. Damn satisfying win that one.... Into May, and what a busy month this is going to be we face seven games, eight if we reach the Euro Cup Final, in the next 20 days, but at least Raheem Sterling has reported back for training, so we are back to full fitness. Thursday May 3rd 2018 Euro Cup Semi Final Second Leg Venue: Anfield Liverpool vs. LOSC Lille The first of those games is the second leg of the EURO Cup semi-final. We, of course, hold a goal advantage from the first leg. Lucas in for Enriquez, and Shelvey getting a rare start for the cup-tied Schweinsteiger. Nagatomo, Suarez and Drage all one yellow away from a suspension. On 5 minutes Drage swung the ball in from a free kick, with three Liverpool players lining up to head the ball in the Lille lad got in a terrible mess and ended up putting the ball into his own net with a bullet header. Lille were rocked and took a long time to get back into the match, but by the half hour they were shooting from long range and not getting very close. Then on 37 we extended our lead, slightly against the run of play at that point, it has to be said, a Yarmolenko cross, Suarez header was blocked but he was the first to the rebound and he knocked that home. Into the second half, uneventful for a while burst into life on 64 when Lille finally got on the scoresheet, a blast from just inside the box flew past Reina and into the roof of the net. Normal service was resumed on 69 as Yarmolenko shot low from the edge of the box, under the keeper’s body. But it became 3-2 on 75, following a goalmouth scramble, converted from just by the penalty spot, and we had a game on. Lille pressed for the two goals that would take them through but in the first minute of injury time we broke down the pitch and Hughes was on hand to finish. And that was it, we were in the final. And that meant 7 more games and only 16 days to play them in, surely the league would have to rearrange something ? Final Score: Liverpool 4-2 LOSC Lille (Agg 5-2) Scorers : og, Suarez, Yarmolenko, Hughes Man Of The Match: Luis Suarez Team: Reina, Nagatomo, Salazar, Kjaer, Lagator, Lucas, Drage, Shelvey, Yarmolenko, Hughes, Suarez We will face AS Roma in the final, and our game against Wigan scheduled for the day of the final, will now be played two days later, a mere two days before our last game of the season against Stoke. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 Sunday May 6th 2018 Premier League Venue: St. James’ Park Newcastle United (16th) vs. Liverpool (9th ) Some changes in order to minimise player fatigue, which is going to become a real problem even if we are really careful, but today Enriquez spells Lucas, Schweinsteiger returns and Shelvey stands down, Suarez moves to the right wing, Hughes having a rest, Lopez comes back up front, Torres behind him, and Sterling gives Yarmolenko a well-deserved rest. Only three minutes had gone when Lopez was tripped as he moved into the box. Torres stepped up and fired the penalty home, hitting it straight down the middle, hard. Newcastle fought back and equalised in the 37th minute, with a shot that went through a crowd and possibly left Reina unsighted. So we went in at half time level. The second half was a lot of huff and puff, but very little invention or application from either side. They seemed quite happy to take the draw and we didn’t have the wit or the luck to beat them. A dull game, 1-1 draw. Final Score: Newcastle United 1-1 Liverpool League Position: 9th Scorers : Torres (pen) Man Of The Match: Danny Wilson Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Yarmolenko, Torres, Suarez, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 Wednesday May 9th 2018 Premier League Venue: St. Mary’s’ Stadium Southampton (15th) vs. Liverpool (9th ) The game started out as a hard fought battle with possession very difficult for both sides to hold onto, Reina made a couple of sharp saves to keep them out, and on 27 minutes we managed to get our noses in front, a Torres shot parried by the keeper only as far as Suarez and in it went. Half time came round with no further alarms. At the break I took off Schweinsteiger who wasn’t having his best game ever and replaced him with Drage. The second half was another curious non-entity, of Southampton pressure but not many chances created, those that were being easily dealt with by Reina. But on closer inspection it was a lion like performance by Lagator marshalling the defence that was the cause of Southampton’s inability to work Reina too hard. We saw the game out, and we were back to winning ways. Final Score: Southampton 0-1 Liverpool League Position: 8th Scorers : Suarez Man Of The Match: Sime Lagator Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Wilson, Lagator, Enriquez, Schweinsteiger (Drage 45), Yarmolenko, Torres, Sterling, Suarez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 Friday May 11th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (8th) vs. Reading (18th ) Our last game was the day before yesterday and our next one is the day after tomorrow, and that’s only the FA Cup Final. Quite how we are going to manage this I’m not sure, but it’s where our cup success has got us, so I guess we’ll have to find a way. My way is wholesale changes, with only two players Yarmolenko and Reina picked who might reasonably expect to start on Sunday in the Cup Final. There’s a debut here for Gary Cahill, and run outs for Shelvey and Inler. Changes yes, but a side that should be able to cope with Reading at home. We certainly started out the right way, Torres winning a penalty in just the third minute as he latched onto a clever Yarmolenko through ball. The keeper guessed the right way though, and pushed Torres’s spot kick away. The disappointment wasn’t to last though as a Shelvey corner was allowed to drop inside the box and Inler was on hand to blast the ball home, his first goal for the club. We kept on pushing forward but the second goal wouldn’t come, our shooting was generally wayward, and Reading didn’t look quite out of it yet. Half time came, still a goal up, but very far from being comfortable. I told them not to get complacent at half time and for a while that seemed to work, but on 57 minutes Reading broke downfield a scored an equaliser that in reality they probably deserved. Later on I took off an exhausted Torres and replaced him with Reserve team striker Eddie Eyre, the lad ran his socks off, but couldn’t make a difference and the game petered out to a draw. Final Score: Liverpool 1-1 Reading League Position: 8th Scorers : Inler Man Of The Match: Jonjo Shelvey Team: Reina, Benedetti, Nagatomo, Wilson, Cahill, Inler, Shelvey, Yarmolenko, Hughes, Suarez, Torres (Eyre 74) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 Sunday May 13th 2018 FA Cup Final Venue: Wembley Stadium Liverpool (PRM 8th) vs. Man City (PRM 5th ) So this is it, the FA Cup Final. Back to our strongest lineup and only Yarmolenko on the left wing not fully rested, not ideal but our lack of depth in that position has been cruelly exposed over the last week. The first half flew by with neither side getting a real clear site of goal. Both keepers made saves, ours more than theirs, but nothing to taxing for either of them. Actually not a lot to recommend the first half as a spectacle of football. We came much more into the game in the second period and whereas in the first period it was our players being penalised for the desperate challenges, it was now City’s players. We had a couple of close ones including one almighty goalmouth scramble on 56 minutes when I simply don’t know how we didn’t manage to score, the ball being booted into Row Z at the end of the melee. Then on 70 minutes young Salazar threw the ball in, deep in the City half, short to Yarmolenko who gave him the ball back. The young Mexican shaped to cross and then didn’t, taking the ball across the face of the box, as he reached the ‘D’, as yet unchallenged. He checked back, stepped into the box and then hit a left footed shot that travelled through a small crowd of defenders and left Hart in the City goal unsighted. The ball crept in at the far post, we were a goal up, 20 minutes left. It was his first ever goal for Liverpool. I was expecting the last 20 minutes (plus injury time) to be a bit like the Alamo but instead we limited them to a few long range efforts that troubled only the ball boys who weren’t generally placed that far wide of the goal ! I took off a very tired Yarmolenko on 89, replacing him with Suarez just to waste a bit of time. It was all good, and at the end of the fourth minute of three minutes of injury time the ref blew his whistle and we had won the cup ! Final Score: Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City Scorers : Salazar Man Of The Match: Sime Lagator Team: Reina, Nagatomo, Salazar, Kjaer, Lagator, Lucas, Schweinsteiger, Drage, Yarmolenko (Suarez 89), Sterling, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Congrats on the FA cup victory Chester, as always some impressive work sir Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 Thank You Mark, Nice to get a trophy, and the finals don't stop quite yet ! Wednesday May 16th 2018 Euro Cup Final Venue: Friends Arena, Stockholm Liverpool FC vs. AS Roma Only two changes, Enriquez in for the cup-tied Schweinsteiger and Hughes in for Yarmolenko, desperately in need of a rest. We started well but wasted a lot of possession by shooting from miles out. Sterling, playing out of position, on the left today was the main culprit, cutting in off the wing and onto his right foot. He was letting fly from anywhere and getting zero joy. However when he cut in off the wing on 27 minutes he saw that Lopez was in a better position than he was, and so he passed it the edge of the box, the Mexican turned and smacked a low shot into the bottom right hand corner. That was the high point of a quite disappointing first 45 mins. In the half time talk I told them they hand one hand on the trophy, go out and finish the job. Rarely have I had a more negative reaction to a team talk than that one. Nevermind, it didn’t seem to make much difference as Lagator headed home a Drage corner only 4 minutes into the second period. Some shocking marking for that one. We sat back after that one, held Roma at arm’s length and at the end of the half we had won another trophy. Final Score: Liverpool 2-0 AS Roma Scorers : Lopez, Lagator Man Of The Match: Jorge Enriquez Team: Reina, Nagatomo, Salazar, Kjaer, Lagator, Lucas, Enriquez, Drage, Sterling, Hughes, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 Friday May 18th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (8th) vs. Wigan Athletic (20th ) Wigan have already been relegated from The Premier League, but can still finish ahead of Reading if they win both their remaining games (and Reading lose their last one on Sunday, obviously), but we can move 6th with a win, or 5th if we can win by six, Wigan currently have 96 goals in the goals against column, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility. Not that I told the lads that, in fact I kept it low key and told if they played their own game then they’d win. They went out relaxed and started to play. We were a goal up within three minutes as a Schweinsteiger corner went to Yarmolenko on the front corner of the six yard box, he controlled the ball, swivelled and shot home in one fluid movement, a good start. It then turned pretty shambolic, we shot from all angles, when we got close we either shot straight at the keeper or well wide, placement was alien to them. I’d told them I expected them to win, but what was this they were trying to achieve here ? Wigan managed a single shot on goal during this time, on 19 minutes, from which they unsurprisingly scored. One of those it was bound to happen since I said I expected them to win kind of goals. They offered nothing else after that, and we resumed our wasteful ways. Half time 1-1. I threw the book at them at half time, this was truly atrocious. I was angry. I took Cahill off, he’s finished here after that performance., and put Johnson on. In the second half I took Torres off who was playing badly, though not as badly as Cahill. I put Lopez on, I wanted to keep him for Sunday, but needs must, etc. The half time rant seemed to work as Sterling got into the box and shot past the keeper from an angle for two-one. Wigan then seemed to remember their role in this drama and suddenly looked a different side. They pushed forward looking for a second equaliser, but fortunately for us they couldn’t find one and we ran out 2-1 winners in this strange, strange match. Final Score: Liverpool 2-1 Wigan League Position: 6th Scorers : Yarmolenko, Sterling Man Of The Match: Luis Suarez Team: Reina, Benedetti, Wilson, Lagator, Cahill (Johnson 45), Enriquez, Schweinsteiger, Yarmolenko, Suarez, Sterling, Torres (Lopez 68) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 Sunday May 20th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (6th) vs. Stoke City (14th ) With fifth placed Man City at home to bottom placed Wigan we are unlikely to be able to move up to 5th, but a win is important for us not to lose the sixth place we currently occupy. This is the last game of the season, and there are very few things to be decided Chelsea have won the title, Bolton require an unlikely scoring miracle to avoid getting the third relegation spot, the spoils of war are very nearly decided. As a pre-match team talk I decided to tell the players to send the fans home happy at the end of the season, that got a positive response, and we started the game well, taking the team slightly fortuitously on 4 minutes as Drage curled in a free kick, the Stoke goalie made a superb flying save but could only watch helplessly as the ball he pushed away hit a defender in the face and bounced slowly into the net. An own goal, a really cruel own goal. Stoke mounted a brief resurgence but we dealt with it admirably, and slowly regained the initiative in the match. We added a second on 41, Piris given time and space to cross found Yarmolenko arriving at the far post, where he volleyed it home. In the second minute of added time Hughes sent a reverse pass into the box and Yarmolenko was there to hammer the ball home. The half time whistle went seconds later and we were three goals up. I told them I was pleased. Well, why wouldn’t I be ? But the second half was a poor relation to the first, Stoke were much more at the races and whilst they didn’t look like scoring they did look as if they now knew how to stop us. Meanwhile City came from a goal down at home, to win three-one to deny us fifth spot on goal difference, we’d have to settle for sixth. Final Score: Liverpool 3-0 Stoke City Final League Position: 6th Scorers : og, Yarmolenko 2 Man Of The Match: Andriy Yarmolenko Team: Reina, Piris, Salazar, Lagator, Kjaer, Lucas (Enriquez 76), Schweinsteiger, Yarmolenko, Hughes, Drage (Suarez 74), Lopez So the season was over, Chelsea were champions, with Spurs, Man Utd and Arsenal filling out the Champions League spots. We’d get into the Euro Cup as holders, and Man City get our spot we won as FA Cup winners, meaning the two spots in the Euro Cup for league placings now fall to the teams in 7th and 8th, Aston Villa and Wolves. At the other end of the table Bolton were confirmed relegated on the last day and they’ll join Reading and Wigan in The Championship next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 End of Season Review At the end of season 6 of my career, I had attained 8 trophies, Trophies Won: Belgian Third Division Champions 2012/3 – Deinze English FA Trophy 2013/4 – Northampton Town English FA Trophy 2014/5 – Northampton Town Blues Square Premier League Champions 2014/15 – Northampton Town nPower League Two Champions 2015/16 – Northampton Town nPower Championship Champions 2016/17 – Fulham FA Cup Winners 2017/18 – Liverpool Euro Cup Winners 2017/18 - Liverpool In the end of season awards Thomas Drage was named Footballer of The Year, whereas I was named runner up in the Manager of the Year award. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 Drage was one of nine Liverpool players called up for the World Cup. Drage for Norway. Hughes and Sterling for England, Lucas for Brazil, Suarez for Uruguay, Inler for Switzerland, Lagator for Croatia and Salazar and Enriquez for Mexico. We soon started to move out some unwanted players. Gary Cahill was the first to go, a £325,000 sale to Newcastle. Danny Wilson also went, for £14.75 million to Spurs. Jonjo Shelvey went to West Ham for £4.6 million, £375,000 of that went to Charlton, his former club. Thomas Heurteaux went to Aston Villa for £2.9 million We signed some players too, the first, an Australian, on a free transfer. Samuel Boldrini is a right back, 21 years old and one for the future. The next was QPR’s 21 year old Japanese centre back Shinta Ishikawa for £17.75 million, he’s the key to rebuilding the defence. That’s what I reckon. Another one soon followed, this one a lad we knew quite well. Fabrizio Benedetti had completed his loan spell here and returned to PSG, who promptly released him with the rest of the lads they weren’t going to offer contract extensions to. We offered him a contract and he said yes. I like the lad’s attitude, as well as his potential. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 We still needed players in but the time had come for the fixtures to be announced and for the board to set out their expectations. To my surprise they offered me a choice, either Euro Cup qualification, through league position, with a budget of £34.5 million, or Champions League qualification with a budget of £43.5million. I was pretty sure we could repeat last season’s efforts and get Euro qualification, so do I look to deliver what's expected again ? or do I go for the money and challenge myself ? Let’s challenge ourselves, shall we ? We had two more players come in on July 1st and one out on the same day. The one out was Glenn Johnson, the veteran defender joining Stuttgart at the end of his contract. We had two players coming in from Internatzionale at the end of their contracts. Lorenzo Crisetig is Italian, 25, a primarily a defensive midfielder. The other Couthino is 26, Brazilian and an attacking midfielder. Recruitment continued, next a couple for the future, and also as first team depth. First up Rodrigo Lebron, 18, Argentinean with Spanish ancestry, he’s a central defender with a very high upside. Next was a 20 year old French goalkeeper, Screve Kalala, released by Olympic Marseille at the end of last season. He’s our third choice keeper, behind Reina and Lezcano, not sure which one of those is going to be first choice though, pre-season is going to have to tell. The clear out continued, Gokhan Inler, 34 year old bit part player last season, had no future in this team and went to Palermo for £500,000. We then went a long way towards emptying the transfer kitty with a couple more deals, this time for a couple of players from Boca Juniors in Argentina. The first, Luciano Romero, 23 is a centre forward, who can also play on the left wing, fast and agile, he’s going to be a real asset. He cost us £9.75million. The second is an attacking midfielder, 24 years old. Leandro Paredes cost us £18.25million, this lad has it all, he could well be the last cog in the machine, at least attacking wise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 Meanwhile, at The World Cup, England got as far as the Semi-finals, but lost to Spain. Manager Roberto DiMateo resigned, somewhat surprisingly, and a media campaign to appoint an English manager was begun. It was soon pointed out that only 9 of the 20 Premier League clubs actually had English managers, and the one of those who finished highest in last year’s table was me. There followed a campaign in The Sun (Still trying to curry favour on Merseyside. It doesn’t work) to install me as manager and before you know it I am offered the job. I, of course, take the job, but I’m aiming to combine it with managing Liverpool too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 Chapter Five – Greg Nixon, Liverpool & England. Greg Nixon. Manager of Liverpool and England. I like the sound of that. We signed a couple of youngsters as cover on season long loan deals. Andreas Beer is 20 and a right back from Bayern Munich and Mohammed Guindo is 19 and a left back from Olympic Lyonnais. Pre-season was, well, pre-season, a set of run outs that we generally played o.k. in and only came out with the one injury. Rafael Salazar managed to get cracked ribs thanks to an over eager challenge in our regular friendly against Northampton, a team, of course, close to my heart, though not so much after that challenge. I also had to name my first England squad, for a friendly against Cyprus. I guess the level of press criticism for each and every choice I made is what I can expect from now on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 Sunday August 12th 2018 The Community Shield Venue: Wembley Chelsea vs. Liverpool The traditional curtain raiser but for me a chance to introduce some new players against quality opposition and see how they do, to that end Lezcano starts in goal, Beer at right back. Crisetig and Ishikawa make their first official starts for us too. A very even first half, hard fought, not many in the way of chances. Lezcano did well in goal, nothing too difficult, as Crisetig, Lucas and Schweinsteiger were fighting like lions, not giving the Chelsea midfield any chance to think. Going forward we were best when Yarmolenko had the ball, he ran at the full back on regular occasion, but the full back was always close enough in attendance to spoil the final ball in. Half time, and 0-0, I told them to keep it up and made one change. Schweinsteiger looked tired so Drage came on in his place. The second half was a tale of contrasting fortunes. Lopez hit the post with a snapshot in the 49 minute. Chelsea scored with a snapshot from the edge of the box only three minutes later. They added another goal late on, but that gave the result a gloss that they didn’t really deserve. Final Score: Liverpool 0-2 Chelsea Scorers : Man of the Match: Lorenzo Crisetig Team: Lezcano, Beer, Nagatomo, Lagator, Ishikawa, Crisetig, Lucas, Schweinsteiger (Drage), Yarmolenko, Sterling, Lopez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 Wednesday August 15th 2018 International Friendly Venue: Wembley England vs. Cyprus No offence, but Cyprus are not the stiffest opposition we could have had to face in my fist match in charge. The Wembley crowd expected a goal-fest, and I hoped we could follow. We got off to a good start, Barkley getting the first goal of my reign as England manager with a diving header in only the second minute. A good start, but then things started to get frustrating. Baines smacked a free kick just outside the box onto the bar on 14 minutes, Rooney hit a post on 24. Cyprus had settled somewhat by this stage, and it wasn’t until the 41st minute that we added to the score, Rodwell playing a sublime ball into the box, and Rooney, who had pulled away from his marker, turned on the ball and planted it firmly in the corner. Rooney added a second in the first minute of the second half, a superb goal following a mazy run and powerful shot. He completed his hatrick in the 50th minute, firing home after a corner was cleared to the edge of the area. He added his fourth and our fifth only three minutes later, a powerful header this time from a Baines cross. Final Score: England 5-0 Cyprus Scorers : Barkley, Rooney 4 Man Of The Match: Wayne Rooney Team: Smithies, Dance, Baines, Jones, Smalling, Barkley, Cork, Rodwell, Wilshire, Rooney, Wellbeck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 Saturday August 18th 2018 Premier League Venue: Anfield Liverpool (N/A) vs. Queen’s Park Rangers (N/A ) First game of the season, is a home game against QPR. I opt for a more attacking formation than we’d shown at the Community Shield, and so that led to Paredes replacing Crisetig plus a debut for Romero. Lezcano gets another go in goal. The first half was one way traffic, but for all our efforts we could only show one goal for it by half time. The goal came on 16 minutes and it came direct from a free kick by debutant Paredes as he curled it over the top of the wall and just out of the keeper’s flying reach. Paredes was at the centre of most good things we did in the first period, but an in form keeper and some very narrow misses the score stayed at 1-0. I told them to keep it up in the second half and took of Lucas, who was looking pooped, with Drage. I hoped we could keep the dominance up. QPR got the equaliser only three minutes into the second period, a near-post header at a corner being the culprit here. But we were back in front on 53, Kjaer with a near post header from a Drage corner. It remained tense, hard work for long periods after that, Lezcano did well when called upon, but often QPR shot too early and wide. On 78 Paredes rode a tackle and then took the ball down the right, his cross across the face of goal was perfect, anyone of three Liverpool players could have headed it in, but in this case it was Enriquez who ran onto the header, planting the ball into the back of the net despite the QPR netminder getting a hand to it. We closed the game out from that point, not really threatening to extend our lead, but not looking like conceding either. The final score 3-1, enough to take us third in the first table behind Newcastle in second, victors over West Brom by 4 goals to one, and Spurs,owners of a 7-1 thrashing of new boys Burnley. It might well be a long season for them. Final Score: Liverpool 3-1 QPR League Position: 3rd Scorers : Paredes, Kjaer, Enriquez Man Of The Match: Leandro Paredes Team: Lezcano, Nagatomo, Yarmolenko, Kjaer, Lagator, Ishikawa, Lucas (Drage), Enriquez, Paredes, Romero, Lopez It still being August there was still some transfer activity going on. We added another young Argentinean to the squad, this one a central defender, the player in question is 18 year old Juan Carlos De Felippe bought for £3.2million from River Plate. I then stuck my neck out, selling Luis Suarez to Man City for £10.25 million. The reasons for doing so were numerous, first he’s not been the same player since his injury last season, second, his contract runs out in the summer, and at £130,000 per week isn’t one I’d want to renew, and third, over ten million for a 31 year old is good business in my book. I know the fans didn’t like it, but I have to be pragmatic. I just hope it works. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I'm rarely on here nowadays, but I always check in on this effort, cf2. Keep up the tremendous work, a great first season at Liverpool and here's hoping for a title challenge from your boys. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 Thanks for the kind words, Spav, always good to see you on here, so do pop back ! Saturday August 25th 2018 Premier League Venue: Turf Moor Burnley (20th) vs. Liverpool (3rd ) Burnley are bottom due to a 7-1 twonking at Spurs on the opening day of the season. They could either be that poor, or they could be looking to bounce back today. I decide on keeping the same side, and 5-3-2 formation, after the good performance against QPR When Burnley came out it was obvious they hoped to put the previous performance behind them and played very brightly in the opening exchanges, but they didn’t threaten our goal at all, and as time passed we came to be the ones on control. We took the lead on 24, Lopez, carrying a knock, took the ball on the right wing, ten yards inside the Burnley half, he took the ball, beat one challenge, took the ball into the box and rifled a shot inside the keeper’s near post from a narrow angle. Keeper at fault, but Lopez is on the board for the season. Just two minutes later Nagatomo, playing right wing back, went past his man, like a proper winger !, got to the byline, fired the ball across the face, where it was met by Lopez, who did well to get in front of his man to turn the ball in. That’s it about Lopez, start him off and he’ll just keep scoring. It was all Liverpool at this stage, Lopez narrowly missing a hatrick on 37 as his header from a Yarmolenko cross went narrowly wide. We added a third on 43, Lucas finding Nagatomo in the box, he found space for a low cross and this time it was Romero on hand to turn it in for his first goal for the club. Three up at half time, and cruising, I told them how happy I was with them, and most of them seemed to enjoy that. As I could have probably predicted, Burnley came out like someone had thrown teacups at them and that they didn’t want to let that person down. But Lezcano commanded his box and kept them at bay. We struggled to keep our passing game going at times but on the hour we did manage to retain the ball and Parades played Lopez into the box, and the young lad turned and smacked a shot, from the edge of the box that flew like an arrow into the bottom left hand corner, a superb hatrick. Lezcano was then called on to make two fabulous saves in quick succession in order to keep his clean sheet, this he did, with some style. It looks like the lad wants to make this position his own, and I have to admit, maybe it’s time. Thanks to the keeper we saw out the game, a comfortable 4-0 win, that due to Spurs and Newcastle not playing yet we were, for a short while at least, top of the table. Final Score: Burnley 0-4 Liverpool League Position: 1st Scorers : Lopez 3, Romero Man Of The Match: Alfredo Lopez Team: Lezcano, Nagatomo, Yarmolenko, Kjaer, Lagator, Ishikawa, Lucas (Drage), Enriquez, Paredes, Romero, Lopez It turns out Lopez’ knock was a twisted ankle (how he managed to run on it I don’t know), and he’ll be out for 3 to 4 weeks. Fortunately we have an international break coming up, so a little while before our next game. Transfer deadline day arrived and some more movement went on, Erick Torres was snapped up by Juventus for £8.25million. I responded by agreeing a couple of deals, one was for Bolton’s top scorer last season, Ian Finley, he’s only 21 and scored 16 goals in Bolton’s relegation season, that’s pretty impressive in my book. He cost £13 million spread over two years. The second player in was Leandro Salva,21, a £20.5million purchase from River Plate, he’s been a regular in the Argentinean U-21 side and has just been elevated to the senior side. Was there still time for another deal ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamillePunk Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Fantastic job winning the FA and Euro cups. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 Thanks Camille, much appreciated Friday August 31st 2018 European Super Cup Final Venue: Atleti Azzurri d’Italia, Bergamo Bayern Munich vs. Liverpool The traditional curtain raiser to the European Football season, is the match between the winners of the Champion’s League against the winners of the EURO Cup. A meaningless match with a chance of silverware, I think that’s the best way of describing it. Finley will sit on the bench, whilst Salva makes his first start, we’re very much underdogs for this one, so let’s go out and play some football. To be fair we did ok, at least until the ref awarded them a dodgy penalty in the 41st minute, up to then Lezcano had been performing admirably, but he had no chance with the spot kick. He conceded two more in three second half minutes, and that was the tie over. I brought Finley and Lebron on for their debuts in the second half, but I don’t think we tested the Bayern keeper at all in the match. Disappointing really. Final Score: Bayern Munich 3-0 Liverpool Scorers : Man Of The Match: Lucas Leiva Team: Lezcano, Nagatomo, Yarmolenko, Kjaer (Lebron 76), Lagator, Ishikawa, Lucas, Enriquez, Paredes, Romero, Salva (Finley 76) As it turns out we did have time to complete a deal, work permit and all, in the time remaining on the transfer window. The lad is Ramon Britez, 19, a £3.4million purchase from Independiente, he’s a left winger and a bit of depth in that position, he’s got a lot to learn yet though and may spend a bit of time in the Reserves Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 Friday September 7th 2018 International Friendly Venue: Wembley England vs. Australia We have a European Qualifier next week so there’s less room to experiment. Joe Hart returns in goal, but we give young Wolves left back Robbie Schiffman a go and I increase the value of the player I just bought by picking Ian Finley up front. I’d got some stick in the press for picking Finley over some of the more established forwards but on three minutes he ran from just inside the Aussie half, took the ball to the edge of the box and rifled a shot home from 20 yards, a pearler. From then on it was a standard Wembley friendly, we’d attack, our opponents would valiantly defend and eventually we’d get a second goal. This time it happened on 36 minutes, Huddlestone with a delightful ball finding Wilshire in acres of space in the box, he was only 10 yards out when he shot, keeper had no chance, two-nil. Half time and still 2-0. The lads had done well, not exceptionally so but easily well enough for the opponents on offer. I made one change giving Jamal Lascelles of Norwich a first full England cap in place of West Ham’s Martin Dance who had picked up a booking in the first half. Only 90 seconds into the second half and we were three goals up, Wilshire picking up a loose ball and crossing to find Barkley attacking at the far post, and turning the ball in past a flapping keeper. Rooney got a fourth on 77 minutes, a curling free kick from 25 yards, and we were cruising to victory. Australia got a couple back late on to make the score look respectable from their point of view, but this was an easy win. Final Score: England 4-2 Australia Scorers : Finley, Wilshire, Barkley, Rooney Man Of The Match: Jack Wilshire Team: Hart, Dance (Lascelles 45), Schiffman, Shawcross, Smalling, Barkley, Huddlestone (Ince 67), Rodwell, Wilshire, Rooney, Finley Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 Tuesday September 11th 2018 European Championship Qualifying Group H Venue: Wembley England vs. Estonia Right, a match that means something. Baines and Cork return, but Finley keeps his place. It took Ian Finley four and half minutes to get on the scoresheet this time, powering home a cross from the byline by Ross Barkley. Qualification was off to a flyer but Estonia were far from pushovers. They hit the post on 18, but this only served to wake us up a bit and we were two goals to the good on 20 minutes, Finley again, this time in the right place and the right time in a goalmouth melee, knocking the ball in from eleven or twelve yards, through a crowd of legs. On 25 it was three-nil as Shawcross controlled and turned in a free kick from deep by Jack Wilshire. Cork had a drive on 41 minutes acrobatically tipped over by the Estonia keeper, and so the scoreline remained 3-0 at half time. I told them how happy I was and sent them back out there. Rooney got a fourth goal just shy of the hour mark, swinging his leg through a Cork ball in to his feet. Ross Barkley was set up by Ian Finley for number 5 on 77 minutes. That was it for the scoring, a particularly straightforward win. In the other game Group H tonight Israel drew 1-1 with France, so we lie two points clear in the table after one game. Final Score: England 5-0 Estonia Scorers : Finley 2, Shawcross, Rooney, Barkley Man Of The Match: Ian Finley Team: Hart, Dance, Baines, Shawcross, Smalling, Barkley, Cork, Rodwell, Wilshire, Rooney, Finley Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfan2 Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 Saturday September 15th 2018 Premier League Venue: Stamford Bridge Chelsea (15th) vs. Liverpool (8th ) Not playing the previous set of games, combined with this being the live evening kick off this week, meant that we had been pushed from first to eighth by the time this match came around. And this was going to be one of our more testing challenges. Chelsea, the Champions, have had a poor start to the season losing two of three games do far, though these were against Man Utd and Spurs, so perhaps not the best form guide to go on. We choose a 4-1-2-2-1 formation with Salva up front on his own and Crisetig playing just in front of the back four. Chelsea set up in a 3-5-2 formation with a flat five across the middle, I asked my guys to exploit the flanks. I also asked them to defend. Points at Stamford Bridge for us have, historically been rarer than rocking horse poo, so we’d be going some if got anything out of this game. Chelsea were at us from the off , but Lezcano in goal was in sublime form, and the defence was generally not as foolish as usual in trying to beat players in their own half. Throughout the course of the match our percentage of shots on target to the ones off was exactly the same as Chelsea’s, at 50%, but whilst we had two shots in total (one on target obviously), they had 20 (10 on target), so we had some wayward shooting to thank as well. But we prevented them from scoring and Salva was unlucky to see his goalward bound header saved by their keeper, so goalless it finished, but it’s a point at Stamford Bridge, let’s have a parade. Final Score: Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool League Position: 3rd Scorers : Man Of The Match: Sime Lagator Team: Lezcano, Beer, Nagatomo, Kjaer, Lagator, Crisetig, Lucas, Enriquez, Sterling, Yarmolenko, Salva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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