Mandy42 Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 August 2022 Game Week 5 We picked up our 1st big win last week, could we build on it in order to repair the dropped points against Norwich and Burnley? We play Everton who sit one spot below us in 9th. Everton also sit one spot below us in the commercial income table, we have a way to go, but are hopefully starting to bridge the gap to the rest of the top 6. Spurs and Norwich drop points against other top 6 teams. Chelsea appear to be trying to be this seasons Liverpool This game was a turning point for me for a number of reasons. We definitely deserved the 3 points, however we made hard work of it. When Maddison cut inside from his inverted winger position on the left, drove into the area and fired in our opener we looked the business, and my black mood at our recent performances began to lift. Then we conceded from a poorly cleared ball only 6 minutes later, Maddison limped off before halftime with a twisted knee, and Edson Alvarez gave away a penalty. Black mood is back. Sidnei Tavares scored his 1st goal for us before we came in at halftime, Wolf and Mount had the ball on the edge of the Everton area. The defenders were so focused on those two that when the ball ran free after a challenge. Sidnei stole in to strike. To fall behind a 2nd time from a back post header was infuriating. I had been demanding more all game and I continued. We were unlucky to have a goal ruled out for offside for Yari, (he was offside but the movement and ball through were sublime) Tommy Tavares had to be helped off to be replaced by James Justin. I am wondering if the compressed schedule due to the world cup, and the nations league at the end of last season is why we are getting more injuries now. I said this game was a turning point for me, mainly due to being reminded of this. We almost average 2 goals a game scored over this run, only conceding 5, 3 of which came in the last game. Am I frustrated about the draws, yes. However I made the decision to play a more youth focused team and thus can't expect too much too soon. Vinicius is starting to make a habit of scoring, hopefully he gets injured soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 August 2022 Third Round Am going to take a leaf out of @andychar's book and not take this competition seriously, and therefore win it. No in all seriousness, the aim has to be the league, in order to give me the best chance of staying on course to compete with the challenge. It was a 2nd string team and a second string performance, we were never really in any danger, just lacked the cutting edge to make it more conclusive Achraf Bennani made his debut for the club. Tom Clarke, Luke Thomas, Oli Ewing and the goal scorer Harvey Barnes are all academy products. We play Huddersfield next in the league 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andychar Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 9 hours ago, Mandy42 said: August 2022 Third Round Am going to take a leaf out of @andychar's book and not take this competition seriously, and therefore win it. No in all seriousness, the aim has to be the league, in order to give me the best chance of staying on course to compete with the challenge. It was a 2nd string team and a second string performance, we were never really in any danger, just lacked the cutting edge to make it more conclusive Achraf Bennani made his debut for the club. Tom Clarke, Luke Thomas, Oli Ewing and the goal scorer Harvey Barnes are all academy products. We play Huddersfield next in the league It’s the best way to go. Then when you get beat you can pull the “I didn’t care anyway” despite the fact you screamed at the screen throughout the entire game. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 August 2022 Game Week 6 Last game before the international break, we host Huddersfield for the 2nd time. Was just as straight forward playing the 1st team. Though both goals came from set pieces rather than open play. Mason's free kick was enough to get 3rd place in the goal of the month comp. I didn't watch the other 2 goals as I didn't want to scream at the judges for blatantly not giving us the award. In the other games: Damn you Vinicius But at least City drop points for the 1st time. I want to know what Forshaw did to get (what I presume was) a straight red in the 1st minute. Whatever it was Maric for stoke wanted a piece of it as well! Don't think Everton have won a Merseyside derby in this save. Bournemouth stay in the top 6 with this win. Man Utd look good value for the money they spend every transfer window! The Premier League spent more than the other top 4 leagues combined, and scarily the Championship comes in, in 5th place. Speaking of value for money: City are out of the Carabao on penalties, guess that's what happens when you spend all your money on a single Brazilian, and then don't play him. We get struggling Southampton in the next round, kids will play again. Groups have been drawn, we are still a 4th seed despite reaching the Semi Final last season, and finishing one place higher in the league. Chelsea snuck in through the back door by winning the Europa League, which means we have 5 teams in the competition this season. It has been labelled a tough group, but I am quite happy with it. Due to 4 other English teams being in the hat, there were limited places I could have slotted in. I could have had Barcelona and Bayern in group A Or PSG and Porto in Group H That means September looks like this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 Breaking NEWS Eek! Amit Bhatia was the guy who said he would replace me if he got the job. While at the time I made some flippant comment about maybe that is the way the save should end, I have since calmed down from my tantrum about the way we were playing. Mainly because I slapped myself around and realised we were (at the time) 8 games unbeaten and we were effective even if we weren't playing "Champagne football" So yea, don't sack me! These are the club finances just before the take over. So we are in a good place! Still no confirmation that I will be staying, I mean he's replaced directors, I guess he would have shipped me out sooner rather than later? He's made promises about a new stadium which is what the club needs moving forward in order to close the gap between us and the bigger teams above us. That message is the 1st news I heard about these new signings. Not convinced I need anymore midfielders, which sounds just a little ironic even to me. The squad feels we are short of depth at centre back, but he didn't do anything about that. This signing I understand, he's looked at the two young goalkeepers we have and seen an instant improvement at the position. Then a days later. I had no say in any part of the process. I hope this isn't the way it is going to be from now on. I am still waiting for an update on the clubs vision going forward (and if I am actually part of that vision) I have an A in my last monthly review regarding player support which might be why I am still here. We will see. I am struggling with how I feel about this, Arnie "Get to the Choppa" Maier pretty much ends the Leicester career of Pedro Chirivella. Then there is Kieran Polley in goal.... There is a sense of outrage that I picked those players, I put the effort in to work out who I wanted and went and got them. On the other side, the new Chairman has just dropped nearly 100M to improve the squad, and must be intending on putting money in as our transfer budget is currently only 40M. Plus only a couple of posts ago I was indicating I needed to be less attached to my players. Polley can go out on loan to fulfil his potential, and Pedro was a cheap buy who has peaked in terms of his ability and will bring in a profit. I will keep looking for the positives until there isn't one, as long as he doesn't sack me, or demand I play possession football! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 (edited) September 2022 Game Week 7 Our 2nd big test of the season, as we go away to Man City, we also have the small issue of Benfica away 3 days later. Once more the Segundo Volante variation of the Shark Tank makes an appearance our aim is to stifle and frustrate them and hope to get something on the break. Our 1st loss of the season. Also learned that City are yet to concede this season! They usually score 3-4 goals a game, so from that point of view, a powerful Dembele drive that Polley couldn't quite keep out isn't that bad. At the other end, we only had 4 attempts, 3 of them on target, and if it had't been for 3 smart saves from Ederson we would have gotten something from the game. So yes we lost, but I can take heart from that performance. Still not exactly value for money spent. Cardiff are definitely shipping goals! Bournemouth keep up the pace in the top 6 Think this is our lowest league position in some time, but we are definitely just off the back of the front group, not just off the front of the chasers. It's an upgrade which is good, yet it's yet another thing that has just been done without my input. Edited April 20, 2020 by Mandy42 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 September 2022 2nd year in a row we have made it here, I don't think we can recreate our Semi Final heroics again this season. That said I didn't think we would do that last season! At this point I see the Champions League as a much needed money pot, but with the new takeover I don't know if I even need that! Money is money, more can't hurt! Also there is the slight added pressure of getting to the 1st knock out round (as an old board expectation) dunno what the new board want. However, both signings due in January are looking forward to playing in the Champions League with us, so we best still be in it! Benfica away, we left points on the pitch in the opening games of last years campaign Napoli have been touted as the hardest opponent in our group, which would put Shakhtar's result in the shock column. We did better than Man Utd, and at least we aren't Arsenal (they are in the Europa) Kasper isn't doing that well at Zenit it seems. There was only once that I felt we looked in danger of being pegged back to level, but Polley saved well at his near post. Otherwise it was the usual story, they dominated possession, we dominated the chances. Tommy Tavares damaged his groin in the game against his former club and will be out for 3-4 weeks. I didn't see it, but I imagine it was due to him thrusting in celebration after our goal, to shut the jeering crowd up. Shakhtar at home is our next Champions League game. We could take control of the group! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 (edited) September 2022 Game Week 8 @Nobby_McDonald let me know your feelings on the below post After the glamour of Spain midweek we now have the joys of Stoke, to be fair it was raining in Spain, so I don't think I will be able to tell the difference. In the early game, Bournemouth's early season momentum can't see them past Liverpool Now! before we kick off I nearly spit my drink out in the tunnel when I am asked this: It seems you really can make stats say anything you like! So there are long throws AND THEN THERE ARE LONG THROWS Football Manager 2020 2020-04-20 11-47-28_Trim_Trim.mp4 You thought it was a Stoke throw didn't you! Oli Ewing making his 1st Premier League start I only noticed Jerome Boateng and Billy Gilmour in the Stoke lineup when they failed to link up just before halftime and Mason Mount capitalised. 3 up at halftime I introduced Tom Clarke and Achraf Bennani. I also only just noticed that Sidnei Tavares is an academy product, did not realise that, what with him being Portuguese and all! In the late game Utd kept on producing that 230M transfer spend quality. On Sunday Least we Aren't Arsenal The title race looks like it might be closer this season, only problem is we are being gaped behind. Edited April 20, 2020 by Mandy42 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 September 2022 Game Week 2 Shakhtar, who shocked Napoli at home, come to the King Power. It's #Hammertime Or not... Their keeper earned a player of the match performance as we carved out 7 clear chances. At one point I thought Vinicius #OriginalVinicius had saved us by holding Napoli to a draw However the Golem struck and the group closes up again. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 September 2022 Game Week 9 For once our fixtures between our Champions League group games have been kind to us (at least on paper) Two of the newly promoted clubs to allow us to rotate and stay competitive in both competitions. Though, there are no easy games in the Premier League Not unless you are playing against 10 men! 3rd time this season Cardiff have seen red. It seems the double jeopardy rule of having a player sent off and conceding a penalty doesn't apply to 2nd yellow cards. Jairo Riedewald received his for a hand ball from a corner. Josh Murphy's goal was nothing short of fabulous. From our corner he broke from the edge of his own box, I am putting our defence parting like Sharon Stone legs down to Murphy's pace. He then unleashes a rocket from outside the area that Polley gets a hand to, but can't keep out. In the other games: Man City blink 1st in the title race. Chelsea come within 3 minutes of dropping points to West Brom, all you need to do is change Hudson-Odoi's 1st initial to a "U" to see what I think of that. Though there is another 4 letter word using their 1st initials if you just swap in an O.... After back to back defeats against established top 6 teams Bournemouth bow out for now. Early days, still very tight, with one win separating 4th from 9th Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 September 2022 Game Week 3 Amazingly, in the press conference it came across as though Napoli were the strongest team in the group, however come match day 3 we are favourites at home. I don't have the confidence to whip out the Hammer, not after the Shakhtar keeper made a mockery of it! Shakhtar comeback to stay top of the group. Bit miffed, their 2nd goal seemed a clear foul! Corner comes in, and their player, Mason Mount and the ball all end up in the back of the net, it appeared as though he just bundled Mason in.... Not happy to be 2 down at home. The Wolf claws us back into the tie, and we had time to win it, but couldn't get over the line. Good news is we are still on course to progress, bad news is we have played 2 of our 3 home games. The remaining 3 ties are likely to be trickier Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 October 2022 Game Week 10 1st week of October and: My easy games between European games comes to an abrupt end this month. 1st review from the new board, they are eager to see how I do in the transfer market... Liverpool go top Chelsea not far behind. My mood got better the longer this game went on. I was livid when we were pegged back immediately, in a half that Bournemouth had offered nothing! But when James Maddison, neatly controlled a cross field ball and cut in from the left wing, hitting the ball so hard it's a good job it went in and didn't mortally wound a ball boy. I felt my anger in that strike, I felt we were on the same page. Rubens more cultured low drive a few minutes later placated me further and I am, for now, content. Hopefully those media jackals will stop asking me about Callum Wilson and the fact he has scored 4 goals against us (now) in 6 games. Ehm... it's a team game, Bournemouth have only won 1 of those games. Suck it Howe That win put us above City into 3rd They were above us on goal difference with just a draw. But they left it late to increase that advantage. Meanwhile, in the capital #LondonSundays is officially trending on twitter Stop playing in the Europa League and you wont have to toss a coin between church and true religion 5 points back to outside the European places. Hopefully we can continue the momentum, but this month is gonna be a killer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 8 hours ago, Mandy42 said: September 2022 Game Week 8 @Nobby_McDonald let me know your feelings on the below post After the glamour of Spain midweek we now have the joys of Stoke, to be fair it was raining in Spain, so I don't think I will be able to tell the difference. In the early game, Bournemouth's early season momentum can't see them past Liverpool Now! before we kick off I nearly spit my drink out in the tunnel when I am asked this: It seems you really can make stats say anything you like! So there are long throws AND THEN THERE ARE LONG THROWS Football Manager 2020 2020-04-20 11-47-28_Trim_Trim.mp4 8.12 MB · 0 downloads You thought it was a Stoke throw didn't you! Oli Ewing making his 1st Premier League start I only noticed Jerome Boateng and Billy Gilmour in the Stoke lineup when they failed to link up just before halftime and Mason Mount capitalised. 3 up at halftime I introduced Tom Clarke and Achraf Bennani. I also only just noticed that Sidnei Tavares is an academy product, did not realise that, what with him being Portuguese and all! Spain and Stoke have a couple of things in common. Both are five letters and start in S. As for the long throw... Rory Delap has long retired. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 1 minute ago, Nobby_McDonald said: Spain and Stoke have a couple of things in common. Both are five letters and start in S. As for the long throw... Rory Delap has long retired. what about Stoke being top of the possession tables? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 What do you expect from a quality team? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 October 2022 4th Round We are still not caring about this. And it seems to be working! No surprises in the other games Only non Premier League team left in the competition! I should have applied this treat em mean to keep em keen approach to cups years ago! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 (edited) October 2022 Arsenal limp through on penalties. It wasn't a full strength team, but it should have had enough quality to see off Reading without needing penalties. Game Week 11 Home against Liverpool, last season we beat them 2-1, however at Anfield they smashed us 5-0, no guesses which game I'd rather have a repeat of! Both teams left it late, yet another ex Chelsea player coming back to bite them. (Though he never actually made a senior appearance for the club) For once we were the 1st game of the day. Figured being at home, we would break out the Hammer, no point changing the way we would play in order to contain them. Once we start fearing them enough to compromise how we want to play, they have already won. It wasn't a classic, though from our point of view the stats line is pretty much standard. 39% possession, same number of shots on target as them. The interesting thing is, into the 2nd half as they threw their dummy out of the pram they ended up getting 5 yellow cards and really breaking the game up. Just hope we can avoid the 5-0 spanking later in the season! Man Utd = VALUE FOR MONEY! Arsenal sneak past relegation zone Stoke. We stay in touch, though I still don't feel we are good enough to mount a sustained challenge against the teams above us. Edited April 22, 2020 by Mandy42 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 October 2022 Game Week 4 Into the 2nd half of the group, we still have a chance to bring home top spot, or technically come home with nothing. Nobody seems to want to group by the balls and give it a good decisive squeeze. Now, many times I have indicated on this thread that I don't like to lose, but I'm not greedy. I took a look at the table before we kicked off, and came to the stunning revelation that if I don't lose in Naples, then Napoli can't move above me. For this week at least. Thus, we unpacked the PragmaTank, and went to work. Very happy with a point away from home. Could very easily have been more. Amusingly, this fixture brings out the best of Kieran Polley. He knows, come January the player in the Napoli goal is going to arrive and take his spot. Shakhtar can't get the job done at home Everything still to play for, however now, we have traversed the hardest away game in the group unscathed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 October 2022 Game Week 12 So after the midweek performance against Napoli, we now play Chelsea at the Bridge, not the ideal run of fixtures but oh well. If I wasn't thinking about parking the tank, the info that Chelsea are on a 14 match unbeaten run seals the deal. That is both Man City and Chelsea who we have lost to by only a single goal. It is definitely progress, though yes I would much rather not drop points. Cardiff don't like playing with 11 men. It isn't an insurmountable gap above us, but having dropped points to 2 of the 3 teams above us, we have our work cut out. Seems there truly is no such thing as a winter break, even for the World Cup Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 October 2022 Game Week 5 I don't know whether it's the increased expectation of getting into the 1st knock out round. Or the spending going on in the Premier League, and the potential gulf that is creating between us and the bigger clubs. But I have adapted the way I play the bigger teams. Yes last season we had the Shark Tank and we would park it, but not in all cases, and not always with the players picked specifically to maximise it's effect. This season, especially in the Champions League, my plan has been to take a draw in the "hard" games, IE away in Napoli last week. Now we are at home to bottom side Benfica, it's time for the Hammer, and none of that mallets mallet rubbish with Odegaard playing as an advanced playmaker, no it's #FULLHAMMERTIME. A win sees us through to the knockout round! Seeing their formation just before kick off I thought, "Ooooo this could either go really well, or really badly." The lined up in a 3-4-3, meaning we were matched up 1 on 1 their front line against our back line. Polley had his first save to make just after the minute mark, as some slick Benfica passing from a throw in allows a rather tame shot from outside the area. Benfica again on 3 minutes, this time the throw in is in their own half, however a lovely turn from their wingback gets them down the right wing. We clear the initial cross, but it comes straight back. A diving block from Nathan Wood stops the shot from troubling Polley, and the ball bounces out for Hannes Wolf to bring clear. 6 minutes, and we have a throw in near the corner flag on the right, it's thrown long, but cleared. We regain possession and as the Benfica defence rush out. Nathan Wood plays a peach of a ball back in. Yari Verschaeren controls it and is into the box, 1 on 1 with the keeper, but a good saves puts it out for a corner. End to end stuff as from the resulting corner, they clear it, and rush up the pitch, we block their cross and while they keep the ball, we have enough bodies back to snuff out any danger. We have a throw in just by our own area, they are pushed up tight trying to win the ball back. We clear it long, up towards half way, we look like we are going to give possession back. Nuno Tavares wins a towering header down for Yari, and he is off, charging into their half. He looks up and delivers a ball out wide to the right wing for Tommy Tavares. Tommy crosses, Nuno is at the back post but his volley is straight into the hands of the keeper. I check my watch, feels like we have been playing forever, we haven't even played 10 minutes! The players must have read my mind, the game settles down, both teams getting a breather. Just before the half hour we have a free kick just inside our half. Edson Alvarez looks up and delivers a long ball for Tommy on the right wing. He's free and into the area, but he gets his shot wrong and it wanders harmlessly wide of the far post. OH MY WORD! From the resulting goal kick, they smartly move the ball up field, we clear it twice by cannot make it stick in midfield, finally they work an overlap on the left and are into the box. Rafa shoots, Polley is beaten, but it hits the inside of the left post, and runs across the open goal mouth, before we put it out for a corner. The frantic pace is back as from their corner, Nathan Wood clears the box with a commanding header. They look to play it back in but Yari steals it. He gives it to Wolf, who returns it straight back, and Yari is off, it takes a cynical challenge from behind to halt his charge, deep inside their half. IT'S IN! Just before the half hour mark, Maddison, from the resulting free kick, delivers the ball deep, Mount is round the back and it's a tap in at the back post. But no..... Flag is up, VAR confirms it is offside. 33 minutes and a long Benfica ball is wild and Alvarez has no problem knocking it back to Polley, who lays a controlled lob into the semi circle to Neves. Neves feeds Tommy on the right, and he surges forward, eager to make an impact against his former club. He wins a corner. From the corner it takes two last ditch blocks to stop us taking the lead, but the last block bounces clear and Rafa is away, down the left wing in acres of space. He gets to the penalty area and James Maddison nips in and wins the ball back. He lays it up for Wolf just inside our half. Wolf beats an man to the ball, the beats another with pace down the touchline. He is into their half, he cuts inside a 3rd Benfica defender who cannot turn and keep up in time. He's into the area, the final defender slides in, their keeper hurls himself forward He calmly slots the ball between the gap between them! Closing in on halftime and we have a goal kick, we go short, to then go long down the left touchline to Nuno. He gets well forward but then loses possession and Benfica come forward. A long ball up and Diaz and Wood think the other is coming for it. It bounces and their striker is onto it. He gets into the penalty area, and both of our defenders wanting to make amends, crowd him out and we put the ball out for a throw. From that throw in they work it forward and who else but Rafa, cuts inside and hits a stinging drive from just outside the area. Polley turns it over the bar. From the corner they try keep the pressure on, but Diaz hooks it clear and we get to halftime. The 2nd half starts in the same fashion, Benfica kick off and come forward, we steal the ball on the edge of the area and Wolf gets all the way into their box before they win the ball back. They clear down their left, we recover, and work the ball over to our left, where Yari is through, only for his shot to be blocked and cleared. 50 minutes played, the end to end back and forth continues, both teams goalkeeper happy to receive it to feet. Both teams defenders happy to play it between themselves to invite the press, then play it forward into the space behind. Benfica get it over our defence and a strike from the edge of the box is safely into the hands of Polley Throw in, 56 minutes, just outside their box. Nuno throws it short for Neves, who cushions it straight back to him. Nuno puts the ball in low across the box, their are 8 Benfica players in the area, but the ball misses all of them. James Maddison hits a soft Volley at the back post. Breathing room! We are turning the screw now! Moments after we scored we have a corner, the 1st ball is cleared, but Wolf on the edge of the box shoots, the keeper can only palm it away for another corner. That corner they clear for a throw in on the far side. The throw in is cleared at the near post, but we recycle the ball and Maddison is free on the right. He shoots from outside the box, the keeper is beaten, but it clips the outside of the post and goes wide. Still all us, 10 minutes after we scored, they hack clear a free kick. We send it all the way back to Polley. Three passes later and Mount is into the area on the left, he cuts the ball back, Yari's shot hits a defender, the rebound rolls to Youri Tielemans, who is on for Wolf. But his effort is straight at the keeper. They are reeling, they can't get out of their own half, as we win the ball back on the halfway line. Youri is free on the right again, his shot is parried by the keeper back into the penalty area. Maddison has it stolen off his toes, what would have been a tap in for his 2nd. They finally get their foot on the ball and get a few minutes of possession, Rafa once more causes a problem on the left, cutting inside and curling a shot that Polley can see all the way and gets his hands on it. Benfica are not done though, they have a throw in, on the edge of our box, 75 minutes played, Rafa takes it, gets the ball back and then delivers it to the back post. Raul de Tomas is their with a free header, which Polley can't keep out! PHEW, but the flag is up, chalked off, just like ours in the 1st half. From the resulting free kick we play it short. Wood gives it to Mount, and he charges to the halfway line, he back heels it for Neves, who gives it back to Wood. Who: Football Manager 2020 2020-04-23 22-16-09_Trim.mp4 Wood is 20, and still not convinced he is going to be a decent Libero, I beg to differ. I should really be thinking about Arsenal in 5 days time, but we are playing too well and I am enjoying this too much. Into the last 10 minutes and Youri has another shot straight at the keeper. Maddison, once more escapes round the back on the right and has an across the keeper shot pushed wide for a corner. 2 minutes to play and a sloppy clearance by Polley gives them the ball back inside our half. They feed it into the area and the shot is tame and into his gloves. 2 minutes to play, they are 3-0 down, and they have 8 players in our area for that attack! Madness! 30 seconds of normal time, and they charge up field having won the ball back from our throw in. The come the length of the field and centre the ball from the right, it's on the edge of the area and we charge down the shot. They have 7 players around our box, and the charged down shot rolls to Maddison. He releases Youri who charges into the open space in front of him. Over the halfway line. He beats a defender for pace and smashes the ball home from about the penalty spot. Probably the best we have played, both going forward and mopping up and keeping the pressure on at the back. Napoli don't do us any favours in the late game. We qualify, our last group game against Shakhtar will determine if we win the group or not. We could do with topping the group in order to avoid some of the bigger teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 October 2022 Game Week 13 We round out October away at the Emirates, smack bang in the middle of two decisive Champions League games I was not aiming to set the world on fire. Only fire at Old Trafford is the one they are dying in! Norwich quietly and steadily move into a European place. I was waiting for the match preview on our game, but then I remembered #LondonSundays A point away after a hard month is more than satisfactory. However Sees us drop to 6th as that Spurs win lifts them above us. Speaking of hard months. 4 competitive fixtures in 8 weeks, what with Qatar messing up Christmas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 (edited) November 2022 Game Week 6 Last game in the group, only game in November, very glad we get it out of the way before people get injured at the World Cup! Or not! Though on the bright side, I don't think we will play a competitive game in that time! 1st review from the new board, still no updated vision. They still want to see how I do in the transfer market, ehm you spent more than the money I have available for transfers... And you are not happy I drew with Napoli at home, but happy we drew with them away... Not happy we drew with Shakhtar, but happy we drew with Arsenal.... Anyway, last game of the group, winner wins the group. Early goal sees us through, though the Wolf limped off with an injury 3 minutes after we scored! Benfica beat Napoli 2-0 in the other game, though I hope for their sake Napoli fielded a weaker team as they had no chance of changing their position. Having seen the word "Gyazo" on more and more screenshots I figured I would go take a look. I am still working out how best to use it, but intend to be linking goals and other interesting highlights. So here is the virgin post! Edited April 24, 2020 by Mandy42 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 December 2022 Winter Break More of an enforced winter break due to the Qatar World Cup Which as you can see, with no points and a -9 goal difference, it was well worth messing up the rest of the worlds football calendar and going to play it there. Spain, Portugal, Holland and England made the Semi Finals 56 years of hurt later, a penalties win against Portugal in the Semis and a 1-0 Final win against Spain. Meanwhile, at home we played in the "Friendly" Cup, which turned out to be anything but friendly. We lost to Reims in the final, after we had a player sent off, and they scored a goal while we had a player off the pitch for treatment. That took the game to penalties and we lost. That was followed by a completely pointless friendly, in which I had hardly any players fit (after the Friendly Cup and the World Cup) so I played basically an U18 team. In other news, the good: the bad: and the down right ugly: Great money wasted on facilities! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 December 2022 Game Week 14 It's the 21st of December, and there are still 3 competitive games to be played this year. 1st is Wolves at home. City look likely to make the top spot their own for Christmas Spurs take points off Chelsea to close the gap at the top. Very happy with the performance, a clean sheet would have been perfect, but we never looked in trouble. Hannes Wolf's goal was the pick of the afternoon Liverpool and Arsenal have games in hand but we are in the mix coming to the end of the year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 December 2022 Game Week 15 Boxing Day, Away to West Brom, one of the few times where we get the early kick off: Simply not good enough, the Euphoria at being 1 up after 1 minute played quickly dissipated to be replaced by annoyance and frustration. At 3-2 down we conceded a penalty as well, which Polley saved. I'm not even happy we escaped with a point, while we don't have the spending power of the top teams, we have spent (in my opinion) more than enough money and definitely possess enough quality to see off West Brom Arsenal go above us., While neither Chelsea or City can pull away from Liverpool fully Until on Sunday, Liverpool fail to beat Burnley Could find myself in 6th once all the games are played. With increasing gaps above us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 December 2022 3rd Round 31st of December, feels strange playing the FA Cup this month instead of January, yeah thanks again Qatar.... We have Man City in the 3rd Round, so I don't see us using the FA Cup jpeg above much this season. Which is a shame as the board want us in the Quarter Final. But before we get to kick off: We have the 3rd best North American player of the year, apparently. Must admit I was rather deflated after the West Brom result and thought we would get rolled over. I deployed the Tank barrier and ended up going to penalties having had only 39% possession. Guess what goes around comes around, as the amount they have spent on their squad in comparison to us is simply immense. Though it is us that go into the hat for the 4th Round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 January 2023 Game Week 16 Having played on New Years Eve in the FA Cup we got a week off until we played away at Watford, which meant the other teams with games in hand would play before us. Man Utd help keep Spurs in striking distance of us. Liverpool try to get back to the top of the table. No Idea why I put the Villa game on the bottom. Having beaten City on penalties (although the game crashed and I had to replay that game, we ended up winning 2-1 in extra time instead) We now go into the 4th round: I obviously care too much about this competition, no easy draw here! They fill in the unknown slot, so January looks like a decent opportunity to pick up some much needed points! Which might be why for the 1st time in this save I have done the following: New board, new vision, well that is part of the reason. The other is, that if I am to keep the challenge on track I need to win my 1st Premier League within the next 4 seasons (including the current one) Thus, I need to get the players and rest of the club on board with us going for it all. As so far, the players have been unhappy at anything beyond a top half finish! To back up that change in ambition I went out and splashed some cash (well the Chairman did 1st) Is one for the future. Is the Chairman's 1st buy, he will come in and play at the base of the midfield 5, and Pedro Chirivella has made way for him (on loan to Arsenal with an optional 24M buy clause at the end of the season) Chairman buy number 2. Kieran Polley will go out on loan to try and keep his chances of reaching his potential (as has it within him to be the better keeper) Some Chinese team came in for Caglar and offered 19M with add ons for the next two years, so I went out and got a replacement straight away. Harvey White, comes in at a position that needed strengthening, he will play at Left Wing back, and Nuno Tavares is likely to leave at the end of the season. As he has realised his potential and not likely to improve anymore. Away to Watford it took us time to break them down. Felt it could have been one of those games as Maddison missed a penalty after 18 minutes. I don't think he will take anymore as he has missed 4 now spanning 2 seasons. A clean sheet, and Arne "Get to the Choppa" Maier scores on his debut, cracking! Arsenal only drawing to Wolves is a good result, though they still have a game in hand. City drawing with Southampton keeps them in touch Bournemouth taking points off Spurs is massive! And not just for us. The Man Utd game later in the month is massive to hopefully give us some breathing room, or at least keep them at arms length. Annoying I picked the tightest year to up the clubs expectations! Carabao kids cup next Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 January 2023 Quarter Final Home against Oxford is probably the nicest draw we could get ever in this competition. The kids will get another run out. If we avoid the banana skin, that only leaves Premier League opposition, then it might be a case of deciding whether we want to give it our best trying to win it! Seen as we need to get into the habit of going long in competitions, multiple competitions and eventually winning competitions. As there are 27 trophies to win to complete this challenge! But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we need to beat Oxford. Well that was straight forward. I toyed with sticking with Kieran Polley in goal, but figured that Alex Meret needed maximum game time to bed in behind his defenders. Neither White nor Ampadu could play as they were both cuptied. Was very pleasing to see 3 academy products on the score sheet (answers on a postcard if you can remember which 3 of the 4 they are!) I am hopeful with the right pathway two of them have a chance of making big things happen for us. Speaking of big things: Play time is over children, the hard work starts now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 (edited) January 2023 Game Week 17 So... after the relative ease of Oxford, we now have Man Utd in the league, followed by: Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Semi Final, followed by Arsenal in the FA Cup 4th Round. I fear something has to give. Something gave in Manchester already this weekend, as Friday night saw City draw their 3rd game in a row. Boom! Strange, that during the Oxford game I was thinking, when are we going to transition to a team that does this on a more regular basis, and by that I mean score 3/4/5 goals. We have spent the money, we have the quality, but I must admit that I have been underwhelmed with the amount they have actually delivered. Don't get me wrong, I have no issue with the results we are getting and how we are performing in the Premier League, but hand ringing wins by 1 goal against lesser teams is frustrating. Especially when the other teams around me in the league are smashing the same teams with high scores. We have only scored 5 goals in the Premier League 3 times in my tenure, and none of those with a clean sheet. I still feel we do better against the bigger teams, due to them feeling they can get a result against us, thus the game being more open. Maybe it something to do with my mental approach to the game, I felt today was a good day to go after Utd, they had just been knocked out of the Carabao (on penalties) by Liverpool just 3 days earlier, and we were the home team. If there was ever a time for #Hammertime. Plus I wanted to test Alex Meret, it's nothing personal, but I didn't scout him, he wasn't even on my radar until the chairman signed him, and then I was more focused on keeping my job. Since he came to the club he has kept 2 clean sheets in 2 games, but those games were against Watford and Oxford, Utd would pose a bigger test, or at least I thought they would. I did however make a change to the Hammer before we kicked off, I changed our high defensive line to standard, as I didn't wish to provide more space than necessary for a team with Utd's quality and pace, to exploit on the counter. The 1st defensive problem came for them though, with Harry Maguire having to be carried off after just 12 minutes, when he tried to tackle Tommy Tavares. Would they have fared any better if he hadn't been injured? James Maddison opened the scoring with this effort early on. However while we played well (de Gea made 13 saves in the game) we had 26 attempts, 16 on target. Utd had 15 attempts, but only 4 on target. It took us until late in the 2nd half for us to increase our lead, with this Youri lunge. And finally to bed in the last 10 minutes with two set pieces goals from Ethan Ampadu and Edson Alvarez respectively. Speaking of Ampadu, not only did he score on his debut, but his overall display was impressive, he was always our out ball when playing out from the back, and Utd struggled to press us as a result. I am putting this down to Ethan's positioning and passing of 16, and expect this to only improve with time as he develops a partnership with his fellow defenders. Elsewhere there were no problems, though Arsenal had to leave it till late to come back from 2 down to take all 3 points. On #LondonSunday: Chelsea were battered away to Wolves. Which sees them drop to 3rd and puts them within striking distance. Arsenal can still bump us down if they win their game in hand Edited May 13, 2020 by Mandy42 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 January 2023 Semi Final Didn't these used to be 2 legged affairs? Or am I making that up? Either way, we face Liverpool, at Old Trafford, which is sweetly cruel in it's own right. As much as I want to win trophies, I had already met expectations in this competition, and we had the FA Cup against Arsenal up next. Thus I didn't field a full strength 1st team. We had 12 minutes of dominance in the 1st half, they had 6 minutes in the 2nd. Otherwise it was an even game. They had a pretty full strength team. Harvey Elliott, the villain of the piece is one of their wonderklids and he came on late in the half for Mo Salah. Not the best move there Jurgen! Liverpool had not conceded in nearly 9 and a half games! We will play Spurs in the final, for the chance at our 2nd piece of silverware in 4 years. Meanwhile a whole host of games were played in the Premier League. However the only result of consequence was the City result. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 January 2023 4th Round Been a heck of a week, three big clubs back to back across three separate competitions. Arsenal being the last game, and at the moment the most important competition (as I am above expectation in both of the others) Balls.... While I am annoyed that we went out, we played well, or as well as they did, it was a very even game, they took their guilt edged chance and we didn't. Only thing left now is to cross my fingers and hope the board doesn't have a fit at us missing out on where they wanted us in this competition. Two league games to finish off the month. Looking to bounce back Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 January 2023 Game Week 18 Just what we need after the last 3 games, is a nice easy away trip to bottom placed Cardiff. Or at least, that's the theory, in practice I always get twitchy when we are declared "easy winners" before the game has even started. Arsenal have a game in hand over us, but are only 2 points behind, so them playing in the early game puts us into 5th before we even kick off. Though only just! Bailey saving their bacon in the 90th minute. Very happy with the result and the performance, they had 1 shot all game, and it wasn't even on target. Playing as a back 4, Nathan Wood and Ethan Ampadu were usually the only outfield players in our half, and then only just. Yet with good pressure in front of them, they handled every punt, hopeful long ball and clearance that Cardiff produced, simply batting it down to another player in a blue shirt. Norwich keep displaying why they are in contention for European football next year. This is a fantastic point for Liverpool, as they still have 2 games in hand over City, but only sit 2 points behind them. Though you will have to take my word for it, as being post nights from work I forgot to take a table screenshot..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 January 2023 Game Week 19 This month feels like it has gone on forever, and I have a feeling next month is going to be even busier! We round off the month with another away game, this time against Bournemouth. In hindsight I messed the team up for this game, I should have played the 2nd XI against Cardiff and rolled out the 1st team for this game. However the 2nd team will have to do. Early result, keeps Man Utd from closing and chasing the top 6 but places Liverpool that little further away. This time a late goal goes our way, 2 points dropped by Spurs, could be a useful cushion down the stretch. These two games were going on at the same time as ours. We were dire in the 1st half, I switched us to the Shark Tank and we got much more of a foothold in the game. Arsenal went above us into 4th for all of 13 minutes in the 1st half. The once we took the lead we jumped up to 3rd, (as Chelsea play Sunday) We have scored goals in Jaunary, with 9 of them being scored by defenders (I am not counting the penalties in the Carabao Cup) Once upon a time this would have annoyed me, the quality we have at the sharp end, however I will take goals wherever I can get them. We need to start turning the corner and challenging for a title. Bottom line, win games from anywhere. Chelsea go back into 3rd by a point. Very tight at the top. IF everyone wins their games in hand over current leaders City. The there will be 5 points separating the top 5. All to play for in the 2nd half of the season. My personal aim is to at least finish 3rd like last year, though I would like to go one place better (like I did last season) and finish 2nd. With the hope of by hook or by crook somehow sneaking one spot better the year after that and winning the league! There I said it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 February 2023 Game Week 20 January felt like it went on forever, however there are still 8 games and 3 competitions to play in February #DamnyouQatar First up is the potential banana skin that is Southampton at home. Though before the game, a screenshot that took me by surprise: Now it isn't unusual for the Premier League to top the biggest spending leagues in Europe. However, to see us topping not only the Premier League spending but to be the biggest spenders in Europe. The chairman has definitely put his money where his mouth is, as £120M of that is him buying two players. Might have to be careful with my jibes about Man Utd's quality return for their money, if we start to not perform! The 1st half was very even, they didn't really threaten, and neither did we. Our usual disruption from set pieces was limited by Fraser Forster coming to catch all of our long throws. Until this happened. I was waiting for it to be called back for a foul but the goal stood. Second half we were much better, they didn't have much of a sniff. Perhaps we got a little lucky with this effort but shows our willingness to press. At 2-0 up I employed the Shark Tank and went to a back 3, am amazed at how secure having 3 players (and a keeper) who have no fear knocking the ball around between them feels. Man Utd had to win in order to stay in contact with the European places. Norwich are dropping away. As are Spurs, who couldn't salvage anything with their man advantage. Neither City or Chelsea played, though only the later has a game in hand over us. Next match is away to City, if we can take points then they fall within our grasp. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 February 2023 Game Week 21 Correction, we play City at home, which means: #Hammertime! If it's good enough for Utd it's good enough for the other team in Manchester Though before we get to the game, for the 1st time since he took over I have a beef with the chairman. He signed two players this window, I signed 2 players. I can only register 3 of them in the later stages of the Champions League. Hence Harvey White is not happy with me. In other players upset with me news PSG came in with a deadline day offer for Ruben Neves of £16.5M. No you're not leaving, firstly PSG scored a goal against us when we had 10 men on the pitch, I'd rather sell to Forest (which isn't allowed due to the challenge) than sell to those scumbags. Plus I paid £73M for you, and nobody told me I overpaid for you, so what is this £16.5M horse crap? Bah Maybe I'm feeling cocky, maybe I forgot, or maybe I put too much faith in the press who insisted that Pep likes to take care of the defensive side of the game first?!?! But I didn't make the changes to the formation I had done for the Utd game. I started to question (or remember) that decision all of 40 seconds into the game when Kevin de Bruyne has the full right third of our penalty area to himself, but blazes over first time. Phew! Either the press don't know what they are talking about, or Pep should be screaming at his players for not doing what they are supposed to. Both his wing backs don't seem to want to track back. We are only 10 minutes in not for the 1st time, we play a give and long go down the side line, Nuno plays it back to Ampadu then scampers after the long ball. This time we win a corner. Corner comes in from the left, its Ampadu with the header, it's off the post, and then it's in! Mount is claiming it.... is he onside? There's no flag GOOOOOOOAL! City continue to boss the ball, camp out in our half of the pitch, if not our third of the pitch, but most of their attempts get blocked and they put any follow up attempts wide. I'm trying not to think how ordinary their £174M man Vinicius looks, in case it comes back to bite me in the ass. He has the ball in the area, trying to weave his way into a shooting position, but the ball once more cannons off a defender and comes out of the box. Mount is onto the loose ball, he plays a simple short ball to Wolf, who is our furthest player forward and he is halfway inside our own half. He sets off, 3 City players between him and their goal. He beats the 1st on the halfway line, picking up pace, he gets all the way to the edge of their area before he skips over a lunging Laporte. The player he beat on the halfway line has sprinted a better angle and is back, he plays it past him again. Tucks it under the onrushing keeper GOOOOOOAL! We get to halftime and I tell the players to keep it up, I contemplate going into the Shark Tank but remember the 2 goal 2nd half capitulation in the Carabao Cup Semi and I decide 60 minutes I will re evaluate. Besides, City are yet to register a shot on target! It's pouring it down, it's been raining all game, it's always flaming raining in Leicester. Phil Foden, England international has what very few City players have had this game, a clear sight to goal, he slams the ball into the hoarding a good 5 yards wide.... We have a corner on the left, it's whipped in, headed clear at the near post, but only as far as Yari Verschaeren on the edge of the area. He cushions the ball to Diaz, who has his back to goal, Diaz does the sensible thing and plays it right back to him. RIDING TO BATTLE AND INTO THE STORM! We go into the Shark Tank then. We hit the post 3 times on top of the 3 we scored! We haven't conceded a league goal since Boxing day! Elsewhere Utd cannot get past Burnley Meaning at the end of play on Saturday Spurs jump over Utd into 6th, and we are once more forcing Chelsea to win in order to keep pace. They get the job done Sunday to stay just 1 point behind us with a game in hand. The games in hand make it unclear, but I am always happier with points on the board. Plus after that performance I am beginning to believe. I'm not sure what in just yet, but some belief is there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 February 2023 Game Week 22 At home to Stoke now, the Hammer is getting some stick! We rotate, Stoke are 19th having lost 5 in a row, I would say it's my 2nd team, but it has Ruben Neves and Youri in it, so can it be? Frustrating late goal, Jamal Blackman in their goal played very well, he'd saved 6 shots in the 1st half alone. When we got the penalty on 75 minutes I thought it was the shot in the arm we needed. However, for all the saves and clean sheets Meret has kept since he signed, every time he has played out from the back under pressure and I think he was going to make a mistake. This was the 1st time he let me down, and the 1st time it has cost us. It's a simple long ball through, he's a natural sweeper keeper, but he doesn't come for it, and his position is crap, my grandma could have put it in the gap he left at the far post It would be one of those times when you begin to think, well what was the point of beating City last week. However: A win would obviously have been better, but those results show how obviously we could have had it worse! Spurs are down in 6th, 7 points behind us, beating teams in the relegation scrap by 4 or 5 goals isn't going to change much. Just hope they get the goals out of their system before the Carabao Cup Final So both Chelsea and Arsenal can pass us with their games in hand but we still have them both to play. Shouldn't have said I believed? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 February 2023 Game Week 23 So, the opponent I was saving my players for (2nd team played against Stoke), is the mighty Burnley! In the prematch build up I got asked: How do you score past Nick Pope, he's been pretty unbeatable? How do you stop McNeil, he's one of the best dribblers in the league? And how do you feel about Ole at Utd about to get sacked? Current Golden Boot front runner Sadio Mane gives keeps Liverpool at arms length from us at the top of the league Well if he wasn't before the game, he's a little closer to it now! So how do you score past the Pope (There's a dirty joke there) This is how. The only dribble from McNeil there was on his chin! Mason Mount doubled our advantage before halftime. Amusingly James Maddison was criticised by my assistant for zero successful crosses, but when you have Harvey White backing you up with that sand wedge chip cross... Who cares! We came close to a 3rd a few times in the 2nd half, but the by now standard switch to the Shark Tank around the hour mark, preserved our clean sheet and the win. I had hope when Huddersfield came back to 3-2, but that didn't last long! Spurs couldn't capitalise on Man Utd's slip up, hopefully they will be this way out in the cup final! Happy with this! Though the article also mentioned that I hadn't won anything since 2020.... Thanks... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 February 2023 Game Week 24 Back to back games against Aston Villa finish our Premier League action for the month. Think it has fallen like this due to a rearranged match along the way. Man Utd and Arsenal play each other back to back as well! Arsenal pile the pressure on Ole, if his bags aren't packed, maybe he should think about it soon. I'm developing a bit of a headache, this was a 1st team game, when we play Villa away next game that will be a 2nd XI game. This is down to the fact we then play Madrid in the Champions League, in Spain. Followed swiftly by the Carabao Cup Final to finish February. The headache is that due to cup tied players and inability to register everyone, I am trying very hard to keep everyone fresh enough, and not forget who can play in which competition. Liverpool leave it late, however we now hold 2nd place on merit regardless of games in hand! Spurs, stop scoring! I think the taxi for Ole turned up in the 60th minute, which galvanized Utd to get something from the game Must say, as much as this is our 3rd year hanging around in the top 4, it's pretty scary being suddenly 2nd, and only 4 points behind the leaders. Is this the sort of lofty heights that are going to be standard now? Or are we the benefactors of specific circumstances this season, and better not blow it while we have the chance? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 February 2023 Game Week 25 Villa Park, I don't expect much, if the 1st team scraped a 1-0 win with a header from a corner, I don't see the 2nd team setting the world on fire. #ViniNotWorthIt Yeah, least we didn't lose Like the fact it's 4 months in the league since we last lost, mainly due to the fact we didn't play a game for a month and a half. That is why you rest players for the mighty Burnley! We've given Liverpool a bit of a potential advantage, but we remain in a position to capitalise on anytime they mess up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 February 2023 First Knockout Round 1st Leg Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. We have been here before, and we won, 1-0, in the group stage last year. A glorious run which saw us go all the way to the Semi Final, only to put out by Man City on away goals. Despite that, Madrid are evens to win on the night. We were in the Shark Tank all night long, as that is how we got our win last season. We knew what we were doing, we were organised. Madrid on the other hand, although they have a Brazilian wonderkid striker who has scored 10 goals for them this season (Hazard is leading scorer with 11) They played Isco up front as a striker, and though they managed 11 shots on target, Meret didn't really have much to do in the game. Neves sublime free kick from the edge of the area into the bottom right corner is validation on it's own that I did the right thing not selling him. It gives us a slim advantage to take home to the King Power in 2 weeks time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 (edited) February 2023 Milking Stage (aka The Final) #Making@andycharproud So, in true milking fashion we will start with the league games that are being played the day before our final: As a Chelsea fan, this is a crap result, however, as Utd are in 7th, I am very happy Chelsea drop points Arsenal! It has been a while, but At least we aren't Arsenal Ok, to the Final: In the presser before kick off I am asked the same questions about 3 times each. 1stly What do I think about going up against ex player Ben Chilwell? And my answer is I don't think about Ben Chilwell at all, which turns out to be the correct answer, as he isn't even in their match day squad. (He is probably injured) Next, do I get along with Carlo Ancelotti, well I respect him as a manager, however right next to the question it says he thinks I'm a **** (paraphrasing a little) So no he can suck it. Finally, do I think the match will be defined / decided by Harry Kane, well he is currently 2nd in the Premier League goal scoring table with 19 goals, so yeah he has a chance. Right, can we play football now? 30 seconds, yes 30 seconds into the game Ryan Sessegnon floors Tommy Tavares, Mike Dean comes running over and gives him a talking to, but nothing more. I hope that isn't going to be the tone of the afternoon. 7 minutes in and Harry Winks goes in the book for a cynical challenge on Yari Verschaeren. For the 1st ten minutes we are bossing the chances, though we haven't had to make Pickford work yet. For some reason Harry Kane seems to be drifting out to the left a lot, but so far has done little to influence play. So when we hit a hopeful ball into the right corner for Maddison to chase, it gets cleared to Harry Kane. I say cleared, but Kane is out by the touchline just outside his own area. He is pressed immediately by Tommy and he hoofs a panicked clearance. Not sure that is the impact the press meant about Harry Kane, but I will take it! I demand more from the players, which goes down well with everyone but Yari, who I let off after that strike. Though less than 10 minutes later it is once more Yari who is pulling all the strings, he wins the ball back for us off of a Spurs throw in. He drives towards the box, and selflessly rolls the ball into the area for Wolf. He beats Pickford to double our lead Spurs are all over the place, a poor clearance under pressure, and Yari, who has scored one and set one up, crashes an effort off the joint of bar and post! No matter, as only a minute later we have a throw in of our own. Catapulted into the area With some added Inspirational podcast in the background for you there as well! 3-0 up inside half an hour, I contemplate taking the foot off, but figured we have them reeling we will play this way to halftime. No Changes at halftime and I stick with my standard we will change to the Shark Tank on the hour. Other than a few yellow cards for both teams, nothing happens. 60 minutes comes, we change formation and personnel, Spurs have 60-65% possession. They do absolutely nothing with it, we shut down the game I don't seem to be smiling, oh well, sure it will come. To make it a perfect weekend, bottom side Cardiff could have beaten City, but oh well. 55k bonus! Good times boys! Edited May 15, 2020 by Mandy42 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andychar Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 (edited) Liverpool are just unbeatable on this game sometimes. Carabao Cup is amazing really. As soon as you stop caring about it it’s impossible to lose! Edited May 15, 2020 by andychar 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 March 2023 Game Week 26 After the Wembley weekend it is back to the normal grind of the Premier League. Brighton at the King Power, with Man Utd at Old Trafford 3 days later. So yes, it's a 2nd XI game, hope the lads didn't blow their combined 55k too hard after lifting the cup. The board said they were delighted, but didn't want the celebrations to derail anything else this season. I've no idea what the lads got up to, I snorted coke off a hooker ass and then passed out, standard weekend for me. Most everyone else is playing in the FA Cup so it's just us in the league at the moment. While I agree that drawing against Villa and Stoke is sub optimal, in comparison to other clubs and the points they have dropped against lower half clubs, we are doing ok. We had 19 attempts, 11 on target, I was starting to think it was going to be one of those days. Harvey Barnes was back from injury, and seen as nobody wants him on loan, he played. Pat Benatar (Petr Bednar) the guy I brought in from Slavia Prague, came on for him late in the 2nd half. Much like the Carabao Cup, nothing happened in the 2nd half, which was much less acceptable than it was at Wembley. When Harvey White broke down the left, my 1st thought was, well... there's nobody in the box. If you listen carefully you can hear Pat Benatar singing in the background Having faced nothing from Brighton, in the last 8 minutes they put us under more pressure than Spurs managed the whole game at Wembley. I was very glad to get out of there with a clean sheet, and thus all 3 points The current club record is 17 games without losing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 March 2023 Game Week 27 Man Utd at Old Trafford. We've already been there once this season and gotten a result, the 2-2 Carabao Cup Semi, that we won on penalties. What I get for indicating the unbeaten club record. It wasn't a penalty, but then it probably evens out the fact they had a goal ruled out incorrectly for offside. We played the Shark Tank in the 1st half, maybe we gave them too much respect, maybe it kept the score at only 1. We deployed the Hammer at halftime, mainly because we had been poor, and if we were going to lose, hell might as well lose by a cricket score but try get back into the game. While we created more, and probably should have had a penalty of our own late on, we didn't actually fashion anything that looked like we were going to score. Wolves are becoming a definite bogey team for Chelsea Unless Liverpool collapse (like they did in every competition but the Premier League, last season) then it is their title now. Meanwhile on #LondonSunday: Which means, shockingly, with a game in hand, Arsenal are our biggest threat for dropping out of 3rd spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 March 2023 Game Week 28 Come back February all is forgiven! After Utd last week, we are away to Southampton this week, which in the face of it is a simpler game. However, 3 days after the Brighton game, we host Madrid at the King Power. Arsenal make it 3 wins in a row to close within 2 points. Spurs decide they know how to play football this week. Then the following weekend: Arsenal go above us thanks to playing 1st. City give us hope of staying in touch. Man Utd leave it late, and Pogba missed a penalty at 0-0, he could have done that last week! Upset averted, no goal video, as although we did enough to win, the goal was poor from our point of view. A free kick for Southampton offside, we play it long as though we are giving the ball back after an injury stoppage. Only for their player to head the ball down under no challenge, straight to Wolf, who charges forwards and scores. I hate it when my players do it (make stupid headers for no reason) and it's not much more satisfying when the AI opposition does it. Sunday: 2 goals away from going back into 2nd. City beat us 1-0, we beat them 3-0 in the return game, I guess that gives us the advantage if we are level on goals and points? Though I am not sure that is even how it works! For now it doesn't matter, Madrid is next. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 March 2023 First Knockout Round 2nd Leg Last time we played Madrid away I indicated we had won 1-0, and we won 1-0 again this year. In the spirit of fairness, I hate to admit that, the last time we played Madrid at home we lost 5-2. After we were reduced to 10 men on 61 minutes. Safe to say a repeat of that fixture would be sub optimal. It is interesting, how much previous games affect my mindset on the current game. For example, if I had gone to Old Trafford and gotten a result with the Shark Tank, then I would have deployed it without question even though I was at home. But the fact we lost to Utd, was enough to sway the balance to going for the Hammer. Because, in the end, playing conservatively Madrid only needed one goal to force extra time, and the more of the ball we gave them the more chance they had. Plus who doesn't want to Hammer Real Madrid! For most of the 1st half it didn't seem to matter which tactic I had picked, the Spaniards had the majority of the ball, but much like the 1st game, were finding chances few and far between. We were at our most dangerous when we stole the ball, or countered their high possession based game. Sergio Ramos is retiring at the end of this season, and he looked like he not only needed a wheel chair, but it could benefit from being power assisted. From a corner in the 40th minute we had the ball in the back of the net, nobody managed to connect at the near post, and the ball dropped in the centre of the goal for Yari to place it beyond a scrambling Thibaut Courtois. However the goal was chalked off, as Nathan Wood was judged to have unfairly pushed at the near post. In stoppage time at the end of the 1st half, Tommy has the ball just inside the Madrid half, he lays it back to Ampadu, who then delivers it forward long. Their wing back has pushed up onto Tommy, and Mason Mount has enough room to land an aeroplane in the right side channel. He gets to the edge of the area and puts the ball into the box. Yari Verschaeren's dipping header is his 1st in the Champions League, but 6th of the season. I can now spell his surname without looking it up! While I am happy we have scored, I am not too happy. In the end it's the goal that makes no difference at all. If Madrid scored 2 goals before, they would advance 2-1 If they score 2 goals now they advance on away goals. Thus I tell the players to ignore the scoreline and go out and play to win the game. It's definitely still Hammer time. We have the better of it in the 2nd half, Isco is still up top for Madrid, and it takes until the 75th minute for them to introduce Rodrigo, their Brazilian wonderkid. A decision I don't understand but I am grateful for. Not long after we are in the Shark Tank and I am grateful for a whole lot more! After a fluid passing move just outside their box (I am no longer scared when I see Nathan Wood or Libero in the final 3rd!) Youri is sprung free in the area, and while his shot is parried. Mason Mount has a tap in I would have sold him if he'd missed Madrid need 3 and for the 1st time all night I feel comfortable. Hazard gets a consolation late on, and his 4th goal in 4 games against us (seen as he scored a hat trick last time we played at home) It gave the journalists something to talk about, but didn't change anything else! It appears if we want to get anything more out of this season (we are going to need luck in Liverpool) But it is going to need to come out of London. We play Chelsea 3 times next month.... Speaking of London: Least we aren't Arsenal With Arsenal losing we have the chance to solidify our 3rd place. Not that I want to stop just in 3rd place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 March 2023 Game Week 29 Watford at home, followed by a 2 week international break. Which makes me believe I can keep the same starting 11, they are all fit enough, and have 2 weeks to recover. Besides they just beat Real Madrid, if that doesn't deserve starting against Watford I don't know what does. *sigh* We have drawn the joint most games in the league with West Brom (who we play after the break) We've only lost 3 games, against Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd, all of those by 1 goal. Simply put not good enough, play Madrid off the park, but can't beat Watford... Suck it Man City made it clear they had no problem relying on superior goal difference to see us off. Plus... Watford cropped Yari Verschaeren, and he will miss around 5 weeks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 March 2023 Game Week 30 Last game of the month, squeezed in after the international break and Chelsea away in the Champions League to start next month. Think this is the most patched together match day squad I have had since I started this save. Half the players are knackered from international duty. The other half can't play because they are needed for the Chelsea game. David Lally, our youth academy hot prospect striker who I am trying to retrain as a shadow striker, he gets his 1st debut. He played 4 days ago in the U23s Both infuriated that we drew AGAIN And thankful we didn't lose with the team I was forced to put out. 8th draw of the campaign, what is the point in going 14 games unbeaten.... Only positive from here might be Chelsea being down about this result when we play them next. Of course Liverpool get a stoppage time penalty that stops them dropping points. Feel almost sick. To think a few short weeks ago we sat 2nd, with the chance of being only 4 points behind Liverpool with them still to play. I said I was starting to believe, but I didn't know what in. Now I can't believe we could be 13 points behind when Liverpool play their games in hand. Technically we have had a better season this year (we won a trophy) we are still in the Champions League, like last season, and we are 3rd like last season. However, with the money spent, and the results we got against Utd and City, it feels like a slap in the face and a step backwards. There are still 8 games still to play, but I feel like the season is over. Very disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it. The Chelsea league game has been moved to the last month of the season due to them still being in the FA Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 (edited) April 2023 Quarter Final 1st Leg Right then, last time we played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, we lost 1-0, which at the time was ok. Since then, we have beaten both Manchester clubs 4-0 once this season, and have seen off Real Madrid 3-1 over two legs. All that is for naught however, this is the only game that matters. Since we lost against Man Utd, my confidence in our ability to play the pragmatic Shark Tank has waned. Even though we are away from home, its still #Hammertime. Which sees us off to a fantastic start Simple long throw and Mason Mount puts us ahead against his former club. Dream start! It has been all us. If at first it works, throw it long again! Youri coming up with a big goal! Completely against the run of play Laurtaro Martinez with a poachers toe poke from a low cross from the left. We start the second half and I tell the players to keep doing what they are doing. the Martinez goal was literally a flash in the pan. The 1st half was all us. For the 2nd time this year we have let a 2 goal lead against another top 6 team slip away. Penalties saved us in the Carabao against Liverpool. On 85 minutes Nicolas Dominguez scores a 25 yard scorcher. I am so pissed off I forgot to take a screenshot for the goal time AND the end of the game result. So yeah, we were winning 2-1 in the 1st half. We lost 3-2 at the end of the game. It all to do at the King Power in the 2nd leg On a personal note it was a good game to rack up the big 200! Edited May 17, 2020 by Mandy42 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy42 Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 April 2023 Game Week 31 Need to dust ourselves off from being in dreamland to then being beaten just 4 days ago. Away to Wolves, but we are going to attack, because I am still angry. Angry at our league capitulation, as indicated in a post above that we are so far behind having only lost 3 games. Also angry that Arsenal have decided now is the time to put pressure on us for 3rd place. Just when I could do with not really caring about this league game, as we host Chelsea again in 4 days. I need to keep churning out results. Balls. Think the players could tell I was pissed off, they came out swinging. Especially Pat Benatar With a fabulous cross! They made me sweat out the rest of the game though. But I will take 1-0 wins from now to the end of time. Though I will probably get sacked for not playing entertaining football.... No surprises later the same afternoon. Nor on Sunday. City dropped points which gives us hope of closing the gap. So did the London clubs, though currently we only care about Arsenal. No idea why Chelsea didn't play, FA Cup maybe? Either way, it looks slightly brighter. Sandwiched between two teams we have a game in hand over. Win and we are only 2 points behind City. Don't want to think about how far behind Liverpool. It is that time of year again. The trend of 1 fantastic prospect per year seems to being set. Which is better than other intakes I have seen. Plus David Kirby actually can play in a position I have in a formation I use! Happy days Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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