Tottenham (A) Premier League
The month starts with another trip to play Spurs at White Hart Lane. This will be the 4th meeting between the sides this season, and only a month since our win over them in the FA Cup. I'm sure they will be looking to gain some revenge over us, and consolidate their position above us in the league. I feel this will be a tough match, in which we are the clear underdogs.
It clear right from the kick off that Spurs were up for this, with Huddlestone flying into a tackle after only a couple of seconds. He's lucky that this is a referee who doesn't seem to ever want to book a player, so doesn't even get a talking to, but many of the more card happy refs would have booked him. This kind of set the seal on what was to be a physical match. Despite this we created a few half chances early in the match, but then Spurs really took control of the match pressuring us hard. For a large part of the first half we seemed to be under constant attack, having to defend for all we were worth, and we stood up to this pressure, defending well at corners and making it hard for the wingers to get crosses into the box. When we did mount a counter attack we seemed to be really struggling to make any decent crosses. All told the first half was pretty poor despite Spurs being the dominant force.
I sent us back out hoping we'd find a spark of inspiration somewhere, because going forward we really were looking like we had no idea how to create anything. The second half started with Spurs looking, if anything even more dominant, and started to think about what could be changed. I decided to bring Rowlands on in the middle of the park and Grenier on in the right wing position. I have no real idea why but we at least started to look as though we could be more dangerous going forward, but still having to fight off tremendous pressure at the back. Fortunately Spurs had left their shooting boots at home producing wild shots wide of the target or giving our keeper easy catching practice. In the 75th minute though Bale produced a great cross out of nowhere, which Crouch met with his head to open the scoring. To be honest it had looked like it was only a matter of time, but it was still very frustrating. However straight from the kick off, Grenier received the ball on the right wing advanced forward, before giving Rafa a sweet pass inside, and he then squared a cross into the box for Fatih Yucel to score with a diving header. I was delighted we'd managed to grab the equaliser back so quickly, and wondered if it was possible to hold on. Spurs immediately changed to a 4-2-4 which I knew would make things very tough.
This proved to be the case with Spurs getting forward as much as they could, pumping in crosses and throughballs. Just as I thought the match was heading for a draw in the last minute of added time, Spurs left winger was allowed all the space he needed to produce a pin point cross for Crouch to head home a second goal. I was gutted that we'd not managed to hold on, although to be honest Spurs were worth the win, but it was the manner in which we fell to the defeat, right at the death. Today Spurs had managed to show they are a superior side, but had to work very hard to take the win. In this match we were unusually poor at stopping the opposition getting crosses into the box, and also managed to create very few ourselves, which is something we are usually good at.
Sunderland (A) Premier League
Our trip to the Stadium of Light sees us arrive as underdogs, although their form has been very patchy of late, which gives us hope. The Black Cats have plenty of pace up front and on the wings, which I feel requires a counter attacking strategy. If we can stop them scoring I believe we have a great chance on the counter attack.
The match started with both teams sharing possession, and early on Lung jr had to make a superb save to push the ball over the bar. Early in the match it looked like both sides were on for a stack of yellow cards, as Sunderland's Lichtsteiner and Fatih Yucel were booked in quick succession. I began to worry a bit as Fatih Yucel committed several more fouls soon after, making me wonder if it would be prudent to substitute him, but decided to leave him on the pitch and risk it, as his ability to score goals is astonishing. In the 20th minute Sunderland had a close range shot saved by our keeper to deny them. This early pressure was a little worrying, but our defending was exemplary. In the 23rd minute Sunderland thought they'd opened the scoring but Darren Bent had fouled the keeper while challenging for the ball, so the goal did not stand, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Although we were getting to mount regular attacks, we were having trouble making many good opportunities. As the half wore on though we started to make better opportunites with Fatih Yucel going close from a free kick with Balanta and Faurlin also heading just wide. In the 40th minute we opened the scoring with a wonderful cross into the middle of the box, by Daeseleire, for Fatih Yucel to hammer the ball home to open the scoring. The first half ended with us still holding the lead at 1-0.
I was pleased with the players, and sent them back out hoping we could keep this performance going, as all members of the team were playing well. I sent the players back out not quite prepared for what was about to happen. Sunderland were pushing forward and we were doing a good job of defending, and we were looking very dangerous on the counter attack, with Grenier looking very good on the right wing. In the 64th minute after a Sunderland attack the ball was cleared to Grenier on the right, and he raced up the touchline, before supplying an excellent cross for Fatih Yucel to meet with his head and double the score. Sunderland continued to press but were now looking very desperate, and less dangerous. In the 73rd minute things got worst for Sunderland, when Lichtsteiner took Slory down from behind to gain a second yellow card and therefore sent off. In the 79th minute Grenier feed a pass to Balanta just outside the area, and he made a quick pass into the box for Fatih Yucel to run onto and complete his hat-trick. Sunderland then went even more attacking, and Rafa was unlucky to not score, when he headed a ball into the goal post. This attacking play was allowing us to mount a lot more attacks, requiring some desperate defending to stop us extending the lead. In the 90th minute Balanta put through another excellent pass for Fatih Yucel to get clear of the defence and score his 4th goal of the match to round off an absolutely stunning performance, to give us a 4-0 victory.
I was delighted with this performance, which will give us a huge amount of confidence, with Daeseleire, Grenier and Balanta deserving credit putting in excellent performances to provide the assists for the outstanding Fatih Yucel and takes his tally for the season to 42 goals with 32 in league games. I'm pleased I didn't go ahead and replace Fatih Yucel after he continued to commit fouls after being booked. If he'd been sent off, I guess I'd be feeling slightly different.
Manchester City (N) FA Cup Semi Final
Our trip to Wembley for this semi final sees Man City as favourites, being the league leaders. They do however arrive off the back of losing a home tie in the EURO Cup. I am not thrilled that the referee for this match has had a bad season getting a lot of important decisions incorrect. Our main focus is to be solid at the back, as I feel if we fall behind it will be a lot harder to score, as I am sure City would get a lot of players behind the ball.
The match started with us getting the first few half chances, but nothing significant, although it showed we were up for the match which I was happy about. Man City of course did start to push up the field and there was a close call for us early on when a long shot just went past the outside of the post. In the 21st minute we had the ball out on the right wing passing it about but not really looking like anything would come of it, until Laure spotted the opportunity to make a cross and found the head of Fatih Yucel in the middle of a crowded box to nod the ball home. City really started to push forward even more, which gave us even more opportunity to go on the counter attack. One of these in the 28th minute, lead to a free kick being conceded outside the City area, in what I was thinking of as the perfect place for Fatih Yucel to strike from. The next second the ball flew just over the wall and into the near side of the goal to double our lead with a stunning shot, which the keeper had no chance of getting to. Going two goals up meant City had to come at us, meaning the match was an entertaining end to end affair. Late on in the half Balanta was denied by a great save that saw the ball go just the wrong side of the post for us. Fatih Yucel was also denied the opportunity of getting clear of the defence by being brought down not far outside the area, and failed to reproduce his earlier free kick. The first half ended with our two goal lead intact after an excellent display, particularly at the back, where we'd managed to stop them producing any really good opportunities. I was pleased with this display, and could only hope we would be able to maintain our composure at the back.
City showed more purpose in the second half, but their display was characterised by substitute Adebeyour being caught off side an astonishing number of times. I've never seen our defence so consistently catch a player out like that. This didn't stop Lung jr having to make a spectacular diving save to push a long shot around the post, and an outstanding close range save to deny City. We were also helped out by some of the City players also making some awful misses, which weren't even close to testong the keeper. We nearly conceded from a corner that we'd needlessly conceded, but fortunately it hit the woodwork and bounced to safety, allowing us to mount an attack from which Ephraim managed to run clear of the defence into the area, only to shoot just wide of the post. The match ended with us stopping City from getting on the score sheet in an excellent defensive display. I congratulate the team on getting through to final, when we were expected to be knocked out. After Fatih Yucel our next best player was Laure, who not only provided an assist, but did a superb job of firstly keeping Kalou and then Robinho quiet, respectively in each half. The final will be against our arch enemies Chelsea, in which I hope we can repeat our last performance against them.
In the break that followed this match, all our injured players have returned to training, which is excellent news, although Buzsaky won't be ready for a match straight away.
Liverpool (H) Premier League
The Reds arrive at Loftus Road as narrow favourites for this match, despite having struggled this season for consistency. Up front they have the dangerous Torres, with Gerrard playing just behind and Benayoun on wing. This would definitely be a test for our defence, and hoping that we would not suffer an adverse reaction to a gap after advancing to the FA Cup Final.
The early part of the match saw neither team making much headway through the defence of the other side. Both defences looked to be in fine form, making it very difficult for either side to make any really good chances. Sadly in the 23rd minute our defending failed at a corner allowing Liverpool to take the lead, which was disappointing, as I hate to concede from set pieces. Although we created several good chances after this, we were largely failing to find the target, with Fatih Yucel blasting one of our best chances over the bar, and the few on target were far too easy for Reina to save. Worse was to come in the 43rd minute, from another corner, when Torres somehow managed to head home from the acutest of angles. The half was to end with us trailing by two goals, and disappointed because although we were defending well in open play, we'd been poor at two corners, and were really struggling to look dangerous in front of goal. It has to be said, Liverpool were playing with 2 DMC's just in front of their back four, so it was always going to be hard to break them down.
The second half was disappointing, because we failed to find a way to break down the Liverpool defence. We defended well in open play and in this half we managed to avoid conceding any further goals. Even with a few subs it didn't really change anything. We managed to get plenty of crosses into the box, but as in the first half, we just couldn't get on the end of them, with no shots actually being on target during the second half. The match ended with neither side adding to the score, and never really looked like doing so. This was disappointing, because of the way we conceded the goals, and our lack of a cutting edge to find a way through the Liverpool defence. This is the first match since the middle of November that we have failed to score in, some five and half months ago.
West Ham (A) Premier League
We travel to the other side of London to met the Hammers at Upton Park, as underdogs for this match. After our meeting earlier in the season I expect this to be a tough fixture, even though the Hammers have had a poor run of form lately. When the team sheets are announced, I decide that because they are playing a 4-4-2 wide diamond formation with pace up front, it's best to play defensive and hope to make an impact on the counter attack, as their defence looks solid.
In the first half I can only describe our performance as poor, as we struggled to find a way through the West Ham defence, whereas they were finding it easy to get room and create opportunities. In the 26th minute they opened the scoring from a cross which was met in the box by an unmarked player to give them to lead. The only good thing about the first half was that we managed to get through to half time only one goal behind. Although we'd actually been passing well, we were slowing the play down far too much, allowing West Ham to get players back behind the ball.
At half time I told the players I expected to see more of them in the second half. I sent them back out hoping this would change things, and several players seemed to have gained motivation. However, our performance hadn't really changed, and we still looked short of ideas. With 60 minutes played I'd had enough, and brought Rowlands and Grenier on to hopefully give us some impetus. However this still didn't seem to make any difference, and a few minutes later Varrault was lucky to not be sent off when he brought Carlton Cole down just outside our area. Fortunately this referee only gave him a yellow, where some would have given a straight red. From the resulting corner after this free kick, we allowed them to double the lead in the 67th minute. I was getting angry at just how poor we'd been, and wondering just how tough I should be on certain players, and for the next 5 minutes we still looked completely flat. Things were about to change though, and the team seemed to suddenly come to life, finding space and time which we'd been denied up until now. In the 78th minute Ephraim received the ball on the left, and advanced up the touchline, hitting an early cross into the box where Fatih Yucel had managed to get clear of his marker. He controlled the ball and rounded the keeper to smash home the ball, and pull us back into the match. This seemed to spur us on even more, with Grenier and Fatih Yucel forcing the Hammers keeper to make a couple of good saves a few minutes later. In the 88th minute, Grenier crossed the ball from the right side to Ephraim on the left, and he advanced forward, but seeing his opportunities to cross blocked and the box crowded, he turned back. Rowlands had found space just inside the box, and was ready to receive the pass from Ephraim, and all he had to do was turn and fire the ball home to grab the equaliser. In the last few minutes of added time, we won a series of free kicks just outside the Hammers area, and in the dying seconds Nasuti headed the ball just over the crossbar.
This was a strange match, because we'd been pretty poor for most of it, only seeming to wake up near the end, and came close to actually stealing all 3 points. I was happy enough that we managed to fight back and get the equaliser, but a little worried that we seemed to devoid of ideas early on.
Monthly Roundup
Fatih Yucel has had another outstanding month, and for the 3rd time in a row has won the Premiership Young Player of the Month award, with 6 goals from his 4 league matches. He has now scored 33 league goals, which is one short of Andy Cole's record, and with 2 matches left, it will be interesting to see if he can equal or even better this record for the season. The month also ends with the treatment room having no first team casaulties, which is excellent news.
3 comments:
2 more match left, i hope you can grab the last champions league spot.
At least you have some funds to buy better players next season. I want to congratulate you for a fine season.
Keep it up..
Thanks. We have a good chance as our last two matches are against 2 of the sides that are struggling. Although we do seem to have this ability to be randomly poor against such sides.
The biggest question is, can we lift the FA Cup for the first time in the clubs history?
You're still there, very close to a Champions league spot, even after a not so good month, so I'd stay positive.
Yucel is unstoppable.
Good luck for the FA cup final!
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