mark wilson27 Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 Good result to say you were down to ten men for the majority of the game...leep it up Mr.Spav, I have every faith in you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 17, 2010 Author Share Posted October 17, 2010 Gardner gets an automatic one match ban for his red card against Liverpool and this gives Steven Taylor the chance to win back the right-back spot as he will start against Wolves on Saturday. On a positive note from the Liverpool game Davies looked really at home in the “hold-and-distribute” position and he cleverly bought the other forwards into play as well as scoring twice himself. *** *** *** 13th November 2010 – Premier League The first chance of the match falls to Wolves’ in-form Senegalese striker Ba who races clear after 7 minutes, but he can’t beat Hart with a fierce shot from sixteen yards. After that we totally dominate the first half, playing some neat possession football, but finding it difficult to break down Wolves’ densely packed defence. Owen and Rooney have a couple of half-chances, but it isn’t until the 44th minute that Noble’s pass finds its way through to Davies and he finishes stylishly from thirteen yards to give us a 1-0 lead. Early in the second period Davies is denied his second goal by a fine save from Hennessey as we continue to control the play. Rooney cuts in from the left after 68 minutes and fires strongly at goal, only to find Hennessey’s legs saving the visitors yet again. A crashing volley from Hargreaves after 82 minutes sees Hennessey double-fist the shot away and the ball strikes Davies before he can react properly, ricocheting off his body and onto the post whereupon Hennessey gratefully falls upon it. The game ends only 1-0 in our favour, but there were promising signs that the new formation is starting to settle in. Manchester United 1 Davies 44 Wolves 0 Hart; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, M.Taylor; Noble, Hargreaves, Carrick; Owen (Young), Davies, Rooney. *** *** *** In midweek there is a round of international friendlies with England hosting South Korea at Wembley. The visitors put up a brave fight and only go down 4-3 to a goal from England skipper John Terry in the fifth minute of injury-time. England’s other goals come from Wayne Rooney (32nd) and Steven Gerrard (45th and 58th) with Shin Young-Rok (25th and 73rd) and Lee Dong-Gook (74th) scoring for the South Koreans. In team news Ben Foster, Rio Ferdinand, Lee Cattermole, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney all start the match with Joe Hart and Michael Owen coming on as second half substitutes. Ryan Shawcross, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick are all unused substitutes. *** *** *** There’s just one change as a slight knock in training earlier in the week has set Owen back in his preparation for the game at Stoke and he drops to the bench as Welbeck gets a start up front with Davies and Rooney. If the new formation continues to help improve the team, then victory at Stoke is something that we should achieve. *** *** *** 20th November 2010 – Premier League Things look promising as Rooney powers in a fierce twenty-yarder after just 6 minutes to give us the lead. Stoke’s French striker Remy is causing difficulties for Shawcross and Ferdinand, but twice he undoes good lead-up work by shooting wildly from the edge of the box. In the 24th minute Stoke wins a corner and Steven Taylor ill-advisedly leaves his position guarding the far post to attempt to win a header as the ball comes in. He misses his challenge and Soares heads in at the now-unguarded far post to pull Stoke level at 1-1. In the 31st minute Ferdinand fails to cut out Soares’ hopeful cross and Remy volleys home from eight yards to give the home side a 2-1 lead. Davies plays in Welbeck after 38 minutes and the youngster crashes in a shot that Sorensen palms away from close range for a corner. Stoke comes out for the second half in a determined frame of mind and they close down Carrick and Noble well, limiting our offensive output. There is no clear chance for either side until the 78th minute and then Fuller gets his head to a Lawrence corner, only to see Matty Taylor clear his effort off the line. There’s one final opportunity that falls to Owen after 86 minutes, but he heads against the crossbar as we fail to take the chance to equalise and instead go down to a 2-1 defeat at the Britannia Stadium. Stoke 2 Soares 24, Remy 31 Manchester United 1 Rooney 6 Hart; S.Taylor (Gardner), Shawcross, Ferdinand, M.Taylor; Noble, Hargreaves, Carrick; Welbeck (Owen), Davies, Rooney. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 19, 2010 Author Share Posted October 19, 2010 A win against the Romanians of Unirea Urziceni will ensure our progress from Group B if Ajax loses at Real Madrid as expected, otherwise it will come down a battle between ourselves and the Dutch team in the final group match in Amsterdam. Cattermole gets a start tonight in place of Carrick and Owen returns at the expense of Welbeck. *** *** *** 24th November 2010 – Champions League Group B This game turns out to be the biggest win under my management, but it must be said that the opposition are not of the highest calibre. After dominating the opening twenty minutes and seeing two headers from Shawcross parried by keeper Botezatu we finally go ahead in the 22nd minute. Owen skilfully works space for a shot that Botezatu parries yet again, but this time Davies drives in the rebound for 1-0. Shawcross then wins his battle with the keeper as his header from Noble’s corner makes it 2-0 after 35 minutes. Noble’s impressive long range shooting collects him a goal after 52 minutes as he sends a low shot from twenty-five skidding just inside the post to make it three. Owen takes the total to four in the 61st minute as he ghosts in at the far post to volley home Steven Taylor’s excellent cross. Four minutes later Cattermole splits the Unirea defence wide open and Owen calmly finishes one-on-one with the keeper for his second goal as the score moves to 5-0. The Romanians are all at sea now and Hargreaves threads a delightful pass through to an unmarked Davies who curls home a shot from eighteen yards to push us out to a lead of 6-0 after 76 minutes. It’s nearly seven for us in the 81st minute as Cattermole unleashes a powerful shot from thirty yards that Botezatu turns onto the post and then out for a corner. In the end the winning margin is 6-0 and that represents the highest number of goals that United have scored in my eighteen months in charge. Manchester United 6 Davies 22, 76, Shawcross 35, Noble 52, Owen 61, 65 Unirea Urziceni 0 Hart; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, M.Taylor; Noble, Hargreaves, Cattermole; Owen, Davies, Rooney. *** *** *** As expected, Ajax loses 4-1 to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu to ensure that we take second place in Group B and qualify for the knockout round behind the Spaniards who have won all five of their matches so far. A sterner test awaits us on Saturday though as 3rd placed Tottenham visits Old Trafford. Our recent form has seen us slump to 6th spot on the Premier League table, but if we can produce the fight that saw us earn a 3-3 draw at Liverpool and the attacking potency that saw us demolish Unirea Urziceni 6-0, then we should be able beat Spurs. I’ve been playing Rooney on the left of the new three-man attack, asking him to pick up the ball out wide and cut inside on his right foot so that he can strike at goal, but he seems loathe to try too often. Today against Spurs he’ll swap with Owen and go back to the right side where I tended to play him in the old 4-1-3-2 formation and where he seems more at home. *** *** *** 27th November 2010 – Premier League This is a bland match which doesn’t produce any clear chances in the first half. A couple of wayward efforts from each team are all the fans of both sides have to cheer about. Owen seems to relish playing on the left today and he makes a couple of good runs, but his final pass is either wayward or wasted by the player who receives it. It’s also good to see that our defence is holding up strongly against Crouch and Defoe in the middle and Bentley and Kranjcar on the wings. Davies sets up the first clear chance of the match for Rooney in the 57th minute, but Gomes tips his shot around the post for a corner. Defoe gets Spurs’ first shot on target after 66 minutes, but it is straight at Hart and our keeper saves easily. After that, there’s little more to report – it was a game with just one shot on target for each team and a pair of midfields that nullified each other as a tepid 0-0 scoreless draw was the final result. Manchester United 0 Tottenham 0 Hart; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, M.Taylor; Noble, Hargreaves, Cattermole (Carrick); Rooney, Davies, Owen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Your forms pretty inconsistant at the moment Mr.Spav, but as always I have every faith in you not too ruin my beloved United Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 Thanks, Mark. I'm still tweaking the new 4-3-3 tactic and I sure that's contributing to the inconsistency. At least I hope it is, otherwise this season may be a write-off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 Aston Villa are 13th on the Premier League table and haven’t won a match for five weeks since they won 2-0 at Arsenal in late October. We have to start winning games against teams at this level if we are to get our season back on track. A thigh strain forces Matty Taylor out and gives Shorey a chance to win back his position at the left of the defence. *** *** *** 4th December 2010 – Premier League Owen has the first two serious chances of the match, but Friedel saves well. In the 25th minute Aston Villa wins a free-kick and Modric curls it beautifully around our defensive wall from twenty-two yards to put the home side 1-0 up. The goal knocks our confidence a touch and it is Villa who starts to play the better football. In the 43rd minute a long clearance falls for Heskey and he holds off Shawcross before thumping a shot goalwards, but Hart makes a fine save high to his right. The second half is an arm-wrestle with little to show for it until the 72nd minute when Rooney picks up Cattermole’s pass and rifles in a twenty-yarder that draws us level at 1-1. Parity is maintained for only two minutes as Young crosses from the left wing and Milner slips between Shawcross and Shorey to glance a hander past Hart from twelve yards to make it 2-1. We push hard for the final twenty minutes looking for an equaliser, but Villa defends solidly and the nearest we get is when Cattermole flashes a shot across the face of Friedel’s goalmouth in the 87th minute. The resulting 2-1 defeat is our fourth loss of the league campaign and it pushes us down to 7th on the Premier League table. Aston Villa 2 Modric 25, Milner 74 Manchester United 1 Rooney 72 Hart; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble, Hargreaves, Cattermole; Rooney, Davies, Owen. *** *** *** It’s on to the dead rubber of Group B in the Champions League qualifiers as we head to Amsterdam to face Ajax. Both ourselves and Real Madrid have already qualified for the next stage from this group, so there is nothing riding on this particular match for us and Ajax have already claimed third spot to confirm that they will have the consolation of the Europa League to look forward to. *** *** *** 7th December 2010 – Champions League Group B The first half is quiet and Suarez is Ajax’s only threat. Twice he gets free to shoot, firstly battering a shot at Hart that our keeper double-fists away after 22 minutes and secondly gliding past Steven Taylor and Ferdinand after 37 minutes before shooting low with his left foot and seeing Hart drop quickly down on the ball. Our first clear chance arrives in the 44th minute as Alderweireld mistimes his headed back-pass and Rooney swoops on the ball, but Stekelenburg is out quickly to smother the shot just as it leaves Rooney’s boot. The second half is equally lean in chances until Bakircioglu heads van der Wiel’s excellent right-wing cross against the post after 67 minutes. Hargreaves and Welbeck both find the side-netting late on with their shots, but neither effort was looking likely to go in. The final score is 0-0 and it hasn’t been the best of group campaigns, but we finish second and ensure our passage through to the Knockout Round. Ajax 0 Manchester United 0 Hart; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble (Carrick), Hargreaves, Cattermole; Rooney (Welbeck), Davies, Owen. |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |1st Q | Real Madrid | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | +20 | 18 | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |2nd Q | Man Utd | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 10 | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |3rd | Ajax | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | -4 | 5 | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |4th | Unirea Urziceni | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 23 | -21 | 1 | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 We now have a diversion from the our Premier League and European campaigns as we fly to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for the Club World Championships. Manchester United won this competition just two years ago when it was held in Japan when they defeated Quito of Ecuador in the final. In the First Round the host’s representatives Al-Ain (UAE) beat Oceania’s Waitakere United (New Zealand) by 3-0. The Second Round begins with North America’s Cruz Azul (Mexico) beating Africa’s Kaiser Chiefs (South Africa) by 3-1 and is followed by Al-Ain (UAE) beating Asia’s Dempo (India) 2-0 with both winners now moving into the Semi-Finals. South America’s representatives Estudiantes (Argentina) have had a bye until the Semi-Finals and they now face Cruz Azul with the Mexicans triumphing 4-1, thanks mainly to a fine hat-trick by Emilio Hernandez. We are Europe’s representatives and have also had a bye through to the Semi-Finals where we will now meet locals Al-Ain who have fought their way through all the way from the First Round. This should be a relatively easy win for Manchester United, but Al-Ain are playing in front of their home fans and I’m sure they will fight every inch of the way. *** *** *** 16th December 2010 – Club World Championship Semi-Final We quickly settle into our rhythm and start to push the ball around neatly. Rooney has the ball in the net after 17 minutes, but his header from Owen’s cross is ruled out for pushing. Come half-time the score is still 0-0 despite our dominance and a couple of close efforts from Rooney and Carrick. In the 50th minute we come within inches of opening the scoring as Hargreaves’ free-kick crashes against the Al-Ain post and rebounds into the keeper’s grateful arms. A couple of minutes later Owen is sent clear by Davies, but Al-Buloshi saves well with his legs. In the 56th minute Al-Ain win their first corner and from it Yasin heads against the crossbar with Al-Shareef tapping home the rebound to give our opponents a shock 1-0 lead. Four minutes later Valdivia’s through-ball releases Emerson and the Brazilian calmly slots it past Hart to stretch the locals’ lead to 2-0. We need to respond quickly or we’ll end up suffering one of the season’s greatest shocks. A long kick from Hart in the 63rd minute and a headed flick from Davies sees Rooney into the clear and he buries a powerful shot from seventeen yards to pull the score back to 2-1. Welbeck replaces Owen at this point and within minutes the new man has drawn us level, hitting Davies’ flicked pass first-time around Al-Buloshi from fourteen yards to make it 2-2. We’re back in control now, but it’s not until the 85th minute that we finally take the lead. Cattermole’s pass is perfectly weighted for Welbeck to take it in his stride and he rounds the keeper before stroking the ball into the empty net for 3-2. Within seconds of the restart Rooney has won the ball back and is galloping away down the right wing. His cross is inviting and Welbeck powers in a header for his hat-trick as we go 4-2 ahead. In the final minute Essa Shah’s clumsy tackle brings down Welbeck and we are awarded a penalty. Hargreaves ices the cake with a coolly taken spot-kick that gives the keeper no chance and takes our winning margin out to 5-2. Al-Ain 2 Al-Shareef 56, Emerson 60 Manchester United 5 Rooney 63, Welbeck 70, 85, 87, Hargreaves pen 90 Hart; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand (Brown), Shorey; Carrick, Hargreaves, Cattermole (Noble); Rooney, Davies, Owen (Welbeck). *** *** *** In the playoff for fifth place Kaiser Chiefs beats Dempo 2-0 whilst the third place playoff sees Estudiantes beat Al-Ain 5-0. Welbeck’s efforts in the semi-final earn him a start as Owen is not up to a second start in four days as we face Mexico’s Cruz Azul in the final. *** *** *** 19th December 2010 – Club World Championship Final Yet again our start is controlled, but still we concede the opening goal. The Chilean forward Hernandez is sent clear – most likely from an offside position – after 16 minutes and he drills a low shot across Hart to give Cruz Azul a 1-0 lead. I am happy with the quick response though as Cattermole finds Welbeck four minutes later with an almost identical pass to the one that put us ahead in the semi-final. Again Welbeck goes around the keeper, but this time the left-back Quintana’s desperate lunging tackle only succeeds in pushing the ball into the Mexican’s net for an own goal to make it 1-1. A flowing move from the back in the 33rd minute ends at the feet of Davies and he rolls a clever pass in front of Rooney whose first-time shot from eighteen yards rifles into the roof of the net to make it 2-1. We are playing some delightful football now and Carrick, Rooney and Davies all go close to extending our lead before the break. It’s then 3-1 to us in the 57th minute as Carrick chips an angled cross to the near post and Davies powerfully heads home. Cruz Azul are still dangerous though and Hart has to save well from Hernandez as he bursts into the box and shoots firmly after 61 minutes. Late headed chances for Shawcross and Rooney go begging, but a disciplined defensive display closes out the match without further threat to our goal and we triumph 3-1 in the Club World Championship Final. Cruz Azul 1 Hernandez 16 Manchester United 3 Quintana (og) 20, Rooney 33, Davies 57 Hart; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Carrick (Noble), Hargreaves, Cattermole; Rooney, Davies (Cole), Welbeck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Good result there Mr.Spav, hopefully this wont effect our league form too much... keep it up Gaffer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 Mark, I'm actually hoping these wins will kick-start our league form again, fingers crossed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalamunger Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Think Welbeck has earned himself another couple of starts hopefully he can keep up this form! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gennaro08 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Great story Spav based on an intriguing concept! KUTGW! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 24, 2010 Author Share Posted October 24, 2010 Back in England it was time to get our league form back on track over the busy Christmas/New Year period or risk having the season implode on us. Davies was the only player to come back from the Club World Championships with an injury as he had a bruised foot that he had picked up late in the final, so Cole started up front in his place. *** *** ** 22nd December 2010 – Premier League Manchester United dominates the first half, restricting Bolton to a single effort on goal as McCann sends a 33rd minute header wide from Krivets’ cross. Rooney has our best chance after 22 minutes, volleying a shot that Jaaskelainen gets his body behind, but doesn’t know much about as hit strikes him and goes for corner. Carrick and Cattermole also send long range efforts a few inches wide of Bolton’s net. Cole has not properly followed his instructions in the “hold-and-distribute” role and we were clearly missing Davies who had been in great form in that role, so at half-time I send on Owen in Cole’s place with Rooney moving into the key central role. Within two minutes of the restart Owen has made his mark, picking up Carrick’s pass and placing his shot wide of Jaaskelainen to give us the lead. Carrick looks to be back to his best form as well, providing the pass that leads to our second goal after 60 minutes. Rooney is the scorer, sending a scorching drive flying high into the Bolton net from twenty yards. Hart has been unusually uncomfortable on high balls today and has flapped at several crosses. In the 84th minute he drops Davies’ corner and Knight pokes it home to pull the score back to 2-1. It’s no more than a consolation goal for Bolton however as we close out the game comfortably to win our first Premier League match in over five weeks. Manchester United 2 Owen 47, Rooney 60 Bolton 1 Knight 84 Hart; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Carrick (Gardner), Hargreaves, Cattermole; Rooney, Cole (Owen) (Young), Welbeck. *** *** *** For our Boxing Day trip to London to play Fulham we have Davies returning to the team at the expense of his replacement Cole. The Cottagers are in 19th place on the table, just two points ahead of bottom-placed West Brom and it goes without saying that this is a game that we simply must – and should – win. *** *** *** 26th December 2010 – Premier League Within the first minute Schwarzer is making a magnificent double-save from first Davies and then Rooney as Steven Taylor’s cross causes panic in the Fulham six-yard box. Cattermole’s long-distance passing has been excellent since he started his current stint in the team and he sends Welbeck clear down the left wing with a fine forty-yard pass after 13 minutes. Welbeck makes ground before crossing low to the near post for the unmarked Davies to sidefoot home and we lead 1-0. We continue to press Fulham strongly and Rooney lets fly with a great volley after 27 minutes, only to see Schwarzer fly through the air to superbly catch the ball. Up the other end Hart is again ill at ease with high balls, flicking a couple of crosses away ineffectually and dropping a swirling cross from Kravchenko. However when Johnson fires in a low shot from twenty yards after 38 minutes, Hart gets right behind it and saves well. In the 48th minute Carrick drives a long ball up to Davies and he superbly flicks it on for Rooney who thumps a twenty-yarder past Schwarzer to make it 2-0. Davies is at it again in the 55th minute, setting up Welbeck for a well-placed finish, but the referee rules it out for offside. Hart makes another error in the 67th minute, allowing Murphy’s long range effort to bounce off his chest and Brozek buries the loose ball to pull the score back to 2-1. There’s another scare after 74 minutes as Dempsey’s twenty-five yard piledriver flicks the outside of the post with Hart well-beaten. Owen comes on for Davies for the final fifteen minutes and his clever headed flick from Hart’s long clearance in the 88th minute sends Rooney clear through the middle. Rooney doesn’t bother with taking on the keeper and instead just powers his shot past Schwarzer from the edge of the box to make it 3-1 and seal our victory. Fulham 1 Brozek 67 Manchester United 3 Davies 13, Rooney 48, 88 Hart; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Carrick (Gardner), Hargreaves, Cattermole; Rooney, Davies (Owen), Welbeck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 It was time for the final game of 2010 and the year was sure to end with a bang as we faced cross-city rivals and league leaders Manchester City at Old Trafford. Manchester City were currently undefeated and leading the Premier League with 47 points which they had built on a run of 19 matches that had seen them pick up 14 wins and 5 draws. They also had the league’s best attack with 46 goals scored and the tightest defence which had only conceded 15 goals. Carlos Tevez led their scoring with 13 goals and his strike partner Emmanual Adebayor followed closely with 12 goals. Tevez had also weighed in with 11 assists whilst Robinho had 7 and Stephen Ireland and Adebayor had 6 apiece. With regard to team matters, and after much thought on the subject, I decided to tell Hart I was resting him for a couple of matches after his patchy form recently and Foster was restored to the team for his first senior match since the UEFA Super Cup against Genoa in late August when he had broken his finger. Other than the change of goalkeeper the ten outfield players remained the same for the fourth match in succession. *** *** *** 29th December 2010 – Premier League Manchester City had us under the pump early on and came close to opening the scoring when Zabaleta drove a twenty-five yard effort against the crossbar with Foster well-beaten. Robinho was causing headaches for Steven Taylor at right-back as City were funnelling their play through the Brazilian on their left wing. Robinho was also dangerous in the box as well as he headed just over from Richards’ cross after 28 minutes. City were also prepared to try shots from distance with Tevez, Zabaleta and Robinho all having efforts that flew well wide of our net. It was also pleasing to see my players prepared to put their bodies on the line as Shawcross, Hargreaves and Cattermole all threw themselves in front of City shots to block them just as they left their opponents’ boots. As half-time approached we’d had little to show other than a shot from Hargreaves, but that all changed in the 41st minute as Davies and Rooney played a pair of one-twos that cut the City defence to ribbons. Davies found himself in a couple of yards of space just inside the box and he hit a shot across Given and into the bottom far corner to put us 1-0 up in the derby. With injury-time being played, we won a free-kick on the right wing and Hargreaves lofted the ball over to the far post. Carrick somehow found himself marked by Robinho and he outjumped his smaller opponent to head past Given to make it 2-0 with the half-time whistle going just seconds after City restart the play. Emboldened by our lead we start the second half brightly with Hargreaves and Rooney both firing in shots that Given has to dive well to save. However City gradually gains the upper hand again and Foster has to come to our rescue as he palms Toure’s header over the crossbar following Robinho’s corner in the 62nd minute. A miscued Zabaleta cross floats over Foster’s head and strikes the far post in the 66th minute, but Ferdinand hacks the rebound to safety before Tevez can reach it. The dangerous Robinho finally delivers a precise cross in the 68th minute and Adebayor gets in front of Shawcross to head City back into the match at 2-1. Driven by Ireland in the midfield City piles on the pressure and both Robinho and Tevez head into the side-netting from good positions. We seem to be under more pressure when the ball is in the air, but when City attempt to pass it into the box Ferdinand and Shawcross and their fellow defenders are quick to close down any danger. That is highlighted in the 85th minute as Hangeland’s towering header skims the top of our crossbar from yet another Robinho corner. Our opponents throw everyone forward in the final few minutes, but we hold firm. Foster has to palm Robinho’s curling free-kick away for a corner in the 92nd minute, but that was more for safety reasons than risking spilling the ball if he attempted to catch it. As Shorey heads away the ensuing corner the referee blows the final whistle and we have defeated Manchester City 2-1 in the derby. Manchester United 2 Davies 41, Carrick 45+2 Manchester City 1 Adebayor 68 Foster; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Carrick, Hargreaves, Cattermole; Rooney, Davies, Welbeck (Owen). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 31st December 2010 – Premier League Table: |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |1st | Liverpool | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 42 | 17 | +25 | 48 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |2nd | Man City | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 47 | 17 | +30 | 47 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |3rd | Tottenham | 20 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 46 | 21 | +25 | 41 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |4th | Arsenal | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 17 | +16 | 39 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |5th | Chelsea | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 28 | 17 | +11 | 35 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |6th | Man Utd | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 20 | +10 | 35 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |7th | Sunderland | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 29 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |8th | Wigan | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 26 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |9th | Everton | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 27 | 25 | +2 | 25 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |10th | Stoke | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 22 | 28 | -6 | 25 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |11th | Wolves | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 22 | 25 | -3 | 23 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |12th | Newcastle | 19 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 17 | 20 | -3 | 23 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |13th | Aston Villa | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 31 | 36 | -5 | 20 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |14th | Blackburn | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 28 | -9 | 20 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |15th | West Ham | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 29 | 40 | -11 | 20 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |16th | Middlesbrough | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 33 | -14 | 20 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |17th | West Brom | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 35 | -15 | 16 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |18th | Birmingham | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 22 | 38 | -16 | 16 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |19th | Bolton | 19 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 12 | 24 | -12 | 12 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |20th | Fulham | 20 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 44 | -25 | 12 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayR2003 Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Been following along, but decided to comment and mention that this is a great read. Congrats on getting the team into the new formation with relative ease and minor growing pains. Looks like Davies is made for the holding role. How are the battles at fullback coming along? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
salkster2102 Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 That table is looking great Mr Spav Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 Half a season still to go, salkster, and Manchester City are looking strong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 The New Year kicks off with the FA Cup 3rd Round and a visit to 6th placed Championship side Bristol City. It’s a chance to give a couple of youngsters a run and I already have high hopes for one of them. Gary Wright – a 17yo D/WB, M R – is an academy product and has already been blitzing the Under-18’s this season. He has also made the step up to the reserves with a couple of decent performances as well and he gets the chance to showcase his wares at right-back. Tom Cleverley – a 21yo AM RLC – who played the final 13 minutes of last season’s European Champions League Final as a substitute against Real Madrid gets another chance after some strong performances in the reserves. *** *** *** 1st January 2011 – FA Cup 3rd Round It’s an enthusiastic start by Bristol City in front of their own fans and they fashion the first decent chance after 8 minutes as Clarkson fires in a shot that Foster holds well. Gradually we take control though and start to push the Championship side back into defence. Wright looks assured on the right flank, but Cleverley is overly keen to impress and he gets a yellow card after 23 minutes for a wild lunge on Johnson. In the 36th minute a clever reverse-pass from Rooney sets Welbeck free and he coolly finishes with his left foot to give us a 1-0 lead. In the second half we continue to hold sway and a fine counterattack following a City corner sees Rooney leading the charge down the right flank. His cross finds Welbeck free in the centre and although keeper Basso charges down the shot he can do little with the rebound as Cattermole tucks it away from ten yards for his first official goal for United as we go 2-0 up. The next clear chance falls to Rooney after 72 minutes, but he batters his shot straight at Basso. Davies is next with a good chance after 87 minutes, but he only finds the side netting from fourteen yards out. There is a moment of luck in the 89th minute as the veteran Barmby’s miscued cross swirls onto the crossbar and Shorey has to head away the rebound for a corner. From Johnson’s ensuing corner Clarkson powers home a header to give the City fans something to cheer about, but it’s merely a late consolation as a minute later the match ends 2-1 in our favour. Bristol City 1 Clarkson 90 Manchester United 2 Welbeck 36, Cattermole 50 Foster; Wright, Shawcross, Brown, M.Taylor; Cleverley (Gardner), Hargreaves, Cattermole; Rooney (Young), Davies, Welbeck (Owen). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 With the new 4-3-3 formation starting to bed in well and the 2-1 win over league leaders Manchester City being our last league result it was time to start climbing back up the table and into the Champions League positions. A home game against 17th placed West Brom should see our run of wins continue as the line-up returned to the same eleven as the City match. *** *** *** 4th January 2011 – Premier League We dominated the early play with Welbeck fluffing a one-on-one chance early against Carson before going ahead after 14 minutes when Rooney drove in the rebound after Carson could only block Davies’ header. Shawcross’ header then cannoned against the crossbar after 22 minutes as we went close to extending our lead. West Brom had shown little, but a minute before the break Brunt hit a free-kick around our wall with Foster seeing it late and just managing to scramble it away. On the hour-mark Cattermole chipped a cross towards Welbeck on the left of the box and he sent a looping header into the middle where Rooney snuck in behind Zuiverloon and volleyed the ball past Carson from ten yards to make it 2-0. The game should have been wrapped up in the 79th minute when Rooney hammered a shot against the post from Davies’ clever chest-down, but instead we found ourselves in a battle when Bednar headed in unmarked from Brunt’s corner after 83 minutes to pull it back to 2-1. Rooney then missed a chance to restore our two-goal lead as he attempted to round Carson in a one-on-one situation, but the keeper managed to get a hand to the ball. West Brom immediately counterattacked from that escape with Miller racing clear before squaring the ball for Bednar to tap into the unguarded net to make it 2-2. That remained the final score and I was absolutely fuming with the players for letting the match slip like that. Manchester United 2 Rooney 14, 60 West Brom 2 Bednar 83, 88 Foster; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Carrick, Hargreaves (Noble), Cattermole; Rooney, Davies, Welbeck. *** *** *** West Ham were another team flirting with relegation as they sat in 16th place on the Premier League table, but we’d beaten them three out of three times under my management with the Hammers failing to score on any of those occasions. As such a win was expected, but the same had been true against West Brom four days earlier and look what happened then. The team was unchanged yet again, but my patience would be wearing thin with a few of the players if we didn’t take the three points today. *** *** *** 8th January 2011 – Premier League I’d given the players a big rev-up before the game to make sure there was no repetition of the stuff-up against West Brom and they set about West Ham with real purpose. A loose pass from Gabbidon gave Davies the chance to free Welbeck down the left wing and the youngster strode ahead forcefully before crossing into the middle. Davies had made up ground to be there and he delightfully controlled the cross, rounded Tomkins and fired past Green to make it 1-0 after 5 minutes. Snow started to fall as we took the game by the scruff of the neck and penned West Ham back into their own half. We lost Hargreaves after 33 minutes to a hamstring injury with Noble taking his place and Cattermole taking a more withdrawn role in the midfield. Our lead at the break turned out to be 2-0 when Davies produced a lovely pass for Rooney after 45 minutes and he ran to the edge of the box before crashing a shot past Green. Early in the second half a simple run and cross from Shorey found Davies towering above Green to head home strongly for his second goal as we went 3-0 ahead. The snow really started swirl down at this point and the conditions were making the game difficult. West Ham pulled a goal back after 69 minutes when Hines bundled in Bresciano’s curling corner to make it 3-1, but ten minutes later it was 4-1 as Carrick’s long pass released Welbeck and the youngster fired past Green from sixteen yards. From there we happily saw out the match to register a fairly emphatic three-goal victory. West Ham 1 Hines 69 Manchester United 4 Davies 5, 48, Rooney 45, Welbeck 79 Foster; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Carrick, Hargreaves (Noble), Cattermole; Rooney, Davies, Welbeck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 2, 2010 Author Share Posted November 2, 2010 The new 4-3-3 formation had made wingers basically redundant and one player had not played for the first team so far this campaign, so a loan move was arranged for the remainder of the season: Andrew Driver – AM L – no loan fee Championship side Burnley were pushing hard for an immediate return to the Premier League and they saw the left-winger as an ideal player to help them continue their push for automatic promotion. *** *** *** Hargreaves would be out for three weeks with the hamstring strain that he suffered at West Ham, so Cattermole moved to the holding role in midfield and Noble returned to the starting line-up in the only change to the team. *** *** *** 12th January 2011 – Premier League It took the team a while to get going, but Newcastle defended deeply and easily lapped up what attacks we could create. It wasn’t until the 38th minute that Rooney got a decent shot on target, but Harper was able to parry his fierce effort. A blast for the players at half-time saw an immediate response as Noble picked up a loose ball in the 48th minute and curled in a lovely twenty-five-yarder that beat Harper all ends up to give us a 1-0 lead. In the 59th minute Harper acrobatically tipped over Ferdinand’s header as we pushed hard for a second goal. Newcastle produced a quick counterattack in the 64th minute that appeared to be ended by Shawcross’ tackle on Carroll, but the ball broke for Guthrie and from fully thirty-five yards he drove a shot into the top corner of Foster’s net to make it 1-1. Our response was almost instantaneous, but not successful as Harper made a fine double-save from Gardner and then Davies from the rebound. Late efforts from Rooney, Carrick and Davies all came close to finding us a winner, but it wasn’t to be and I was very annoyed as we had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Manchester United 1 Noble 48 Newcastle 1 Guthrie 64 Foster; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey (M.Taylor); Carrick, Cattermole, Noble (Gardner); Rooney, Davies, Welbeck (Cole). *** *** *** Another North-East side were visiting Old Trafford after Newcastle’s fortunate 1-1 draw there, but I was expecting that Middlesbrough would be put to the sword instead of escaping with a point like their neighbours had done. Owen started in place of Welbeck in the only change I made to the starting eleven. *** *** *** 15th January 2011 – Premier League This time our beginning was more assured and Rooney seemed to be on a one-man mission to win the match as he fired in four shots in the opening twenty minutes, three of which went wide and one that the young keeper Steele tipped over for a corner. There was 30 minutes on the clock when McCormack fouled Cattermole following a corner and we were awarded a penalty. With Matty Taylor on the bench and Hargreaves out injured the penalty-taking duties fell to Noble and he assuredly placed his spot-kick to the left of Steele to put us 1-0 up. Rooney was clean through on goal five minutes later, but Steele saved well from his placed shot. Just before half-time Shorey sent a rasping left-footer across Steele, but the keeper magnificently tipped the ball away for a corner to deny the left-back his first goal for United. Middlesbrough began the second half with their first on-target efforts as a Mido header and a Digard shot both nestled safely in Foster’s arms. On 64 minutes Davies collected Carrick’s pass, turned quickly and fired a low shot into the bottom corner from eighteen yards to push our lead out to 2-0. This time we defended determinedly, closing Middlesbrough out whilst coming close to a third ourselves with Welbeck’s header and Rooney’s volley both finding the side netting in the final ten minutes. The resulting 2-0 win was much more pleasing than our previous effort as we climbed one place to 5th on the Premier League table. Manchester United 2 Noble pen 30, Davies 64 Middlesbrough 0 Foster; S.Taylor, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey (M.Taylor); Carrick, Cattermole, Noble (Osman); Rooney, Davies, Owen (Welbeck). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 Apart from Antonio Valencia – who steadfastly refuses all offers of a loan move and has not attracted an outright bid from anyone – there are now only a few non-English players that can attract any decent money to help me top up my transfer kitty. However one young Frenchman has caught the eye of a mid-table Italian team and a deal is soon worked out: Paul Pogba – M C – £400K Palermo saw some potential in the 18yo midfielder that had caused some controversy when he had been picked up from Le Havre a couple of years ago and I was happy to see him leave for a nominal fee. *** *** *** Everton were climbing the table after one of their typical slow starts to the season and were now in 8th place, having been beaten just once in their last eleven Premier League fixtures. They had also just picked up our former nemesis Thierry Henry on loan from Barcelona for the remainder of the season and it looked like the Frenchman would make his Toffees’ debut at Goodison Park against us. In team news for us skipper Ferdinand had suffered a groin strain in training that would keep him out for the next two weeks, so Brown stepped into the centre of defence to partner the in-form Shawcross. Shorey was rested this week with Matty Taylor taking his place at left-back whilst up front Welbeck returned after his rest on the bench and Owen went the other way. *** *** *** 19th January 2011 – Premier League Henry was in the Everton line-up as the sole forward in their 4-4-1-1 formation, but it was the advanced midfielder Cahill who tested Foster first with a powerful shot after 8 minutes that our keeper parried away. Good work down the right by Rooney after 12 minutes saw the ball moved inside to Noble and then Davies and the striker’s cheeky back-heel set up Welbeck for a close range finish to put us 1-0 up. Brown showed his rustiness by giving the ball away to Henry after 20 minutes and he then fed Arteta who forced a great save from Foster. Cahill pounced on the rebound and fired it goalwards, but Foster was back on his feet quickly to superbly catch that shot as well. When Everton equalised after 32 minutes you could have easily guessed who their scorer was going to be. Pienaar curled in a cross from the left wing and Henry got between Shawcross and Brown to plant a firm header past Foster to make it 1-1 on his debut. We responded well with both Noble and Rooney going close to restoring our lead, but in first half injury-time we got a lucky break as a freakish shot from Henry crashed against our crossbar with Foster well and truly beaten. In the second half we again took control of the play with Rooney and Brown both going close in the opening ten minutes of the half. Henry departed after 63 minutes, his match-fitness not up to scratch but otherwise just about as dangerous as he had been in his Arsenal days. In the 75th minute Foster was nearly caught out by Bale’s driven shot from forty yards as it appeared he had been expected the on-loan Welshman to cross the ball instead, but at least he managed to reposition himself and tip the shot away for a corner. Both Fellaini and Welbeck could have won the game for the respective teams late on, but both players shot wide for decent positions. It had been a tough encounter and in the end I was happy to leave Merseyside with a point from a 1-1 draw. Everton 1 Henry 32 Manchester United 1 Welbeck 12 Foster; S.Taylor (Gardner), Shawcross, Brown, M.Taylor; Noble, Cattermole (Osman), Carrick; Rooney, Davies, Welbeck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Dragging out the results Mr.Spav, maybe a bit of a hang over from last season. How many non english players you got left in the squad now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 Mark, at this point I had Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan, John O'Shea (on loan at Celtic), Darron Gibson, Federico Macheda, Park Ji-Sung (on loan at Wolfsburg), Tomasz Kuszczak, Mame Biram Diouf, Zoran Tosic and approximately eight current/former U-18's of various nationalities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmoset Junior Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 I'm still following your efforts with United and enjoying it very much, Spav. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 A trip to Barnsley for the 4th Round of the FA Cup meant a chance to give Rooney a rest whilst the 17yo Wright got another chance at right-back after his fine debut at Bristol City in the previous round. Our forgotten man Dawson also got a rare start at centre-half as did Osman in the middle of the park. *** *** *** 22nd January 2011 – FA Cup 4th Round As expected we were the dominant team and we quickly set about finding a way through the Barnsley defence. Rooney, Davies and Osman all went close with early chances before Young went even closer as he struck his shot against the post after 35 minutes. Young turned provider in the 35th minute as a mazy run down the right wing ended with a cross that Davies buried with a diving header to make it 1-0. In the first minute of the second half Barnsley almost equalised as Campbell-Ryce fired a low drive under Foster and against the post. Our response was a superb dribbling run by Young after 50 minutes that ended with a firm low shot across Steele and into the far bottom corner to make it 2-0. Welbeck then eluded his marker and attempted to round keeper Steele, but the former United man made a brave save at his feet. In the 71st minute Wehrmann produced a dipping shot from thirty yards that flew over Foster and thudded against the crossbar as the home side continued to fight hard. Gardner and Young both drew fine saves from Steele as the game wound down before we finally made it 3-0 as Shawcross powered home a header from Carrick’s corner in the 84th minute. The resulting 3-0 win moved us through into the 5th Round of the FA Cup. Barnsley 0 Manchester United 3 Davies 35, Young 50, Shawcross 84 Foster; Wright, Shawcross, Dawson, M.Taylor; Osman (Gardner), Cattermole (Noble), Carrick; Young, Davies, Welbeck (Owen). *** *** *** It was Manchester United in 5th place versus Arsenal in 4th place as we readied ourselves to travel to the Emirates Stadium for one of our biggest matches of the season. Ferdinand and Hargreaves were still out injured with Brown and Cattermole being their replacements, but other than that we were basically at full strength. *** *** *** 25th January 2011 – Premier League As early as the second minute Shorey raced clear down the left flank on an overlapping run and he crossed for Davies whose header cannoned back off the Arsenal crossbar. In a taste of things to come van Persie was set free in the 7th minute, but Foster forced him onto his weaker right foot and then made a diving save from the ensuing shot. After 12 minutes Fabregas suddenly produced a vicious swerving drive that Foster could only parry and van Persie swooped to drill home the rebound to give the Gunners a 1-0 lead. A few minutes later van Persie was running free again, but again Foster blocked his shot and the follow-up from Albin as well. As the first half continued Noble’s free-kick found the side-netting whilst Foster had to save well from Vermaelen’s header. The first half ended 1-0 in Arsenal’s favour and I had to admit they had been the better team. Within a couple of minutes of the restart van Persie was terrorising Brown again as he stole the ball and hit a low shot that Foster was forced to palm away for corner. After that we started our best period of the match with Rooney looking increasingly dangerous. A great run down the right wing and into the box by Rooney in the 58th minute ended up with a cut-back for Noble as Almunia did well to smother the ensuing shot. Cattermole then sent a twenty-five-yarder skimming off the top of the home side’s crossbar. Several corners were won as we ramped up the pressure and finally Arsenal cracked in the 70th minute. Noble sent a corner over to the far post, Davies nodded it back into the middle and Jagielka sliced his attempted clearance past Almunia for an own goal to make it 1-1. Arsenal responded with Diaby’s speculative shot striking the post after 77 minutes as we suddenly had to defend desperately. Steven Taylor’s late challenge on Albin saw him collect his second yellow card in the 84th minute as he was sent off and suddenly we were down to ten men for the final few minutes. Davies was replaced by Gardner as I plugged the gap in defence and attempted to hold onto the draw. Arsenal, sensing our panic, threw everyone forward and the ploy worked as in the 88th minute Fabregas and Albin set up van Persie who appeared to be offside, but referee Phil Dowd and his linesman allowed play to continue and the Dutchman beat Foster from twelve yards to win the game 2-1 for Arsenal. Arsenal 2 van Persie 12, 88 Manchester United 1 Jagielka (og) 70 Foster; S.Taylor (s/o 84), Shawcross, Brown, Shorey; Noble, Cattermole, Carrick; Rooney, Davies (Gardner), Young (Owen). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 New Fulham manager Lee Clark was busy spending the £17.5M that his predecessor Roy Hodgson had received from Manchester City for Brede Hangeland. After making a couple of defensive signings he came to me with an offer for a transfer-listed midfielder: Darron Gibson – M C – £3.0M I had never rated Gibson anyway, despite the fact he was Irish and wouldn’t have got a game, so I happily took Fulham’s money for a player that I felt was considerably overrated. *** *** *** We need to get back on track after our loss at Arsenal and a win at home to Birmingham is an absolute necessity. Steven Taylor will serve the mandatory one-match ban for his red card against the Gunners with Gardner taking his place. Brown’s poor performance at the Emirates Stadium sees him replaced by Dawson whilst Hargreaves returns from injury and is rushed back onto the bench after just two days training. *** *** *** 29th January 2011 – Premier League Foster saved well at his near post from Benitez after just 3 minutes as Birmingham fashioned the first clear chance. Rooney soon replied with a firm shot that Forsyth parried, but could not hold. In the 18th minute Noble sent a firm corner into the near post and Shawcross forced his way on front of O’Connor to plant a firm header into the Blues’ net to give us a 1-0 lead. Young’s snap-shot in the 28th minute then hit Forsyth’s legs as he charged out to narrow the angle, but six minutes later it was 2-0 with a carbon copy of the first goal as Shawcross headed in Noble’s corner for 2-0. Manager Krasimir Balakov decided that his men should shut up shop after that and we found a brick wall constructed across the front of the Birmingham penalty area for the remainder of the first half and well into the second period. Carrick and Noble tried from long distance, but neither could find the target. In the meantime, our opponents showed little intent to create any attacks of their own. It wasn’t until the 67th minute when Queudrue fired in a swerving shot that Foster palmed away that we found ourselves under any threat. We finally pierced the Blues’ rearguard for a third time in the 79 minute when Gardner capped a fine display by crossing to the far post where Young nipped in behind Larsson to volley firmly past Forsyth. Birmingham did grab themselves a consolation goal in the 81st minute as Roger Johnson bundled in a corner to pull it back to 3-1, but that was the last of the goalmouth action as we returned to the winners list with a decent display. Manchester United 3 Shawcross 18, 34, Young 79 Birmingham 1 R.Johnson 81 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Dawson, Shorey; Noble, Cattermole (Hargreaves), Carrick; Rooney, Davies, Young. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonpreacher Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 This is superb Spav. You have inspired me to take up the same challenge in my first FM11 game. I think I will allow myself to buy English players from anywhere! I want to go home from work now!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manu.123 Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Spav is BACK I have to say mate that this is one of the best storys that i have read for a long while and i have to say that yours is the best and i will be following this one all the time mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 6, 2010 Author Share Posted November 6, 2010 With just over £22.0M worth of transfer funds burning a hole in my pocket I had the chance to make one more quality English signing for the second half of the season. With Everton refusing my overtures for midfielder Jack Rodwell I decided to bolster my forward line with an additional pacey striker: Gabby Agbonlahor – ST – £19.0M Aston Villa bumped me up from £15.0M to £19.0M before accepting my offer, but after that I had no trouble that in persuading the English international to join me at Old Trafford. Agbonlahor had scored 16 goals last season and already had 18 goals in all competitions so far in the 2010/11 campaign, so he was a man in form and I hoped that he would soon settle into the ways of my team. *** *** *** Right on the transfer deadline I received a loan offer for a player who had doggedly refused to leave Old Trafford over the previous eighteen months: Antonio Valencia – AM RC – £375K loan fee Valladolid offered to pay half of his wages and I concurred with their £5.75M agreed price clause if the Ecuadorian decided to join the Spanish club in June 2011 at the end of his loan deal. *** *** *** International call-ups for our upcoming Premier League opponents Sunderland means that our match at the Stadium of Light on Saturday 5th February is postponed for eleven days. The extra break will give some of my players a chance to rest and recover from our hectic schedule, but call-ups to the England squad will mean some of them won’t get that chance. *** *** *** In midweek England flew over to the USA to play a friendly in Carson, California and came away with a 1-0 win thanks to a 62nd minute goal from Wayne Rooney. Ben Foster, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney all started the match whilst Joe Hart, Wes Brown, Ryan Shawcross and Owen Hargreaves all came on as substitutes. Danny Welbeck and new signing Gabby Agbonlahor were unused substitutes for England in this match. *** *** *** The international break has been both kind and harsh to us as Ferdinand and Hargreaves are back to full fitness, but Carrick sprained his ankle on England duty and will miss the next three weeks. A toe injury also means that Davies will sit out the next match. Ferdinand and Hargreaves return to the starting line-up to face Aston Villa in the FA Cup with Gardner holding on to his place at right-back and Cole coming in for Davies. New signing Agbonlahor is cup-tied and is not available to face his former club, so he will have to wait a few more days to make his Manchester United debut. When Aston Villa’s team is named we see that our former player Jonny Evans is set to return to Old Trafford. After leaving us for £5.0M in August 2009 to join Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon the Northern Irish defender had a great season and persuaded Aston Villa to bring him back to England for £12.75M at the start of the current season. *** *** *** 12th February 2011 – FA Cup 5th Round This was a poor match in all honesty. Both teams scrapped hard in the midfield, but scoring chances were few and far between. A Noble twenty-five-yarder and a Shawcross header were all that we had to show for the opening half-hour whilst Villa could only boast a looping header from Heskey that dropped onto the top of the net. On 37 minutes Young did well on the left wing, cut inside his namesake Luke Young and then rolled the ball into the path of Noble lurking on the edge of the box. In what is now becoming his trademark, Noble drove a rising shot high into the Villa net from twenty-two yards to put us 1-0 up. There was little of note for the majority of the second half with Carew volleying a yard over the crossbar after 66 minutes in what was our opponent’s only real chance while Cole similarly fired a shot just over in the 77th minute. Whilst Villa didn’t look like equalising, there was always the chance of a lucky breakaway, but finally in the 92nd minute Noble capped a MOM performance by setting up Young and the former Villan curled a superb shot around Friedel to wrap up the tie with a 2-0 final scoreline. Manchester United 2 Noble 37, Young 90+2 Aston Villa 0 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble, Hargreaves (Osman), Cattermole; Rooney, Cole, Young. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldkohmew Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 good reading this thread Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 Sunderland had given us tough matches each time we had met them under my management, so a win at the Stadium of Light would be a good result for us. Osman started in place of Cattermole in the midfield whilst Davies returned at the expense of Cole up front as we looked to try and get ourselves back into the top four on the Premier League table. *** *** *** 16th February 2011 – Premier League Sunderland started confidently with Cana hitting a 2nd minute shot from thirty yards that Foster fortuitously palmed over the crossbar for a corner. From Richardson’s resulting corner Puygrenier’s header was somehow bundled away by Foster. After 6 minutes Inler found Malouda in space on the left wing and his cross found Bent. The striker took the ball down, swivelled past Ferdinand and drilled home a shot from fourteen yards to put the home side 1-0 up. Rooney saw his shot well saved by Gordon after 10 minutes as we started our fightback. Hargreaves, Davies and Rooney all then had good chances as we took the game by the scruff of the neck. Despite dominating the midfield we couldn’t find a way through the Sunderland defence and had to go in to the half-time break a goal down. Young had been unsighted in the first half, so I told Agbonlahor to get ready for his debut as a substitute. I also gave the players a bit of a serve at the interval and it paid immediate results upon the resumption of play. Only 26 seconds had elapsed when Gardner picked up a loose ball following Rooney’s forceful run and the right-back crossed for Davies to crash home a header to make it 1-1. Sunderland went on the defensive after that, squeezing the life out of the game, with no goalscoring chances being created for a lengthy period. Cana did strike our crossbar after 80 minutes, but the linesman’s flag was up for a clear offside by Geovanni, so it wouldn’t have counted even if it had gone in. In injury-time Rooney suddenly ghosted in from the right wing behind Fabio, nicked the ball off the left-back’s boot following Shorey’s cross and was suddenly one-on-one against Gordon only six yards out, but the Scottish keeper magnificently spread himself at Rooney’s feet to block the shot and save his team a point. In the end we had to settle for a 1-1 draw in a match that we could well have won. Sunderland 1 Bent 6 Manchester United 1 Davies 46 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble, Hargreaves, Osman (Cattermole); Rooney, Davies, Young (Agbonlahor). *** *** *** For the trip to Wigan Cattermole was back in the team to start against one of his former clubs as Osman went back to the bench. Agbonlahor would make his full debut after playing the second half against Sunderland with Young dropping out of the starting eleven as a result. *** *** *** 19th February 2011 – Premier League This was a poor match on a soggy, chopped-up pitch on a wet day in Wigan. Neither side played anything like they were capable of and there only a couple of moments that really got the fans’ hearts racing. Kirkland nearly made a hash of Davies’s twenty-five yard effort in the 22nd minute, but after it skidded through his hands it flew just over the crossbar. In the 35th minute Noble’s through-ball released Rooney, but he took it wide with poor control and left himself a tight angle for his eventual shot which keeper Kirkland parried aside without too much distress. Foster was having a quiet game for us though as Wigan could not fashion any worthwhile chances. The drudgery continued into the second half until the 62nd minute when Noble’s excellence at long passing finally cracked Wigan’s defence. Rooney was the recipient of the through-ball and this time he made his run directly at the keeper before smashing a shot past Kirkland from the edge of the box to put us 1-0 up. A jinking run and a swerve inside followed by a fierce shot from Agbonlahor nearly netted him his first United goal after 77 minutes, but Kirkland made his best save of the day to deny our new signing. Any faint hope that Wigan had of raising their play was ended in the 83rd minute when Ferreira pulled back Agbonlahor with a professional foul as the striker ran clear of him and the former Chelsea man was given a straight red card that reduced the home side to ten men. From there it was a short step until the final whistle as we skulked home with an ugly 1-0 win under our belt. Wigan 0 Manchester United 1 Rooney 62 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble (Osman), Hargreaves, Cattermole; Rooney, Davies, Agbonlahor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 Although we had suffered only one defeat in our past eighteen competitive matches (that being the 2-1 loss at Arsenal) our form had not been ideal, especially away from home. The new 4-3-3 formation had not proved as effective as I had hoped, but perhaps the team were still coming to grips with my new tactics. As a result our return to the competitiveness of the Champions League would give us the sternest of workouts as we prepared to host Spanish giants Barcelona in the First Knockout Round. Barcelona had been unbeaten in the group stage and had qualified at the top of Group A along with second-placed Benfica. Inter Milan had been forced to settle for third place after losing 1-0 in the San Siro to Barcelona, although they did pick up a 0-0 draw at the Camp Nou in the return match. I would be naming an unchanged side from the weekend’s 1-0 win over Wigan with Agbonlahor keeping his place in the forward line. Barcelona, meanwhile, would be at full strength except for first choice keeper Valdes who was out with an ankle injury and he would be replaced by Pinto. *** *** *** 23rd February 2011 – Champions League 1st Knockout Round 1st Leg I didn’t want the players to concede the midfield advantage to Barcelona without a fight, so I urged them to go out there and take control early, pushing the ball around and forcing our Spanish opponents to chase us instead. It worked well as Noble and Hargreaves in particular played the ball around intelligently and our first chance fell to Shawcross who went close with a 6th minute header from Noble’s corner. A strong run down the left wing by Agbonlahor pulled Barca’s defence wide open in the 13th minute and when the striker pulled the ball back for Hargreaves there was plenty of time for the midfielder to line up a shot. The centre-half Chygrynskyi managed to partially block the shot, but it deflected into the path of Rooney and he rifled it home from twelve yards to give us a 1-0 lead. Nine minutes later Agbonlahor picked up Ferdinand’s clearance, surged past Dani Alves, dribbled around Chygrynskyi and then sent a low skidding shot from twenty yards past Pinto to double our lead to 2-0 with his first goal for the club. It was a brilliant strike and it highlighted just why I had paid £19M for the former Aston Villa man. Barca finally produced an incisive attack in the 33rd minute via Iniesta down the left side as he then fed Xavi inside. The midfielder thundered in a shot from twenty-two yards that slammed against our crossbar and bounced down a yard into play before Foster punched it away for a corner with Ibrahimovic threatening. That was the signal for Barcelona to force themselves back into the game as they started to produce the slick passing style that they were famous for. Ibrahimovic cut inside Gardner and beat Shawcross after 38 minutes before driving in a low shot that Foster was forced to turn away for a corner. A few minutes later Xavi’s volley just flicked the outside of the post with Foster well-beaten. At half-time we led 2-0, but Barca had been the dominant team for the last fifteen minutes of the first period. We needed a strong start to the second half, but we didn’t get it. A corner looked promising after 48 minutes, but when it was cleared Messi and Iniesta staged a quick counterattack. Iniesta made it to the left bye-line before pulling the back for Xavi and he crashed the ball past Foster from sixteen yards to pull the score back to 2-1. Barca looked to keep up the pressure, but we slowly dragged ourselves back into the match and by the 65th minute the game was evenly-balanced in terms of possession. When Messi cut inside from the right after 67 minutes for a shot that Ferdinand charged down, the danger seemed to have been averted. However Shorey dallied before making his clearance and Ibrahimovic stole the ball and then dribbled at goal from a tight angle before shooting into the body of Foster from whence it went for a corner. From that corner a half-clearance fell to Xavi lurking on the edge of the box and his low shot crashed against the post after finding its way through a crowd of players. We were living on the edge now, but a fine Cattermole pass and a Rooney shot after 73 minutes earned us a corner as Pinto was forced to turn the ball away. From Noble’s corner Shawcross met the ball at the near post with a fierce header that flew in over Maxwell guarding the post and tore into the roof of the net to put us 3-1 in front. The Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola responded by throwing on Bojan and Pedro to test our tiring defence, but we held firm. Bojan did set up Messi for a chance after 86 minutes, but the Argentinean drove his shot straight at Foster from twelve yards and our keeper gratefully held on to the ball. With the fans singing and chanting louder than I had heard for several months the team controlled the remaining few minutes before they elatedly welcomed the referee’s final whistle that signalled our outstanding 3-1 victory. Manchester United 3 Rooney 13, Agbonlahor 22, Shawcross 73 Barcelona 1 Xavi 48 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble, Hargreaves, Cattermole; Rooney, Davies, Agbonlahor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Boom now thats what I'm talking about Mr.Spav, more performances like that please Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 Mark, it seems that you are just as excited as I was when that Barca game was played. I though you'd like that result. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 After the glory of the midweek victory over Barcelona it was back to business in the Premier League with a visit to Blackburn who were struggling down in 16th place, just a couple of points above the relegation places. Despite everyone playing ninety minutes on Wednesday evening the same eleven players will line up again at Ewood Park. *** *** *** 27th February 2011 – Premier League Blackburn’s 5-4-1 formation made it perfectly clear what they were looking for today – and that was a point from a scoreless draw. The first chance arrived in the 18th minute as Davies dived to meet Rooney’s floating cross, but the keeper Robinson got a hand to it just as it left Davies’ head and a corner was the only result. There was nothing of note again until the 35th minute when Robinson launched himself to his left to tip Hargreaves’ free-kick around the post. Having battered ourselves against Blackburn’s defensive wall to little avail we trooped into the half-time break tied at 0-0. Within a minute of the restart Andrews had set up Kalinic for Rovers’ first chance, but the Croatian striker shot straight into Foster’s arms from fourteen yards range. We were having the bulk of the possession, but not creating any chances and the United players pressed further forward as the game progressed. In the 64th minute this allowed Roberts to lead a quick counterattack down Blackburn’s left wing and his low cross through the box found McCarthy completely unmarked on the far post, but Foster brilliantly saved his first-time shot from just eight yards out. With fifteen minutes remaining on the clock I had tired of Rooney and Agbonlahor’s total lack of chances, so I threw on Young and Welbeck in their places. The improvement was almost instantaneous as Young crossed in the 78th minute, Hargreaves flicked it on with his head and Welbeck nodded it home at the far post, only for the referee to rule it out on a marginal offside call. The same trio combined in the 85th minute to finally break open Blackburn. This time Young fed Hargreaves and he dinked the ball into the path of Welbeck who rifled it home from eighteen yards to give us a 1-0 lead. Amazingly the same three players provided the clinching goal as well after 88 minutes. Young made ground down the right wing before cutting the ball back for Hargreaves and he fed Welbeck who then produced an audacious chip from seventeen yards to totally outwit Robinson and lock up our 2-0 victory. Blackburn 0 Manchester United 2 Welbeck 85, 88 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble, Hargreaves, Cattermole; Rooney (Young), Davies, Agbonlahor (Welbeck). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Jung Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Why don't you make it a British Manchester United instead of English Manchester United? By the way anyone who wanted quality English young players I can list a few of them and their brief description. Jack Butland - As good as Joe Hart or even better Phil Jones - Have the potential to become Vidic for England and Manchester United Rodwell - Dubbed the Frank Lampard, all I can add is he is better than Lampard in air and can play as a centre back if you have any centre back injury crisis (His stats make him a waste to play as centre back) Wilshere - Dubbed the new Paul Gascoigne aka Gazza, certainly a beast of playmaking if he can be dubbed as Gazza (One of the best English midfield but had trouble with his off-field behaviour) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 The 2011 League Cup has a home at White Hart Lance after Tottenham defeated Chelsea 8-7 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra-time at Wembley. Tottenham had taken an early lead through Pavlyuchenko after 16 minutes, but Chelsea equalised in first half injury-time through Joe Cole. With seven successful conversions by each team in the penalty shootout it was Chelsea’s Palumbo who saw his spot-kick saved by Gomes. Tottenham’s Woodgate then scored with his team’s eighth penalty to win the shootout 8-7 for the North London club. *** *** *** A rare week without a midweek game gave the team a chance to relax and I scheduled a day off training on the Wednesday. The players would need to be on their toes this weekend as we faced Liverpool at Anfield in the 6th Round of the FA Cup. There was just to be just one change as the cup-tied Agbonlahor was replaced by the previous Sunday’s two-goal hero Welbeck. *** *** *** 5th March 2011 – FA Cup 6th Round After early chances for Rooney and Benayoun that bought fines saves from Reina and Foster respectively it was Liverpool who struck first after 21 minutes. A slack pass from Noble gave the ball straight to Benayoun and he quickly fired a through-ball into the path of Torres. The Spaniard sprinted clear of Shawcross and coolly slid the ball wide of the advancing Foster from eighteen yards to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead. Six minutes later it was almost two for the home side as Kuyt’s looping header beat Foster, but hit the crossbar instead. Rooney got a half-sight of goal in the 31st minute, but could only batter his shot straight at Reina. Liverpool were sitting back, inviting us forward, but then counterattacking extremely well. When Kuyt led a breakout after 35 minutes it was three-on-two in the Reds’ favour, but luckily for us Pacheco headed the Dutchman’s cross straight at Foster and he was able to fist it clear. Lady luck smiled on us again after 41 minutes when Mascherano’s thirty-yarder smacked against the post with Foster well-beaten. We were now relying on Foster to keep us in the match as Liverpool dominated at the end of first half. The England number one saved well as Torres stuck out a foot to deflect Kuyt’s cross goalwards after 45 minutes and then he made an even better stop as he dived to his left to fingertip away Torres’ curling effort in the third minute of injury time. Liverpool led 1-0 at the break and their confidence was sky-high whilst I had to find a way to get my team back into the match. The half-time interval didn’t put Liverpool off their stride as they came out and continued their control of the match right from the start of the second half. 48 minutes had passed when Beck drove in a low cross from the right wing and Torres slipped in front of Shawcross, controlled the ball and then with minimum back-lift fired a shot under Foster from twelve yards to make it 2-0 to Liverpool. Rooney had our first shot for ages when he found the side-netting after 51 minutes, but we need luck again to finally get back into the game. Noble sent over a corner after 54 minutes and Shawcross powered a headed goalwards. The ball struck the crossbar and came back into play whereupon it hit Reina in the back and then trickled over the line for an unfortunate own goal to the Liverpool keeper that pulled the scoreline back to 2-1. Torres was still terrorising Shawcross and Ferdinand though and he broke clear to bring another fine save from Foster after 59 minutes. Both sides seemed to founder around the sixty-minute mark and there was a long period with little in the way of scoring chances. Carrick’s header from Gardner’s cross after 82 minutes looped over Reina, but landed on the top of the net as we finally managed to register another attempt, but that was as close as we came to finding an equaliser. In the end Liverpool won the tie 2-1 to advance to the semi-finals and I had to admit in the ensuing press conference that the Reds had been the better team on the day. Liverpool 2 Torres 21, 48 Manchester United 1 Reina (og) 54 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble, Cattermole, Hargreaves (Carrick); Rooney, Davies, Welbeck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 19, 2010 Author Share Posted November 19, 2010 We needed to keep on winning in order to break into the Champions League places as the top four were all performing steadily at the moment. Manchester City were stretching their lead at the top of the Premier League table with several high-scoring victories whilst Liverpool were doing their best to chase them down. Arsenal and Tottenham had slipped further back due to a couple of defeats each in the past month and were now within touching distance for us. A win at Wolves on Saturday would keep us right on their tails. *** *** *** 12th March 2011 – Premier League In pouring rain at Molineux we were a goal down after 17 seconds as Ba flicked in Kightly’s cross at the near post with a well-directed header. We reacted well though and Hennessey was forced to react quickly to parry Davies’ header away for a corner in the 14th minute. From Noble’s ensuing corner Shawcross peeled away from his marker to head himself yet another goal (his fifth in ten matches) to draw us level at 1-1. Davies then bought a fine save out of Hennessey after 28 minutes and the striker was even unluckier nine minutes later when the Wolves keeper somehow deflected his stunning twenty-five yard volley onto the crossbar and thence to safety. From restarting at 1-1 after the break we continued in control of the match and Rooney became the second player for us to be denied by the woodwork when his vicious shot struck the post after 58 minutes. Hargreaves scored an absolute peach of a goal to give us a 2-1 lead after 64 minutes, volleying home from twenty-five yards after latching onto Berra’s miscued defensive header. A third goal would have made it safe for us, but Rooney and Young both found the side-netting when presented with good chances as the game wound down. We still needed an ounce of luck to take the three points though, as Brown’s speculative effort from thirty yards hit the joint of the crossbar and post in the 89th minute with Foster flatfooted in our goal. The 2-1 win left us in 5th place on the table, but with a game in hand on the teams above us. Wolves 1 Ba 1 Manchester United 2 Shawcross 14, Hargreaves 64 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble, Hargreaves (Cattermole), Carrick; Rooney, Davies, Welbeck (Young). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 Barring the cup slip up your forms getting back to its best, keep this up Mr.Spav Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 22, 2010 Author Share Posted November 22, 2010 We’ll be defending the excellent 3-1 win we produced in the home leg of our Champions League 1st Knockout Round against Barcelona when we travel to Spain in midweek. I think our form is solid enough at the moment to carry us through, but Barca’s away goal at Old Trafford means that a 2-0 victory will give them the tie on the away-goals rule. Agbonlahor will replace Welbeck in the only change to the team from the weekend’s win at Wolves. *** *** *** 16th March 2011 – Champions League 1st Knockout Round 2nd Leg I was sure that Foster was going to be in for a busy night and I wasn’t wrong. After quickly setting up camp in our half Barcelona started to probe away at our defence. We did win a corner after 13th minutes, but that just allowed Barca to launch a swift counterattack when Pique cleared the ball and Iniesta quickly had Messi running clear of the last defender. Foster was up to his first challenge though and he spread himself well to block the Argentinean’s shot. Xavi, Ibrahimovic, Iniesta and Toure then all fired in long range efforts that flew just wide or just over, but we were doing well in limiting the home team to efforts from distance and not allowing them any space inside our penalty area. When Ibrahimovic did get an accurate cross into the box after 41 minutes it was Toure who met it firmly with his head, but Foster made a diving catch away to his left to keep the ball out of our net. The first half ended at 0-0 and although we hadn’t even managed a shot on goal, we had defended stoutly despite Barca’s domination of possession and they now had only forty-five minutes left in which to turn the tie around. The second half continued in the same vein as the first had done. Messi curled a shot inches wide from twenty yards after he had cut in from the right wing in the 48th minute and Shorey’s desperate lunge took the ball off Quagliarella’s boot just as he was about to bury a loose ball from close range in the 52nd minute. After a couple of minutes of rare possession when we actually held onto the ball and made our opponents do the chasing it was Carrick who made the incisive pass as he found Rooney on the edge of the box. Rooney first touch took him away from his marker Maxwell and he curled an exquisite left-footer around Valdes from twenty yards to put us 1-0 up in the Camp Nou. Led by Iniesta and Xavi Barcelona tore into us again and another fine save from Foster denied Ibrahimovic after his header from Maxwell’s cross in the 61st minute. Carrick’s vision created a second goal after 68 minutes as he spotted Agbonlahor’s angled run in from the left wing and put the ball perfectly into the striker’s feet. Agbonlahor allowed the ball to run wide of Pique before driving a shot across Valdes from fifteen yards to make it 2-0 and just about ensure that the overall victory would be ours. Barcelona finally got a goal of their own after 75 minutes as Messi’s long pass released Quagliarella and the Italian raced in to slide the ball past Foster from the edge of the penalty area to pull the score back to 2-1. Strikers Bojan and Rochina replaced Keita and Toure as Barca’s manager Pep Guardiola went for broke in the final fifteen minutes. Foster made one more brilliant save in the 82nd minute as Rochina fired in from close range after great lead-up play by Ibrahimovic, but apart from that we kept them at bay until the final whistle. We had won 2-1 with our only two attempts on goal having both gone in whilst our opponents had only scored once from their twenty-two shots. It had been a real battle, but we had defeated Barcelona 5-2 on aggregate and had earned our place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Barcelona 1 Quagliarella 75 Manchester United 2 Rooney 56, Agbonlahor 68 Manchester United wins 5-2 on aggregate Foster; Gardner (S.Taylor), Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble (Cattermole), Hargreaves, Carrick; Rooney, Davies, Agbonlahor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 22, 2010 Author Share Posted November 22, 2010 17th March 2011 – Premier League Table: |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |1st | Man City | 30 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 75 | 25 | +50 | 72 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |2nd | Liverpool | 31 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 53 | 24 | +29 | 66 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |3rd | Arsenal | 31 | 17 | 8 | 6 | 52 | 36 | +16 | 59 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |4th | Tottenham | 31 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 61 | 30 | +31 | 58 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |5th | Man Utd | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 50 | 30 | +20 | 57 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |6th | Chelsea | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 36 | 24 | +12 | 47 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |7th | Everton | 31 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 44 | 35 | +9 | 47 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |8th | Sunderland | 31 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 50 | 47 | +3 | 47 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |9th | Newcastle | 31 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 32 | 34 | -2 | 42 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |10th | Wigan | 31 | 9 | 13 | 9 | 41 | 42 | -1 | 40 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |11th | Stoke | 31 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 47 | 50 | -3 | 40 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |12th | Wolves | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 38 | 39 | -1 | 38 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |13th | Aston Villa | 31 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 42 | 52 | -10 | 33 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |14th | West Brom | 31 | 9 | 6 | 16 | 37 | 51 | -14 | 33 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |15th | West Ham | 31 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 39 | 59 | -20 | 30 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |16th | Blackburn | 31 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 26 | 44 | -18 | 27 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |17th | Middlesbrough | 31 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 28 | 50 | -22 | 27 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |18th | Birmingham | 31 | 6 | 6 | 19 | 31 | 59 | -28 | 24 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |19th | Fulham | 31 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 35 | 66 | -31 | 24 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |20th | Bolton | 31 | 3 | 10 | 18 | 22 | 42 | -20 | 19 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I'll be honest Mr.Spav I really dont like the look of that table and think you need to go and get your computer checked out because Man.City on top...thats got to be a bug or something, or a computer virus Keep up the good work anyway Spav Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 23, 2010 Author Share Posted November 23, 2010 We were back from our victory in Spain, but with only three days until our next league match at home to Stoke changes will have to be made as several players will require a rest after our epic defensive display. Shorey, Hargreaves and Noble will all drop down to the bench and their places will be taken Matty Taylor, Cattermole and Osman. *** *** *** 19th March 2011 – Premier League Within 52 seconds we are a goal up as Osman drives home a low shot from the edge of the box following great lead-up play by Matty Taylor. Stoke’s response was to instantly drop deeper into defence in an attempt to stifle us further. After 22 minutes my opposite number Tony Pulis goes one step further and replaces his striker Remy with a defensive midfielder in Arismendi. Carrick, Rooney and Cattermole all let fly with long range shots that go close as the half progresses, but Stoke’s keeper Sorensen is not called into action and we only lead 1-0 at the break. In the 53rd minute Foster’s punched clearance drops towards Higginbotham twenty-five yards out and his looping header back into the box finds Tuncay who appears to be offside. The linesman and referee don’t agree however and Tuncay is left free to flick a header past Foster to draw Stoke level at 1-1. We are controlling the play, but Stoke’s massed defence is proving impenetrable. Davies is struggling as the 70th minute approaches and I send on Young in his place with Rooney moving into the central role. It takes until the 86th minute for us to regain the lead as Young surges into the Stoke backline and attempts to find Agbonlahor with a chipped pass. Steinsson manages to get his head to the ball, but he merely redirects it back into the path of Young and from fourteen yards he smashes it past Sorensen to put us 2-1 in front. Steinsson’s bad day then goes to worse in the 92nd minute as he fails to control a bouncing ball with his chest and Rooney steals the ball before volleying home from twelve yards to wrap the game up at 3-1. Manchester United 3 Osman 1, Young 86, Rooney 90+2 Stoke 1 Tuncay 53 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, M.Taylor; Osman (Noble), Cattermole, Carrick; Rooney, Davies (Young), Agbonlahor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichG Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 I wonder if reading this Sir Alex F will go out and sign Kevin Davies lol KUTGW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 25, 2010 Author Share Posted November 25, 2010 Our Champions League quarter-final opponents AC Milan had reached this stage on the back of some inconsistent form. They had been strong at home, but had lost two of their four matches on the road by decent margins (1-4 at Anderlecht and 1-3 at Sevilla). A decent performance at the San Siro would nullify Milan’s strong point and set us up nicely for the home match in two week’s time. The team was also back to full strength after several players had been rested in the previous league game. *** *** *** 23rd March 2011 – Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg Evra said hello to his ex-United team-mates with a nasty late tackle on Rooney after just 43 seconds and the Spanish referee perhaps leniently showed him only a yellow card. After that we defended well and limited Milan to a couple of long range shots, even though that had the edge in possession of the ball. Foster was called on only once in the opening forty minutes and that was to make a simple catch from a tame header by Pirlo after 22 minutes. However in the 40th minute a towering defensive header from Onyewu fell kindly for Borriello and he ran clear down the left flank. Milan poured forward in support and when Borriello squared the ball into the box it was Pato who was on hand to sidefoot the ball home from nine yards to give his team a 1-0 lead. From the restart we blew our first real chance as Gardner overlapped down the right wing and crossed for Davies who headed wide from eight yards with only Abbiati to beat. It was still 1-0 at the interval, but we needed to ensure that Milan didn’t get a second goal after the break. The second half began with Ambrosini and Carrick both firing in shots from the edge of the penalty area that required the opposing keepers Foster and Abbiati to dive well to their left to make the saves. In the 65th minute Ronaldinho took a free-kick twenty-five yards out and directly in front. The Brazilian’s effort curled around our wall and thumped against the crossbar, dropping down a foot in play before Shawcross hoofed it clear. As the half wound down we were still defending fairly well, but not creating much trouble for Milan’s defence. Borriello’s good work set up Pato for a clear run at goal after 84 minutes, but the young striker scuffed his shot and only found the side netting as the home fans groaned in despair. Late on it was the substitutes who had decent chances to score. Hargreaves’ long ball released Young in the 89th minute and his pace took him clear of Milan’s tiring defence, but Abbiati stood up and Young only succeeded in battering his shot straight at the Italian’s keeper. In the first minute of injury-time Milan’s substitute midfielder Jadson was set up by Ambrosini, but he also crashed his shot straight at Foster who double-fisted the ball away. In the end we lost 1-0, but the single goal defeat was tolerable as I felt we could find a couple of goals at Old Trafford to win the tie. AC Milan 1 Pato 40 Manchester United 0 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble (Osman), Hargreaves, Carrick; Rooney, Davies, Agbonlahor (Young). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustSaint Posted November 25, 2010 Share Posted November 25, 2010 A really good idea and an interesting read. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted November 26, 2010 Author Share Posted November 26, 2010 England took their record to five wins from five matches as they beat Finland 2-0 at Wembley in their Group F qualifier for the 2012 European Championships. Wayne Rooney (5th) and Steven Gerrard (81st) were the scorers. Ben Foster, Rio Ferdinand, Lee Cattermole, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney all started the match whilst Wes Brown and Michael Carrick were second half substitutes. Joe Hart and Ryan Shawcross were unused substitutes on the England bench. *** *** *** A Wayne Rooney hat-trick guided England to a 3-1 win against Wales in Cardiff as the 2012 European Championship qualifiers continued. Rooney took his England goal tally to 42 in 71 games as he scored in the 16th, 42nd and 59th minutes whilst Sam Vokes briefly had Wales level in the 18th minute. Ben Foster, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney all started the match whilst Wes Brown and Owen Hargreaves were second half substitutes. Joe Hart, Gabby Agbonlahor and Ryan Shawcross were amongst the unused substitutes. *** *** *** If we are going to move into the top three places on the Premier League table and ensure that we get automatic group phase entry to next season’s Champions League then we simply must beat 2nd placed Liverpool at Old Trafford. Several of the team played in both of England’s matches in the past week, but after training everyone is cleared and we will be at full strength for this vital clash. *** *** *** 2nd April 2011 – Premier League The first decent chance is set up by Noble and Davies after 15 minutes with Rooney receiving the ball fifteen yards out, but on an acute angle. Rooney goes for power with his shot, but Reina saves well. After allowing his defenders to push out Reina clears with a kick, but his effort is poor and Shorey heads it back into the middle where it drops beyond Insua for Rooney to collect. This time Rooney is able to run directly at the goal and he powers a shot past Reina from fourteen yards to give us a 1-0 lead with his 100th league goal for Manchester United. Rooney is in behind Insua again after 26 minutes, but this time his volleyed shot is fisted away by Reina. Johnson and Liedson both shoot just wide as Liverpool come back at us, but then Agbonlahor wastes a glorious chance in the 37th minute as he gets one-on-one with Reina only to shoot straight at the Reds’ keeper. Agbonlahor is nearly free again in the 40th minute, but Beck forces him wide and the ball is laid back to Shorey. The left-back hits a beautiful first-time cross into the box and finds Rooney who glances home a header to double our lead to 2-0. Benayoun then twice goes close to pulling Liverpool back into the match. Firstly the Israeli strikes a swerving free-kick that Foster punches away after 43 minutes and secondly he brings another great save from our keeper as he runs onto Kuyt’s pass and fires low to the left in the first minute of injury-time. Our 2-0 half-time lead is richly deserved, but Liverpool are by no means beaten yet. A good start to the second half is imperative, but after 52 minutes Liedson peels away from Shawcross and meets Kuyt’s floated cross with a precise header that goes just inside the far post to make it 2-1. That’s the signal for a period of Liverpool pressure which is topped by Gerrard’s header thumping against the post after 59 minutes. We fight hard to reduce Liverpool’s control and Noble and Carrick start to have more influence. Davies heads straight at Reina from Noble’s cross after 72 minutes, but then Liedson hits a twenty-five yarder that skims off the top of our crossbar. With the game up for grabs Noble sends a raking forty-yard pass out to Gardner overlapping down the right wing in the 83rd minute. The right-back’s cross is perfect for Agbonlahor and he volleys home from the penalty-spot to make it 3-1 and surely seal our win. With our opponents now disheartened we expertly control the final ten minutes and take a most valuable three points as a result. Manchester United 3 Rooney 15, 40, Agbonlahor 83 Liverpool 1 Liedson 53 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble, Hargreaves, Carrick; Rooney, Davies (Young), Agbonlahor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted December 3, 2010 Author Share Posted December 3, 2010 We now needed to follow up that great Premier League win over Liverpool with an equally fine performance in the Champions League against AC Milan if we were going to progress to the semi-finals. I had what has become my first-choice eleven available and a 2-0 margin was my target. *** *** *** 5th April 2011 – Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg It was Pato who showed he would be our biggest threat as he raced clear of Shawcross after 8 minutes, but thankfully Foster saved well from the Brazilian’s firm left-footed shot. A five-minute period of Milan pressure had us scrambling in defence at times, but then Carrick and Davies instigated a quick counterattack after 27 minutes with Rooney being the outlet on the right wing. As we poured forward Rooney worked his way to the bye-line before sending over a firm cross which Davies attacked bravely, heading the ball just as Abbiati was about to punch it and seeing it fly into the net to make it 1-0. Davies celebrated fiercely as it was his first goal for nine matches since mid-February. The right wing was the source of our second goal as well. Rooney again did well after 41 minutes, but this time Gardner raced past him on the overlap and received the ball before crossing into the centre. Again Davies was the keenest to meet the cross and a second header ballooned the Milan net to make it 2-0 and put us in front on aggregate. Ambrosini went close with a header after 57 minutes as Milan threatened for the first time since the open ten minutes, but Noble replied with a vicious twenty-five yarder that Abbiati brilliantly turned away for a corner in the 63rd minute. There was a scare in the 72nd minute when Evra’s long pass sent the substitute Huntelaar running clear, but he shot straight at Foster who held the ball well. Agbonlahor’s pace took him clear of Bonera after 77 minutes, but he couldn’t find a way around Abbiati outstretched left hand as the Italian keeper saved well. Two minutes later Agbonlahor redeemed himself though as he ran onto Davies’ clever back-heeled pass to collect the ball, round Abbiati and stroke it into the empty net to make it 3-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate. Foster then maintained his clean sheet with an instinctive save from Pato in the 88th minute. The final 3-0 win had been achieved in excellent fashion and the team was continuing their good run of recent form. Manchester United 3 Davies 27, 41, Agbonlahor 79 AC Milan 0 Manchester United wins 3-1 on aggregate Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand, Shorey; Noble, Hargreaves, Carrick; Rooney, Davies, Agbonlahor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 It will be back to league action and another difficult match as we head to London to face Tottenham. With ourselves in 5th place and Spurs in 4th it means that a win will take us into the Champions League places at our opponent’s expense. We’ve won our past five league matches, so our form is strong. However, we’ve also drawn on all three occasions that we’ve met Tottenham under my management, so a first-ever victory over Spurs will be most enjoyable to savour as well as boosting our league position. *** *** *** 10th April 2011 – Premier League A horrific mistake from the Tottenham keeper Gomes gifts us the first goal after 7 minutes as he comes out to collect a looping header from Hargreaves. Gomes completely mishandles the ball and lets it drop, allowing Rooney to dive in and head it into the empty net for a 1-0 lead. A poor clearance by Gomes in the 16th minute falls to Noble and he quickly plays in Agbonlahor, but the Brazilian keeper somewhat luckily redeems himself as the ensuing shot strikes his legs and goes out for a corner. Gomes blocks well at Rooney’s feet after 23 minutes as we threaten to run riot at White Hart Lane before Kranjcar has Tottenham’s first decent shot after 29 minutes as his effort sails a foot wide of the post. Spurs go even closer after 36 minutes when Defoe sticks out a foot at Lennon’s cross and deflects the ball against our post from five yards out, but lucky it bounces away for a goal-kick. Hargreaves puts Davies clear after 38 minutes, but he is chased down by Corluka and Woodgate just as he reaches the edge of the box. Davies checks back and then slips the ball to Agbonlahor who strikes a curling first-time shot around the blocking defenders and the keeper Gomes to find the top corner and make it 2-0 in our favour. At the break we have put in a fine display and are well worth our 2-0 lead. The pace of Lennon gets him past Shorey after 52 minutes and the winger’s cross finds Crouch who heads powerfully goalwards, only to see Foster dive well to his left to tip it over for a corner. When Gardner finds Rooney thirty yards out from goal in the 55th minute there appears to be little danger, but the striker suddenly darts past Palacios, wriggles between Woodgate and King and then finds himself clear. From ten yards out Rooney then drives the ball through Gomes’ legs to extend our lead to 3-0. For the next fifteen minutes we control the tempo comfortably, but an awkward landing by Ferdinand injures his elbow and it means that he must leave the field as Brown takes his place. Brown then casually plays Bentley onside in the 75th minute, allowing the winger to dash down the right flank before pulling the ball back for Defoe to sidefoot it past Foster from ten yards to pull the score back to 3-1. Things get even worse in the 78th minute as Rooney attacks for us down the right wing. King pokes the ball away from him and out towards the corner flag. As Kranjcar races in to challenge Rooney throws his elbow back and catches the Croatian midfielder in the face. A scuffle erupts between several players and after it is cleared Rooney is shown the red card for violent conduct by referee Mike Dean. Down to ten men I sacrifice Agbonlahor up front for Cattermole in the midfield as I look to close down the game whilst we are still two goals up. However an almighty scramble in our penalty box in the 85th minute suddenly sees the ball squirt out to Defoe and he crashes it into the net to make it 3-2 and give us a desperate last five minutes in which to defend. Foster must make one brilliant save from Crouch’s header in the 91st minute as Spurs throw everyone forward, but just after that the game ends 3-2 in our favour as another fine win is added to our recent collection. Tottenham 2 Defoe 75, 85 Manchester United 3 Rooney 7, 55, Agbonlahor 38 Foster; Gardner, Shawcross, Ferdinand (Brown), Shorey; Noble, Hargreaves, Carrick (Osman); Rooney (s/o 78), Davies, Agbonlahor (Cattermole). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 Keep it up Mr.Spav, your hitting some good form. Maybe alittle too late for the League but the Champions League brilliant Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.