Amaroq Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Wednesday, 27th April, 2011. Derby County's relegation, long a foregone conclusion, became a mathematical certainty after their 3-0 defeat at Liverpool. The Reds, our opponents in tomorrow's UEFA Cup Semi-Final, were in fine form, second in the Premiership and looking all but unstoppable. Our chances of Champions League action next season took a further hit when Manchester United pounded Charlton Athletic, 5-0, so we were now seven points adrift with three games to play. At least we were still five ahead of streaking Newcastle: I was now convinced we would finish in fifth place, and that I could concentrate on our F.A. Cup and UEFA Cup ties. Working late into the night on my lineup and tactics for the Semi-Final, I had barely time to take notice of the evening's Champions League matches - Manchester United earned a 0-0 draw at Barcelona, while Chelsea drew by the same score at Bayern Munchen. The key point between the two matches was that Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho was booked, which would rule him out of Barcelona's lineup for the Old Trafford leg. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amaroq Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Thanks, 'ddeenn. (Comment dated 23-03-08 due to forum software error.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amaroq Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Thursday, 28th April, 2011. UEFA Cup - Semi-Final, First Leg, vs Liverpool. It was bad luck to have drawn the second-place team in the Premiership as our Semi-Final opponents: the 18-times English champions clearly belonged in the Champions League this season, but a 5th-place finish in the league last year saw them in the UEFA Cup instead. They'd had little trouble with Faroe Islands side Havnar Bóltfelag, and had won three of their four group games, beating Celtic, Club Brugge, and Metalurg Donetsk, but dropping a 3-2 decision at home to Italian side Chievo Verona. In the elimination rounds, they'd disposed of Benfica, Rosenborg, and Bayern Leverkusen en route to the Semi-Final. We couldn't look to our Premiership ties against them for help: the past two seasons, they'd played a scoreless draw at Bramall Lane, but scored three goals each in two wins over us at home. My lineup was as veteran-stacked as I could make it. Roy Carroll was coming off of two straight Man of the Match performances in goal. Celestine Babayaro, Hayden Foxe, David Rozehnal, and Benjamin Herzog made up our back four, left to right. Key defensive midfielder Freddy Guarín returned for his first game in eighteen days after straining his knee. Scotsman Joe Hamill was the left wing, with Jermaine Pennant on the right. French attacking midfielder Bruno Cheyrou was the playmaker, with Iain Hume to his right, and Imre Szabics was looking for his 15th goal as the lone striker. Liverpool took the first opportunity, in the third minute. Robin van Persie stole the ball from Jermaine Pennant on our right sideline, and played it for Diego, who drew Benjamin Herzog to him before dumping it into the corner for Fabrizio Miccoli. With space to work, the Italian floated a perfect cross to the edge of the six, where Milan Baros towered over Hayden Foxe to head on goal. Roy Carroll made a great reflex save to bat it away, and Joe Hamill cleared it into touch. Hamill was getting it done at both ends, and in the 6th minute, he reached the end-line up the left side. He cut it back to Bruno Cheyrou, whose volley from the eighteen soared high into the crowd. Five minutes later, it was Hamill again, this time dribbling along the end-line towards the near post before sending a cross to the back post. Jermaine Pennant met it with a diving header, and was unlucky to see it clip the crossbar on its way over. Goalkeeper Roy Carroll had a walkabout adventure in the 15th minute, reminiscent of Fabien Barthez at his worst. Carroll had caught Baros's thirty-yard effort easily, and let an easy outlet pass for defender Hayden Foxe, still in his area and only fourteen yards from goal. Foxe tried to play the simplest of passes, about eight yards to his right, across the goal for David Rozehnal, but the Czech defender didn't see it. Miccolli did, and as he pounced towards it, Carroll came rushing off his line. The Italian got their first, and with one touch, darted around the goalkeeper, leaving him stranded. He took his shot from the penalty spot, but Rozehnal had recovered enough to get in the way, and the shot clattered off of him. It luckily bounced Carroll's way, though it was Jermaine Pennant who got back to clear it. It was still scoreless as the half-hour approached, and when Freddy Guarín lined up a twenty-yard free kick, it brought the sold-out Bramall Lane crowd of 32,969 to their feet. The Colombian's effort deflected off the wall, but was still trickling goalward when Paul Robinson pounced on it. Right on the half-hour, Benjamin Herzog started a great move, picking off a pass in his own half, and taking off with a full head of steam. After a long run, he played a great ball ahead for Iain Hume, showing just what I'd hoped for when I'd brought him to Bramall Lane. Hume dribbled into the area, shooting from twelve yards, but Robinson pushed it away with both fists together, and the rebound bounced tantalizingly out of the Canadian's reach, to be cleared by the Liverpool defense. Just before halftime, Van Persie drew Herzog out of position again, bringing the young German to him before knocking a fine ball into the corner for Miccoli. He sent the cross to the back post for Edú, but Carroll rose above the Brazilian forward to punch it away. It fell to Steven Gerrard, who volleyed it from fifteen yards out, a great chance that struck the perfectly positioned Freddy Guarín and clattered away, leaving the game still 0-0 at the break. Halftime saw tactical changes from both managers. I pushed Hume forward, switching to the 4-4-2 which had given us success recently, while Liverpool manager Peter Taylor brought his star striker, Milan Baros, off, and switched to a 4-5-1. He couldn't have more clearly announced that he was content with a scoreless tie, but I couldn't quite bring myself to risk the disaster of an away goal by switching to something more aggressive. We generated only one good chance, on the hour, when Cheyrou's screamer from 30 yards carried just over Robinson's goal. At the 73rd minute, I brought Hume off, putting young striker Michael Field on. Taylor had already made all three of Liverpool's changes, and I felt hopeful, especially two minutes later, as Pennant won a corner kick. Somehow, Imre Szabics was left unmarked at the near-side junction of the arc, and Pennant played it straight to him. The Hungarian's blast from eighteen yards was headed just inside the post, but Robinson made a fantastic diving save to tip it wide. He's really become one of the best in the world, the England keeper, and Szabics could only shake his head with respect. With seven minutes to play, I returned to the 4-5-1, putting Joe Newell and Victor Sikora on for Szabics and Pennant, who were both showing clear signs of tiring. It was, perhaps, a concession that today's game would not resolve anything: we would win or lose this tie in the second leg, at Liverpool. Sheffield United 0, Liverpool 0 ----; ---- MoM: Carroll Roy Carroll was the Man of the Match for the third straight match, a string of clean sheets he'd amassed that brought his total to 19 on the season from 49 starts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaberdeenn Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 So you managed to find my post then, I wondered where it disappeared to. Anyway, a decent result to take to Anfield there. And one more thing, if you don't mind could you refer to me as 'aab' if you don't mind as that's what I'm referred to as over in CSE so I've kind of got used to it like that. It would be greatly appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien77 Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Looking forward to the game with the reds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wegason Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I'm still following Roqy, just something I noticed though, in your second post of this thread, the first link "Sharpening a Rusty Blade - Book I" in the second sentence still points to the old forums, although all the other links have been redirected. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien77 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Amaroq: A week without any new post??? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCIAG Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 I'm still following Roqy, just something I noticed though, in your second post of this thread, the first link "Sharpening a Rusty Blade - Book I" in the second sentence still points to the old forums, although all the other links have been redirected. Here's the fixed link: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=12456&highlight=Sharpening+Rusty+Blade. Needs editing in though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jammer86 Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Is this dead now? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenthreeleader Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 I hope not ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroblues Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Come back Amaroq Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nette000 Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 ^^^ I'll scond this, though your absence gives me time to catch up (finished page 2) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funkin\' Hussler Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 I used to love this thread...so much hard work has gone into creating this, I hope Amaroq is back soon to carry on the tale! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wegason Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 He's around in GQ/GD so it is strange to not see him here... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pompey13 Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Been reading the trilogy all day while sick in bed. Really good story, shame to see it incompleted. Any chance of it been finished? I know Amaroq is still on the forums.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viperk1 Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Been reading the trilogy all day while sick in bed. Really good story, shame to see it incompleted. Any chance of it been finished? I know Amaroq is still on the forums.... Please don't bump dead threads please - nobody has posted on this thread for over 2 years until today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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