We've all suffered those extremely frustrating matches, where you just can't break down the opposition defence. Sometimes it's because the opposition defence are well organised, such as Arsenal and Manchester United tend to have. Their defences work very well as a unit, and tend to get support from at least one midfielder. This tends to be top quality defending, but because these teams will try to attack, you will usually get opportunities at some point.
Far more frustrating is when the opposition have "Parked the Bus." What this really means is, they defend very deep, which pulls their midfield back, making it very hard to find space. Some of these teams show little ambition of trying to go forward, and are just waiting to try and catch you on the break. Some teams will be trying to claim a draw from the outset, which is very annoying. There are also those teams who if they manage to score, then just "Park the Bus" quite often making a substitution to bolster the defence even more. Often any shots you do get are half chances, under pressure, or long shots.
What Can We Do To Create More Chances Against An Organised Defence?
When faced with a well organised defence, you're largely at the mercy of the quality of your attacking players. This is largely aimed at the situations where you feel confident that your team can take on a side of similar or better quality than your own. If you feel the need to set up for counter attacking, most of your opportunities are likely to come on the break, but the following may still apply. All these little ideas can still apply to playing any weaker team as well.
There is no sure-fire way of breaking them down, but you're hoping that your strikers and wingers are causing problems for the defence, which will hopefully open gaps up. What you're trying to do is actually open up one of those gaps, we were trying to close in my previous post about defending tactics. Having a midfielder, either central or attacking, who likes to move forward into the area to act as an extra man can help to open up opportunities. Wingers that like to cut inside can also help to cause problems.
Teams like Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool tend to allow you some time and space on the ball, which gives your players more chance of spotting good options. It can be worth looking at the defenders to see if there are any weaknesses you might be able to exploit. It's rare with good teams to find something like this, but if you spot a central defender who's slow or low concentration, it could be worth attacking through the centre.
If the opposition full backs are slow, or you have exceptionally good wingers, you can try attacking down the flanks. Sometimes this can draw the defence out of position. Another option if you're coping well at the back, is to look for the overlap, which basically means your full backs look to move forward and help out on the wings. This can cause huge chaos in the defence, and might allow your wingers to get in behind the defence. Anything that can create panic in the defence has a good chance of creating opportunities. Looking for the overlap works especially well against teams with any weakness in their full back positions.
Pumping the ball into the box, is one option you can try if you have a good targetman to seek out. This might not be as pretty as playing silky football, but if that isn't working, it's well worth giving it a try. If that target man can play with their back to goal, it can be even better, because they have the option of holding the ball up and laying it off to teammates, or even turning their marker and trying a shot of their own. Asking the players to get the ball forward is a similar option. It pretty much does what it says on the tin, so the speak, in that the ball is moved forward quickly, which can be good way to put more pressure on the opposition defence. Just bear in mind that these increase the passing length, so can reduce the accuracy of passes. This is pretty much route one football, and much derided, but sometimes needs must.
If it's wet and or windy and you have players with decent long shot attributes, it might be worth asking them to shoot on sight, but to be honest I don't like this option much at all. If your long shots are getting nowhere near the target, asking the players to work the ball into the box will tend to cut down the number of long shots your team will try.
If your passing is looking good, but those gaps still aren't opening up, asking the players to pass into space can sometimes work wonders. Your team needs to be tactically good and be able to pass well to really take advantage of this though. If you have a speed advantage over the opposition this has even better chance of working, because it's not a nice prospect for a defender to have to try and tackle a player who is dribbling at speed towards them, or trying to track players who are running into space.
Playing wider or narrower can also change the game. Going wider could give you more space on the wings, or narrower will put more pressure in the centre. If you can see gaps in the centre of the opposition defence, but you're not taking advantage of them, then playing narrower could be just the thing you need. Remember this will have an effect on your own defending.
The main thing is, keep mixing things up and hopefully the chances will come. Whether the players who get the chances will put them away is another thing, but if you aren't creating shots you can't score. Watch for players who are struggling in key positions, such as the wings or the strikers. You might want to make some change, either through a substitution or a slight change in role or duty. If you have an AMC they can sometimes become isolated, and if they're your main playermaker, it can cut down your attacking options a lot. Try to be aware of what's happening with different players, because it's easy to sit their totally oblivious until the end that one of your players hardly had any impact in the match.
I can give you a case where I was playing Chelsea, with Hogan Ephraim on the left wing, who even with good pace and dribbling was doing okay, but not really managing to create many opportunities. I replaced him with Balazs Dzsudzsak, and within 10 minutes he managed to get to the byeline and produced a cross allowing my target man, Oscar Cardozo to head us into the lead, late in the match, grabbing us a winner.
If you have two strikers and they're being marked consistently well, try setting them up to swap positions with each other. They will swap regularly throughout the match, and this may cause enough confusion to allow them to get space. If you have a pair of wingers that can play well on both sides, it can also be worth having them swap regularly for much the same reason.
Sometimes you get really lucky, where your players look inspired, and you hardly have to do anything at all and goals are flying in all over the place. If you're creating lots of chances, there is a lot less you have to do, but if those shots seem to always be under pressure, and saved with ease or fired wide, you probably do need to think about a change.
The Opposition Have "Parked The Bus"
We've all suffered this, where a team comes to just defend and take a bore draw, or if they get really lucky, snatch an undeserved win. I'm not even going to mention the infamous teams that do this, as most people already know exactly who they are. Teams that also like to try and counter attack can pose many of the same problems, especially if they are very hard working and try to close down you players a lot. They will usually present opportunities though, because eventually they are sure to tire, or commit fouls that might give a free kick in a useful position, or even have a player sent off.
A lot of what's been mentioned in the previous section can be used, but the biggest problem here is the lack of space available, due to players defending deep and largely getting everyone behind the ball. A awful 0-0 draw or even worse a narrow defeat in these matches are infuriating. It might be annoying to lose 1-0 to a team like Arsenal in a tight match, but at least you know they always look to try and win the match.
The major problem when playing a team that has "Parked the Bus" is that there is a lot less space to work with, so you can find your team are moving the ball around in the opposition half, but not actually getting anywhere, and showing little sign of penetrating the defence. This lack of space tends to cause the match to slow down, which makes it a lot easy for defenders to sit tight on your strikers, or position themselves so they don't have shooting opportunities. That also makes it harder for players with good dribbling skills to get through as well.
What you're looking to try and do is to open some space up. The only way to open more space up, is to try and draw the opposition out further. Setting an attacking strategy can look really inviting, but it could be playing right into the hands of the opposition. There will be even less space to work in, and they will most likely have more counter attacking chances. Sometimes this will work, but usually requires strikers who are tall and strong who can challenge for balls in the area, but even that doesn't always work.
There are ways to try and draw the opposition out though. One is to set the control strategy, which sets your team up to try and control possession and frustrate the opposition. There seems to be nothing worse than seeing the other team stroking the ball about with esae, which can lead to frustration. They will often start to try and close you down, trying to win the ball back, which can lead to gaps opening up, or fouls conceded.
Shoot on Sight is a call that is suggested in these situations, but it rarely seems to achieve the desired effect. It may be worth trying for a while though, and if you're firing off enough long shots, it might draw their players out to try and stifle the opportunities.
Asking your team to drop deeper is a useful thing to try as it will hopefully open a few more spaces up for you to work the ball into. Stand-off opponents is another call that will hopefully create more space to work with, by decreasing the closing down your players do, and decreasing the tempo of the game.
Hopefully some space will be created, through one of these options, that your players can exploit. If you get space to use, then some of the stuff from the previous section can come into play, and hopefully you can avoid one of those hideously boring matches, where you control the ball, but can never achieve anything, and the crowd dies of boredom.
Conclusion
I think the overriding theme here is that if you're struggling to create any chances, is to start mixing things up to see if anything will work. By making changes when you struggling to create chances, will usually allow spaces to open up. By presenting different problems to the opposition you will hopefully find a weakness. The backroom staff and scout report might actually highlight something, such as slow defenders, or you have a height advantage. If there's a height advantage, it can be good to go with pump ball into box, and attack down the flanks, or even look for the overlap, to try and get the ball to your strikers as much as possible. I'm lucky in having Oscar Cardozo and Alberto Gilardino, both tall and good at heading, who can terrorise most defenders.
It has to be remembered there are pros and cons to everything you do. Calls like pass into space, will tend to see more passes go astray, so it's only sensible if your passing is looking good. Hopefully at some point you'll work a chance leading to a goal, which tends to open the game up more, especially if you've taken the lead.
Don't be afraid to substitute a player if they are not managing to contribute to the attack, by either getting isolated, even just playing poorly. That's more of an observation thing, because sometimes a player can be doing lots of hard work, but their rating can still be getting steadily lower. The ratings don't necessarilly tell the full story of a player's match.
Saturday 27 February 2010
Wednesday 24 February 2010
October 2012 - Ochoa Puts On A Goalkeeping Masterclass
This month sees us scheduled for 6 matches. We have 3 very tricky league matches, away to both Liverpool and Chelsea, with the other match at home to Arsenal. We also have two away matches in our Champions League group against Lyon and Rapid Wien. We have a fourth round League Cup match against Watford away to complete the month.
Olympique Lyonnais (A) Champions League Group E
We travel to Lyon for our next match in the Champions League, which sees us marginal favourites. Lyon have struggled a bit in the French league so far this season, and head into the match with fairly poor morale, which we can hopefully take advantage of.
The match started fairly quietly with both sides largely sparring, with a just a few long shots in the first few minutes. In the 12th minute Cardozo moved the ball to Jimenez, who went forward to about 5 yards outside the area, and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net to open the scoring. Lyon then started to push forward, causing the game to become stretched. In the 15th minute Ochoa had to produce a good save to deflect the ball for a corner. In the 17th minute the Lyon had to make a good save to deny Fatih Yucel. Lyon equalised in the 19th minute with an unbelievable long shot with a first time volley flying in from 30 yards out. In the 35th minute Fatih Yucel looked almost certain to score when he managed to get through into the area, but blasted the ball just over the bar. A minute later Ochoa was in action making a good save from a long shot. In the 42nd minute he had to make another good save from a close range shot. The ball was quickly moved forward, down the left with Dzsudzsak supplying a great pass to Cardozo who hammered the ball home from just outside the area to give us the lead again in the 43rd minute. Both teams continued to push forward, but the half came to an end with us leading 2-1.
I was pleased that we were leading, although slightly worried that Lyon seemed to be able to work through our defence at times with rather too much ease. I sent the players back out, encouraging them to go on and claim a victory. The players went back out looking quite motivated, and appearing to defend a bit better. In the 54th minute Dzsudzsak put Jimenez through into the area, with his shot going in off the inside of the post to extend our lead. A minute later Ochoa was back in action making another good save. I decided I could afford to substitute Dzsudzsak as he'd picked up a slight knock, so he'll hopefully be fine for our match in a few days against Liverpool. In the 59th minute his replacement, Ephraim headed just over the bar from a corner. The ball continued to go from end to end. In the 63rd minute Sanchez received the ball just inside the area, but couldn't find a way by the keeper who'd advanced to close him down. The following minute Fatih Yucel made a poor back pass, which allowed a Lyon player to intercept, bringing out a good save from Ochoa. Lyon tried to push forward, with us restricting them to mostly long range efforts. In the 69th minute Cardozo was put clear of the defence, having his effort saved. There was a bit of a worry in the 75th minute when Kjær went down with an arm injury having to go off the pitch for treatment. Fortunately Lyon where unable to take advantage of his absence from the pitch. In the last 10 minutes Lyon were trying to get the ball into our area as much as possible, but our defending was superb, with us stopping them from creating any further chances. The match came to an end with us running out 3-1 victors.
I was pleased with this performance, especially in the 2nd half, where we defended much better. Jimenez had a great game, coming away with the man of the match award, having scored 2 goals. I was pleased with how we'd continued to try and find more goals, even after gaining a 2 goal lead. There was one negative aspect after this match, with Kjær suffering a gashed arm which will sideline him for about a week, which means he will miss the next match. I was very pleased when I heard the result from the other group match, where a 1-1 draw was played out, which gives us a 4 point lead in the group after 2 matches.
Result: 3-1
Liverpool (A) Premier League
We now travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool, in a match where we are marginal favourites. The previous 4 matches see an even record, with both sides recording a victory, with the other 2 matches drawn. The speed and ability of Torres is our main concern. I've decided to play Cardozo and Gilardino upfront together, because they are both tall and great at heading the ball, because I feel this might be our best chance of opening Liverpool up, as I'm sure they'll play with 2 DMC's, so a physcial presence in height and strength could be important.
The match started with us looking lively, with Cardozo putting a shot from inside the area, only just wide of the post in the 2nd minute. In the 12th minute Ochoa had to make a save from a quite miraculous header from just outside the edge of the area. Ochoa quickly threw the ball to Daeseliere, who pumped the ball over the top into the Liverpool half, where Gilardino was the only outfield player from either team, allowing him to race forward and advanced to the edge of the area before slamming it into the top corner of the net to give us the lead. In the 16th minute Ochoa had to make a good save to deny Benayoun, who was allowed too much space. Sanchez then bizarrely put the ball out for a corner, with no pressure on him at all. The match began to get rather scrappy, with both sides finding it hard to work opportunities to shoot. In the 28th minute Ochoa had to make a great save to deny Benayoun again, who was proving to be the biggest problem for us so far. This seemed to spur Liverpool on, and we became very ragged, with passes going astray, and mistakes being made. In the 39th minute Cardozo had a difficult chance from a tight angle, but as you'd expect, he couldn't beat the keeper at the near post, but won a corner. From the resulting corner Dzsudzsak curled the ball to the far post, where Onyewu beat his marker to the ball and hammered his header over the line to give us a 2 goal lead, and score his first ever goal for the club. Our confidence was now looking very high, and in the 44th minute Cardozo slipped a diagonal pass through for Gilardino to run onto just inside the area, and he absolutely hammered the ball into the back of the net to give us a 3 goal lead, with his 2nd of the match. From the restart Sanchez stole the ball almost immediately and raced down the right hand side, crossed to the far post, where Cardozo got his head to ball, but couldn't direct it out of the reach of the keeper. Just before the whistle blew Jimenez had a header inside the box after great play from Cardozo had set him free, but the keeper was able to hold onto it, bringing the half to an end, with us holding a convincing 3-0 lead.
I was pleased with the players, especially with how we started to play in the last few minutes of the half. I sent the players back out telling them I was pleased, hoping they would go on and see this result out properly. Liverpool came out looking to take the game to us, with most of their players either motivated or fired up. This was causing them some problems though, with them making some heavy tackles. From a free kick in the 49th minute Cardozo fired the ball into the area, where Gilardino got his head to ball, but the shot never looked like beating the keeper. In the 52nd minute I was angry when Agger clearly fouled Sanchez to win the ball back, which allowed Torres to go on a run towards goal. Fortunately his shot was from a tight angle, making it easy for the keeper to push it for a corner. The match started to look as though it might get ugly, with yellow cards starting to fly, with Nasuti gaining a yellow for a dubious looking bodycheck when Torres just ran into the back of him at speed. In the 60th minute Rafa managed to win a header looping the ball over towards the penalty spot, where Gilardino beat the Liverpool defenders to the ball and powered a header into the corner of the net to complete a superb hat-trick. The team were now looking inspired, and looking to completely humiliate Liverpool. In the 71st minute Ochoa saw only his second piece of action of the half, being given a tame header to catch. A minute later Liverpool got a huge slice of luck, with Gerrard hitting a pass into the box, which took a deflection off Nasuti, slowing the ball down, which allowed Torres, who looked offside, to get to the ball and hammer it home. Without that deflection, Ochoa would have had no problem getting to the ball first. In the 74th minute Grenier hit a shot from the edge of the area, which was deflected just wide of the post off a Liverpool defender. Liverpool were now coming at us hard, but there was more controversy to come when Mascherano was sent off for a 2nd bookable offence in the 77th minute, taking them down to 10 men. After that we did a pretty good job of controlling things, allowing us to run out as 4-1 winners.
I was very pleased with this result, and our performance had been excellent. My plan of putting Cardozo and Gilardino upfront had definitely paid off, with them causing no end of problems for the Liverpool defenders. We deserved the win, having outplayed Liverpool for large parts of the match. Gilardino looked superb in this match, always looking for opportunities to score, and working chances for other players, being a most deserving man of the match. Onyewu also put in a fine performance in the centre of defence, to go along with his goal. It's almost a pity that we now head into two week break for international matches, but a rest will be good for some of our players.
Result: 4-1
Chelsea (A) Premier League
After the international break, we travel to take on our fiercest rivals, Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are marginal favourites, despite them having an indifferent start to this season, and only finishing in 8th the previous one. I feel we should be able to take this match, especially after we'd had such a great result against Liverpool.
The match started with one of those miracle long shots, from a Chelsea player, forcing Ochoa to push the ball over the bar in the first minute. The match quickly became quite ugly, with some very hard tackles going in. After the first 5 minutes we started to look much better on the ball, but Chelsea were breaking most of our attacks up with fouls. In the 21st minute we finally got our first real chance with Cardozo getting a shot from inside the area, but couldn't beat the keeper. For no apparent reason we suddenly started playing lots of stupid passes, and putting the ball for silly throw-ins. This allowed Chelsea to get several shots, because we'd suddenly forgotten what a football was. Fortunately after 10 minutes of that, we began to pick up again, the match then became really boring. The only other incident of note was Grenier trying a long shot from 25 yards, but fired it wide of the post. A really dismal half came to an end goalless.
I was very disappointed with our performance, both going forward, and defensively we'd look far too open at times. I sent the players back out telling them to improve. The players certainly looked more motivated, but only a great save from Ochoa stopped us going behind in the 48th minute when Cassano was allowed to get clear in behind our defence. The match was fairly even, but Chelsea seemed to be able to fire off shots at will, but we were struggling to find any opportunities. We finally got a shot in the 2nd half in the 61st minute with Cardozo getting his head to a cross, but wasted it, by giving the keeper an easy catch. The match kept on like that, with us looking better on the ball, but Chelsea able to create almost all the chances to shoot. In the 73rd minute we created our 2nd shot of the half, with Gilardino heading just over the bar at a corner. I decided it was time to bring Dzsudzsak on, who'd been looking a bit tired after the international matches, so put him on the bench. He looked up for the match straight away, and in the 82nd minute managed to get through to the byeline on the left side and curled the ball to the edge of the 6 yard box, where Cardozo was waiting, and made no mistake this time, heading the ball into the back of the net to give us the lead. Chelsea started to push up the pitch more, looking for an equaliser, which allowed us space going forward, with Gilardino giving the Chelsea keeper catching practice in the 89th minute from a tight angle. A diagonal pass back to Jimenez in the middle of the area, would have been a better choice as he was unmarked. Although Chelsea tried to push forward after we took the lead, they failed to create another shooting chance, allowing us to play out for a narrow 1-0 victory.
I was delighted to get the win over Chelsea, but to be honest it was not a particularly good performance. Dzsudzsuk's appearance near the end seemed to be the catalyst to changing our performance. We'd performed better than Chelsea, apart from in the number of shots, although that was largely down the way the AI teams always seem to try so many more shots from distance, and silly blocked attempts, than my team seem to try. The fans were understandably delighted by our victory over our fiercest rivals, Chelsea. I was delighted when news from other matches came through, with Arsenal only managing a 2-2 draw away to Man City.
Result: 1-0
Rapid Wien (A) Champions League Group E
We travel to the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Wien for our next match in the Champions League. We are marginal favourites for this, and looking at the opposition they shouldn't cause us problems with their pace. Unfortunately we are also in the middle of a heavy run of fixtures, so need to rest some players, but feel the striker pairing of Scocco and Fatih Yucel is very very strong.
We started the match looking lively, passing the ball around very well. In the 7th minute Scocco hit a long shot, which looked to have beaten the keeper, but bounced off the top of the crossbar. In the 9th Fatih Yucel tested the keeper with a header from a Sanchez cross. In the 14th minute our pressure paid off, although it came from a Wien defender slicing a Sanchez cross into the back of the net, to give us the lead. It looks like he was trying to hit it over the bar for a corner. Ochoa was given a simple test straight from the restart. In the 16th minute Scocco supplied a superbly timed ball through into the area, for Fatih Yucel to run onto and he dribbled the ball by the keeper into the back of the net. In the 31st minute Wien hit an astonishing long shot, which brought out a superb save from Ochoa, but I can't believe how the player could hit it that well with Sunny seeming to block him being able to even make a shot. In the 32nd minute Fatih Yucel missed a golden opportunity to extend the lead, hitting his shot straight at the keeper. In the 37th minute Ochoa had to make a good save, when our backline was breached. In the 45th minute Scocco had a shot saved by the keeper, and Jimenez got to the rebound, but saw it deflected just wide of the post for a corner. The half came to an end with us leading 2-0.
I was pleased that we held a 2 goal lead, but a bit worried by how many times we'd allowed a player to get through clear to take on Ochoa, and the number of long shots that were flying about. Fatih Yucel had however caused a lot of problems, only denied more chances by some perfectly timed tackles in the area. I sent the players back out hoping they would play better defensively in the 2nd half. We started confidently with Jimenez getting through one on one with the keeper, but saw the keeper make a great save to deny him. In the 49th minute we nearly fell victims to the set piece instructions bug, at a corner. Fortunately Ochoa was able to save the header. In spite of asking the team to play deeper, we were caught pushing up too high in the 54th minute, but fortunately Ochoa was able to keep the shot out. We were starting to be pressured now, with Ochoa having to save another amazing long shot. In the 56th minute Sanchez got through at the other end, but could only give the keeper an easy catch. In the 59th Sunny headed the ball forward to Scocco at the edge of the area, allowing him to turn and thunder a shot into the goal, giving the keeper no chance. We were still looking a bit vulnerable, with Ochoa again keeping the ball out of our net in the 63rd minute. In the 66th minute the Wien right back Jonas Troest, who'd only been on the pitch 15 minutes, was sent off for a professional foul on Jimenez, which denied him a clear opportunity to get clear on goal. Wien were then suddenly playing expansive football, knocking the ball about in a way they'd not been able to do before they had a player sent off. Ochoa had to make a great save in the 76th minute and another in the 77th. Ochoa had to make another save from a header at a corner, as we seemed unable to stop Wien passing the ball about with precision. After this we managed to restrict them to a few long range efforts, but it looked more like we were the team who were a man down. We managed to see the match out and claim a 3-0 victory.
I was pleased that we'd claimed the win, but disappointed with how we'd been outplayed once we had a one man advantage. Up until that point I was mostly pleased with the performance, but it was only Ochoa that had saved us from conceding on several occassions. In the other match from our group, Lyon beat Porto, which gives us a 5 point lead in the group, and 7 point margin over the 3rd place team. It also means that Porto sit bottom of the group with just 1 point, which is a big surprise.
Result: 3-0
Arsenal (H) Premier League
Our only home match of the month sees us play host to Arsenal, with us slight favourites for the fixture. Arsenal come into this match off the back of a 4-0 victory in the Champions League so have good morale. There is one piece of good news for us, with Walcott out injured.
The match started with us looking lively, and in the 2nd minute Gilardino was set free behind the Arsenal defence, but uncharacteristically fired the ball straight at the keeper, allowing it to be deflected for a corner. In the 11th minute Dzsudzsak fired a cross into the middle of the area, where Cardozo met the ball with his head, but fired it just wide of the post. We were doing very well in the first 25 minutes, but wasting opportunities, with several shots going wide of the target. In the 25th minute our backline just stood like statues as Fabregas burst through onto a throughball, forcing a good save from Ochoa. In the 31st minute there was more frustration with Gilardino getting free on goal again, but his shot was deflected for a corner. The half came to an end with the match goalless.
I was fairly pleased with our display, but very frustrated that we'd not managed to take advantage of any of our excellent chances. I sent the players back out, trying to get them more fired up. In the 50th minute Jimenez struck a shot from the edge of the area, which had clearly beaten the keeper, only to see it hit the crossbar and bounce safe. A minute later we won a free kick just outside the area, which Cardozo fired toward the top corner, which the keeper managed to get to, with the ball falling to Sanchez, but he fired just wide of the opposite post. In the 57th minute Arsenal hit the post from a free kick, with our wall in the wrong place. After about the 70th minute the referee started to give some really dubious fouls against us, which allowed Arsenal to fire a free kick goalward in the 74th minute drawing a great save from Ochoa. The referee was throwing cards around like confetti in bizarre fashion, with a certainly a couple of players from each side being very unlucky, which begged the question why Alex Song of Arsenal was still on the pitch, given he'd made most of the worst tackles. In the 86th minute van Persie fired a shot from 6 yards out, way over the bar, making it look like the match is destined to remain goalless, and that's the way it ended.
I was disappointed that we'd been unable to win this match, because we'd just about been the better team, but failed to put away several excellent chances that I was surprised about. The referee was poor, being so inconsistent. Arsenal's Alex Song should have been off the pitch early in the second half, with both teams having at least one player who could feel angry about the yellow card they received in this match. One of those was given to Rafa, which means he will miss the next domestic match. For the second month in a row, our last league match of the month ends in a 0-0 draw, although at least this match wasn't the awful tedium of the Man City game, though still frustrating. With our poor finishing, I have to be glad that Arsenal were also unable to take their chances either.
Result: 0-0
Watford (A) League Cup Fourth Round
Our last match of the month sees us travel the short distance to Vicarage Road to take on the Hornets. We are clear favourites for this match, but looking to give a number of players a rest, but I still believe we should be able to win this match without too much trouble. Watford have also lost their last two league matches, finding themselves down in 20th place in the Championship, and also several loan players ineligible to play in this match. Their first team keeper is also injured, meaning they have put out a 16 year old keeper, who I feel we should test as much as possible.
The first 15 minutes of the match were utter garbage, with neither team getting anywhere, and Watford seeming to able to chop my players down without any fouls given, but all we needed to do was look at one of their players and a foul was given against us. In the 17th minute though, Grenier managed to get into the area, and was stupidly flattened in the area, when he didn't seem to have a chance of beating the keeper. Fatih Yucel stepped up and hammered the ball into the back of the net. This seemed to settle us, and in the 21st minute Ephraim slipped a ball to Scocco just outside the area, and he rifled it straight into the back of the net. In the 24th minute Fatih Yucel was set free in the area, and made an astonishing miss, firing the ball wide, totally out of character. The referee was annoying me still, not noticing an astonishing dive from a Watford player to gain a free kick, for which Grenier got a totally undeserved warning. In the 31st minute Watford got a head to the ball from a corner, which was cleared off the near post by Varrault. The assistant referee was next to annoy me calling Fatih Yucel offside incorrectly, denying him a chance to run free onto a througball. In the 40th minute Steele, our keeper this match, had to make a save, when a diagonal ball allowed in the Watford left winger. Quite predictably Sunny received a yellow card right near the end of the half which came to an end with us leading 2-0.
I was pleased we held a 2-0 lead, but absolutely fuming over the performance of the match officials. About the only thing they got right was our penalty decision. I sent the players back out hoping they could perform better, because only creating 4 shots in the first half was pretty poor. The 2nd half started in style, with Varrault clearing the ball down the left for Fatih Yucel to run onto, and he produced a superb cross into the box for Scocco to hammer home his second of the match from 12 yards. In the 49th minute we broke forward again with Fatih Yucel on the left, this time he cut inside and was hacked down in the area, to give us our second penalty of the match. Scocco stepped up this time, with a chance to complete his hat-trick, and buried it in the back of the net to his absolute delight. Watford were looking determined to try and get a goal back, but our defending was now looking more assured. Watford were lucky not to have a player sent off in the 56th minute, when Fatih Yucel was brought down just outside the area, for what looked to be a professional foul, but only received a booking. Fatih Yucel tried to test the keeper with the free kick, but a slight deflection helped him to be able to save the ball. In the 67th minute Scocco went down with a potential knee injury after heading a ball, requiring a substitution. The poor decisions were still coming with a Watford player allowed to get one on one with our keeper, but Steele was equal to the job. In the 75th minute Balanta hooked a cross from the left into the area, and Fatih Yucel got his head to the ball and directed it in to the top corner of the net for his 2nd of the game. In the 88th minute Steele had to turn a deflected long shot around the post for a corner. From the resulting corner we conceded, which was very frustrating, because we allowed the shortest player on the pitch with the worst heading ability to score. Also this is a player that hardly ever scores, and yet somehow Onyewu who is a lot taller, with better jumping and heading attributes by a long way missed the ball while standing right in front of him. For some reason he didn't bother to jump, and watched the ball float over his head. From the restart we tried to grab another goal with Cardozo just failing to beat the keeper with a tough chance from within the area. I thought he'd scored in the 2nd minute of added time, but he was offside as the pass came through. The match came to an end with us winning 5-1.
I was very pleased with our second half display, where we looked more lively, creating a lot more chances, with Scocco completing a nice hat-trick, and Fatih Yucel grabbing a 2nd. The performance of the referee really annoyed me, especially in the first half. Unfortunately Scocco twisted his knee which will put him out for a couple of weeks, but at least this season I have plenty of strikers to choose from.
Result: 5-1
Monthly Roundup
Another great month, with some superb victories, in particular the win over Liverpool at Anfield. The no-score draw against Arsenal was the only disappointment, being our second in a row at home, and our only match of the month at Loftus Road. Our victories over Rapid Wien and Watford should restore a lot of confidence back to Scocco and Fatih Yucel. The win over Watford sees us advance to the quarter final stages of the competition. Remarkably only 5 of the 8 teams left in the competition are Premiership teams.
The two wins and a draw, with Arsenal only managing a win and 2 draws, sees us jump above them into first place in the league. I have to be delighted with this position, because it's a marginally better start than we achieved last season at the same stage.
Our two excellent wins away from home in the Champions League now give us a big margin over the other teams. Our position is so commanding that we would guarantee qualification in the next match if we were to win it, and even a draw could be enough, if Lyon fail to win their match against Porto.
My player of the month is easy this time, despite the hat-trick heriocs from Gilardino and Scocco, and fine performances by Fatih Yucel, Puygrenier and Jimenez. There was one player who stood far ahead of the others this month, that being Ochoa, with an average over the 5 matches he played in the month of 7.80, and only conceded 2 goals. He seems to have the ability to make fantastic saves look simple, and it's only when you look at them in a replay that you fully appreciate how good they are. With a keeper this good, it can be easy to not realise just how good a performance they have put in. I believe his agility at 19 is the major key to just how good he is.
We complete the month with one injury, that being a twisted knee for Scocco, which sees him out for about 2 weeks. With the depth of squad we have, this is not a big issue. The next month sees us scheduled for 6 matches, with 4 Premier League fixtures, all of which we have a good chance of winning, the toughest being a trip to Sunderland. We also have a couple of Champions League matches, home to Rapid Wien, and away to Porto to finish the month. I'm confident we will win the first of these matches, and have a good chance of claiming victory over Porto, as they've been very poor so far in the group matches. It would appear to be a much easier month than this one, so I hope that complacency doesn't start to creep into our play.
Olympique Lyonnais (A) Champions League Group E
We travel to Lyon for our next match in the Champions League, which sees us marginal favourites. Lyon have struggled a bit in the French league so far this season, and head into the match with fairly poor morale, which we can hopefully take advantage of.
The match started fairly quietly with both sides largely sparring, with a just a few long shots in the first few minutes. In the 12th minute Cardozo moved the ball to Jimenez, who went forward to about 5 yards outside the area, and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net to open the scoring. Lyon then started to push forward, causing the game to become stretched. In the 15th minute Ochoa had to produce a good save to deflect the ball for a corner. In the 17th minute the Lyon had to make a good save to deny Fatih Yucel. Lyon equalised in the 19th minute with an unbelievable long shot with a first time volley flying in from 30 yards out. In the 35th minute Fatih Yucel looked almost certain to score when he managed to get through into the area, but blasted the ball just over the bar. A minute later Ochoa was in action making a good save from a long shot. In the 42nd minute he had to make another good save from a close range shot. The ball was quickly moved forward, down the left with Dzsudzsak supplying a great pass to Cardozo who hammered the ball home from just outside the area to give us the lead again in the 43rd minute. Both teams continued to push forward, but the half came to an end with us leading 2-1.
I was pleased that we were leading, although slightly worried that Lyon seemed to be able to work through our defence at times with rather too much ease. I sent the players back out, encouraging them to go on and claim a victory. The players went back out looking quite motivated, and appearing to defend a bit better. In the 54th minute Dzsudzsak put Jimenez through into the area, with his shot going in off the inside of the post to extend our lead. A minute later Ochoa was back in action making another good save. I decided I could afford to substitute Dzsudzsak as he'd picked up a slight knock, so he'll hopefully be fine for our match in a few days against Liverpool. In the 59th minute his replacement, Ephraim headed just over the bar from a corner. The ball continued to go from end to end. In the 63rd minute Sanchez received the ball just inside the area, but couldn't find a way by the keeper who'd advanced to close him down. The following minute Fatih Yucel made a poor back pass, which allowed a Lyon player to intercept, bringing out a good save from Ochoa. Lyon tried to push forward, with us restricting them to mostly long range efforts. In the 69th minute Cardozo was put clear of the defence, having his effort saved. There was a bit of a worry in the 75th minute when Kjær went down with an arm injury having to go off the pitch for treatment. Fortunately Lyon where unable to take advantage of his absence from the pitch. In the last 10 minutes Lyon were trying to get the ball into our area as much as possible, but our defending was superb, with us stopping them from creating any further chances. The match came to an end with us running out 3-1 victors.
I was pleased with this performance, especially in the 2nd half, where we defended much better. Jimenez had a great game, coming away with the man of the match award, having scored 2 goals. I was pleased with how we'd continued to try and find more goals, even after gaining a 2 goal lead. There was one negative aspect after this match, with Kjær suffering a gashed arm which will sideline him for about a week, which means he will miss the next match. I was very pleased when I heard the result from the other group match, where a 1-1 draw was played out, which gives us a 4 point lead in the group after 2 matches.
Result: 3-1
Liverpool (A) Premier League
We now travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool, in a match where we are marginal favourites. The previous 4 matches see an even record, with both sides recording a victory, with the other 2 matches drawn. The speed and ability of Torres is our main concern. I've decided to play Cardozo and Gilardino upfront together, because they are both tall and great at heading the ball, because I feel this might be our best chance of opening Liverpool up, as I'm sure they'll play with 2 DMC's, so a physcial presence in height and strength could be important.
The match started with us looking lively, with Cardozo putting a shot from inside the area, only just wide of the post in the 2nd minute. In the 12th minute Ochoa had to make a save from a quite miraculous header from just outside the edge of the area. Ochoa quickly threw the ball to Daeseliere, who pumped the ball over the top into the Liverpool half, where Gilardino was the only outfield player from either team, allowing him to race forward and advanced to the edge of the area before slamming it into the top corner of the net to give us the lead. In the 16th minute Ochoa had to make a good save to deny Benayoun, who was allowed too much space. Sanchez then bizarrely put the ball out for a corner, with no pressure on him at all. The match began to get rather scrappy, with both sides finding it hard to work opportunities to shoot. In the 28th minute Ochoa had to make a great save to deny Benayoun again, who was proving to be the biggest problem for us so far. This seemed to spur Liverpool on, and we became very ragged, with passes going astray, and mistakes being made. In the 39th minute Cardozo had a difficult chance from a tight angle, but as you'd expect, he couldn't beat the keeper at the near post, but won a corner. From the resulting corner Dzsudzsak curled the ball to the far post, where Onyewu beat his marker to the ball and hammered his header over the line to give us a 2 goal lead, and score his first ever goal for the club. Our confidence was now looking very high, and in the 44th minute Cardozo slipped a diagonal pass through for Gilardino to run onto just inside the area, and he absolutely hammered the ball into the back of the net to give us a 3 goal lead, with his 2nd of the match. From the restart Sanchez stole the ball almost immediately and raced down the right hand side, crossed to the far post, where Cardozo got his head to ball, but couldn't direct it out of the reach of the keeper. Just before the whistle blew Jimenez had a header inside the box after great play from Cardozo had set him free, but the keeper was able to hold onto it, bringing the half to an end, with us holding a convincing 3-0 lead.
I was pleased with the players, especially with how we started to play in the last few minutes of the half. I sent the players back out telling them I was pleased, hoping they would go on and see this result out properly. Liverpool came out looking to take the game to us, with most of their players either motivated or fired up. This was causing them some problems though, with them making some heavy tackles. From a free kick in the 49th minute Cardozo fired the ball into the area, where Gilardino got his head to ball, but the shot never looked like beating the keeper. In the 52nd minute I was angry when Agger clearly fouled Sanchez to win the ball back, which allowed Torres to go on a run towards goal. Fortunately his shot was from a tight angle, making it easy for the keeper to push it for a corner. The match started to look as though it might get ugly, with yellow cards starting to fly, with Nasuti gaining a yellow for a dubious looking bodycheck when Torres just ran into the back of him at speed. In the 60th minute Rafa managed to win a header looping the ball over towards the penalty spot, where Gilardino beat the Liverpool defenders to the ball and powered a header into the corner of the net to complete a superb hat-trick. The team were now looking inspired, and looking to completely humiliate Liverpool. In the 71st minute Ochoa saw only his second piece of action of the half, being given a tame header to catch. A minute later Liverpool got a huge slice of luck, with Gerrard hitting a pass into the box, which took a deflection off Nasuti, slowing the ball down, which allowed Torres, who looked offside, to get to the ball and hammer it home. Without that deflection, Ochoa would have had no problem getting to the ball first. In the 74th minute Grenier hit a shot from the edge of the area, which was deflected just wide of the post off a Liverpool defender. Liverpool were now coming at us hard, but there was more controversy to come when Mascherano was sent off for a 2nd bookable offence in the 77th minute, taking them down to 10 men. After that we did a pretty good job of controlling things, allowing us to run out as 4-1 winners.
I was very pleased with this result, and our performance had been excellent. My plan of putting Cardozo and Gilardino upfront had definitely paid off, with them causing no end of problems for the Liverpool defenders. We deserved the win, having outplayed Liverpool for large parts of the match. Gilardino looked superb in this match, always looking for opportunities to score, and working chances for other players, being a most deserving man of the match. Onyewu also put in a fine performance in the centre of defence, to go along with his goal. It's almost a pity that we now head into two week break for international matches, but a rest will be good for some of our players.
Result: 4-1
Chelsea (A) Premier League
After the international break, we travel to take on our fiercest rivals, Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are marginal favourites, despite them having an indifferent start to this season, and only finishing in 8th the previous one. I feel we should be able to take this match, especially after we'd had such a great result against Liverpool.
The match started with one of those miracle long shots, from a Chelsea player, forcing Ochoa to push the ball over the bar in the first minute. The match quickly became quite ugly, with some very hard tackles going in. After the first 5 minutes we started to look much better on the ball, but Chelsea were breaking most of our attacks up with fouls. In the 21st minute we finally got our first real chance with Cardozo getting a shot from inside the area, but couldn't beat the keeper. For no apparent reason we suddenly started playing lots of stupid passes, and putting the ball for silly throw-ins. This allowed Chelsea to get several shots, because we'd suddenly forgotten what a football was. Fortunately after 10 minutes of that, we began to pick up again, the match then became really boring. The only other incident of note was Grenier trying a long shot from 25 yards, but fired it wide of the post. A really dismal half came to an end goalless.
I was very disappointed with our performance, both going forward, and defensively we'd look far too open at times. I sent the players back out telling them to improve. The players certainly looked more motivated, but only a great save from Ochoa stopped us going behind in the 48th minute when Cassano was allowed to get clear in behind our defence. The match was fairly even, but Chelsea seemed to be able to fire off shots at will, but we were struggling to find any opportunities. We finally got a shot in the 2nd half in the 61st minute with Cardozo getting his head to a cross, but wasted it, by giving the keeper an easy catch. The match kept on like that, with us looking better on the ball, but Chelsea able to create almost all the chances to shoot. In the 73rd minute we created our 2nd shot of the half, with Gilardino heading just over the bar at a corner. I decided it was time to bring Dzsudzsak on, who'd been looking a bit tired after the international matches, so put him on the bench. He looked up for the match straight away, and in the 82nd minute managed to get through to the byeline on the left side and curled the ball to the edge of the 6 yard box, where Cardozo was waiting, and made no mistake this time, heading the ball into the back of the net to give us the lead. Chelsea started to push up the pitch more, looking for an equaliser, which allowed us space going forward, with Gilardino giving the Chelsea keeper catching practice in the 89th minute from a tight angle. A diagonal pass back to Jimenez in the middle of the area, would have been a better choice as he was unmarked. Although Chelsea tried to push forward after we took the lead, they failed to create another shooting chance, allowing us to play out for a narrow 1-0 victory.
I was delighted to get the win over Chelsea, but to be honest it was not a particularly good performance. Dzsudzsuk's appearance near the end seemed to be the catalyst to changing our performance. We'd performed better than Chelsea, apart from in the number of shots, although that was largely down the way the AI teams always seem to try so many more shots from distance, and silly blocked attempts, than my team seem to try. The fans were understandably delighted by our victory over our fiercest rivals, Chelsea. I was delighted when news from other matches came through, with Arsenal only managing a 2-2 draw away to Man City.
Result: 1-0
Rapid Wien (A) Champions League Group E
We travel to the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Wien for our next match in the Champions League. We are marginal favourites for this, and looking at the opposition they shouldn't cause us problems with their pace. Unfortunately we are also in the middle of a heavy run of fixtures, so need to rest some players, but feel the striker pairing of Scocco and Fatih Yucel is very very strong.
We started the match looking lively, passing the ball around very well. In the 7th minute Scocco hit a long shot, which looked to have beaten the keeper, but bounced off the top of the crossbar. In the 9th Fatih Yucel tested the keeper with a header from a Sanchez cross. In the 14th minute our pressure paid off, although it came from a Wien defender slicing a Sanchez cross into the back of the net, to give us the lead. It looks like he was trying to hit it over the bar for a corner. Ochoa was given a simple test straight from the restart. In the 16th minute Scocco supplied a superbly timed ball through into the area, for Fatih Yucel to run onto and he dribbled the ball by the keeper into the back of the net. In the 31st minute Wien hit an astonishing long shot, which brought out a superb save from Ochoa, but I can't believe how the player could hit it that well with Sunny seeming to block him being able to even make a shot. In the 32nd minute Fatih Yucel missed a golden opportunity to extend the lead, hitting his shot straight at the keeper. In the 37th minute Ochoa had to make a good save, when our backline was breached. In the 45th minute Scocco had a shot saved by the keeper, and Jimenez got to the rebound, but saw it deflected just wide of the post for a corner. The half came to an end with us leading 2-0.
I was pleased that we held a 2 goal lead, but a bit worried by how many times we'd allowed a player to get through clear to take on Ochoa, and the number of long shots that were flying about. Fatih Yucel had however caused a lot of problems, only denied more chances by some perfectly timed tackles in the area. I sent the players back out hoping they would play better defensively in the 2nd half. We started confidently with Jimenez getting through one on one with the keeper, but saw the keeper make a great save to deny him. In the 49th minute we nearly fell victims to the set piece instructions bug, at a corner. Fortunately Ochoa was able to save the header. In spite of asking the team to play deeper, we were caught pushing up too high in the 54th minute, but fortunately Ochoa was able to keep the shot out. We were starting to be pressured now, with Ochoa having to save another amazing long shot. In the 56th minute Sanchez got through at the other end, but could only give the keeper an easy catch. In the 59th Sunny headed the ball forward to Scocco at the edge of the area, allowing him to turn and thunder a shot into the goal, giving the keeper no chance. We were still looking a bit vulnerable, with Ochoa again keeping the ball out of our net in the 63rd minute. In the 66th minute the Wien right back Jonas Troest, who'd only been on the pitch 15 minutes, was sent off for a professional foul on Jimenez, which denied him a clear opportunity to get clear on goal. Wien were then suddenly playing expansive football, knocking the ball about in a way they'd not been able to do before they had a player sent off. Ochoa had to make a great save in the 76th minute and another in the 77th. Ochoa had to make another save from a header at a corner, as we seemed unable to stop Wien passing the ball about with precision. After this we managed to restrict them to a few long range efforts, but it looked more like we were the team who were a man down. We managed to see the match out and claim a 3-0 victory.
I was pleased that we'd claimed the win, but disappointed with how we'd been outplayed once we had a one man advantage. Up until that point I was mostly pleased with the performance, but it was only Ochoa that had saved us from conceding on several occassions. In the other match from our group, Lyon beat Porto, which gives us a 5 point lead in the group, and 7 point margin over the 3rd place team. It also means that Porto sit bottom of the group with just 1 point, which is a big surprise.
Result: 3-0
Arsenal (H) Premier League
Our only home match of the month sees us play host to Arsenal, with us slight favourites for the fixture. Arsenal come into this match off the back of a 4-0 victory in the Champions League so have good morale. There is one piece of good news for us, with Walcott out injured.
The match started with us looking lively, and in the 2nd minute Gilardino was set free behind the Arsenal defence, but uncharacteristically fired the ball straight at the keeper, allowing it to be deflected for a corner. In the 11th minute Dzsudzsak fired a cross into the middle of the area, where Cardozo met the ball with his head, but fired it just wide of the post. We were doing very well in the first 25 minutes, but wasting opportunities, with several shots going wide of the target. In the 25th minute our backline just stood like statues as Fabregas burst through onto a throughball, forcing a good save from Ochoa. In the 31st minute there was more frustration with Gilardino getting free on goal again, but his shot was deflected for a corner. The half came to an end with the match goalless.
I was fairly pleased with our display, but very frustrated that we'd not managed to take advantage of any of our excellent chances. I sent the players back out, trying to get them more fired up. In the 50th minute Jimenez struck a shot from the edge of the area, which had clearly beaten the keeper, only to see it hit the crossbar and bounce safe. A minute later we won a free kick just outside the area, which Cardozo fired toward the top corner, which the keeper managed to get to, with the ball falling to Sanchez, but he fired just wide of the opposite post. In the 57th minute Arsenal hit the post from a free kick, with our wall in the wrong place. After about the 70th minute the referee started to give some really dubious fouls against us, which allowed Arsenal to fire a free kick goalward in the 74th minute drawing a great save from Ochoa. The referee was throwing cards around like confetti in bizarre fashion, with a certainly a couple of players from each side being very unlucky, which begged the question why Alex Song of Arsenal was still on the pitch, given he'd made most of the worst tackles. In the 86th minute van Persie fired a shot from 6 yards out, way over the bar, making it look like the match is destined to remain goalless, and that's the way it ended.
I was disappointed that we'd been unable to win this match, because we'd just about been the better team, but failed to put away several excellent chances that I was surprised about. The referee was poor, being so inconsistent. Arsenal's Alex Song should have been off the pitch early in the second half, with both teams having at least one player who could feel angry about the yellow card they received in this match. One of those was given to Rafa, which means he will miss the next domestic match. For the second month in a row, our last league match of the month ends in a 0-0 draw, although at least this match wasn't the awful tedium of the Man City game, though still frustrating. With our poor finishing, I have to be glad that Arsenal were also unable to take their chances either.
Result: 0-0
Watford (A) League Cup Fourth Round
Our last match of the month sees us travel the short distance to Vicarage Road to take on the Hornets. We are clear favourites for this match, but looking to give a number of players a rest, but I still believe we should be able to win this match without too much trouble. Watford have also lost their last two league matches, finding themselves down in 20th place in the Championship, and also several loan players ineligible to play in this match. Their first team keeper is also injured, meaning they have put out a 16 year old keeper, who I feel we should test as much as possible.
The first 15 minutes of the match were utter garbage, with neither team getting anywhere, and Watford seeming to able to chop my players down without any fouls given, but all we needed to do was look at one of their players and a foul was given against us. In the 17th minute though, Grenier managed to get into the area, and was stupidly flattened in the area, when he didn't seem to have a chance of beating the keeper. Fatih Yucel stepped up and hammered the ball into the back of the net. This seemed to settle us, and in the 21st minute Ephraim slipped a ball to Scocco just outside the area, and he rifled it straight into the back of the net. In the 24th minute Fatih Yucel was set free in the area, and made an astonishing miss, firing the ball wide, totally out of character. The referee was annoying me still, not noticing an astonishing dive from a Watford player to gain a free kick, for which Grenier got a totally undeserved warning. In the 31st minute Watford got a head to the ball from a corner, which was cleared off the near post by Varrault. The assistant referee was next to annoy me calling Fatih Yucel offside incorrectly, denying him a chance to run free onto a througball. In the 40th minute Steele, our keeper this match, had to make a save, when a diagonal ball allowed in the Watford left winger. Quite predictably Sunny received a yellow card right near the end of the half which came to an end with us leading 2-0.
I was pleased we held a 2-0 lead, but absolutely fuming over the performance of the match officials. About the only thing they got right was our penalty decision. I sent the players back out hoping they could perform better, because only creating 4 shots in the first half was pretty poor. The 2nd half started in style, with Varrault clearing the ball down the left for Fatih Yucel to run onto, and he produced a superb cross into the box for Scocco to hammer home his second of the match from 12 yards. In the 49th minute we broke forward again with Fatih Yucel on the left, this time he cut inside and was hacked down in the area, to give us our second penalty of the match. Scocco stepped up this time, with a chance to complete his hat-trick, and buried it in the back of the net to his absolute delight. Watford were looking determined to try and get a goal back, but our defending was now looking more assured. Watford were lucky not to have a player sent off in the 56th minute, when Fatih Yucel was brought down just outside the area, for what looked to be a professional foul, but only received a booking. Fatih Yucel tried to test the keeper with the free kick, but a slight deflection helped him to be able to save the ball. In the 67th minute Scocco went down with a potential knee injury after heading a ball, requiring a substitution. The poor decisions were still coming with a Watford player allowed to get one on one with our keeper, but Steele was equal to the job. In the 75th minute Balanta hooked a cross from the left into the area, and Fatih Yucel got his head to the ball and directed it in to the top corner of the net for his 2nd of the game. In the 88th minute Steele had to turn a deflected long shot around the post for a corner. From the resulting corner we conceded, which was very frustrating, because we allowed the shortest player on the pitch with the worst heading ability to score. Also this is a player that hardly ever scores, and yet somehow Onyewu who is a lot taller, with better jumping and heading attributes by a long way missed the ball while standing right in front of him. For some reason he didn't bother to jump, and watched the ball float over his head. From the restart we tried to grab another goal with Cardozo just failing to beat the keeper with a tough chance from within the area. I thought he'd scored in the 2nd minute of added time, but he was offside as the pass came through. The match came to an end with us winning 5-1.
I was very pleased with our second half display, where we looked more lively, creating a lot more chances, with Scocco completing a nice hat-trick, and Fatih Yucel grabbing a 2nd. The performance of the referee really annoyed me, especially in the first half. Unfortunately Scocco twisted his knee which will put him out for a couple of weeks, but at least this season I have plenty of strikers to choose from.
Result: 5-1
Monthly Roundup
My player of the month is easy this time, despite the hat-trick heriocs from Gilardino and Scocco, and fine performances by Fatih Yucel, Puygrenier and Jimenez. There was one player who stood far ahead of the others this month, that being Ochoa, with an average over the 5 matches he played in the month of 7.80, and only conceded 2 goals. He seems to have the ability to make fantastic saves look simple, and it's only when you look at them in a replay that you fully appreciate how good they are. With a keeper this good, it can be easy to not realise just how good a performance they have put in. I believe his agility at 19 is the major key to just how good he is.
We complete the month with one injury, that being a twisted knee for Scocco, which sees him out for about 2 weeks. With the depth of squad we have, this is not a big issue. The next month sees us scheduled for 6 matches, with 4 Premier League fixtures, all of which we have a good chance of winning, the toughest being a trip to Sunderland. We also have a couple of Champions League matches, home to Rapid Wien, and away to Porto to finish the month. I'm confident we will win the first of these matches, and have a good chance of claiming victory over Porto, as they've been very poor so far in the group matches. It would appear to be a much easier month than this one, so I hope that complacency doesn't start to creep into our play.
Monday 22 February 2010
Defending - Defensive Gap Being Exploited
The Issue
This seems to be one of the most common questions being asked. In particular it relates to how often the opposition team seem to be able to exploit a gap between the central defenders. I've seen on forums a lot of complaining about this, with some people saying the Match Engine is broken, because of how often the opposition get through. I don't hold with this idea, even though SI have apparently admitted there are a few too many clear cut chances being created at times, which is why sometimes keepers are occasionally behaving like Superman to compensate for this. I haven't seen an official acknowledgement of that though.
I believe that the right tactical changes, to suit your team can help to reduce the problem. The majority of tactical formations being used, tend to have a flat back four, with two central defenders and two full backs, and is therefore assumed to be so from here on, for the purpose of this post.
One thing you have to remember, is that no matter how good your players are, it is likely at some point they will be beaten, allowing an opposition player to get through with the keeper your last line of defence. Hopefully your keeper will do his job and make the save. What you're trying to do is make sure those opportunities do not happen very often. What I have noticed, is that if your defence is holding the opposition attackers well, they will then start resorting to firing long shots, or attacking down the wings and pumping crosses into the box. The AI will always look to adapt the approach to try and find a way through, and sometimes it can feel overly efficient at doing so. Teams in real life have to try the same thing, which is why sometimes it can take a long time for the first goal to go in, but once scored the flood gates can sometimes open.
What Is Causing This Gap To Appear?
There are many reasons why the central defenders can leave a gap for attacking players to run into. A very common reason is that the central defenders are being pulled out of their standard positions. Now we can investigate why the players are not staying where they should, or being beaten by a player running through onto a great pass.
There are several ways to set the two central defenders up, who you want to work as a pair. Their biggest responsibility is to deal with two furthest forward players from the opposition, often a pair of strikers, or a striker and an attacking midfielder. Sometimes it can be just a single striker, with a midfielder drifting forward to join an attacking. The duties are pretty clear, but there are several reasons why the defenders can get pulled from their position. Tight marking of a player can cause issues, if that player likes to drop deep to get the ball, or moves out wide. This can cause a defender to follow them, leaving a big hole. Asking the team to close down a lot can also have defenders rushing forward, with the same inevitable consequence if they don't win the ball for you team.
An opposition player arriving late in the area, can also cause a lot of problems if they have not been tracked by a midfielder. This can lead to them either having a lot of space, or one of your defenders moving to close them down, but leaves another player free to use the gap this created.
Playing too wide can also leave space between the central defenders, or between them and a full back. Rather than use the gap straight through the middle, this can leave the team more open to a diagonal ball from one flank or the centre into the gap on one side of the area. This tends to be more of an issue if you're playing against a team with a lot of creativity and pace. If you're playing a team with creative midfielders, who are just finding far too much space this gives them the time to make superb passes and throughballs.
The next one is getting caught too far up the pitch. This usually happens when your team is attacking, and compressing the play, which can make it hard for the central defenders to pick up which players are trying to making a run forward at the point your team loses possession. If they fail to pick up the run, it can leave you wide open, with your keeper the only hope of keeping the ball out of the net. This is always a frustrating goal to concede when an attack breaks down. It also looks so obvious as soon as you see the ball being fired over the top. Of course it's brilliant to see if your own team is the beneficiary.
Failure of the off-side trap is a common issue. I've seen goals scored, by both my team and the opposition where your initial reaction is that it had to be offside. Sometimes these are just perfectly time runs, with your defenders standing like statues, which is probably either a lapse of concentration, or poor anticipation. The other is much more frustrating, where the central defenders have stepped to play the runner offside, only to find that one of your full backs is still playing them onside. This appears to be largely down to teamwork and concentration. The aforementioned midfielders with too much space and time are most of the time the root cause, but you do expect your defenders to perform better than this.
What Can Be Done To Improve Things?
Having identified the issue, we now need to decide what can be done to improve the situation. You have to remember though that any changes can have an impact on other areas of the team, such as the attacking ability.
One of the biggest factors determining the positions that individual players maintain is down to the Philosophy you pick. With Standard Philosophy the players have reasonable freedom to move about, join in attacks, and away from the position they've been set. The more fluid the philosophy the more likely the shape of the team is to be lost, often creating huge holes at the back to be exploited. Going more rigid tightens up the shape, meaning players are more likely to stay in their respective positions. The lower the skill level of your players, the more likely you are to want to set the team to be rigid or very rigid. This does however take away from the attacking creativity of the side, which is the trade-off. Aston Villa are one such team that currently play a very rigid philosophy, which is why they can sometimes struggle to create chances. This can look quite negative at times, but when they do get the ball to their forwards, they can be deadly.
The problem of a player arriving late in the area, requires hard work from other players besides the central defenders. In particular you usually want one midfielder, either an MC or DMC to have a defensive role, so that they will track back, and help out more. Most players will track back, anyhow, but specifically setting one up for the role, can tighten things up more. That player does require a lot of stamina and good work rate and defensive skills. Good pace is not essential, but can be a huge bonus.
Playing too wide is not always obvious, but the signs I've taken to looking for are wingers being allowed to run onto far too many diagonal balls in a space between one central defender and a full back. By playing narrower, you can tighten that gap, but it does of course mean the opposition have more opportunity to reach the byeline on the outside and pump crosses in from there. This is where you have to decide which is the better of two possible evils. It comes down to how much of an aerial threat the opposition pose, and how good they are at crossing the ball, and how good your full backs are, and how confident you are that your team can cope with crosses.
Being too far up the pitch can be a tricky thing to resolve. Changing to a more rigid philosophy will tend to stop your defenders joining in attacks, and going too far up the pitch, but cuts attacking options down. Taking one of the defensive strategies will move the backline deeper, but this tends to invite pressure from the other team, and leaves you more open to conceding a goal from a striker who has a lot of strength, waiting for a ball to be played into the area, either looking to set up another player, or an opportunity of their own. If you believe your team can defend against this, then a counter attacking option is available. Another issue with dropping deeper is that you also open up more space for the opposition midfielders to try long shots, which they have an unerring accuracy with at times. A slightly different option, if you're ahead is to try and frustrate the opponents by taking a control strategy, in which you're attempting to hold as much possession as possible. This can make the opposition more desperate, and their throughball attempts get more wild. While this doesn't fix the issue of pushing too far up the pitch, it changes the problem for the opposition, and your defenders are not committing so much to attacking.
There's not much you can do about the failure of the offside trap. I never set my teams up to explicitly try and play it. I think if you have a backline with really good teamwork and work rate, you can enjoy success with it. I don't feel my team are competent enough at playing the offside trap, because if that step forward is not timed right, they don't have much chance of getting back, and it's all down to your keeper to help you out then.
Other options to try and change up the play, are to try touchline shouts to attack down the flanks, or through the centre. These will cause players either in the centre or the flanks to track back, which can make a big difference in how the opposition mounts attacks. Even swapping that in a match can confuse the opposition for a while, and sometimes that's all you need to allow your defenders to regain their composure. It's all about adapting to the changing situation, because the AI will always look to alter things to try and take advantage of any weakness in your setup. If you can be the team making problems for the other side, it can sometimes give your defence a much easier ride.
Midfielders that are finding far too much space can cause a lot of problems, because that gives them time to make decisions on what passing options they have. Fabregas is a prime example of a such a player, that if allowed the space, can punish you severely. This is the type of player that you can often stop by setting his opposition instruction to Always Close Down. If you have a defensive midfielder with excellent marking and tackling attributes you can even try to tackle him hard. There is always the option of using the Hassle Opponents touchline shout, which will cause your team to close down more. Sometimes you only need it for a short while, but it does have a downside, in that you could start to concede a lot more fouls, so use it with caution. On the whole with Arsenal, if you can keep Fabregas quiet, they struggle a lot more to create chances.
Sometimes just slowing the tempo down and asking to retain possession can be what you need, or asking the players to pass to feet. If you're the team pulling the opposition players out of position, you can make it hard for them to attack. Even seemingly silly ideas like, pump ball into box, can give you much more control, because the opposition are then having to move back to defend more.
It's Down To Your Players
How well your team can defend ultimately comes do to the quality and attributes your players have. Once your signings are confirmed, all you can do is then work out how to get the best from the players you have. In the lower leagues the quality of the players will be lower, so don't expect miracles from them. If necessary make the philosophy more rigid, so the shape of the team is maintained. Even some premiership teams go with a rigid philosophy, understanding the limitations that some of the squad members have. If you can get away with playing beautiful football and still keep tight at the back, then you've really achieved something great.
Even the best players make mistakes sometimes, but you hope those don't prove to be important ones. All you do is try and build up the best squad you can with the transfer budget and wages allowed, and then hope to get them motivated come matchday.
Conclusion
There is no magic setup that will give you a cleansheet every game, while always maintaining a powerful goal scoring ability. It's one of our natural instincts to want to create a setup that fits all situations, and leave it alone. The bad news is, that if you keep that one tactic, and never make any changes during a match, the likelihood is you start to lose matches. It seems that the longer you maintain a tactic the quicker teams will work out what to do against you. However you can maintain the same formation and strategy, but what you must do is keep the opposition guessing about what changes you will make during a match.
Be prepared sometimes to change the formation. If you have a 2 goal lead and the opposition start pressing hard, think about whether removing a striker and putting a DMC on is a possible solution. Don't just sit there thinking, "How can they suddenly be playing this well?" I've done that in the past, and not reacted sensibly, and suffered draws or even losses because of it. If the game didn't make it challenging, it wouldn't be half the fun it is to play, even if at times it's frustrating causing you to shout at the screen, even swearing at times. If you can react very early to any changes the AI makes, and spot the signs, it can make a huge difference, or just changing the problem you give the opposition, can be the right thing to do. Don't be frightened to experiment when the opposition is showing signs of being on the rampage. Not doing anything could be an even worse choice.
This may sound crazy, but if you team are looking complacent, it can sometimes to be good for them to concede a goal. It can sometimes help bring them to their senses.
Just remember that most teams in real life are going to still play for pride even if they're being thrashed. Grabbing a consolation goal can make a big difference to how a team bounces back from a big defeat, and sometimes can change a match completely. The African Nations Cup threw up an example of just what can happen in football, when Mali came back from 4-0 down against Angola, with 4 goals in 15 minutes right at the end of the game, with 2 of those in injury time. I also remember a QPR match against Newcastle in the 80's where QPR were 4-0 down at Loftus Road at half time. The match finished 5-5, so all sorts of astonishing things can happen in football. I'm sure there must have been even bigger comebacks than these.
If anyone spots something that isn't correct, or any additional things they feel could be added, please leave a comment.
This seems to be one of the most common questions being asked. In particular it relates to how often the opposition team seem to be able to exploit a gap between the central defenders. I've seen on forums a lot of complaining about this, with some people saying the Match Engine is broken, because of how often the opposition get through. I don't hold with this idea, even though SI have apparently admitted there are a few too many clear cut chances being created at times, which is why sometimes keepers are occasionally behaving like Superman to compensate for this. I haven't seen an official acknowledgement of that though.
I believe that the right tactical changes, to suit your team can help to reduce the problem. The majority of tactical formations being used, tend to have a flat back four, with two central defenders and two full backs, and is therefore assumed to be so from here on, for the purpose of this post.
One thing you have to remember, is that no matter how good your players are, it is likely at some point they will be beaten, allowing an opposition player to get through with the keeper your last line of defence. Hopefully your keeper will do his job and make the save. What you're trying to do is make sure those opportunities do not happen very often. What I have noticed, is that if your defence is holding the opposition attackers well, they will then start resorting to firing long shots, or attacking down the wings and pumping crosses into the box. The AI will always look to adapt the approach to try and find a way through, and sometimes it can feel overly efficient at doing so. Teams in real life have to try the same thing, which is why sometimes it can take a long time for the first goal to go in, but once scored the flood gates can sometimes open.
What Is Causing This Gap To Appear?
There are many reasons why the central defenders can leave a gap for attacking players to run into. A very common reason is that the central defenders are being pulled out of their standard positions. Now we can investigate why the players are not staying where they should, or being beaten by a player running through onto a great pass.
There are several ways to set the two central defenders up, who you want to work as a pair. Their biggest responsibility is to deal with two furthest forward players from the opposition, often a pair of strikers, or a striker and an attacking midfielder. Sometimes it can be just a single striker, with a midfielder drifting forward to join an attacking. The duties are pretty clear, but there are several reasons why the defenders can get pulled from their position. Tight marking of a player can cause issues, if that player likes to drop deep to get the ball, or moves out wide. This can cause a defender to follow them, leaving a big hole. Asking the team to close down a lot can also have defenders rushing forward, with the same inevitable consequence if they don't win the ball for you team.
An opposition player arriving late in the area, can also cause a lot of problems if they have not been tracked by a midfielder. This can lead to them either having a lot of space, or one of your defenders moving to close them down, but leaves another player free to use the gap this created.
Playing too wide can also leave space between the central defenders, or between them and a full back. Rather than use the gap straight through the middle, this can leave the team more open to a diagonal ball from one flank or the centre into the gap on one side of the area. This tends to be more of an issue if you're playing against a team with a lot of creativity and pace. If you're playing a team with creative midfielders, who are just finding far too much space this gives them the time to make superb passes and throughballs.
The next one is getting caught too far up the pitch. This usually happens when your team is attacking, and compressing the play, which can make it hard for the central defenders to pick up which players are trying to making a run forward at the point your team loses possession. If they fail to pick up the run, it can leave you wide open, with your keeper the only hope of keeping the ball out of the net. This is always a frustrating goal to concede when an attack breaks down. It also looks so obvious as soon as you see the ball being fired over the top. Of course it's brilliant to see if your own team is the beneficiary.
Failure of the off-side trap is a common issue. I've seen goals scored, by both my team and the opposition where your initial reaction is that it had to be offside. Sometimes these are just perfectly time runs, with your defenders standing like statues, which is probably either a lapse of concentration, or poor anticipation. The other is much more frustrating, where the central defenders have stepped to play the runner offside, only to find that one of your full backs is still playing them onside. This appears to be largely down to teamwork and concentration. The aforementioned midfielders with too much space and time are most of the time the root cause, but you do expect your defenders to perform better than this.
The picture above shows a situation where we conceded against Sheffield United. Evans one of two strikers fed the ball through to the other striker to get clear. Nasuti has been drawn to Evans, which in itself wasn't a bad thing, however our other central defender, Puygrenier, had stepped up, to try and play the other striker offside, rather than move towards him. That would have worked if the two full backs had been paying attention, and also moved forward, but unfortunately they didn't, so played the striker onside. Fortunately this was the only serious mistake our defence made in that match.
What Can Be Done To Improve Things?
Having identified the issue, we now need to decide what can be done to improve the situation. You have to remember though that any changes can have an impact on other areas of the team, such as the attacking ability.
One of the biggest factors determining the positions that individual players maintain is down to the Philosophy you pick. With Standard Philosophy the players have reasonable freedom to move about, join in attacks, and away from the position they've been set. The more fluid the philosophy the more likely the shape of the team is to be lost, often creating huge holes at the back to be exploited. Going more rigid tightens up the shape, meaning players are more likely to stay in their respective positions. The lower the skill level of your players, the more likely you are to want to set the team to be rigid or very rigid. This does however take away from the attacking creativity of the side, which is the trade-off. Aston Villa are one such team that currently play a very rigid philosophy, which is why they can sometimes struggle to create chances. This can look quite negative at times, but when they do get the ball to their forwards, they can be deadly.
The problem of a player arriving late in the area, requires hard work from other players besides the central defenders. In particular you usually want one midfielder, either an MC or DMC to have a defensive role, so that they will track back, and help out more. Most players will track back, anyhow, but specifically setting one up for the role, can tighten things up more. That player does require a lot of stamina and good work rate and defensive skills. Good pace is not essential, but can be a huge bonus.
Playing too wide is not always obvious, but the signs I've taken to looking for are wingers being allowed to run onto far too many diagonal balls in a space between one central defender and a full back. By playing narrower, you can tighten that gap, but it does of course mean the opposition have more opportunity to reach the byeline on the outside and pump crosses in from there. This is where you have to decide which is the better of two possible evils. It comes down to how much of an aerial threat the opposition pose, and how good they are at crossing the ball, and how good your full backs are, and how confident you are that your team can cope with crosses.
Being too far up the pitch can be a tricky thing to resolve. Changing to a more rigid philosophy will tend to stop your defenders joining in attacks, and going too far up the pitch, but cuts attacking options down. Taking one of the defensive strategies will move the backline deeper, but this tends to invite pressure from the other team, and leaves you more open to conceding a goal from a striker who has a lot of strength, waiting for a ball to be played into the area, either looking to set up another player, or an opportunity of their own. If you believe your team can defend against this, then a counter attacking option is available. Another issue with dropping deeper is that you also open up more space for the opposition midfielders to try long shots, which they have an unerring accuracy with at times. A slightly different option, if you're ahead is to try and frustrate the opponents by taking a control strategy, in which you're attempting to hold as much possession as possible. This can make the opposition more desperate, and their throughball attempts get more wild. While this doesn't fix the issue of pushing too far up the pitch, it changes the problem for the opposition, and your defenders are not committing so much to attacking.
There's not much you can do about the failure of the offside trap. I never set my teams up to explicitly try and play it. I think if you have a backline with really good teamwork and work rate, you can enjoy success with it. I don't feel my team are competent enough at playing the offside trap, because if that step forward is not timed right, they don't have much chance of getting back, and it's all down to your keeper to help you out then.
Other options to try and change up the play, are to try touchline shouts to attack down the flanks, or through the centre. These will cause players either in the centre or the flanks to track back, which can make a big difference in how the opposition mounts attacks. Even swapping that in a match can confuse the opposition for a while, and sometimes that's all you need to allow your defenders to regain their composure. It's all about adapting to the changing situation, because the AI will always look to alter things to try and take advantage of any weakness in your setup. If you can be the team making problems for the other side, it can sometimes give your defence a much easier ride.
Midfielders that are finding far too much space can cause a lot of problems, because that gives them time to make decisions on what passing options they have. Fabregas is a prime example of a such a player, that if allowed the space, can punish you severely. This is the type of player that you can often stop by setting his opposition instruction to Always Close Down. If you have a defensive midfielder with excellent marking and tackling attributes you can even try to tackle him hard. There is always the option of using the Hassle Opponents touchline shout, which will cause your team to close down more. Sometimes you only need it for a short while, but it does have a downside, in that you could start to concede a lot more fouls, so use it with caution. On the whole with Arsenal, if you can keep Fabregas quiet, they struggle a lot more to create chances.
Sometimes just slowing the tempo down and asking to retain possession can be what you need, or asking the players to pass to feet. If you're the team pulling the opposition players out of position, you can make it hard for them to attack. Even seemingly silly ideas like, pump ball into box, can give you much more control, because the opposition are then having to move back to defend more.
It's Down To Your Players
How well your team can defend ultimately comes do to the quality and attributes your players have. Once your signings are confirmed, all you can do is then work out how to get the best from the players you have. In the lower leagues the quality of the players will be lower, so don't expect miracles from them. If necessary make the philosophy more rigid, so the shape of the team is maintained. Even some premiership teams go with a rigid philosophy, understanding the limitations that some of the squad members have. If you can get away with playing beautiful football and still keep tight at the back, then you've really achieved something great.
Even the best players make mistakes sometimes, but you hope those don't prove to be important ones. All you do is try and build up the best squad you can with the transfer budget and wages allowed, and then hope to get them motivated come matchday.
Conclusion
There is no magic setup that will give you a cleansheet every game, while always maintaining a powerful goal scoring ability. It's one of our natural instincts to want to create a setup that fits all situations, and leave it alone. The bad news is, that if you keep that one tactic, and never make any changes during a match, the likelihood is you start to lose matches. It seems that the longer you maintain a tactic the quicker teams will work out what to do against you. However you can maintain the same formation and strategy, but what you must do is keep the opposition guessing about what changes you will make during a match.
Be prepared sometimes to change the formation. If you have a 2 goal lead and the opposition start pressing hard, think about whether removing a striker and putting a DMC on is a possible solution. Don't just sit there thinking, "How can they suddenly be playing this well?" I've done that in the past, and not reacted sensibly, and suffered draws or even losses because of it. If the game didn't make it challenging, it wouldn't be half the fun it is to play, even if at times it's frustrating causing you to shout at the screen, even swearing at times. If you can react very early to any changes the AI makes, and spot the signs, it can make a huge difference, or just changing the problem you give the opposition, can be the right thing to do. Don't be frightened to experiment when the opposition is showing signs of being on the rampage. Not doing anything could be an even worse choice.
This may sound crazy, but if you team are looking complacent, it can sometimes to be good for them to concede a goal. It can sometimes help bring them to their senses.
Just remember that most teams in real life are going to still play for pride even if they're being thrashed. Grabbing a consolation goal can make a big difference to how a team bounces back from a big defeat, and sometimes can change a match completely. The African Nations Cup threw up an example of just what can happen in football, when Mali came back from 4-0 down against Angola, with 4 goals in 15 minutes right at the end of the game, with 2 of those in injury time. I also remember a QPR match against Newcastle in the 80's where QPR were 4-0 down at Loftus Road at half time. The match finished 5-5, so all sorts of astonishing things can happen in football. I'm sure there must have been even bigger comebacks than these.
If anyone spots something that isn't correct, or any additional things they feel could be added, please leave a comment.
Wednesday 17 February 2010
September 2012 - Keeping Up The Solid Start
I've been very busy the last week, so I couldn't play as much as I'd have liked.
The month starts with coming off the back of our historic win over AC Milan in the European Super Cup. I'm pleased to note that we have no injuries to the first team, with morale on a high, and the atmosphere in the dressing is the best it's been for a long time. We will be playing 6 matches, 4 in the league, a Champions League game, and a League Cup tie.
Leeds (H) Premier League
Leeds travel to Loftus Road in poor spirits having been thrashed in their first 3 league fixtures, by Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. That would have to rate as a nightmare start to the season, with them playing us, the league champions following that. Their only consolation is a good victory over Swindon in their last match in the League Cup 2nd round. This is a match we must surely win, and must be looking to do so comfortably.
The match started with Leeds looking really motivated, trying to close down on us, and pushing us back. It was a bit worrying at the start with Leeds pushing forward, although they only managed one long range blocked shot in the first few minutes. In the 8th minute we finally managed to push forward, with Leeds conceding a free kick just outside the area slightly towards the right hand side of the area. Cardozo stepped up and produced the most stunning curling shot into the near corner of the goal, without the keeper seeming to even move. This really seemed to settle us down properly, and we were pushing forward with much more confidence. In the 15th minute from an attacking throw-in, Laure headed the ball into the middle of the area, where Gilardino ran forward and headed the ball neatly over the keeper to extend our lead. In the 19th minute Leeds gave away a free kick just outside the area, this time towards the left side of the area. Cardozo stepped up and slammed in his second goal of the game, giving the keeper no chance. Leeds were still showing a lot of motivation, and started to push forward, creating their first decent chance in the 28th minute, with them firing a shot over the bar from just inside the area. For some reason after this our passing started to deteriorate, with us suddenly making some really strange passes, which we hadn't been doing before. The rest of the first half pretty much became a pretty horrible affair with fouls everywhere, and Leeds taking the odd long shot that was off target. The half finished with us leading 3-0.
I was pleased that we were leading, having only had 3 shots, and scored with them all. What I didn't understand was why Leeds were suddenly looking so much better, and we'd started to look like we'd forgotten how to play. I sent the players back out, hoping they would take more control of the match in the 2nd half, and make sure Leeds couldn't find a way back into the match. Things looked a bit better from the restart, and in the 47th minute Gilardino got in behind the defence, but saw his shot deflected for a corner by the keeper. In the 50th minute I wanted to kill the referee, when he gave Leeds a penalty, for a foul which should not have been given, with a players Leeds just running straight at the back of Sunny after he'd played the ball. There was no hope of him even getting the ball, and the supposed foul, wasn't even in the area. The penalty was put away, and I was left extremely angry. In the 55th minute Sunny hammered a shot from 25 yards out, which hit the topside of the crossbar, going behind for a goal kick. Sunny seemed desperate to make up for his misfortune, hammering another shot from a similar position, which was deflected for a corner off a Leeds head, in the 59th minute. In the 69th minute Sunny was tripped just on the edge of the area, with a free kick being given. Cardozo stepped up with a chance to complete his hat-trick, but unfortunately found the wall this time. In the 80th minute Ochoa was presented with an easy save. In the 86th minute Ochoa was in action again this time saving a long shot. Leeds continued to push, but we were holding firm, and the match came to an end with us 3-1 victors.
I was pleased we'd achieved a victory, still seething about yet another dodgy penalty decision, this one being far worse than the previous two. I really can't understand why this is happening, because conceding penalties had been very rare for us, and suddenly in 3 of or 4 league matches we'd conceded a penalty, all which were very dubious. This last one was pure fantasy from the referee. Fortunately the result was not affected, but it's getting quite frustrating. What I was delighted with is Cardozo's ability at free kicks, having that attribute at 19 seems to be quite a difference over the 17 which Fatih Yucel has. I was delighted when news of other results came through, finding that Man United and Man City had both been beaten.
Result: 3-1
Sheffield United (A) Premier League
We travel to Bramall Lane to take on the Blades, arriving as favourites. The Blades however are on a high after beating Man City in Manchester, 3-1, with Ched Evans scoring a hat-trick. They definitely pose quite a threat to us, but in our past 4 meetings we have won twice and drawn twice, and I hope we can add another victory.
The match started with us having more possession, but you could see the Blades were trying to close us down. We kept calm moving the ball about well, and in the 5th minute Scocco supplied Gilardino with a superb throughball to get through into the area, and open the scoring with a placed shot into the corner of the net. The Blades were showing a lot of determination, trying to push forward, but our defence was standing up to any pressure, and was allowing us to make breaks up field. In the 16th minute Scocco was put through on the right side. Once he reached the right edge of the box, he turned from his defender who'd caught up, hit the ball back to Sanchez at the edge of the area, who hit a pass straight to Grenier, who was waiting on the edge of the 6 yard box, giving him an easy job of extending our lead. You could see our confidence had grown after this, and we were looking much more in control. In the 26th minute Dzsudzsak hit a corner kick into a crowded box, and Puygrenier was delighted when his header hit the back of the net. The Blades were still not giving up though, and in the 28th minute put a header just over our bar. We were still causing their full backs problems, and looking very dangerous. In the 32nd minute Ochoa had to make his first save of the match, keeping the ball out at the near post. Things were a bit more even after this, with the ball going end to end, with only one shot before the half time whistle, that being an easy catch for Ochoa. The half finished with us leading 3-0.
I was pleased with what I'd seen. Our defending had looked very solid, and we'd put away all our best opportunities of scoring. I sent the players out hoping they would be able to keep this performance going, and not let the opposition have a sniff of getting back into the match. The Blades were certainly intent on getting back into it, putting a header over the bar with just 20 seconds of the half gone. In the 50th minute they put a shot from the edge of the area, just wide of the post. The Blades had changed their left back at half time, and it was soon clear, he just couldn't cope with the pace of Sanchez. The Blades were now piling bodies forward, making life difficult, and in the 63rd our marking failed big time, allowing their slowest striker acres of space to receive the ball and he slammed it home to pull a goal back. We were now giving the ball away far too often, with silly passes. I even shouted for us to retain possession and pass to feet. This didn't seem to make much difference, with us still trying far too many looped passes over the top, and it wasn't as if we were even being closed down as much as earlier in the match. The Blades continued to press, but were stood firm to deny them. The match came to an end with us 3-1 winners.
I was pleased with our first half display, but felt we allowed Sheffield United to come at us too much in the 2nd half, and gave the ball away too often. Fortunately we seem to be very strong at the back, with Ochoa picking up the man of the match award, which surprised me a little, as I didn't feel he'd needed to do that much. I guess a good keeper makes some of these saves look easier than they are. I was glad to see didn't add to the list of penalties conceded in this match. I was delighted when other results filtered through, with Arsenal only managing a draw and Liverpool losing.
Result: 3-1
Porto (H) Champions League Group E
Porto travel to Loftus Road for the first Champions League match in the group stage, with us slight favourites to win. I feel we should be able to win this, but Porto will probably put up a good fight.
The match started as a real battle with both sides having a couple of long shots early on, but off target. In the 10th minute we won a corner, and Dzsudzsak swung the ball into the area, finding Cardozo's head, and he directed the ball straight into the goal to give us the lead. We were starting to look confident now, and in the 12th minute Jimenez struck a shot from the edge of the area, which went behind off the post. In the 21st minute Jimenez had a shot blocked, with the ball dropping to Fatih Yucel, whose shot hit the post, before being put out for a corner. From the corner, it was cleared before being pumped back into the area, where Cardozo had a close range shot saved. In the 27th minute Cardozo launched a shot way over the bar from just in the area. A minute later Ochoa was given a nice easy catch from a shot just inside the area. In the 44th minute Cardozo knocked a pass through into the area, for Dzsudzsak to run onto, and he hammered the ball home to double our lead. The half came to an end with us leading 2-0.
I was very pleased with our performance in the first half, and fully deserved our lead, having restricted Porto very well. I sent the players back out looking for them to see the victory out properly. The half started with the ball going end to end, but not too many chances, with a few long shots not producing anything of note. In the 56th minute Fatih Yucel managed to get clear in the area, but couldn't beat the keeper. Shortly after Fatih Yucel looked to have been fouled in the area, but the referee refused to give a penalty. After that both sides were pushing forward, but we were looking very solid, restricting the chances that Porto had. We were creating only a few chances too, but certainly looked the more likely to score. The match came to an end with us winning 2-0.
Our performance had been very good with us deserving our win. This starts our Champions League campaign with a good start. Dzsudzsak has performed superbly today, grabbing a goal and an assist. The other match in our group had been a 1-1 draw, which is very much to our advantage.
Result: 2-0
Birmingham (H) Premier League
Birmingham arrive at Loftus with us seen as overwhelming favourites to win. We are expected to hammer Birmingham in this match, so I hope we can live up to that expectation.
We started the match looking in control. In the 7th minute Gilardino headed just over the bar. It was clear very early on the referee was being extremely harsh, booking Birmingham striker Benitez, closely followed by Rafa, for their first fouls of the match. This had the look of a match where a red card looks almost certain. In the 13th minute Scocco produced a superb cross from the right, towards the far post, where Gilardino arrived to put away one of the easiest headers ever to give us the lead. For a while the match became more even with both sides pushing forward, but after 25 minutes, we seemed unable to stop Birmingham from getting the ball. Our passing was suddenly awful, Grenier had for no reason become nervous, which I really find odd. In the 27th minute Ochoa had to make a close range save, and in the 31st we just about scrambled a cross out for a corner. That scare seemed to clear our heads, and we began to look more normal again. In the 40th minute Grenier, in spite of his nervousness, managed to put a great throughball into the area, for Gilardino to run onto, and he placed the ball into the back of the net, to grab his second goal of the game. The first half came to an end with us leading 2-0.
I was pleased with our performance on the whole, and we'd caused the Birmingham defence plenty of problems, and scored twice. I sent the players back wanting them to keep this performance going. Birmingham have a lot of determination, according to our scouts a lot more than us, and sure enough they started to come at us. In the 51st minute they hit the crossbar from a header. Our passing had become all erratic again, doing some very silly things. I shouted for us to pass to feet, this seemed to sort out our passing problems. In the 59th minute Gilardino appeared to be fouled in the area, first being pushed in the back, and then being squashed between two defenders, the referee was not interested in giving us a penalty. For the 2nd game in a row we were denied what appeared to be a certain penalty, with this one appearing a certainty. In the 61st minute Ochoa had to make another save, which was quite comfortable. In the 63rd minute Ochoa had to make another good save, deflecting a shot just wide for a corner. Birmingham scored from the corner.
A whinge break here. No matter how I try to setup up defending at a corner, the players do not mark the correct members of the opposition. I have a number of our tallest and best headers of the ball set to mark the tall players, and some others to mark the shorter, but it's always a total mess. I now understand why defending corners is so hard. I think this happened in the last patch, when I noticed us consistently having trouble defending corners. This appears to be an acknowledged bug, so hopefully will be fixed in the next patch.
We started to push forward after this, keeping Birmingham camped in their own half for the next 15 minutes. After that Birmingham managed to make some moves forward, but we were defending extremely well against the crosses and throughballs, to make sure they didn't get a chance. The match finished with us running out as 2-1 victors.
Given how we'd controlled the match so well at times, it's a little disappointing that we didn't win by a bigger margin. Before the first goal went in, it was clear that Birmingham had come intent on playing for a draw, with them trying to waste time in the few minutes. I was however reasonably pleased with the performance, and hopefully when SI manage to resolve the positions of players at setup pieces, we won't concede so many times from corners. Even if we'd had the right player marking, we might still have conceded, but at least I wouldn't feel so unhappy about it. The penalty situation is getting really bizarre right now. It seems at the moment that no referee wants to give us a penalty, but will give them against us at the drop of a hat. It's frustrating, but it happens in real life too.
Result: 2-1
Nottingham Forest (A) League Cup 3rd Round
We arrive at the City Ground as clear favourites to take the win. As our next match against Man City is only 4 days away I've decided to give a lot of my key players a rest. Our quality in depth should be more than enough to see us overcome Forest.
We started the match pushing forward, and were camped in the Forest half for the first 6 minutes. In the 6th minute we had another shout for a penalty turned down. We continued to dominate, with Fatih Yucel putting a shot from just outisde the area wide of the post in the 15th minute, and Grenier did the same in the 19th. In the 24th minute I thought Fatih Yucel had given us the lead with a header from the corner, but this was disallowed for a foul, but can't see the foul in the replays. In the 30th minute Ephraim had a chance from a header, but could only direct it at the keeper. A minute later Grenier put a header just over the bar from a free kick. In the 33rd minute the Forest keeper produced a superb diving save to deny Grenier, who'd made a great run into the area. We continued to dominate with Cardozo having a close range header saved in the 42nd minute. The half came to an end with the match goalless.
We absolutely dominated the first half, but somehow we had not managed to score, with a couple of very dubious decisions going against us. I sent the players back out, really hoping we could start to put the ball in back of the net. In the first minute of the 2nd half, Forest had their first real shot of the match, with Steele having to make a good save. When Sunny got booked after a Forest player just blatantly ran into the back of him to claim a dodgy foul, I began to worry. In the 48th minute Fatih Yucel put another header just over the bar. In the 54th minute Ephraim was put through on goal, but again the Forest keeper who was being a superhero today denied him, and then saved Onyewu's header from the resulting corner. In the 57th minute Forest put a shot just wide of our post. In the 60th minute Curri hit a cross into the area, where Cardozo got his head to the ball and finally managed to put the ball in the net to open the scoring. We continued to press forward, and in the 65th minute Fatih Yucel swung a cross into the area, and Cardozo again put the ball in the net, but was adjudged to have fouled someone getting to the ball, which again looked very dubious. Apparently he pushed the keeper, which is a very poor decision, because he'd headed the ball before he even reached the keeper. In the 69th minute Grenier made another great run into the area, but again the keeper was able to make the save. In the 72nd minute with Sanchez only a few minutes on the pitch he had a close range shot saved by the keeper, and Grenier's follow-up was deflected for a corner. In the 89th minute Cardozo swung a free kick from the left into the area, where Puygrenier hit the bar with his header. Dzsudzsak managed to react quickest to get forward and head the ball into the goal, which this time was allowed. From the restart Forest raced forward and hit the crossbar with a long shot. The match came to an end with us winning 2-0.
I was very pleased with our performance in this deserved win, but wondering how it was that we'd not won this match by a larger margin. It was also a great sign we'd not been complacent in this match, looking to dominate as much as possible the whole way through the match. There were two big scalps that fell in this round, with Arsenal and Man United going out, with 4 other Premiership clubs also being beaten.
Result: 2-0
In the days following the match, the draw for the fourth round took place, with us drawn away to another Championship side, this time against Watford.
Manchester City (H) Premier League
The Citizens arrive at Loftus Road having had a mixed start to the season, already losing a couple of matches they would expect to have won. We are clear favourites for this match, having won all but one of our previous 6 meetings.
The match started as battle with both teams largely cancelling each other out. The first shot came in the 8th minute with Tevez blasting a long shot way over the bar. The next incident of note came in the 29th minute with Ochoa making a great diving save to push a long shot for a corner. In the 35th minute Gilardino looked to be getting free of the defence, but was brought down by Lescott, who received a yellow card. It was a little disappointing to be denied what could have been a clear chance. In the 37th minute Jimenez put a shot from just outside the area just wide of the post. A really dismal first half came to an end with the match goalless.
I was disappointed with our display, we'd only created one really good chance, and that was denied us by a foul. I sent the players back out telling them to do better in the second half. The second half started with Man City giving Ochoa catching practice with a header in the first minute of the restart. City were looking the more dangerous side at this point, which was very disappointing. The next moment of interest, in what was turning out to be terrible match, was in the 57th minute when Gilardino blasted a shot from within the area, wide of the post. We finally began to wake up a bit after this, but it was still not a good match to watch. Both defences were looking so solid, it was really killing the match. In the 69th minute Gilardino managed to get clear, and tried to shoot from just outside the area, but his shot was pushed for a corner by a good save. Gilardino was now starting to cause problems for the City defence, and in the 71st minute got free in the area, only to see another fine save keep his shot out. The next incident of note came in the 79th minute with Kolo Toure being sent off for a 2nd bookable offence. With the one man advantage we pressed forward, but could only manage a couple of tame efforts both of which were easy for the keeper to save. The match ended goalless.
This was a really awful match to watch, with the defence of both sides dominating proceedings, with shots a rarity. A draw was a pretty fair result, although I still feel we should have stolen the 3 points with one of our few good chances. This is the first time we've played out a goalless draw with City. Both teams just seemed to lack enough penetration in the final third of the pitch.
Result: 0-0
Monthly Roundup
This was another good month for us, remaining unbeaten, and putting in some good wins. The draw against Man City was however disappointing, mostly because of how poor the match was, especially as we were playing at home.
The 3 wins and a draw in the league sees us move into 2nd place with Arsenal ahead of us on goal difference. I'm very happy with the start, as it's given us a solid base to work from. The chasing pack are potentially closer than it appears, due to several teams having games in hand. Everton have played 3 matches less than us, so could face some problems over the next few months with fixture congestion, especially as they are plaing in the EURO Cup group matches.
Our victory over Porto, and the 1-1 draw between the other teams in the group, means we currently hold a clear lead. I feel our matches against Lyon will be the key to us qualifying, as I fully expect us to beat Rapid Wien without any problem.
Our form in the league has seen me take the manager of the month award again, although it's unclear why I've been placed ahead of Arsene Wenger. There were several contenders for my player of the month, with Cardozo and Gilardino both scoring 4 goals. However there was one player to stand out ahead of everyone else, Balazs Dzsudzsak, who scored 2 goals and provided 3 assists. The month is completed with no injuries to any of our first team members, which is great news.
Next month sees us scheduled for 6 fixtures, with 3 league matches, 2 Champions League encounters, both away matches to Lyon and Rapid Wien. We will also be away to Watford in the fourth round of the League Cup. The 3 league fixtures are all very tricky, being away to Liverpool and Chelsea, and a home match against Arsenal.
The month starts with coming off the back of our historic win over AC Milan in the European Super Cup. I'm pleased to note that we have no injuries to the first team, with morale on a high, and the atmosphere in the dressing is the best it's been for a long time. We will be playing 6 matches, 4 in the league, a Champions League game, and a League Cup tie.
Leeds (H) Premier League
Leeds travel to Loftus Road in poor spirits having been thrashed in their first 3 league fixtures, by Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. That would have to rate as a nightmare start to the season, with them playing us, the league champions following that. Their only consolation is a good victory over Swindon in their last match in the League Cup 2nd round. This is a match we must surely win, and must be looking to do so comfortably.
The match started with Leeds looking really motivated, trying to close down on us, and pushing us back. It was a bit worrying at the start with Leeds pushing forward, although they only managed one long range blocked shot in the first few minutes. In the 8th minute we finally managed to push forward, with Leeds conceding a free kick just outside the area slightly towards the right hand side of the area. Cardozo stepped up and produced the most stunning curling shot into the near corner of the goal, without the keeper seeming to even move. This really seemed to settle us down properly, and we were pushing forward with much more confidence. In the 15th minute from an attacking throw-in, Laure headed the ball into the middle of the area, where Gilardino ran forward and headed the ball neatly over the keeper to extend our lead. In the 19th minute Leeds gave away a free kick just outside the area, this time towards the left side of the area. Cardozo stepped up and slammed in his second goal of the game, giving the keeper no chance. Leeds were still showing a lot of motivation, and started to push forward, creating their first decent chance in the 28th minute, with them firing a shot over the bar from just inside the area. For some reason after this our passing started to deteriorate, with us suddenly making some really strange passes, which we hadn't been doing before. The rest of the first half pretty much became a pretty horrible affair with fouls everywhere, and Leeds taking the odd long shot that was off target. The half finished with us leading 3-0.
I was pleased that we were leading, having only had 3 shots, and scored with them all. What I didn't understand was why Leeds were suddenly looking so much better, and we'd started to look like we'd forgotten how to play. I sent the players back out, hoping they would take more control of the match in the 2nd half, and make sure Leeds couldn't find a way back into the match. Things looked a bit better from the restart, and in the 47th minute Gilardino got in behind the defence, but saw his shot deflected for a corner by the keeper. In the 50th minute I wanted to kill the referee, when he gave Leeds a penalty, for a foul which should not have been given, with a players Leeds just running straight at the back of Sunny after he'd played the ball. There was no hope of him even getting the ball, and the supposed foul, wasn't even in the area. The penalty was put away, and I was left extremely angry. In the 55th minute Sunny hammered a shot from 25 yards out, which hit the topside of the crossbar, going behind for a goal kick. Sunny seemed desperate to make up for his misfortune, hammering another shot from a similar position, which was deflected for a corner off a Leeds head, in the 59th minute. In the 69th minute Sunny was tripped just on the edge of the area, with a free kick being given. Cardozo stepped up with a chance to complete his hat-trick, but unfortunately found the wall this time. In the 80th minute Ochoa was presented with an easy save. In the 86th minute Ochoa was in action again this time saving a long shot. Leeds continued to push, but we were holding firm, and the match came to an end with us 3-1 victors.
I was pleased we'd achieved a victory, still seething about yet another dodgy penalty decision, this one being far worse than the previous two. I really can't understand why this is happening, because conceding penalties had been very rare for us, and suddenly in 3 of or 4 league matches we'd conceded a penalty, all which were very dubious. This last one was pure fantasy from the referee. Fortunately the result was not affected, but it's getting quite frustrating. What I was delighted with is Cardozo's ability at free kicks, having that attribute at 19 seems to be quite a difference over the 17 which Fatih Yucel has. I was delighted when news of other results came through, finding that Man United and Man City had both been beaten.
Result: 3-1
Sheffield United (A) Premier League
We travel to Bramall Lane to take on the Blades, arriving as favourites. The Blades however are on a high after beating Man City in Manchester, 3-1, with Ched Evans scoring a hat-trick. They definitely pose quite a threat to us, but in our past 4 meetings we have won twice and drawn twice, and I hope we can add another victory.
The match started with us having more possession, but you could see the Blades were trying to close us down. We kept calm moving the ball about well, and in the 5th minute Scocco supplied Gilardino with a superb throughball to get through into the area, and open the scoring with a placed shot into the corner of the net. The Blades were showing a lot of determination, trying to push forward, but our defence was standing up to any pressure, and was allowing us to make breaks up field. In the 16th minute Scocco was put through on the right side. Once he reached the right edge of the box, he turned from his defender who'd caught up, hit the ball back to Sanchez at the edge of the area, who hit a pass straight to Grenier, who was waiting on the edge of the 6 yard box, giving him an easy job of extending our lead. You could see our confidence had grown after this, and we were looking much more in control. In the 26th minute Dzsudzsak hit a corner kick into a crowded box, and Puygrenier was delighted when his header hit the back of the net. The Blades were still not giving up though, and in the 28th minute put a header just over our bar. We were still causing their full backs problems, and looking very dangerous. In the 32nd minute Ochoa had to make his first save of the match, keeping the ball out at the near post. Things were a bit more even after this, with the ball going end to end, with only one shot before the half time whistle, that being an easy catch for Ochoa. The half finished with us leading 3-0.
I was pleased with what I'd seen. Our defending had looked very solid, and we'd put away all our best opportunities of scoring. I sent the players out hoping they would be able to keep this performance going, and not let the opposition have a sniff of getting back into the match. The Blades were certainly intent on getting back into it, putting a header over the bar with just 20 seconds of the half gone. In the 50th minute they put a shot from the edge of the area, just wide of the post. The Blades had changed their left back at half time, and it was soon clear, he just couldn't cope with the pace of Sanchez. The Blades were now piling bodies forward, making life difficult, and in the 63rd our marking failed big time, allowing their slowest striker acres of space to receive the ball and he slammed it home to pull a goal back. We were now giving the ball away far too often, with silly passes. I even shouted for us to retain possession and pass to feet. This didn't seem to make much difference, with us still trying far too many looped passes over the top, and it wasn't as if we were even being closed down as much as earlier in the match. The Blades continued to press, but were stood firm to deny them. The match came to an end with us 3-1 winners.
I was pleased with our first half display, but felt we allowed Sheffield United to come at us too much in the 2nd half, and gave the ball away too often. Fortunately we seem to be very strong at the back, with Ochoa picking up the man of the match award, which surprised me a little, as I didn't feel he'd needed to do that much. I guess a good keeper makes some of these saves look easier than they are. I was glad to see didn't add to the list of penalties conceded in this match. I was delighted when other results filtered through, with Arsenal only managing a draw and Liverpool losing.
Result: 3-1
Porto (H) Champions League Group E
Porto travel to Loftus Road for the first Champions League match in the group stage, with us slight favourites to win. I feel we should be able to win this, but Porto will probably put up a good fight.
The match started as a real battle with both sides having a couple of long shots early on, but off target. In the 10th minute we won a corner, and Dzsudzsak swung the ball into the area, finding Cardozo's head, and he directed the ball straight into the goal to give us the lead. We were starting to look confident now, and in the 12th minute Jimenez struck a shot from the edge of the area, which went behind off the post. In the 21st minute Jimenez had a shot blocked, with the ball dropping to Fatih Yucel, whose shot hit the post, before being put out for a corner. From the corner, it was cleared before being pumped back into the area, where Cardozo had a close range shot saved. In the 27th minute Cardozo launched a shot way over the bar from just in the area. A minute later Ochoa was given a nice easy catch from a shot just inside the area. In the 44th minute Cardozo knocked a pass through into the area, for Dzsudzsak to run onto, and he hammered the ball home to double our lead. The half came to an end with us leading 2-0.
I was very pleased with our performance in the first half, and fully deserved our lead, having restricted Porto very well. I sent the players back out looking for them to see the victory out properly. The half started with the ball going end to end, but not too many chances, with a few long shots not producing anything of note. In the 56th minute Fatih Yucel managed to get clear in the area, but couldn't beat the keeper. Shortly after Fatih Yucel looked to have been fouled in the area, but the referee refused to give a penalty. After that both sides were pushing forward, but we were looking very solid, restricting the chances that Porto had. We were creating only a few chances too, but certainly looked the more likely to score. The match came to an end with us winning 2-0.
Our performance had been very good with us deserving our win. This starts our Champions League campaign with a good start. Dzsudzsak has performed superbly today, grabbing a goal and an assist. The other match in our group had been a 1-1 draw, which is very much to our advantage.
Result: 2-0
Birmingham (H) Premier League
Birmingham arrive at Loftus with us seen as overwhelming favourites to win. We are expected to hammer Birmingham in this match, so I hope we can live up to that expectation.
We started the match looking in control. In the 7th minute Gilardino headed just over the bar. It was clear very early on the referee was being extremely harsh, booking Birmingham striker Benitez, closely followed by Rafa, for their first fouls of the match. This had the look of a match where a red card looks almost certain. In the 13th minute Scocco produced a superb cross from the right, towards the far post, where Gilardino arrived to put away one of the easiest headers ever to give us the lead. For a while the match became more even with both sides pushing forward, but after 25 minutes, we seemed unable to stop Birmingham from getting the ball. Our passing was suddenly awful, Grenier had for no reason become nervous, which I really find odd. In the 27th minute Ochoa had to make a close range save, and in the 31st we just about scrambled a cross out for a corner. That scare seemed to clear our heads, and we began to look more normal again. In the 40th minute Grenier, in spite of his nervousness, managed to put a great throughball into the area, for Gilardino to run onto, and he placed the ball into the back of the net, to grab his second goal of the game. The first half came to an end with us leading 2-0.
I was pleased with our performance on the whole, and we'd caused the Birmingham defence plenty of problems, and scored twice. I sent the players back wanting them to keep this performance going. Birmingham have a lot of determination, according to our scouts a lot more than us, and sure enough they started to come at us. In the 51st minute they hit the crossbar from a header. Our passing had become all erratic again, doing some very silly things. I shouted for us to pass to feet, this seemed to sort out our passing problems. In the 59th minute Gilardino appeared to be fouled in the area, first being pushed in the back, and then being squashed between two defenders, the referee was not interested in giving us a penalty. For the 2nd game in a row we were denied what appeared to be a certain penalty, with this one appearing a certainty. In the 61st minute Ochoa had to make another save, which was quite comfortable. In the 63rd minute Ochoa had to make another good save, deflecting a shot just wide for a corner. Birmingham scored from the corner.
A whinge break here. No matter how I try to setup up defending at a corner, the players do not mark the correct members of the opposition. I have a number of our tallest and best headers of the ball set to mark the tall players, and some others to mark the shorter, but it's always a total mess. I now understand why defending corners is so hard. I think this happened in the last patch, when I noticed us consistently having trouble defending corners. This appears to be an acknowledged bug, so hopefully will be fixed in the next patch.
We started to push forward after this, keeping Birmingham camped in their own half for the next 15 minutes. After that Birmingham managed to make some moves forward, but we were defending extremely well against the crosses and throughballs, to make sure they didn't get a chance. The match finished with us running out as 2-1 victors.
Given how we'd controlled the match so well at times, it's a little disappointing that we didn't win by a bigger margin. Before the first goal went in, it was clear that Birmingham had come intent on playing for a draw, with them trying to waste time in the few minutes. I was however reasonably pleased with the performance, and hopefully when SI manage to resolve the positions of players at setup pieces, we won't concede so many times from corners. Even if we'd had the right player marking, we might still have conceded, but at least I wouldn't feel so unhappy about it. The penalty situation is getting really bizarre right now. It seems at the moment that no referee wants to give us a penalty, but will give them against us at the drop of a hat. It's frustrating, but it happens in real life too.
Result: 2-1
Nottingham Forest (A) League Cup 3rd Round
We arrive at the City Ground as clear favourites to take the win. As our next match against Man City is only 4 days away I've decided to give a lot of my key players a rest. Our quality in depth should be more than enough to see us overcome Forest.
We started the match pushing forward, and were camped in the Forest half for the first 6 minutes. In the 6th minute we had another shout for a penalty turned down. We continued to dominate, with Fatih Yucel putting a shot from just outisde the area wide of the post in the 15th minute, and Grenier did the same in the 19th. In the 24th minute I thought Fatih Yucel had given us the lead with a header from the corner, but this was disallowed for a foul, but can't see the foul in the replays. In the 30th minute Ephraim had a chance from a header, but could only direct it at the keeper. A minute later Grenier put a header just over the bar from a free kick. In the 33rd minute the Forest keeper produced a superb diving save to deny Grenier, who'd made a great run into the area. We continued to dominate with Cardozo having a close range header saved in the 42nd minute. The half came to an end with the match goalless.
We absolutely dominated the first half, but somehow we had not managed to score, with a couple of very dubious decisions going against us. I sent the players back out, really hoping we could start to put the ball in back of the net. In the first minute of the 2nd half, Forest had their first real shot of the match, with Steele having to make a good save. When Sunny got booked after a Forest player just blatantly ran into the back of him to claim a dodgy foul, I began to worry. In the 48th minute Fatih Yucel put another header just over the bar. In the 54th minute Ephraim was put through on goal, but again the Forest keeper who was being a superhero today denied him, and then saved Onyewu's header from the resulting corner. In the 57th minute Forest put a shot just wide of our post. In the 60th minute Curri hit a cross into the area, where Cardozo got his head to the ball and finally managed to put the ball in the net to open the scoring. We continued to press forward, and in the 65th minute Fatih Yucel swung a cross into the area, and Cardozo again put the ball in the net, but was adjudged to have fouled someone getting to the ball, which again looked very dubious. Apparently he pushed the keeper, which is a very poor decision, because he'd headed the ball before he even reached the keeper. In the 69th minute Grenier made another great run into the area, but again the keeper was able to make the save. In the 72nd minute with Sanchez only a few minutes on the pitch he had a close range shot saved by the keeper, and Grenier's follow-up was deflected for a corner. In the 89th minute Cardozo swung a free kick from the left into the area, where Puygrenier hit the bar with his header. Dzsudzsak managed to react quickest to get forward and head the ball into the goal, which this time was allowed. From the restart Forest raced forward and hit the crossbar with a long shot. The match came to an end with us winning 2-0.
I was very pleased with our performance in this deserved win, but wondering how it was that we'd not won this match by a larger margin. It was also a great sign we'd not been complacent in this match, looking to dominate as much as possible the whole way through the match. There were two big scalps that fell in this round, with Arsenal and Man United going out, with 4 other Premiership clubs also being beaten.
Result: 2-0
In the days following the match, the draw for the fourth round took place, with us drawn away to another Championship side, this time against Watford.
Manchester City (H) Premier League
The Citizens arrive at Loftus Road having had a mixed start to the season, already losing a couple of matches they would expect to have won. We are clear favourites for this match, having won all but one of our previous 6 meetings.
The match started as battle with both teams largely cancelling each other out. The first shot came in the 8th minute with Tevez blasting a long shot way over the bar. The next incident of note came in the 29th minute with Ochoa making a great diving save to push a long shot for a corner. In the 35th minute Gilardino looked to be getting free of the defence, but was brought down by Lescott, who received a yellow card. It was a little disappointing to be denied what could have been a clear chance. In the 37th minute Jimenez put a shot from just outside the area just wide of the post. A really dismal first half came to an end with the match goalless.
I was disappointed with our display, we'd only created one really good chance, and that was denied us by a foul. I sent the players back out telling them to do better in the second half. The second half started with Man City giving Ochoa catching practice with a header in the first minute of the restart. City were looking the more dangerous side at this point, which was very disappointing. The next moment of interest, in what was turning out to be terrible match, was in the 57th minute when Gilardino blasted a shot from within the area, wide of the post. We finally began to wake up a bit after this, but it was still not a good match to watch. Both defences were looking so solid, it was really killing the match. In the 69th minute Gilardino managed to get clear, and tried to shoot from just outside the area, but his shot was pushed for a corner by a good save. Gilardino was now starting to cause problems for the City defence, and in the 71st minute got free in the area, only to see another fine save keep his shot out. The next incident of note came in the 79th minute with Kolo Toure being sent off for a 2nd bookable offence. With the one man advantage we pressed forward, but could only manage a couple of tame efforts both of which were easy for the keeper to save. The match ended goalless.
This was a really awful match to watch, with the defence of both sides dominating proceedings, with shots a rarity. A draw was a pretty fair result, although I still feel we should have stolen the 3 points with one of our few good chances. This is the first time we've played out a goalless draw with City. Both teams just seemed to lack enough penetration in the final third of the pitch.
Result: 0-0
Monthly Roundup
Our form in the league has seen me take the manager of the month award again, although it's unclear why I've been placed ahead of Arsene Wenger. There were several contenders for my player of the month, with Cardozo and Gilardino both scoring 4 goals. However there was one player to stand out ahead of everyone else, Balazs Dzsudzsak, who scored 2 goals and provided 3 assists. The month is completed with no injuries to any of our first team members, which is great news.
Next month sees us scheduled for 6 fixtures, with 3 league matches, 2 Champions League encounters, both away matches to Lyon and Rapid Wien. We will also be away to Watford in the fourth round of the League Cup. The 3 league fixtures are all very tricky, being away to Liverpool and Chelsea, and a home match against Arsenal.
Thursday 11 February 2010
August 2012 - Solid Start To A New Season
We start the month with no injuries, and only one player unavailable, my new signing Ochoa. He is away with his national team, trying to help Mexico in their first World Cup qualifier in the North American 2nd phase, so will miss our first match of the month. The first game sees us play the FA Cup winners from last season, Arsenal in the Community Shield, which we are looking to lift for the second year in a row. We then have 3 Premier league fixtures, followed by the European Super Cup match against AC Milan, which will take place in Monaco.
Arsenal (N) Community Shield
We head to Wembley again hoping to gain some revenge over Arsenal for defeating us in the League Cup Final. We are marginal underdogs for this fixture, but I feel we have a good chance of coming away with the trophy again.
The first few minutes started with the ball going end to end with a few blocked shots on show. In the 8th minute Sanchez managed to get through on goal, but the ever unbelievable Almunia managed to stop him scoring. The match seemed to become rather ugly for a while after that, with hard tackles going in, but few fouls being given; some that were given looked very dubious. In the 27th minute Fatih Yucel was put through on goal and predictably the Arsenal keeper managed to push his shot for a corner. There were a few more shots in the rest of the half, but it really wasn't the most interesting match. A largely dreary half came to an end with the match still goalless.
I was pretty disappointed with our performance as we really weren't playing as well as we can, although Arsenal weren't exactly setting the world alight either. The 2nd half started with Steele having to make a save from a header and then a great save from a volley to deny Arsenal. In the 48th minute the Arsenal keeper had to make consecutive saves from first Fatih Yucel and then Gilardino. I began to think we just weren't going to be able to beat him, but we continued to push on. In the 54th minute Fatih Yucel slide a superb ball through to Sanchez in the area, who managed to dribble past the keeper and thumped the ball home to score on his debut. Arsenal then started to push forward looking for an equaliser. In the 67th minute Steele had to make a good save to deny Arsenal from a long shot. In the 75th minute Gilardino managed to get through on goal, but again saw his shot saved. In the 79th minute Steele made a good save from a header at a corner. In the 80th minute Gilardino was again denied by the keeper, with an incredible save. Deep into added time I couldn't believe it when Arsenal managed to scored with an astonishing long shot, by a player who would only ever score one in a million of those. The half came to an end with the scores level at 1-1.
Arsenal really didn't deserve to find that equaliser. We'd had most of the best opportunities to score, and really should have found a way to extend our lead. This meant we were into a penalty shoot-out situation. From a quick look at the squads, we have the superior penalty takers, so I'm hoping we can keep our cool and see this out, with Arsenal shooting first. The first 5 penalties by both sides were scored, and we were now into sudden death territory. The first penalty to be missed was the 7th penalty from Arsenal with Nordtveit shooting straight at Steele, making for an easy save. Up stepped Grenier to try and seal the win, in yet another cup competition, and delighted the rest of the squad by thumping it home. Those players who were spared having to take a penalty were showing huge relief, with our fans delighted.
I was pleased that we'd managed to keep our composure during the penalty shoot out, to come away with the Community Shield for the second year in a row, in very dramatic fashion. Grenier turned out to be our hero in yet another competition. I had made a couple of substitutions to bring on a couple of our best penalty takers immediately the equaliser was scored, in the hopes this would help us, which it appears was the case. What we'd done in the match, justified our victory, having created far more clear cut chances than Arsenal. This gives us some revenge for the defeat they inflicted on us in the League Cup. Even though Steele had to make less saves than the Arsenal keeper, and fewer spectacular ones at that, he was named as the man of the match.
Result: 1-1 (7-6 on Penalties)
West Ham (A) Premier League
Our first league fixture of the new season sees us travel across to the east end of London to take on the Hammers at Upton Park. We are slight favourites for this match, and appear to also be a lot better prepared for the start of the season than West Ham. The previous matches between the two teams have been very tight affairs, with a win for each team and 2 draws, with each win being by a one goal margin. This match sees Ochoa make his debut, having arrived back from international duty, to finally take his place at the club.
The match started as a midfield battle, with the first shot coming in the 8th minute, falling to Sanchez, but giving the Hammers keeper little more than catching practice. In the 12th minute we won a free kick right on the edge of the area. Dzsudzsak swung the free kick at the pack of players waiting, and found the head of Gilardino, who managed to direct the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring. West Ham then started to push forward, making us have to defend, with them winning several corners. In the 25th minute we managed to get forward and won a corner. Dzsudzsak swung the corner into the area and found the head of Sanchez who managed to direct the ball into the back of the net. The match became a midfield battle for a while, with the ball going back and forth with both sides struggling to create chances. In the 41st minute Ochoa was forced to make a good save to deny West Ham. In the 45th minute Ochoa was tested again, this time from a long shot, and stood up to the challenge. The half came to an end with us leading 2-0.
I was pleased with what I'd seen, although a little concerned that after taking the lead, we seemed to be giving the ball away a bit too much. The half started with West Ham all over us, and in the 52nd minute they won one of the dodgiest penalty decisions ever, with Carlton Cole running into Puygrenier who was stumbling backwards from what looked like a push by the West Ham striker, but the referee pointed to the spot. The penalty was converted, but I was livid about the decision. West Ham were really pressing us hard, which after the poor penalty decision, was very worrying. In the 65th minute we finally managed to create another attack with Fatih Yucel putting a header just over the bar. West Ham were starting to get quite frantic, and I was pleased with our defending, which this was giving us opportunities to get forward, though creating the final shot was a problem. In the 2nd minute of added time, Grenier put a header just over the bar. We managed to hold on with the match finishihing with us 2-1 winners.
I was pleased that we'd managed to hold onto the lead, but it was a bit alarming that it had ended up being a struggle at times, not helped by a very poor decision by the referee. Fortunately this didn't stop us gaining our victory, and for once the West Ham goalkeeper didn't perform like a superhero.
Result: 2-1
Portsmouth (H) Premier League
Our first home match of the season sees the arrival of newly promoted Pompey, with us clear favourites to take the win. Last season we struggled to a 1-0 victory over them, in our only meeting between the two clubs since I took over. I was hoping that we would make things a lot easier on our fans this time.
The match started with us pushing forward, but finding it hard to work a way through the Pompey defence. In the 7th minute came one of the most bizarre offside decisions I've ever seen, and even checking the replay several times can't work out what caused the erroneous decision. At least it wasn't at point where we had a clear opportunity of scoring. In the 12th minute our almost constant pressure finally paid off with Kjær playing the ball to Scocco in space, and he hammered a curling long shot from 25 yards out into the net, and to think one of my coaches thinks he should take less long shots; it's advice I've been ignoring for a year now. The rest of the half saw us still pushing forward with Portsmouth hardly able to get out of their own half. We managed another couple of shots, but it was overall very tedious, because Pompey were spending all the time with everyone behind the ball. The half came to an end with us leading 1-0.
I was pleased that we'd dominated the match, stopping Portsmouth from having even a single shot. It was disappointing that Portsmouth had been so intent on defending, that it was hard to find any space in the final third of the pitch. I sent the players back out encouraging them, hoping that we could continue to dominate. After a short period of Portsmouth passing the ball around really well but getting nowhere, we pushed forward again, and Cardozo struck a free kick, just wide of the post from 30 yards out. After another trip forward by Portsmouth, leading nowhere, Cardozo ran onto a throughball in the 57th minute, only to give the Portsmouth keeper an easy save. In the 64th minute Porstmouth finally managed a shot, giving Ochoa an easy catch. In the 65th minute, Kjær blasted a shot from an indirect free kick, just over the bar. In the 79th minute Gilardino was denied by a astonishing save from the keeper. After this Portsmouth really started to try and hassle us off the ball, getting away with some really hard tackles, until the 82nd minute when they had their lone striker Fagan sent off for a second yellow card offence. I was livid in the 88th minute when Gilardino was sent to the floor from a blatant off the ball shoulder charge, causing a possible upper body injury, and no foul given. In the 2nd minute of added time Gilardino was set free of the defence, only to give the keeper an easy catch. Portsmouth had managed a few long shots in the last few minutes of the match to give us a small scare, but we managed to hold out for a 1-0 victory.
I was pleased that we'd managed to win the match, and dominate it, but it was very frustrating due to Portsmouth's horribly negative tactics. I decided to tell the team that it was a good result, but it it really wasn't good enough, as I know we should have been able to do better, especially with some of the finishing. The injury to Gilardino will see him sidelined for 4 to 5 days, after a blatant off the ball challenge, which went unpunished. I really hate teams that come to try and just secure a draw, showing no real intention of trying to win, and only push forward in the last few minutes, trying to grab an equaliser.
Result: 1-0
Cardiff (A) Premier League
We travel to the Cardiff City Stadium to take on a club that we see as a rival, and arrive as favourites to win the match. This is a match the players should be up for, because the fans will be demanding a win.
The match started with us getting off to a flyer with Sanchez squaring the ball to Grenier at the edge of the box in the 2nd minute, and he slotted the ball home in the bottom corner of the net to open the scoring. Cardiff pushed forward for a while trying to find a way through, but we were holding solid. In the 14th minute Cardozo thumped a header from the edge of the area, which the keeper only just managed to save. The match became a really dreary battle with few shots created, with Cardozo putting a header wide in the 40th minute being the only other incident of note. The half ended with us leading 1-0.
We had dominated the first half, and created the best chances, but Cardiff were really holding firm and frustrating me. I sent the players back out giving them encouragement to go on finish the job off properly. Cardiff continued to do their best to frustrate us, with the 2nd half again being quite tedious. In the 52nd minute Onyewu put a header from a corner just over the post. In the 57th minute Sunny conceded a penalty, which looked a bit harsh. I was furious, but when Cardiff's Whittingham stepped up and gave Ochoa an easy save I calmed down a lot. In the 68th minute Ochoa had to push a quite unbelievable long shot over the bar. I find it unbelievable because the player was under pressure, and yet somehow managed to hit an almost perfect shot, with low long shot attribute. In the 77th minute Dzsudzsak thumped a shot from in the area just wide of the post. The match turned ugly that after with yellow cards flying everywhere. The match came to an end with us coming out 1-0 victors.
I was happy to get the win, but it was another really poor match, in which Cardiff seemed more intent on frustrating us. If they'd levelled the match with the penalty it would have been an undeserved draw, but this was a really unpleasant match. The match was so poor that Daeseleire ran out as the man of the match with a rating of just 7.3. This is the lowest I can remember ever seeing for a man of the match.
Result: 1-0
AC Milan (N) European Super Cup
We travel to the Stade Louis II in Monaco to take on AC Milan. We arrive as marginal underdogs, for this match, but with a reasonable chance of coming away with a victory. We have one player suspended for this match, that being Sunny, after reaching his yellow card limit in the Champions League final. It is worth mentioning that AC Milan are currently a parent club of ours, so victory would be extra sweet.
The match started with AC Milan coming close to opening the scoring in the first minute, with Ochoa making a good save. In the 4th minute AC Milan somehow got away with their keeper making a mistake in a crowded area, but somehow cleared the ball before we could take advantage. In the 6th minute Sanchez was denied from close range by the keeper. We were really pushing AC Milan hard, but somehow they were keeping us out. After about 10 minutes they started to push forward, causing us problems, firing off several shots. In the 17th minute Ochoa had to make another good save to keep them out. In the 18th minute Cardozo managed to get free on the break, but could only give the keeper an easy catch. In the 21st minute Fatih Yucel put a header just over the bar. In the 25th Ochoa was in action again, making another good save. I was worried about how the pace of AC Milan was causing us so many problems. The match became really scrappy after that with only a few shots created, all off target, until the 45th minute when Ochoa had to save a close range header. The yellow cards were beginning to fly as the foul count went up, but AC Milan seemed to get away without conceding any near their area, even though there were some tackles that looked like obvious fouls. The half came to an end with the match goalless.
I wasn't completely happy with the performance, but felt we had a good chance if we could just find a better final ball. I sent the players back out telling them they can do it. A mistake in the 47th minute by Onyewu gave AC Milan a shooting opportunity, but fortunately Ochoa was able to make the save. AC Milan had come out absolutely determined to win and putting us under seige from the restart. In the 59th minute though Fatih Yucel was put through on the right side, and as he neared the byeline hit a cross into the area, which was headed clear, and then a few headers later, Cardozo headed it back into the area, where Fatih Yucel had arrived, and managed to loop a header just over the keeper to give us the lead. Rather than AC Milan coming at us, we started to take control of the game, pushing them back. In the 71st minute Jimenez got clear of the AC Milan defence, as they started to try and push up, but his shot was deflected for a corner by the keeper. From the corner Dzsudzsak hit the ball straight onto the head of Kjær who managed to direct it by the diving keeper, to double out lead in the 72nd minute. For some reason the AC Milan near post marker had decided to move forward, rather than stay back, where he might have been able to stop the ball going in. That's one of the frustrations I have sometimes when we defend corners, so it's nice to see the opposition do the same thing too. AC Milan certainly started to push after that, but their shooting was getting more desparate. I was pleased that we seemed to have the confidence and belief to start closing them down and were again pressing them back. In the 80th minute AC Milan managed to get a shot on target, giving Ochoa an easy catch, with one of their now rare attempts. In the 83rd Dzsudzsak thumped a shot from just outside the area, which only just whistled by the post. After this AC Milan tried to up the pressure but Kjær was looking immense at the back, getting to headers first, and even making some crunching tackles. In the 1st minute of added time, Grenier was presented with a header in the box, but put it just over the bar. The match came to an end with us running out 2-0 winners.
I was delighted, but although we'd had less shots and less clear cut chances (although I don't think this is always accurate), we'd actually done more than enough to deserve this victory. Our defending in the second half had been immense, and we'd caused plenty of problems for AC Milan when we'd gone forward. Simon Kjær was named as the man of the match, after not only scoring, but putting in a superb display of defending. It is worth mentioning that Ochoa had a very good game, especially in the first half, when our defence was looking a bit shaky. Onyewu also put in a very solid display, being every bit a match for Puygrenier, which means I now have 4 very solid central defenders. Half way the through the first half I'd noticed that my wingers were really struggling to get around the AC Milan full backs, so I used the "exploit the middle" touchline shout, which seemed to make some difference. In the second half, because they were pushing higher up, it played into our hands, allowing us more opportunities to get in behind.
Result: 2-0
Monthly Roundup
This turned out to be fantastic month, with us winning the Community Shield, eventually on penalties, the 3 league fixtures and the European Super Cup. Our defence was yet again doing a superb job, with us only conceding twice. The most worrying aspect is that we'd conceded a couple of penalties already, with Cardiff fortunately not taking the opportunity to level the scores. I feel that our new members of the sqaud haven't quite gelled yet, which is why I believe we haven't created as many opportunities as we probably should have. I was pleased though with how we can boss a game at times, even against strong opponents. Our 2nd half display against AC Milan was superb, with our defence looking very solid, with just the one mistake right at the start of it.
Our solid start to the season sees us sitting in 3rd place after just 3 fixtures, but as you can see there are several clubs that have played only the once so far. The early indications for Leeds are very bad, with them continuing the with the same poor form they ended the previous season with.
It's interesting to note that at the end of the month, the fans are already very happy with our two new wingers, and have now changed their opinion over the departures of Lung jr and Buzsaky, feeling that it was the right thing to do, to let them leave. I have been named the Premiership manager of the month, though I'm not completely sure why I was placed above Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez.
My player of the month is between Simon Kjær and Alexis Sanchez, who have shown great consistency, both getting on the scoresheet and also provided an assist each. I think Kjær just about sneaks it, having been the rock in the centre of our defence. I was also very impressed with the two appearances that Oguchi Onyewu has made, looking like he'll be able to do a fantastic job for us. This means we have four very solid central defenders, which will be very important when we reached the busiest part of the season.
On a side note, I checked out how some of the players that left the club have been doing. Martin Stranzl is not doing well at this new club Leeds, although with how poor Leeds have been it's hardly surprising. Silvui Lung jr has joined Liverpool, where it looks like he'll be a bench warmer, unless Reina suffers an injury, so I can't see him being happy for long. Akos Buzsaky has joined Nice, which is the same club as Alejandro Faurlin, and neither have made a good start at all.
The other teams in our Champions League group have been announced. We were ranked 1st in the draw, and will find ourselves having to overcome Porto, Olympique Lyonnais and Rapid Wien. Porto and Lyon are both good sides, so can't be taken lightly.
The next month sees us play 6 matches, with 4 being league fixtures, having our first test against one of our title rivals being the last of these, at home to Man City. We have our first Champions League match in the group stages against Porto at home, and a 3rd Round League Cup match away to Nottingham Forest, who are a Championship team.
Arsenal (N) Community Shield
We head to Wembley again hoping to gain some revenge over Arsenal for defeating us in the League Cup Final. We are marginal underdogs for this fixture, but I feel we have a good chance of coming away with the trophy again.
The first few minutes started with the ball going end to end with a few blocked shots on show. In the 8th minute Sanchez managed to get through on goal, but the ever unbelievable Almunia managed to stop him scoring. The match seemed to become rather ugly for a while after that, with hard tackles going in, but few fouls being given; some that were given looked very dubious. In the 27th minute Fatih Yucel was put through on goal and predictably the Arsenal keeper managed to push his shot for a corner. There were a few more shots in the rest of the half, but it really wasn't the most interesting match. A largely dreary half came to an end with the match still goalless.
I was pretty disappointed with our performance as we really weren't playing as well as we can, although Arsenal weren't exactly setting the world alight either. The 2nd half started with Steele having to make a save from a header and then a great save from a volley to deny Arsenal. In the 48th minute the Arsenal keeper had to make consecutive saves from first Fatih Yucel and then Gilardino. I began to think we just weren't going to be able to beat him, but we continued to push on. In the 54th minute Fatih Yucel slide a superb ball through to Sanchez in the area, who managed to dribble past the keeper and thumped the ball home to score on his debut. Arsenal then started to push forward looking for an equaliser. In the 67th minute Steele had to make a good save to deny Arsenal from a long shot. In the 75th minute Gilardino managed to get through on goal, but again saw his shot saved. In the 79th minute Steele made a good save from a header at a corner. In the 80th minute Gilardino was again denied by the keeper, with an incredible save. Deep into added time I couldn't believe it when Arsenal managed to scored with an astonishing long shot, by a player who would only ever score one in a million of those. The half came to an end with the scores level at 1-1.
Arsenal really didn't deserve to find that equaliser. We'd had most of the best opportunities to score, and really should have found a way to extend our lead. This meant we were into a penalty shoot-out situation. From a quick look at the squads, we have the superior penalty takers, so I'm hoping we can keep our cool and see this out, with Arsenal shooting first. The first 5 penalties by both sides were scored, and we were now into sudden death territory. The first penalty to be missed was the 7th penalty from Arsenal with Nordtveit shooting straight at Steele, making for an easy save. Up stepped Grenier to try and seal the win, in yet another cup competition, and delighted the rest of the squad by thumping it home. Those players who were spared having to take a penalty were showing huge relief, with our fans delighted.
I was pleased that we'd managed to keep our composure during the penalty shoot out, to come away with the Community Shield for the second year in a row, in very dramatic fashion. Grenier turned out to be our hero in yet another competition. I had made a couple of substitutions to bring on a couple of our best penalty takers immediately the equaliser was scored, in the hopes this would help us, which it appears was the case. What we'd done in the match, justified our victory, having created far more clear cut chances than Arsenal. This gives us some revenge for the defeat they inflicted on us in the League Cup. Even though Steele had to make less saves than the Arsenal keeper, and fewer spectacular ones at that, he was named as the man of the match.
Result: 1-1 (7-6 on Penalties)
West Ham (A) Premier League
Our first league fixture of the new season sees us travel across to the east end of London to take on the Hammers at Upton Park. We are slight favourites for this match, and appear to also be a lot better prepared for the start of the season than West Ham. The previous matches between the two teams have been very tight affairs, with a win for each team and 2 draws, with each win being by a one goal margin. This match sees Ochoa make his debut, having arrived back from international duty, to finally take his place at the club.
The match started as a midfield battle, with the first shot coming in the 8th minute, falling to Sanchez, but giving the Hammers keeper little more than catching practice. In the 12th minute we won a free kick right on the edge of the area. Dzsudzsak swung the free kick at the pack of players waiting, and found the head of Gilardino, who managed to direct the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring. West Ham then started to push forward, making us have to defend, with them winning several corners. In the 25th minute we managed to get forward and won a corner. Dzsudzsak swung the corner into the area and found the head of Sanchez who managed to direct the ball into the back of the net. The match became a midfield battle for a while, with the ball going back and forth with both sides struggling to create chances. In the 41st minute Ochoa was forced to make a good save to deny West Ham. In the 45th minute Ochoa was tested again, this time from a long shot, and stood up to the challenge. The half came to an end with us leading 2-0.
I was pleased with what I'd seen, although a little concerned that after taking the lead, we seemed to be giving the ball away a bit too much. The half started with West Ham all over us, and in the 52nd minute they won one of the dodgiest penalty decisions ever, with Carlton Cole running into Puygrenier who was stumbling backwards from what looked like a push by the West Ham striker, but the referee pointed to the spot. The penalty was converted, but I was livid about the decision. West Ham were really pressing us hard, which after the poor penalty decision, was very worrying. In the 65th minute we finally managed to create another attack with Fatih Yucel putting a header just over the bar. West Ham were starting to get quite frantic, and I was pleased with our defending, which this was giving us opportunities to get forward, though creating the final shot was a problem. In the 2nd minute of added time, Grenier put a header just over the bar. We managed to hold on with the match finishihing with us 2-1 winners.
I was pleased that we'd managed to hold onto the lead, but it was a bit alarming that it had ended up being a struggle at times, not helped by a very poor decision by the referee. Fortunately this didn't stop us gaining our victory, and for once the West Ham goalkeeper didn't perform like a superhero.
Result: 2-1
Portsmouth (H) Premier League
Our first home match of the season sees the arrival of newly promoted Pompey, with us clear favourites to take the win. Last season we struggled to a 1-0 victory over them, in our only meeting between the two clubs since I took over. I was hoping that we would make things a lot easier on our fans this time.
The match started with us pushing forward, but finding it hard to work a way through the Pompey defence. In the 7th minute came one of the most bizarre offside decisions I've ever seen, and even checking the replay several times can't work out what caused the erroneous decision. At least it wasn't at point where we had a clear opportunity of scoring. In the 12th minute our almost constant pressure finally paid off with Kjær playing the ball to Scocco in space, and he hammered a curling long shot from 25 yards out into the net, and to think one of my coaches thinks he should take less long shots; it's advice I've been ignoring for a year now. The rest of the half saw us still pushing forward with Portsmouth hardly able to get out of their own half. We managed another couple of shots, but it was overall very tedious, because Pompey were spending all the time with everyone behind the ball. The half came to an end with us leading 1-0.
I was pleased that we'd dominated the match, stopping Portsmouth from having even a single shot. It was disappointing that Portsmouth had been so intent on defending, that it was hard to find any space in the final third of the pitch. I sent the players back out encouraging them, hoping that we could continue to dominate. After a short period of Portsmouth passing the ball around really well but getting nowhere, we pushed forward again, and Cardozo struck a free kick, just wide of the post from 30 yards out. After another trip forward by Portsmouth, leading nowhere, Cardozo ran onto a throughball in the 57th minute, only to give the Portsmouth keeper an easy save. In the 64th minute Porstmouth finally managed a shot, giving Ochoa an easy catch. In the 65th minute, Kjær blasted a shot from an indirect free kick, just over the bar. In the 79th minute Gilardino was denied by a astonishing save from the keeper. After this Portsmouth really started to try and hassle us off the ball, getting away with some really hard tackles, until the 82nd minute when they had their lone striker Fagan sent off for a second yellow card offence. I was livid in the 88th minute when Gilardino was sent to the floor from a blatant off the ball shoulder charge, causing a possible upper body injury, and no foul given. In the 2nd minute of added time Gilardino was set free of the defence, only to give the keeper an easy catch. Portsmouth had managed a few long shots in the last few minutes of the match to give us a small scare, but we managed to hold out for a 1-0 victory.
I was pleased that we'd managed to win the match, and dominate it, but it was very frustrating due to Portsmouth's horribly negative tactics. I decided to tell the team that it was a good result, but it it really wasn't good enough, as I know we should have been able to do better, especially with some of the finishing. The injury to Gilardino will see him sidelined for 4 to 5 days, after a blatant off the ball challenge, which went unpunished. I really hate teams that come to try and just secure a draw, showing no real intention of trying to win, and only push forward in the last few minutes, trying to grab an equaliser.
Result: 1-0
Cardiff (A) Premier League
We travel to the Cardiff City Stadium to take on a club that we see as a rival, and arrive as favourites to win the match. This is a match the players should be up for, because the fans will be demanding a win.
The match started with us getting off to a flyer with Sanchez squaring the ball to Grenier at the edge of the box in the 2nd minute, and he slotted the ball home in the bottom corner of the net to open the scoring. Cardiff pushed forward for a while trying to find a way through, but we were holding solid. In the 14th minute Cardozo thumped a header from the edge of the area, which the keeper only just managed to save. The match became a really dreary battle with few shots created, with Cardozo putting a header wide in the 40th minute being the only other incident of note. The half ended with us leading 1-0.
We had dominated the first half, and created the best chances, but Cardiff were really holding firm and frustrating me. I sent the players back out giving them encouragement to go on finish the job off properly. Cardiff continued to do their best to frustrate us, with the 2nd half again being quite tedious. In the 52nd minute Onyewu put a header from a corner just over the post. In the 57th minute Sunny conceded a penalty, which looked a bit harsh. I was furious, but when Cardiff's Whittingham stepped up and gave Ochoa an easy save I calmed down a lot. In the 68th minute Ochoa had to push a quite unbelievable long shot over the bar. I find it unbelievable because the player was under pressure, and yet somehow managed to hit an almost perfect shot, with low long shot attribute. In the 77th minute Dzsudzsak thumped a shot from in the area just wide of the post. The match turned ugly that after with yellow cards flying everywhere. The match came to an end with us coming out 1-0 victors.
I was happy to get the win, but it was another really poor match, in which Cardiff seemed more intent on frustrating us. If they'd levelled the match with the penalty it would have been an undeserved draw, but this was a really unpleasant match. The match was so poor that Daeseleire ran out as the man of the match with a rating of just 7.3. This is the lowest I can remember ever seeing for a man of the match.
Result: 1-0
AC Milan (N) European Super Cup
We travel to the Stade Louis II in Monaco to take on AC Milan. We arrive as marginal underdogs, for this match, but with a reasonable chance of coming away with a victory. We have one player suspended for this match, that being Sunny, after reaching his yellow card limit in the Champions League final. It is worth mentioning that AC Milan are currently a parent club of ours, so victory would be extra sweet.
The match started with AC Milan coming close to opening the scoring in the first minute, with Ochoa making a good save. In the 4th minute AC Milan somehow got away with their keeper making a mistake in a crowded area, but somehow cleared the ball before we could take advantage. In the 6th minute Sanchez was denied from close range by the keeper. We were really pushing AC Milan hard, but somehow they were keeping us out. After about 10 minutes they started to push forward, causing us problems, firing off several shots. In the 17th minute Ochoa had to make another good save to keep them out. In the 18th minute Cardozo managed to get free on the break, but could only give the keeper an easy catch. In the 21st minute Fatih Yucel put a header just over the bar. In the 25th Ochoa was in action again, making another good save. I was worried about how the pace of AC Milan was causing us so many problems. The match became really scrappy after that with only a few shots created, all off target, until the 45th minute when Ochoa had to save a close range header. The yellow cards were beginning to fly as the foul count went up, but AC Milan seemed to get away without conceding any near their area, even though there were some tackles that looked like obvious fouls. The half came to an end with the match goalless.
I wasn't completely happy with the performance, but felt we had a good chance if we could just find a better final ball. I sent the players back out telling them they can do it. A mistake in the 47th minute by Onyewu gave AC Milan a shooting opportunity, but fortunately Ochoa was able to make the save. AC Milan had come out absolutely determined to win and putting us under seige from the restart. In the 59th minute though Fatih Yucel was put through on the right side, and as he neared the byeline hit a cross into the area, which was headed clear, and then a few headers later, Cardozo headed it back into the area, where Fatih Yucel had arrived, and managed to loop a header just over the keeper to give us the lead. Rather than AC Milan coming at us, we started to take control of the game, pushing them back. In the 71st minute Jimenez got clear of the AC Milan defence, as they started to try and push up, but his shot was deflected for a corner by the keeper. From the corner Dzsudzsak hit the ball straight onto the head of Kjær who managed to direct it by the diving keeper, to double out lead in the 72nd minute. For some reason the AC Milan near post marker had decided to move forward, rather than stay back, where he might have been able to stop the ball going in. That's one of the frustrations I have sometimes when we defend corners, so it's nice to see the opposition do the same thing too. AC Milan certainly started to push after that, but their shooting was getting more desparate. I was pleased that we seemed to have the confidence and belief to start closing them down and were again pressing them back. In the 80th minute AC Milan managed to get a shot on target, giving Ochoa an easy catch, with one of their now rare attempts. In the 83rd Dzsudzsak thumped a shot from just outside the area, which only just whistled by the post. After this AC Milan tried to up the pressure but Kjær was looking immense at the back, getting to headers first, and even making some crunching tackles. In the 1st minute of added time, Grenier was presented with a header in the box, but put it just over the bar. The match came to an end with us running out 2-0 winners.
I was delighted, but although we'd had less shots and less clear cut chances (although I don't think this is always accurate), we'd actually done more than enough to deserve this victory. Our defending in the second half had been immense, and we'd caused plenty of problems for AC Milan when we'd gone forward. Simon Kjær was named as the man of the match, after not only scoring, but putting in a superb display of defending. It is worth mentioning that Ochoa had a very good game, especially in the first half, when our defence was looking a bit shaky. Onyewu also put in a very solid display, being every bit a match for Puygrenier, which means I now have 4 very solid central defenders. Half way the through the first half I'd noticed that my wingers were really struggling to get around the AC Milan full backs, so I used the "exploit the middle" touchline shout, which seemed to make some difference. In the second half, because they were pushing higher up, it played into our hands, allowing us more opportunities to get in behind.
Result: 2-0
Monthly Roundup
It's interesting to note that at the end of the month, the fans are already very happy with our two new wingers, and have now changed their opinion over the departures of Lung jr and Buzsaky, feeling that it was the right thing to do, to let them leave. I have been named the Premiership manager of the month, though I'm not completely sure why I was placed above Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez.
My player of the month is between Simon Kjær and Alexis Sanchez, who have shown great consistency, both getting on the scoresheet and also provided an assist each. I think Kjær just about sneaks it, having been the rock in the centre of our defence. I was also very impressed with the two appearances that Oguchi Onyewu has made, looking like he'll be able to do a fantastic job for us. This means we have four very solid central defenders, which will be very important when we reached the busiest part of the season.
On a side note, I checked out how some of the players that left the club have been doing. Martin Stranzl is not doing well at this new club Leeds, although with how poor Leeds have been it's hardly surprising. Silvui Lung jr has joined Liverpool, where it looks like he'll be a bench warmer, unless Reina suffers an injury, so I can't see him being happy for long. Akos Buzsaky has joined Nice, which is the same club as Alejandro Faurlin, and neither have made a good start at all.
The other teams in our Champions League group have been announced. We were ranked 1st in the draw, and will find ourselves having to overcome Porto, Olympique Lyonnais and Rapid Wien. Porto and Lyon are both good sides, so can't be taken lightly.
The next month sees us play 6 matches, with 4 being league fixtures, having our first test against one of our title rivals being the last of these, at home to Man City. We have our first Champions League match in the group stages against Porto at home, and a 3rd Round League Cup match away to Nottingham Forest, who are a Championship team.
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