My first season at the helm

[Chappie.dm]

Just thought I'd let you all know how my first season went with Man City...

Season 2011 / 2012

Introduction

I have taken the reins of Manchester City and have decided to let you all know how my first season went with them. For a bit of realism I decided not to allow transfers in the first window to see how I would do against the rest of the footballing greats.

Pre Season

This allowed me to set my tactics and get to grips with my best eleven. I prefer an attacking 4 2 3 1 formation with the option of dropping the AMC back to a DMC and setting counter attack for trickier away games. My third tactic is a 4 4 1 1 which I use as sparingly as I can, but it’s nice to have a variation if need be.

Anyway I won all my pre season matches with the exception of a creditable 1 – 1 draw with Stuttgart after a bit of experimentation with some of the youth team. On the whole I was satisfied with the pre season and managed to avoid any injuries to the first team.

Community Shield

Against my old rivals Man Utd. My team were unstoppable and ended up on the right side of a 3 – 1 victory with Aguero getting two and Yaya Toure scoring the other one. I dominated from start to finish and this was such a boost for the start of the season.

Premier League (August to December)

I carried the initial form in the Community Shield into the league and was out of the blocks like a whippet on steroids. Apart from a 2 – 2 draw against Liverpool I brushed aside all comers in the early games although I had a wobble in October where I lost to Newcastle and a weakened Villa side (still don’t know how I lost that one) and going into December it was a two horse race between me and Man Utd, the closest challengers being Arsenal, Tottenham, and Chelsea. In fact it stayed like that until the end of the season. A cracking 1 – 0 win at Old Trafford nudged me in front by three points and that’s how it stayed until January…more to follow.

Cup Competitions

League Cup

This was an area where I decided to let the youngsters have their day, along with a few first teamers who were not getting regular outings. My 3rd round opponents were Notts Forest and after a 2 – 2 draw I saw them off in a penalty shoot-out. Next up were QPR and a goal apiece from Milner and Tevez (who I fell out of favour with – just like in real life) saw me through.

In the Quarter Final I met Bolton and played extremely well coming out 3 – 1 winners with Dzeko getting a brace. For a tournament that I was using to blood players I found myself in the semis…and facing Man Utd! My dilemma was whether to play a strong team or to keep faith with the youth. I went with youth (along with a handful of first teamers) and was surprised when – in the first leg – I came away with a 1 – 1 draw. It wasn’t to last however as in the return leg Utd put me away with a comfortable 2 – 0 win at Old Trafford.

The Board and Fans weren’t happy but I was!

FA Cup

As holders I had half an eye on this competition so I decided to treat it with a bit of respect and play a reasonably strong team. A few injuries in the second half of the season made this policy difficult but I still feel I put a lot of effort into it.

3rd round saw me playing Hartlepool away. To be honest this was a stroll in the park and a couple from Edin Dzeko was enough to see them off. Rested a few players in this one as I thought (correctly) that I had enough to put them away.

4th round saw me travel to Sunderland and this proved to be a tricky place to go. Eventually came away with a 2 – 1 victory over them with a couple of stunning goals from Silva and Dzeko.

5th round saw me away to Notts Forest, the team I beat in the League Cup. With half an eye on a Champions League game against Bayern I fielded a weakened team…and that was my mistake! I got absolutely caned 4 – 1 by a team that I must admit I thought I would steamroller. In fact that defeat cost me dear as I had a couple of injuries, one to David Silva!

Champions League

Group Stages

Inter Milan, Trabzponsor, Man City and Valencia. A tough group to blood myself in the best competition in club football. Trabzponsor proved to be the whipping boys of the group whereas Valencia and Inter Milan comprehensibly beat me at their own grounds. I scraped a draw at home to Valencia but the real effort came against Inter Milan at home; I needed to win to qualify and that is exactly what we did, pipping Valencia in the process. A 3 – 1 victory with the lethal Aguero on target again (he was highest scorer in the Premier League and Champions League at this point) was the best win of my career and cemented Man City’s place in the knockout stages.

Knockout Stages

Could not have had a harder draw; Bayern Munich without the talismanic David Silva lost to a long term injury. But then came my best performance of the year by beating them 3 – 1 in the first leg at the Etihad (City of Manchester Stadium). The incredible Aguero bags a hattrick and I want to marry him! This proved too much for the Germans who – in the second leg – came at me like a wolf in a chicken coup. But I was able to play my counter attacking game with a holding midfielder in front of the back four; I managed to soak up the pressure and scored three before the end to see them off. A great performance.

Next up Real Madrid! But I now had Silva back and was on a roll, for their part Madrid had lost Ronaldo to injury so I was confident. A 2 – 1 home win was good but left me a bit vulnerable since they had grabbed an away goal. The return leg was a classic and the best game I have watched or been involved in. What to do? Soak up the pressure and get torn apart? No – I decided that I had to grab an away goal to even up their advantage. In fact I did more than that as the unstoppable Aguero had me two up at half time. Madrid came back strong in the second half but Aguero secured his hattrick and I was in dreamland!

Semi Final against…you guessed it…Man Utd. After a 0 – 0 draw at Old Trafford I was feeling pretty good, in fact I was feeling confident that I would seal the win at home. But there it all ended – despite Aguero putting me in front some guy called Rooney scored twice and my Champions League dream was over. Needless to say the fans were devastated but that’s football!

Transfers in January

Well to be honest there were none. I put in a few speculative bids for Kroos and Goetze but they were rejected out of hand and the negotiated prices were stupid (even by Man City standards) so I decided to keep what I had until the summer.

Premier League (January to May)

Despite my trials and tribulations in the three cup competitions my form from January was nothing short of phenomenal. Three manager of the month awards in Jan, Feb, and March should give you some idea how good we were playing. I was crushing teams and only one team was anywhere near me…Man Utd!

In fact the title was already over for everyone else in February as only us and Man Utd had any chance. Fergusson’s men were doggedly determined and matched my results blow for blow right up to the last day of the season.

It was all in our hands though – Man City needed just one point in the last two games. Easy? Penultimate game against Arsenal at home and with a two nil lead at half time the title was mine…but this is Man City and nothing comes easy! You guessed it I lost the game 3 – 2 with Van Persie scoring a couple in the last ten minutes. I threw the kitchen sink at the players after the match and had the awful feeling that I was going to lose out to Man Utd. They had already won the FA Cup and League Cup and were in the Champions League Final against Barcelona.

Last game of the season away to Stoke…needing just one point! I was one nil down at half time but Yaya Toure netted just before the end to secure me the title!!! Real squeaky bum time!

Winners and Losers

Premier League – Man City

League Cup – Man Utd

FA Cup – Man Utd

Champions League – Man Utd

Relegated – Fulham, Sunderland, Norwich

Promoted – Portsmouth, West Ham, Birmingham

End of Year Report

On the whole I was pretty satisfied with the season. FA Cup hiccup aside I thought we challenged well in all competitions, I was particularly pleased with our efforts in the Champions League, this is something to build on for the next season. Of course winning the title was always the plan so I am delighted with that; only losing four games and drawing five was great – the football my team played was attacking and attractive and this only bodes well for the next season.

Key Performers: Aguero and David Silva were awesome with Adam Johnson of all people just behind on average rating. Yaya Toure and Balotelli were very good with Kompany like a rock solid wall at the back. I was slightly disappointed with Edin Dzeko who had a relatively quiet season by his standards but on the whole the squad held up well against the rigours of a long season.

Improvements: Need to find a good central midfielder. Gareth Barry is getting a bit old and Milner is not the sort of player I want controlling things in the centre. Nigel de Jong is a good holding midfielder but I want someone a bit more creative.

Aims for next season:

Defend my title and get to the Champions League final…