February 2011 - Nightmares and Dreamscapes

After our tremendous form of January we will look to consolidate our excellent position in the league.

Aston Villa (H) Premier League

Villa arrive at Loftus Road with us being marginal favourites. I am sure that they will put up a lot of resistance and make it difficult for us to achieve a victory. I decided that despite us being at home the pace of Villa's strikers made the Counter strategy our best option in the falling snow of an early February day.

Right from the start I could tell Villa were going to be pushing hard, and trying to close us down as much as possible. The first goal came in bizarre fashion with a Villa cross hitting Puygrenier and bouncing just past Rafa, and before he could react, a Villa striker reached the ball to put it away. That was a very poor goal to concede. Despite gaining a good share of possession we were struggling to find a way through the Villa defence, which was disappointing. Also we were conceding corners, which we were struggling to defend against with any consistency. In the 28th minute however we finally found a way through, with Faurlin hitting a throughball between the Villa central defenders, who seemed to stand like statues as Fatih Yucel chased the ball and slotted it home in the corner of the net. I was pleased that we'd managed to finally find a way through and score. My joy was shortlived though, as only 3 minutes later we conceded again, this time from a corner. This was massively frustrating after we'd had to work so hard to get our equaliser, only to then concede from a set piece so soon afterwards. In the 40th minute the Villa keeper made a mistake when trying to catch a ball which fell at his feet and was lucky to be able to clear the ball away from Fatih Yucel who was challenging him. Seemed like luck was not to be ours today, and the first half finished with Villa still leading 2-1.

I had mixed feelings about our display during the first half, but I believe the wintry conditions contributed to several mistakes being made by both sides. I sent the team back out hoping we could pick things and get ourselves back into the match. Within the first minute Balanta had a difficult chance from a tight angle, which was saved, although I think he should have tried to pass the ball into the box. Early in the half we were having the better of the play, but Villa were defending behind the ball in numbers, making it very difficult for us to work a way through. After an hour it was clear that Villa were looking to defend and waste time if they could, which made for a period of play with both sides making a lot of passes in the middle of the park before finally giving it away to the other. After 70 minutes I made my final substitutions, and shouted from the touchline for the players to pump the ball into the box. I'm not sure if it was the touchline shout, the changes, or some of the Villa players starting to show fatigue, but we started to show signs of gaining a bit more space, but it still felt like we were knocking on a brick wall. This extra space allowed Buzsaky to unleash some of his powerful long shots, but he wasn't finding his range properly. With the clock running down, I really thought this was going to be a big disappointment. In the 90th minute however Routledge was passed the ball on the right wing, and produced an early cross along the ground which Fatih Yucel was able to meet and score the equaliser. The relief was immense. This wasn't exactly a classic performance, but I feel that each time Villa went ahead they tried to defend and close us down to stop us from finding the space we thrive on in the final third of the pitch. Fatih Yucel's 2 goals gave him the man of the match award, and now takes his tally for the season to 30 goals, 22 of those coming in the league, and pulls him to within 2 goals of the current top scorer, Agbonlahor with 24 goals.

Tottenham (A) FA Cup 5th Round

We arrive at White Hart Lane as underdogs for this match, and to honest if we manage to even take this to a replay I'll be astonished. Spurs are the in form team right now, so I expect them to take the match to us. We are going to need a great defensive display and probably some luck along the way.

The match started in an unexpected fashion with us dominating possession, and in the 6th minute Rafa produced an excellent throughball from a free kick for Balanta to race free of his marker and slot home for us to take the lead. After the restart Spurs really started to push us back, producing plenty of opportunities from crosses, throughballs and corners. I watched amazed as Lung jr produced a series of amazing saves to deny Spurs. Despite this pressure we maintained more of the possession during the half, with Gomes having to perform a few great saves as well, one being from a trademark Buzsaky long shot, which he only just tipped around the post. Without the stunning performance being shown by our keeper, we could easilly have been behind by several goals at half time, instead of leading 1-0.

I sent the players back out for the second half telling them I was pleased, and we quickly created the first chance of the second half, with Gomes having to produce another fine save to deny Balanta adding a second goal. In the 58th minute though a bit of bad luck happened, with an attempted Spurs cross hitting Laure which bounced off him, directly into the path of Huddlestone, who unleashed a monster drive from just outside the area, which even a superb dive by Lung jr could not stop from hitting the back of the net. Not much you can do when something like that happens. At least it wasn't a soft goal from a poorly defended corner. In the last few minutes of the match my players were chasing everything and trying really hard to find a winner, with a few close offside calls stopping some very promising attacks. I was pleased by this, as it denied Spurs the opportunity to find a winner for themselves. The match ended as a draw, meaning the tie will go to a replay back at Loftus Road. It is no surprise that Lung jr easilly won the man of the match award after his string of superb saves; he was a true hero today. I was pleased with this performance given how much Spurs were pressing forward, and making life hard for us in defence. After the equaliser went in, I really feared that they'd go on to find more, but some excellent tackling denied them the opportunity, and allowed our keeper to not work so hard in the second half.

Hull (A) Premier League

We head to The Circle, as marginal favourites for this match against the bottom team in the league. This is one of those matches we will be expected to win, but I'm sure Hull with try to make things more difficult for us at their home ground. Their form has picked up a bit in recent weeks, with a recent 4-0 victory in the FA Cup, so their confidence will be more than it was in our previous meetings.

Hardly even know where to start with the match, but defensively we were totally useless. It looked like the defenders had forgotten what a football is and how to defend. The worst performance by the defence since I took charge of this team. In less than 20 minutes we'd allowed Hull to take a 2 goal lead. Totally failing to stop a throughball, which should have been stopped, and also allowing a player with poor heading and jumping attributes to out jump our central defenders to head the ball home. This was a pathetic display at the back, which makes we wonder if the players have just come from the pub. Our midfield was trying to work hard to get us back into the match, and in the 34th minute Slory passed the ball to Rafa in a crowded penalty area to hammer home from the edge of the 6 yard box. It looked like we at least had a chance of coming back in the match, although at the back we were still looking fragile. The half ended with the score still at 2-1.

At half time I told the players that I expect to much more from them in the second half, and sent them back out. Initially this looked to have done the trick and we started to create chances, but somehow we just couldn't find the net. In the 69th minute another piece of the most abyssmal defending occurred from a corner and we shipped another goal, allowing a Hull defender with slow pace to move from deep and get to the ball before our defenders; totally unacceptable. We were still looking to try and get something, but all our attempts ended either with their keeper making a save, or the ball going just the wrong side of the post. The final insult came in added time when we conceded from a corner to record a horrendous 4-1 defeat to Hull, the bottom team in the league. This is the worst performance I've seen us give in defence. Unbelievably poor, and I reckon Stevenage and Accrington defenders had shown more fight in our matches against them, than ours did against Hull today. A total disgrace and embarrassing, especially given how well we'd done defensively in our match against Spurs.

Blackburn (A) Premier League

Our trip to Ewood Park sees us arrive as favourites, with Blackburn having suffered 6 defeats in a row. Hopefully this will gives us the opportunity to bounce back and prove our qualities as a team. For the first time this season Fatih Yucel will start from the bench as the run of matches in quick succession sees him not recovered as well as I'd like at only 90%. Hogan Ephraim was also sat on the bench for similar reasons.

When the match started I could see we were looking out of sorts, and Blackburn were coming forward but we were at least standing firm. This was very much a midfield battle though, and we were giving the ball away far too easilly. In the 38th minute we conceded from yet another corner, with a poor piece of defending. I was angry with that, as the player that scored should not have been able to out jump his marker. We managed to hold on to half time behind by the one goal.

At half time I told the players I expected more from them, and brought both Fatih Yucel and Ephraim on for the second half. We looked to have a bit more intent about our play, and only a good save denied us levelling the score in the 52nd minute. In the 60th minute Lung jr produced a brilliant diving save to stop us falling further behind. After 70 minutes I was getting frustrated and directed the players to go on the attack. In the 74th minute Fatih Yucel produced an excellent cross which Di Gennaro got his head to, but was denied by a desperate clearance. In the 81st minute Rowlands provided an excellent throughball for Fatih Yucel to run onto and get clear of the defenders. He closed on the goal, slotted the ball home to level the scores. I was pleased that we had managed to get ourselves back to level scores, although overall not totally convinced by our performance. The match ended as a 1-1 draw, with us almost grabbing a winner seconds before the final whistle blew. Another match where our defence showed frailties to concede another poor goal, but I was pleased how we managed to fight back to grab a share of the points. A rather unconvincing performance, but after our dismal effort in the previous match, this was encouraging.

Manchester United (H) Premier League

The Red Devils arrive as a clear favourites for this match, although their form has been very patchy this season. I feel this is probably going to be have to be another back to the walls job, and try to crack them on the counter attack. This is a match that I think a draw would be a great result for us, and a win quite unlikely, but with football you never know. I sent the players out on the field telling them to do this for the fans.

In the first couple of minutes I could tell both sides were up for this match, with both teams firing a half chance just wide of the target. We looked like we were playing with much more purpose than we had in the previous couple of matches, and in the 5 minute we showed this when Buzsaky slipped a pass to Fatih Yucel just inside the penalty box, which he was able to fire into the far bottom corner, and give us the lead. This was a dream start, which turned out to have nightmare twist in the 7th minute when we allowed United to whip in a cross from the right for Rooney to equalise. I was not happy that we'd again allowed a team to get a goal back almost immediately after we'd scored one. Although United were coming at us, the one thing I could see might give them trouble was a lack of discipline they were showing, with Rooney getting a yellow card early on, and other tackles flying in at regular intervals.The pressure United were exerting seemed to be good for us, as it allowed us excellent opportunities to counter attack. Ephraim and Buzsaky both fired in long shots which hit the crossbar, making me wonder if this was going to be one of those luckless days. Rooney seemed to be looking determined to be sent for an early bath, and began to think maybe we'd gain a man advantage later in the match. We now seemed to have our concentration again at the back, which was stopping United finding a route through. In the 27th minute a kick up field from our keeper for Fatih Yucel to run onto saw Vidic bring him down just outside the area, and earn a yellow card. Buzsaky stepped up and cracked the ball into the top corner of the net to give us the lead again. For the next few minutes we were put under pressure again, but looked to be standing firm. However in the 34th minute the equaliser was to come from a long shot from Anderson to score a thunderous shot. Given his long shots skill is only 5, I was dissappointed he picked this match to fire in his one in a million shot. United kept pushing and we had to withstand a lot of pressure at the end of the half, but again United were helping us with fouls, and Vidic was also now looking a likely candidate for a red card. We were still however showing good skill when we did get forward, which was pleasing at the end of the half with the score level at 2 goals each.

Apart from our one lapse of concentration I was pleased with our performance, and sent the lads back out, hoping they could keep this going and secure a draw, but I was now thinking a win might be a possibility. I don't know what Fergie had said to his side at half time, but they came out of the traps trying to throw everything at us, but our midfield and defence were looking very solid, even though we were struggling at that point to have much possession. I knew if we could just weather this storm, we'd get our chance to start putting together some good play ourselves.After 10 minutes of this I could see we were finally getting some time on the ball and mounting attacks. In the 60th minute the United keeper cleared the ball to the middle of the field, and after a quick pass back to Laure at right back he thumped the ball upfield for Balanta to run onto, and headed forward. Once in the area, he squared the ball to Fatih Yucel, who thumped the ball home with his favoured left foot. A brilliant move made by the pass of Laure and the pace of Balanta. The question now was, how long could we hold on to this lead? We definitely had a fair bit of defending to do now, but also getting to mount quite a few attacks of our own. I brought Di Gennaro on for Balanta, as he was beginning to look slightly tired. Lung jr made a couple of cracking saves to stop United equalising, and began to wonder if it might be possible to keep this lead to the end of the match. In the 75th minute we were helped by Rio Ferdinand making a very rash and vicious tackle that earned him a straight red card. Of all the United players, he was one of the last I expected to make the walk of shame off the pitch.

United were still looking aggressive, but I could see big gaps opening up, and in the 82nd minute, after a United corner, Buzsaky cleared the ball up the centre of the pitch, with Di Gennaro free of the last defenders and bearing down on the keeper. When his shot hit the keeper I was dissappointed, but saw Ephraim had joined him upfield and smashed the ball into what was now an empty net for him. I was ecstatic that we'd managed to extend the lead. I truly believed we could do this now, and we frustrating United for most of the remaining time by keeping the ball in our possession for long periods of time, which allowed us to play out for a stunning 4-2 victory. A complete success for counter attacking football, in what had been a highly entertaining match. After the last few matches I could not have dreamed of us managing to achieve a result like this. After a dip in morale, this has largely restored most of the confidence back into the team.

Monthly Roundup

This was a truly bizarre month which saw us go from a total nightmare scenario to a wonderful dreamscape at the end. I'm beginning to think some of the players, especially at the back are getting too complacent when we play teams that are lower than us. With 1 win, 2 draws a loss in the league, we've managed to acheive what I thought we would before the start of the month, but after losing to Hull, I began to think we'd end with no wins. Elsewhere a lot of results have helped us too, with teams tripping over each other, which sees us only slip down to 4th place, and dreaming of European football. One thing to note though, is that we've played 2 more matches at home than we have away, which means we have 3 home matches left and 5 away fixtures left, which may have an impact.

In good news Daeseleire my first choice right back is now back in training after his broken collar bone. However it will probably be a few weeks before he's fully fit again to take his place back in the starting eleven. This does mean, that we end this month with no injuries to first team players. Fatih Yucel has won the Premiership Young Player of the Month award after some more excellent performances, and is now the leading scorer in the league with 25 goals. This hasn't been quite as good a month for him, but still an outstanding effort, and once again the teams player of the month, with a mention for Buzsaky who has also shown some excellent form.