Yet Another Football Manager Blog

Important Announcement

2011-10-11T14:05:00.001+01:00

The time has come to make an important change. This will be the very last post I make on the blogger website. However, before you despair, thinking that I'm about to vanish again into the ether; keep reading.

The entire blog is now moving to a completely new home, on a domain over which I have full control. All posts and comments, except for this particular one, have been copied across.

The new home from now on will be, Yet Another Football Manager Blog. I will leave this blog as is, for a while, but I will at some point in the future set the redirection up, so that people are automatically moved to the new home.

Resurrection of the blog

2011-10-08T13:39:00.000+01:00

After an absence of over a year, I have decided to bring this blog back to life. Sadly I had a failure of my machine, which brought a premature end to the story as it resulted in me losing the saved game. This also coincided with a very busy period, and thus this blog got largely forgotten about, although it was still there in the back of my mind.

With the release of the Football Manager 2012 imminent, it seemed like a good time to bring about a long awaited resurrection. I already have new team in mind, which will be revealed nearer to the actual release date.

I have already had a look at the demo release, which was made available recently. There are some interesting additions, although a few changes to the layout which seem rather unnecessary. As appears to be the recent trend with many websites and software, the thinking seems to be presenting as much information as possible at one time, with no consideration of how cluttered everything is.

Over the next couple of weeks I will use the demo to experiment with the new features, such as the new team talks.

January 2013 - Beating The Blues In The Deep Mid Winter

2010-03-10T03:03:00.000Z

This month sees us scheduled for 7 fixtures, 4 being Premier League matches, at home to Cardiff and Sheffield United, and away to Leeds and Birmingham. We have the two legs of our League Cup semi final against Chelsea, and the FA Cup 3rd round match again Stoke. If we beat Stoke I believe we will play another fixture near the end of the month. Even worse would be to draw with Stoke, and have a replay as well.

Cardiff (H) Premier League

Cardiff arrive at Loftus Road with us overwhelming favourites, not having won in there last 5 matches. They have however held Chelsea and most recently Arsenal to a draw, but sit in 19th place in the table. The hectic schedule over the Christmas and New Year period is taking its toll on the condition of players, but we still look in much better shape than Cardiff.

The match started off as a battle, and even though after 15 minutes we'd had 6 shots and Cardiff 1, there was nothing worthy of note. In the 17th minute Curri managed to get clear into the area, and hammered a shot, which thundered into the woodwork, going safe. The clearance was poor though allowing Rafa to feed the ball through for Sanchez to run onto and give us the lead. In the 22nd minute a run into the area from Jimenez created panic, with him brought down to give us a penalty. Cardozo stepped up and thumped the ball into the back of the net to double our lead. The match then became rather scrappy with the next incident of note coming in the 37th minute with Gary Cahill, who'd conceded the penalty committing an atrocious foul on Cardozo, causing him a shin injury in the process, but not enough to enforce his substitution, but a worry still. Cahill was shown a straight red card for his assault on Cardozo. In the 44th minute Fatih Yucel got his head to a cross, and only an outstanding save from the keeper managed to push the ball for a corner. Jimenez drilled the ball just wide of the post in the 45th minute as we started to try and take advantage of Cardiff being down to 10 men. The half came to an end with us leading 2-0.

I was pleased with how we'd played going forward, but very concerned about the state of Cardozo after a very scary challenge on him. Cardiff had seen plenty of the ball, but most of that time they were just boring the crowd to death, going nowhere with it. I sent the players back out pleased with them, and hoped they would continue to play well. We were laying seige to the Cardiff goal from the start of the half, but finding it almost impossible to work a way through. I thought we'd scored in the 58th minute with Balanta putting the ball in the net, but he had been offside, so it didn't stand. We continued to press, with Cardiff managing brief spells of trying to bore us into a mistake. Jimenez put Balanta through on goal again in the 65th minute with him hitting the back of the net, and this time it would stand. We now seemed determined to extend the scoreline, with Gilardino putting a header over the bar in the 70th minute. We were now in total control of the match, firmly camped at the Cardiff end of the pitch. In the 87th minute Gilardino got his head to a cross, and only another amazing save from the keeper managed to put it out for a corner. Sanchez fired just wide in the following minute. In the first minute of added time Scocco headed just over the bar. The Cardiff players were looking dead on their feet, and in the 2nd minute of added time Gilardino slotted a pass through to Sanchez, who dribbled in behind the defenders, and slotted home his second of the match. The final whistle blew shortly after the restart with us comfortable 4-0 winners.

I was very pleased with our performance in the second half, looking totally dominant, and didn't allow Cardiff to create even a single shot during the half. Ochoa had a very lonely time at the back, with hardly anything to do in the match, making one save early in the match, which was a very easy catch. It was a huge relief to me to find out that Cardozo was fine, and would be ready for action straight away. There was even greater delight when news came in from other grounds, with Arsenal held to a 0-0 draw by Leeds at the Emirates, and Aston Villa lost 1-0 at Villa Park to Everton.

Result: 4-0

Stoke (H) FA Cup 3rd Round

We welcome the Potters to Loftus Road with us favourites to win. Stoke have been doing fairly well this season, sitting in 5th place in the Championship, but arrive off the back of a loss to Charlton. Complacency could be my biggest issue going into this match.

The match started with both teams looking lively, but it was clear that Stoke were going to have troubles keeping Sanchez quiet on the right wing, with him producing a couple of early crosses with ease, the second finding the head of Cardozo, with the shot bouncing behind off the top of the crossbar in the 4th minute. Stoke were defending in numbers having trouble when they came forward, although it became clear that for some odd reason my fullbacks were not managing to stop the very slow wingers of Stoke going by them, which is frustrating, as they should be able to stop them almost every time. In the 14th minute one of them got a cross into the box, with a header going just over our crossbar. In the 16th minute Gilardino was played through on goal, but shot straight at the keeper. We then seemed to struggle for a while to make any progress forward, until the 25th minute when Curri delivered a cross into the area, with Sanchez running through the area, and glancing a header just past the keeper to open the scoring. In the 41st minute Gilardino hit the crossbar from a shot in the right side of the area, with Cardozo unable to get enough power into his header from the rebound to beat the keeper. The half ended with us leading 1-0.

I was pleased we had the lead, having looked the more creative side, but I was a bit concerned that we were still letting the wingers get by our fullbacks too often, although we only allowed Stoke to create a couple of off target shots, so we'd not suffered because of it. I sent the players back out trying to encourage them to show a bit more and not let Stoke back into the match. The second half continued where we'd left off, with us allowing Stoke to pressure us at times, even though they weren't really creating anything. In the 52nd minute Sunny put a ball through to Jimenez to run into the area in space, and he slotted the ball home in off the inside of the post to double our lead. In the 55th minute Gilardino put a header just over the bar, as we started to look a lot more confident, and he hooked the ball wide from a tight angle in the following minute. In the 58th Ochoa was given a save to make, his first of the match, an easy one, and only Stoke's 3rd shot of the match. Much as Cardiff had done in the previous match, Stoke were having a share of possession but boring everyone with football that just wasn't going anywhere, giving Ochoa a second easy save in the 72nd minute. We never gave up trying to add another goal, and created a few more shots, but just couldn't find the target again. The match finished with us winning 2-0.

I was pleased with the lads, as we'd played better, in the 2nd half, with Stoke managing just 2 long shots that were easy for Ochoa to save, making just 4 in the match. The fullbacks had done a lot better as well, and Jimenez adding the second goal make the match a lot less tense. Sanchez was the man of the match for the 2nd time in a row, having worked tirelessly, making an astonishing 17 runs past opponents. I would gladly take this referee everywhere with me, because this match Sunny committed 6 fouls without receiving a booking, with no cards shown at all, which was a refreshing change.

Result: 2-0

The draw for the 4th round of the FA Cup was made just before the next match, and will see us travel away to take on Burnley. The loan signing of Breno has been confirmed, and given he'd made quite a few appearances for AC Milan is match fit, but I have to admit I'm a bit astonished that they have sent him on loan. One of the AC Milan players thinks it is a big mistake by their manager, but it's our gain.

Chelsea (H) League Cup Semi Final 1st Leg

Chelsea arrive at Loftus Road with us marginal favourites to win the first leg. Their season has improved a fair bit since we played them earlier in the season, now in 5th place in the league table. I'm fielding a very strong team, and decided to give Breno a debut in the centre of defence alongside Kjær.

The match started with Chelsea pushing forward, but it was us who managed the first shot in the 4th minute with Jimenez firing over the bar. Chelsea pushed forward, with the attack breaking down, allowing the ball to be cleared to Sanchez on the right, and he sprinted forward, producing a wonderful looping cross into the area, for Jimenez, who controlled the ball and pretty much dribbled his way into the goal to give us the lead. Our lead didn't last long with Chelsea managing to break through for their first shot in the 7th minute. We were then playing utter garbage, allowing Chelsea to pin us back, giving the ball away, and starting to commit fouls. I was getting really upset with how poor we looked trying to go forward, being quite pathetic. Chelsea were also getting regular shots off. The next incident of real note was Ochoa having to make a good save in the 26th minute with us split open again. In the 34th minute Gilardino thumped a header goalward at a corner, only to see the keeper make an almost unbelievably lucky save, pushing it onto the defender marking the post, with the ball bouncing out to be cleared. In the 44th Chelsea hammered a header from a corner just over the bar. In added time Dzsudzsak fired just wide of the post. The half came to end with the scores level at 1-1.

I was very disappointed with our performance, with us rarely looking dangerous going forward, and wide open far too often at the back. We'd managed 4 shots with Chelsea having 14. I ripped into my players for their dismal performance before sending them back out. In the 47th minute Scocco was put through clear on goal, only to see the keeper make an outstanding save to deny him. In the 50th minute Laure managed to suffer an upper body injury with absolutely no visible signs of how this could have happened. In the 58th minute the Chelsea keeper managed another amazing save to deny Gilardino a clear chance. In the 62nd minute Scocco put Gilardino through again on goal, and this time he slotted the ball home to give us the lead again. We were looking much more in control now, and in the 75th minute only another great save from the Chelsea keeper stopped Scocco adding to the scoreline. In the 86th minute Chelsea put a header just over our bar to give us a scare. We then controlled the ball until into added time when Ochoa had to make a good save from a long shot. We managed to see out the remaining time to win 2-1.

I was pleased we managed to get the win, although we'd not really played our best, but I thought we'd deserved it even though we'd had less shots, due to creating more clear chances. The match report unsurprisingly reckoned we were lucky to get the win, because it can't take into account that most of Chelsea's shots were never in danger of going into the net. Apparently Laure suffered a bruised rib in an accidental collision, and will be out for about 5 days, but appears he clashed with the invisible man.

Result: 2-1

Leeds (A) Premier League

We travel to Elland Road to take on Leeds, as clear favourites to win this match. Leeds have struggled this season, finding themselves in 17th place, fighting to stave off relegation, without a win for month, having lost their last match in the FA Cup to West Bromich Albion, a Championship team. During that last month, they have however managed to hold both Arsenal and Man City to draws, so we shouldn't take this match for granted. The time between fixtures has been kind to us, allowing me to name an almost unchanged team from that which played against Chelsea.

The match started with Leeds looking to attack, hitting the woodwork in the first minute from a cracking long shot. We were totally shocking, with Leeds passing the ball around like we weren't even there, and in the 7th minute Ochoa had to make a good save to deny Leeds. In the 11th minute we finally managed to put more than one pass together, with Cardozo trying to chip the keeper who'd come off his, line, but hit the crossbar, with the ball going safe. This seemed to settle us a bit, with Sanchez heading just over in the 16th minute, and again in the 22nd. In the 25th minute Jimenez scored from close range after a cross from Cardozo caused a mix-up between the keeper and a defender, with neither claiming the ball. The match became very scrappy after that, with chances few before the whistle brought the half to an end with us leading 1-0.

Although we'd taken the lead, I was quite disappointed with our performance, allowing Leeds far too much room and also committing too many fouls. I tried to give the players encouragement before sending him back out again. The second half started in the same frustrating fashion. In the 54th minute Breno hit the crossbar with a thunderous header from a free kick. In the 57th Jimenez had a shot saved by the keeper from just outside the area. In the following minute Daeseleire fired a ball through into the area for Fatih Yucel to run onto and he made no mistake firing the ball into the net to double our lead, scoring his fiftieth league goal for the club. We were playing much better now, but the match was still fairly scrappy. In the 79th minute Cardozo fired another header just over the bar. The match came to an end with us running out 2-0 victors.

I was pleased we'd managed to see out the victory and had performed a lot better defensively in the second half, restricting Leeds very well. Breno was named the name of the match, having put in a very solid display in the centre of defence. This had been a deserved victory, even if the match had not been of the highest quality.

Result: 2-0

Birmingham (A) Premier League

We travel to St. Andrews as favourites to win this match. Birmingham have had an average season, sitting in 14th in the league, but lost most recently to Liverpool at home. We have won all our previous 5 matches against them, so feel confident that we can add another victory. We have the second leg of our league cup semi final 3 days after this match, so giving some key players a rest, but feel we have more than enough quality to still pull off a win.

The match started with Birmingham looking lively, and it wasn't until the 4th minute we gained any possession. Even when we did get possesion we seemed to lack imagination, as both teams seemed to be cancelling each other out. The deadlock was finally broken with Scocco slotting a superb pass through for Gilardino to race free into the area, and he made no mistake to put away the very first shot of the match, and give us the lead in the 13th minute. This seemed to calm our players a lot, and we were playing with more confidence, but there seemed to be little space still for either team to work chances. After 27 minutes, Birmingham suddenly started to push harder, with us lucky at a corner not to concede an equaliser, with them hitting the crossbar, and Ochoa having to make a great save to deny them from the rebound. The following minute they hit the post with a header, with us looking a total shambles at the back. I was rather frustrated when Varrault went down with a foot injury in the 39th minute, just hoping this wasn't going to be anything serious. We were also giving away far too many unnecessary fouls, allowing Birmingham to put more pressure on us. Birmingham pressured us in the last few minutes, with some good defending getting in a couple of blocks stopped them from finding an equaliser. We managed to see out the first half and retain our 1-0 lead.

I was pleased to have the lead, but was a bit disappointed with how we'd played after taking the lead, especially with the number of fouls we'd committed. I sent the players back out trying to encourage them to defend in a much more confident manner in the second half. The start wasn't the most encouraging, with Nasuti allowing himself to be tackled with the ball, fortunately the long range effort was off target, but it was disappointing to see. In the 52nd minute Gilardino put a header from a corner just over the bar. In the 57th minute Laure tried a shot from 25 yards out, only denied by a great diving save from the keeper, pushing it for a corner. The players were now looking more confident, and dominating at the moment. From the corner Breno headed just over the bar. In the 66th Ochoa had to make a save from a bullet header, but easy enough for him to catch. In the 83rd minute Nasuti received a very dodgy booking for a very soft foul just outside our area, with Ochoa just pushing the free kick around the post. I was not happy, because I didn't think it should have even been given as a foul. The team were now playing utter garbage, making stupid passes, and just allowing Birmingham to put us under pressure in a way we shouldn't be. Fortunately the only thing we did get right in the last few minutes was our last ditch tackling, as we managed to somehow hold on for a 1-0 win.

Other than a few times when we went forward, we'd been terrible in the second half. Our only saving grace was that Birmingham had been poor too. This was such an ugly match, with Sunny also picking up an almost obiligatory yellow card, although he fully deserved this one, for a most ugly challenge which wasn't even necessary. I actually clicked the continue button by mistake at the team talk page before selecting anything, although not saying anything was probably a fair reflection of what I felt. There was only 4 players on the pitch rated 7.0 or above, with Gilardino getting the man of the match with 7.3 in what had been a pretty dire match to watch. The positive from the match is that we managed to come away with a win, but Varrault had twisted his ankle putting him out for about 3 weeks.

Result: 1-0

Chelsea (A) League Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg

We travel the short distance to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea, who are marginal favourites for the 2nd leg. I'm fielding my strongest team in order to try and make sure we don't throw away the semi final. We hold a one goal lead after the first leg, so a draw would be enough, but I would like to see us win the match as they are our fiercest rivals.

Chelsea came out looking motivated, with us not really looking overly interested, and under pressure. In the first 10 minutes we hardly even managed to get into the final third of the pitch. Chelsea had been busy firing off long shots. It was therefore completely against the run of play when Rafa headed the ball forward for Cardozo to take control of the ball at the edge of the area with his back to the goal in the 14th minute. He turned his marker and beat a second defender before placing his shot into the bottom corner of the net to score and give us a 2 goal lead on aggregate. I was upset with our defence when they allowed themselves to be split wide open to allow Chelsea to equalise and draw back to just 1 goal behind on aggregate in the 18th minute. We continued to be rather pathetic with Chelsea putting us under almost constant pressure. We were still giving the ball away too often. I was stunned by how awful we were, just allowing Chelsea to dominate. It wasn't until the 41st we managed to get another shot, with Cardozo putting a header just over the bar. We managed to get to half with the match score at 1-1.

I was pleased that we still held the lead on aggregate, but seriously disappointed by our performance. This was by far the worst we'd played at any point during the season, even if the score didn't completely reflect that. I ripped into the players telling them they'd been disappointing, and then sent them back out. The players came out looking much more motivated, but still struggling to stop Chelsea going on the attack. In the 50th minute Dzsudzsak fired a diagonal ball into space behind the Chelsea defence for Cardozo to chase onto, which he did and when he reached the edge of the area, he placed his shot into the back of the net, to restore our 2 goal lead on aggregate. I was furious when Rafa was chopped down and took a knock in the 53rd minute, with no foul given. While he was off the field, Chelsea made the most of him being treated, with Ochoa having to make a good save, with us ripped wide open, showing how important the DMC is to our formation. We seemed a bit more composed after this, but still having to withstand a lot of pressure from Chelsea. In the 61st minute Cardozo put a header just over the bar. In the 69th minute Fatih Yucel cracked a long shot from 30 yards out, but was unlucky in hitting the post. In the 72nd he put a header just over the bar. The following minute Chelsea put a header just over the bar, as they started to push. In the 84th minute Ochoa had to make a good save with us struggling to withstand the pressure. Just into added time, the Chelsea keeper made an amazing save to deny Jimenez, after Gilardino squared the ball to him free in the area. We managed to see the match out to complete a 2-1 victory.

I was pleased that we'd come away with a victory to seal our place in the League Cup final. We'd performed better in the second half, but it still hadn't been pretty. Fortunately, although we'd not been particularly good, we'd been better at putting away our chances. I guess this is a good sign, that although we were outplayed for large parts of the match, we managed to still grab a victory. Cardozo had earned his man of the match award with his display. I congratulated the team on reaching the final. The other semi final was also played the same evening with Man City seeing off Aston Villa, and will therefore play us in the final.

Result: 2-1 (4-2 aggregate)

Burnley (A) FA Cup 4th Round

We travel to Turf Moor to take on Burnley, with us favourites for this match. Burnley currently sit in 3rd place in the Championship, so we must not be complacent.

The match started as really scrappy affair. The first shot worth mentioning was in the 8th minute, with Ephraim firing wide, having got free in the area. Burnley fired just over from a long shot the following minute. In the 17th minute we were given a rather soft penalty with Ephraim apparently pushed in the area. Curri stepped up to take responsibility, and hammered into the top right hand corner of the net to give us the lead, and his first goal of the season. Burnley started to push, and for some odd reason Ephraim seemed to keep dribbling the ball out of play when we did head forward. We were having more of the possession, but Burnley were still firing off long shots with regularity, and in the 33rd minute Ochoa had to push a stunning shot from 20 yards out over the bar. In the 35th minute Scocco produced a superb cross from the right, finding the head of Gilardino who'd got free in the area, putting the ball in the back of the net to extend our lead. That second goal really seemed to settle the team down, and we began to move the ball about with confidence. Burnley were still getting in the odd long shot, either crazy blocked shots, some of which irritate me that they count as shots, and others off target. The match reached half time with us leading 2-0.

I was pleased that we held the lead, showing our quality when when it came to attacking. The only worry was how many long shots Burnley were letting fly, but so far we'd held out. I sent the players back out trying to make sure they were fired up enough to not let Burnley back into the match, who would surely come out looking very motivated. The match restarted looking very scrappy indeed, and soon decided to substitute Sunny after he got booked and seemed intent on getting an early bath. In the 62nd minute Ochoa had to make a great save from a free kick taken from 30+ yards out. We started to take control of the match, but Burnley now seemed almost impossible to break down again, with us forcing them to defend in numbers. In the 82nd minute some awful defending allowed Burnley to score, with our defence seeming to fall asleep. I also felt that Ochoa should have done better with the attempted save as well. This was the first time Burnley had even threatened to break us down in the second half That was frustrating at it seemed to encourage Burnley, but was pleased see us using up time building attacks up slowly, with Gilardino heading just over the bar in the 87th minute, with our only decent chance of the half. In the 90th minute Scocco should have put the result beyond doubt, but the keeper managed an amazing reflex save to deny him having got free of the defence into the area. In the first minute of added time, Gilardino was gifted a superb chance by the keeper to score, heading the ball straight to him, but his shot hit the crossbar. One of the Burnley players tried to head clear, but only succeeded in finding Balanta in the area, and he slammed the ball home to put the result beyond doubt at 3-1. The match finished soon after the restart with us running out as 3-1 winners.

Overall I was pleased with our performance, even though we'd had a small lapse of concentration near the end. We'd deserved to come away with the victory, but Burnley had shown how tough they are to break down. The second half had been very boring until the last 10 minutes, when there was a flurry of action. I took immense joy when the results from other matches came through, with Chelsea being beaten by West Ham.

Result: 3-1

In the run up to the next match, the FA 5th round draw has seen us gain a home tie against either Birmingham or Fulham.

Sheffield United (H) Premier League

The Blades arrive at Loftus Road with us overwhelming favourites. Sheffield United have however performed a little above expectations, sitting in 13th place, but have failed to secure a win in their last 6 matches. Our previous meeting at Bramall Lane saw us come away with a 3-1 victory, so I expect us to win this match, but I have concerns about the team showing signs of complacency.

The match started by boring everyone to death early on. The Blades were enjoying more possession, but failing to do anything with it, and we were also not showing much better signs of working an opening either. Just as a I thought I would fall asleep Curri hooked a cross into the area in the 25th minute, with Fatih Yucel getting his head to the ball and directed it into the net to give us the lead. The Blades went straight on the attack, putting a long shot just over the bar. In the 34th minute Cardozo fired the ball into the area from a free kick, with Kjær getting his head to the ball, with the keeper only just tipping the ball over the bar. A very unexciting first half came to an end with us leading 1-0.

I was pleased with our performance, even though it had been a really quite poor match. I sent the players back out trying to encourage them to press and see this out properly, and hopefully make the match a bit more interesting. The Blades came out looking determined, but were boring us into making fouls, causing great frustration. In the 52nd minute Daeseliere tried a shot from just outside the area, forcing a great diving save from the keeper to deny him. In the 57th minute we won a free kick to the right of the area, with Cardozo firing the kick into the area, where Breno got his head to the ball forcing it over the line to double our lead, and score his first goal since coming on loan to the club. In the 60th minute Cardozo managed to get a chance under pressure in the area, but could only fire the ball at the advancing keeper. In the 70th minute the best series of passes in the match saw Cardozo play a 1-2 with Jimenez, receiving the ball back in the area, having lost his marker, to give himself an easy shot to give us a 3 goal lead. In the 81st minute one of the Blades strikers went on a amazing run, completely doing a couple of our players in a way that shocked me. Fortunately once he got through on goal, he fired straight at Ochoa, giving him an easy save. Just into added time we allowed a Blades striker to run onto a ball with them starting to play route one football, but his header gave Ochoa a very easy save. The match finished soon afterwards, with us running out 3-0 winners.

I was pleased with our performance in the second half, with us having much more control of the match, and restricting the Blades very well. I was a little worried that the use of route one football had nearly undone us at the back. Breno was named the man of the match, having scored and put in a very solid performance at the back to help deny the opposition.

Result: 3-0

Monthly Roundup

This has been a fantastic month, winning all 8 matches, and only conceding 3 goals during, each in cup matches. The highlight was beating Chelsea in both legs of the League Cup semi final. To beat Chelsea, otherwise known as the Blues, or Blue Scum as I call them, is so sweet. We even managed to win the couple of matches in which we didn't play well.

We have extended our lead at the top of the league, now sitting 11 points ahead of Aston Villa with 2 games in hand, and 12 points clear of Everton, who we have 1 game in hand over.

Breno won the Premiership player of the month for January, with Jimenez named as the runner up. I was named the Premiership manager of the month again, having won all 4 matches. My player of the month goes to Jimenez, who scored 3 goals and provided 3 assists. The month finishes with just one injury, that being to Varrault who will be out for up to week.

The next month sees us scheduled for 7 matches, although we will also have our 5th round FA Cup match, but our opponents have not been verified yet. We have 6 league matches, with some tricky opponents, with home matches against Chelsea and Liverpool. The 4 away matches will see us play Everton, Man City, Arsenal and Wolves, so this looks to be a very tough month. We also have the 1st leg of our Champions League knockout match away to Sevilla.

December 2012 - Gilardino Gets New Boots, No Panties, But Plenty Of Sushi

2010-03-03T22:59:00.002Z

December begins with the fixture list showing 7 matches during the month, but it does not include the 2 matches we will play in the Club World Cup, so I'm unsure if we will play 9 matches, or whether one of the current fixtures will be moved. We have 5 Premier League matches, with 3 potentially tricky home matches against Aston Villa, Man United and West Ham. We will also be playing away to Fulham and Portsmouth, who are both difficult teams to break down when they have home advantage. We have our League Cup quarter final match against Peterborough and our final group match in the Champions League against Lyon.

We have had to now submit our squad ready for the Club World Championship, and our board expect us to win. Looking at the teams we could face, I can understand this, and would be very disappointed if we didn't. The only side that looks like it could mount a challenge is the Brazilian team Palmeiras, but I feel we are a much stronger team than they are.

Aston Villa (H) Premier League

Villa travel to Loftus Road with us favourites for the match. So far this season Villa have remained unbeaten, so will probably put up a good fight. I'm quite happy to find that Agbonlahor is injured, but they still possess a lot of pace which could potentially cause problems.

We started the match looking lively, pushing forward, but unable to create anything, until the 4th minute when Curri fired a long ball upfield for Cardozo to run onto and he buried it into the back of the net from the edge of the area. For some reason it them took 4 minutes before Villa finally restarted the match, which is a bug I've seen a couple of times before, but what sets it off I have no idea. We quickly recovered the ball from Villa and in the 10th minute Daeseliere, who'd obviouly enjoyed scoring his first goal for the club last month, struck an absolute beauty from distance into the top corner of the net to double our lead. Villa suddenly woke up, but we restricted them to 4 long shots over the next 10 minutes. In the 23rd minute Ochoa had his first save to make from a shot just outside the area, which was hard to believe could have been struck so well. Villa were now really annoying me by making some really hard challenges, giving Cardozo and Jimenez hard knocks, and no free kicks given, with the Cardozo challenge looking an obvious foul. Cardozo was brought down in the 32nd minute just outside the area, but disappointingly his free kick gave the keeper a fairly comfortable save. In the 34th minute Ochoa had to make another good save from a long shot, to push it behind for a corner off the outside of the post. It was getting frustrating now, because Villa were firing off long shots at will. In the 43rd minute I felt Kjær had been fouled in a challenge, but the ball went loose allowing Villa to score with a stunning 30 yard shot. This stung our players into action with good work by Cardozo in the area, winning the ball and putting it back to Jimenez, who struck a shot from inside the area, which hit the post, and rebounded out onto the back of the keeper and then into the net to restore our 2 goal lead in the 45th minute. The first half came to an end with us leading 3-1.

I was pleased we were leading, but a bit worried by how many long shots Villa had been striking. I sent the players back out trying to make sure they didn't become complacent, because it seems to be an issue for us when we take the lead. I couldn't have imagined a worst start to the 2nd half, with us conceding a really poor goal with just 35 seconds gone, with a header from a cross trickling into the net, wondering how we didn't keep it out of the net. This seemed to rattle the team and they were looking shocking, giving the ball away with lots of really silly passes. We finally started to settle again, with Gilardino putting the ball just over the bar in the 58th minute. In the 65th minute Ochoa had to make a good save with our defence split wide open. In the 69th minute he had to make another, with us now looking the worst I can remember for a long time, with us seeming to forget how to defend. The inevitable happened with us playing so utterly crap with the equaliser being headed in after 70 minutes. I was livid with the way the team had completely lost the plot, not looking anything like the team I know they can be. In the 74th minute Faith Yucel got free of the defence but shot straight at the keeper. Ochoa then had to make another good save in the 75th minute. In the 80th minute I was furious when Kjær looked to be chopped down in the Villa area at a free kick, but the referee wasn't interested, even though he'd suffered a neck injury in the challenge as well. In the 87th minute Grenier got clear inside the area, but fired straight at the keeper. In the first minute of added time Daeseliere had to be substituted with a head injury. Right near the end of added time we won a free kick just outside the area, which Dzsudzsak put only just wide of the post. The match came to an end with the scores level at 3-3.

I was not happy with the players after allowing our lead to slip, with us playing utter garbage once we'd taken our 2 goal lead. I told the players it was not good enough, with this being the first time we'd conceded more than one goal in a match this season. I'm also upset that Daeseleire suffered a fractured jaw, and will be sidelined for 3 to 4 weeks. My mood was lightened a bit when we found out that Arsenal had been held to a 0-0 draw by Fulham at the Emirates.

Result: 3-3

In the days following this match, Simon Kjær rather stunned me by saying he needed to move to a bigger club to win major trophies. Given what we've won since he's been at the club, and our progress so far this season, I find that illogical. I responded by telling him that I want the club to progress, so he can see his ambitions realised. Fortunately he backed down, and seems now to be happy to stay with us, but this was all kicked off by Barcelona showing interest in signing him.

The draw for the 3rd round of the FA Cup took place the day before the next match, which gives us a home tie against Championship team Stoke, which I certainly can't complain about.

Peterborough (H) League Cup Quarter Final

The Posh arrive at Loftus Road with us overwhelming favourites. However on their way to this stage of the competition they managed to beat Sunderland, so have shown they can pose a danger if they play well. The Posh have struggled a bit this season, sitting in 16th in League One, but have done well in cup competitions, so shouldn't be taken lightly. I am starting Gilardino up front hoping he can find his scoring touch again in this match.

The match started with us pushing forward, really looking to take an early lead. In the 4th minute the Peterborough keeper rushed out, made a big mistake passing straight to Gilardino, who tried to take a shot from 30 yards out to score into an empty net, but his confidence is so poor he fired over the bar. In the 6th minute Scocco took a crack from 30 yards out, which the keeper pushed onto the bar to deny him, bouncing safe. Later in the minute Scocco had another try from 20 yards out, but the keeper managed to make a stunning save to push the ball for a corner. In the 19th minute our pressure finally got us the reward we deserved, with Ephraim putting a ball into a crowded area where Balanta was waiting and thumped the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring, and his first of the season. In the 22nd Scocco forced the keeper into another good save from just outside the area, as we continued to pile more pressure on. In the 24th Grenier fired a corner kick into the area, and Kjær managed bundle the ball over the line to double our lead. In the 29th minute Peterborough managed their first shot of the match a long range effort both high and wide of the goal. In the 35th minute Balanta produced an amazing solo run, from just inside our own half on the left touchline, running forward until level with the edge of the area, and then cut inisde, and I kept expecting him to pass, as he moved in closer and closer to goal, before firing his shot into the net at the near post. I could see Gilardino and Scocco lining up in the centre, waiting for him to pass, which is probably why the keeper left the gap at the near post. In the 37th Gilardino tried another shot from just outside the area, which the keeper managed to push over the bar. In the 38th I thought he was going to finally score, but the keeper managed to close him quick enough to stop his shot. Balanta tried to score from the rebound, trying to complete his hat-trick, but saw it deflected for a corner. In the 39th minute Gilardino missed a superb opportunity to score from a header a yard out, but managed to put it both high and wide, and I began to wonder if he'd ever score again for us. The half came to an end with us leading 3-0.

I was pleased with our performance, but could not believe Gilardino had somehow missed every single chance he'd had, in the particular the close range header late in the half. I was really hoping he would finally score again in this match, but right now it's looking like being another blank, which is getting very frustrating. I sent the players back out pleased with them, hoping that they could fashion more chances for Gilardino, which he will hopefully score from. We continued to push forward from the restart, with Kjær putting a header wide from a corner in the 48th minute. I was unhappy when Laure conceded a completely stupid and needless penalty in the 62nd minute which was put away to get Peterborough on the scoreboard. In the 74th minute it finally happened, with Kjær heading the ball forward beyond the Peterborough backline, which Gilardino ran clear of the defence onto and this time he buried the ball into the back of the net to finally get on the scoreboard for the first time in what had seemed an eternity, leading to one hell of a celebration in relief. In the 82nd minute Grenier was set clear of the defence, but saw his shot saved by the keeper, with the rebound bouncing out to Gilardino who slotted it home to grab his 2nd of the match. In the 85th minute Scocco hammered a shot from just outside the area into the top corner of the net, obviously feeling a little left out of the goal scoring bonanza to give us a 6th goal in the match. The match finished with us winning 6-1.

I was very pleased with our performance today, never letting up the pressure on Peterborough throughout the match. The only negative was the penalty we stupidly gave away. Gilardino getting on the scoreboard again was particularly pleasing, because his confidence will hopefully be back up again, and looks like his shiny new boots are finally doing the trick. The manner of Balanta's second goal was superb, fully justifying his man of the match award. Immediately following the match Peterborough sacked their manager, which I feel is rather harsh.

Result: 6-1

The draw for the semi final of the League Cup sees us draw our fiercest rivals, Chelsea, who we hold a good record against, so I have no complaints.

Fulham (A) Premier League

We travel to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham with us favourites to win the match. Fulham have performed above expectations this season, finding themselves in 8th place in the league. They have proved difficult to beat, with them holding Liverpool and Arsenal to draws in their last two matches.

Fulham started the match pushing us like crazy, making it hard work for us, with several shots in the first few minutes, and I feared we'd be overrun. In the 8th minute Fatih Yucel was set free, but his shot was deflected wide of the post by the keeper. In the 16th minute Kjær got his head to the ball from a free kick, but somehow the keeper managed a miraculous save to stop the ball going into the net. The match then turned into a really dismal affair, with both sides largely cancelling each other out, with a few long shots of no consequence, until the 37th minute when Cardozo put a header just over the bar. In the 40th Ochoa had to save a header from a corner kick. The half came to an end with the match goalless.

Although both teams had taken quite a few shots, this really was a quite poor match, with Fulham packing the midfield, making it very hard to find space. The players had looked quite motivated, so I sent them back out telling them to do it for the fans. The second half continued in much the same way as the first half had been, which was leading to an awful match, with the added annoyance that Fulham now seemed to be trying to hack lumps out of us. In the 65th minute Fatih Yucel struck a stinging shot from just outside the area, which the keeper couldn't hold. I was delighted to see the rebound come out to Dzsudzsak who moved forward and hammered the ball into the top of the net to give us the lead. In the 79th minute Ochoa had to make a save from a shot at a tight angle. Fulham were now pushing forward like crazy searching for an equaliser. This was allowing us to mount some counter attacks, and in the 84th minute Cardozo looked like he was getting clear of the defence, but was brought down just outside the box, and with the player quite lucky only to see a yellow card. We seemed to calm down and start passing the ball about with assurance, and in the 89th minute Cardozo got free in the area, and hammered a shot which hit the outside of the post, going for a goal kick. In the 90th minute Fulham fired a shot from inside the area just wide of the post to give us a late scare. The came to an end with running out 1-0 victors.

I was pleased to get a win, because Fulham always seem to be horrible team to play against. Unusually there were a lot of shots created for a match against them, but until we scored the goal, the match hadn't exactly been of the greatest quality. The nuimber of fouls that Fulham committed had stopped a lot our attacks, allowing them time to get players behind the ball again. When news from the around the grounds filtered in I was pleased to find that Arsenal had played out a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford, but Aston Villa managed to beat Sunderland 3-2 at home, so now move to 2nd in the table.

Result: 1-0

Lyon (H) Champions League Group E

Lyon arrive at Loftus Road with us favourites to win this match. As we will be playing Man United in our next match I've put a few key players on the bench, to make sure they're fit and ready for that match.

The match started with Lyon looking more confident on the ball, but it was us that created the first chance with Grenier getting clear into the area, but fired straight at the keeper, with the ball going safe. We managed a long shot not long after, but Lyon then started to look more in control. However in the 14th minute Balanta curled a long free kick into the area, where Ephraim managed to race clear and get his head to ball and glance it by the keeper to put us into the lead, and score his first goal of the season. Right from the restart Ochoa was tested with a thunderous long shot, which he managed to save. We seemed to be giving the ball away far too often, allowing Lyon to try a few more shots, which we were able to block. In the 26th minute Gilardino was set free in the area, but his shot was deflected for a corner. In the 28th minute I was very unhappy when we got caught at the back, looking rather static allowing Lyon to score an equaliser. We advanced forward from the restart, with Ephraim having a close range shot saved by the keeper. In the 31st minute the keeper made an amazing save to deny Gilardino. In the 34th Gildardino forced an even better save from the keeper, pushing it for a corner. I was furious when the referee booked Sunny, with it obvious he is being targetted. In the 37th minute Ochoa came forward to clear a ball, and headed it straight to a Lyon player, who fortunately didn't get his shot on target, with the goal at his mercy. In the 43rd minute Gilardino was denied again by a spectacular save. The half finished with the scores level at 1-1.

I was fairly pleased with our performance in the first half, apart from when we allowed Lyon to score. Although Lyon had more possession, we'd created more chances, with only the Lyon keeper stopping us from having a substantial lead. I sent the players back out trying to get them more fired up to go on and win the match. We came out looking like a totally different team, and in a bad way, with us looking slow on the ball allowing ourselves to be tackled with ease. The match then become more frustrating with us being caught offside a lot, and allowing Lyon to put us under lots of pressure. After the hour mark we finally began to play properly again pushing forward. In the 70th minute Gilardino was quite cynically brought down outside the area, to stop him getting through for a clear chance on goal. Lyon then started to take control again, with us under pressure. When we did try to go forward after this were either giving the ball away, dwelling on it too long and being tackled, or being given offside. Lyon managed a few more shots with Ochoa having to make a couple more good saves. The match finish with the scores level at 1-1.

I was pleased with our first half display, but thought our second half was utter garbage. I was really annoyed with the players for seeming to become complacent in the second half, which nearly cost us the match. I know it's not an important match, but it's very frustrating. In the other match in the group, Porto won, which sees them qualify by a marginally better record over Lyon on goal difference.

Result: 1-1

Manchester United (H) Premier League

The Red Devils travel to Loftus Road with us clear favourites to win the match. United have really struggled this season, sitting in 8th in the league, and without a win for over a month. Hopefully we can take advantage of the problems they have suffered, but they still pose a huge threat. This is my first match after applying the 3rd patch, so no idea exactly how the changes will affect our gameplay.

The first half started with United pushing forward for the first 5 minutes, and then we pushed forward, with the first shot of the match coming in the 11th minute with Fatih Yucel firing a long shot well wide of the post. From the goal kick Nasuti apparently managed to back into and foul Rooney, while actually behind him, which is a neat trick. This allowed Nani to try a free kick, which was fortunately blocked, but seemed to encourage United. In the 15th minute Fatih Yucel tried another long shot, this time on target, but very lacking in power, so no problem for the keeper. Later in the minute I can confirm that miracle long shots are still happening when Anderson, long shots at 4, hit a pile driver from 30 yards out forcing Ochoa to make a brilliant save. United put a header from a corner just over the bar in the 21st minute. We were now under a lot of pressure. Our passing had been looking utterly abysmal, allowing United to keep putting us under more pressure, although we were largely managing to stop them creating a lot. In the 32nd minute we finally managed a good move with Dzsudzsak getting a shot from within the area, that forced the keeper to push the ball for a corner. Cardozo put a header wide from a corner in the 34th minute. In the 36th minute Fatih Yucel put a shot from 30 yards out just wide of the post. In the remainder of the half United managed a couple more shots, one a rather limp shot giving Ochoa an easy catch, and the other a header just over the bar. The half came to an end with the match goalless.

I was fairly pleased with our defensive display but thought in attack we were shocking. In fact for the first 30 minutes our passing had been appalling. Not sure if it's to do with the patch or not, but Cardozo seems oddly poor with his headers, and so far not even managed a shot with his foot. I sent the players back out trying to get them into a better frame of mind to take this match. I was livid almost immediately the half started with Johnny Evans hacking Sanchez down to win the ball, which looked like a foul, from which Rooney was able to take a shot, which was fortunately wide of the target. In the 59th minute Fatih Yucel tried another curling long shot, but the keeper was equal to the challenge. In the 62nd minute Fatih Yucel forced the keeper to tip another long shot over the bar. In the 66th minute Ochoa had a comfortable save from a header to make. In the 68th the United keeper had to make an astonishing save to keep a Cardozo shot out and deflect it for a corner. In the 76th minute Cardozo fired a free kick into the area, where the ball fell to the feet of Nasuti, but was unable to beat the keeper from point blank range. From the resulting corner Grenier fired the ball into the area, where Kjær made a run to meet the ball with his head and hammered it home to give us the lead. In the 81st minute Cardozo fired another header over the bar. Later in the minute Rooney fired over the bar much to our fans delight. In the 83rd minute United equalised with a goal that looked suspiciously offside. In the 86th some swift passing saw Sanchez free in the area, but the keeper made another spectacular save to push his shot for a corner. The ball was going end to end quite fast now, and in the 88th minute Rafa tried a shot from just outside the area, but it was fairly easy for the keeper to save. Just into added time United went just over with a header from a corner. We dominated after that, but just couldn't find the final pass. The match came to end with the scores level at 1-1.

I was a bit disappointed that we'd allowed United to equalise, because I felt we'd down enough to justify taking all 3 points, with us getting a lot more shots on target. Given we lost this corresponding fixture last season, I should be happy though. Once we'd settled, we were the better team, but apart from Kjær's goal, all our other headers went over the bar, which is bit odd. I was cheered up a bit when we found out that Arsenal had been held to a 2-2 draw by Everton, but not happy that Aston Villa had managed to come from behind to beat Ipswich 3-2 with a couple of late penalties, the second one deep into added time. In spite of allowing Man United to equalise the fans are still quite happy with the result.

Result: 1-1

Okayama FC (N) Club World Cup Semi Final

Everyone is excited by our trip to Japan, where we are favourites to win the tournament. We arrive in at the Yokohama Stadium to take on Okayama with us clear favourites to win the match. We need to guard against complacency. This looks to be an ideal opportunity to allow Gilardino go have some fun, and hopefully gain even more confidence.

We started the match looking to take the attack to Okayama, with Gilardino getting through on goal in the 1st minute, but his shot was stopped by the keeper rushing out as he struck it. In the 3rd minute Grenier went on a great run into the box, but shot just wide of the post. In the 4th minute Scocco scored a wonderful chipped shot from just outside the area, which just beat the keeper to put us in the lead. I don't think it would have beaten an average Premiership keeper, but it was a delight to see. In the 16th minute Scocco played a cross into the area, where Gilardino managed to get his head to the ball and direct into the corner of the net to double our lead. Okayama mounted an attack, but our defending stood solid. In the 20th minute Scocco hit an early cross into the area, where Gilardino glanced a header into goal for his second of the match. In the 24th Kjær put a header from a corner just over the bar. In the 26th minute Okayama managed their first shot of the match, a long shot a long way off target. In the 28th Fatih Yucel put a header just over the bar. Gilardino was looking for his hat-trick and fired a shot from the edge of the area just wide of the post. In the 43nd minute we won a free kick just outside the area. Dzsudzsak stepped up and hammered it only just wide of the post. The first half came to an end with us leading 3-0.

I was pleased with our performance, but had one worry, that Sunny had picked up a yellow card near the end of the first half. We'd looked solid defence, and Scocco had been amazing on the right wing, scoring a goal and providing 2 assists. I sent the players back out pleased with them, hoping they would go on and keep looking for more goals. The half started as more of a batle, with Okayama showing some signs of resistance. It took until the 60th minute for our first shot of the half with Fatih Yucel trying a shot from just outside the area, which the keeper made an outstanding save to push for a corner. We continued to press forward, but chances were few until the 70th minute when Gilardino completed his hat-trick with another header, this time the cross supplied by Dzsudzsak. Gilardino seemed intent on scoring more, putting another header in the 74th minute just over the bar. Okayama then managed a consolation on the break, with their striker managing to get clear with route one football, but I was shocked at the indecision shown by Steele in goal, who allowed the shot to be a lot easier than it should have been. Also Kjær had allowed a player shorter than him, with heading of 3 and jumping of 4, to actually nod the ball on, which had allowed the striker to get free, which was even more disappointing. A really pathetic piece of defending all round. It looked like we'd completely switched off, and the referee annoyed me by not booking a couple of the Japanese players, who'd reached 3 fouls, as he'd done to Sunny. I love consistent refereeing, but this wasn't getting my vote. In the last moments of the match, Gilardino turned provider giving Grenier a shot from the edge of area, allowing him to smash the ball home for a goal his performance had deserved. The match finished seconds after the restart with us running out 5-1 winners.

I was pleased with our victory and most of the performance, but a little perturbed by the huge defensive error that had allowed the consolation goal to be scored. I'm also a little concerned with how Sunny and Rafa seemed to be picked on by the referee in most matches we play now. I was delighted to see Gilardino score a hat-trick, looking much more like he had at the start of the season. He was named the man of the match, with an astounding rating of 9.7, with scocco not far behind at 9.3. I'm beginning to see that Gilardino plays better when Scocco is on the pitch, so this could be an important thing to consider from now on. Our victory means we will now play in the final against the New York Red Bulls, who we should be very confident of beating. The intrepid fans who made the trip were jubilant about our victory.

Result: 5-1

The draw for the 1st knockout stage of the Champions League took place following the match, with us pulling out Sevilla, which I feel is a decent draw, given Man United pulled out Juventus, and Arsenal take on Barcelona. There are no easy matches at this point, but it's always nice to avoid some of the biggest clubs early on in the knockout stages.

Due to our advance in the Champions League and that of Tottenham in the EURO Cup, our first league match against them is getting pushed further back, now into March, with our final match of the league campaign also being against them. I've never seen a fixture delayed so much.

New York (N) Club World Cup Final

We stay at the Yokohama Stadium to take on New York, with us favourites to win the match. New York managed to surprise Brazilian team Palmeiras to reach the final, so on paper the final looks easier than I thought it would be, but again nothing can be taken for granted.

The match started with us looking to go on the attack, with our first shot coming in the 5th minute with Rafa blasting the ball over the bar from inside the area. In the 7th minute we won a free kick in a central area about 30 yards out. Cardozo stepped up and curled a beauty into the goal to give us the lead. New York went on the attack from the restart, firing just wide in the 9th minute from within the area. In the 10th Gilardino hit a shot from the edge of the area straight at the keeper. Later in the minute New York fired wide of the post again, from within the area, having just carved us open in worrying fashion. New York were showing they didn't want to give up, but it was Cardozo with the next shot, shooting just wide of the post in the 13th minute. In the 15th he tried another shot, which looked good until it took a deflection off a New York player which redirected it for a corner. In the 20th minute we won a free kick right on the edge of the area. Cardozo stepped up again, and drilled the ball into the back of the net, with the keeper helpless. We then started to look like we would dominate. In the 24th minute Rafa drilled a long shot goalwards, forcing a great save from him, with it falling safe for a clearance to be made. In the 25th Sanchez headed just over the bar from a cross. In the 26th Gilardino set Jimenez up with a shot from just outside the area, going just inside the post with a superb finish. We laid seige to the New York goal for the next 5 minutes, but failed to score again. New York then started to get their passing together, moving the ball about really well. We finally got the ball back with Dzsudzsak producing a superb cross in the 39th minute straight onto the head of Gilardino from which he buried the ball into the back of the net. In the 42nd Sanchez then produced a superb cross, which Dzsudzsak met with his head, hitting the crossbar, with the ball then cleared for a throw-in. We controlled things until the half time whistle, which brought the interval with us leading 4-0.

I was pleased with how we'd gone about things, with Cardozo having found the direction again on his free kicks. I sent the players back trying to make sure they didn't become complacent. New York came back out with a more defensive formation with 5 at the back, and we laid seige on their goal from the restart. Gildardino headed over in the 50th minute with the first shot of the half. The increase in defensive numbers was making it harder for us to work chances, but in the 57th minute Sanchez fired a cross into the area, where Cardozo headed the ball, probably looking to flick the ball on for Jimenez, but it looped over and went out of reach of the keeper and into the net to complete his hat-trick.We were then controlling the match, I decided to bring Sanchez and Dzsudzsak off so they'd be ready for our next match. It was frustrating when Gilardino went down in the area, in the 75th minute after trying to flick a header on at a corner, with a potential upper body injury, with no sign of how that could be possible. In the 77th the referee booked Rafa, yet again showing complete inconsistency. We continued to push with Cardozo still causing the defence problems getting his head to another couple of crosses, as we still looked to add to our goal tally. New York were powerless to stop us keeping their goal under seige for the rest of the match, allowing us to play out for a 5-0 victory.

I was very pleased with our performance, especially in the 2nd half, where the opposition didn't create a single shot. We had 4 players with a rating of 9.0 or higher, with Sanchez an Dzsudzsak at 9.0, Gilardino on 9.1 and the hat-trick hero Cardozo claiming the man of the match award with 9.6. This had been a thoroughly professional display. This was one of the easiest clean sheet bonuses that Ochoa will ever earn, as he had no saves to make, few crosses to catch, and not even many back passes to deal with. Gilardino suffered a bruised rib, apparently from a late tackle, which begs the question why we didn't get a penalty, but will only be out for 4 to 5 days, so shouldn't be a big problem. What is becoming an issue now, is that Fatih Yucel hast not scored since early the previous month, but I'm sure he will start scoring again soon, although in match time his drought is not close to the epic proportions that Gilardino had built up.

Back at home Aston Villa cut our lead to just 3 points after a good win, but we do have 2 games in hand over them.

Result: 5-0

West Ham (H) Premier League

We return from the land of the rising sun, and sushi to play the Hammers at Loftus Road, with us favourites to win the match. West Ham have struggled this season, sitting in 16th in the league, and arrive off the back of losing to Liverpool and Arsenal, although before that they beat Man City away, so we mustn't get complacent as they have the ability to punish us.

Although we started brightly, with more possession it was West Ham creating the shots, hitting the target with their 3rd shot in the 8th minute, which was fortunately an easy catch for Ochoa. In the 15th minute Dzsudzsak fired a corner into the area, with Cardozo hammering a header goalward, but the Hammers keeper, pushed it over the bar for another corner. Later in the minute Fatih Yucel hit a header goalward, but somehow the keeper managed an outstanding save to tip it over the bar. Dzsudzsak fired the corner into the area, and this time Fatih Yucel's header found the back of the net to give us the lead in the 16th minute, and bring his goal drought to an end. In the 23rd minute I was a little nervous when we allowed Michael Owen space in the area, but his kick went clear over the bar, much to my relief. The match became rather scrappy after that, and in predictable fashion, Sunny was booked in the 39th minute. The match reached half time with us leading 1-0.

I was happy enough that we were leading, with more possession and the lead, but we seemed to be allowing West Ham to come onto us far too much, not helped by Sunny seeming intent on getting a red card. I decided to bring Rafa on to make sure that wouldn't happen. I sent the players back out trying to encourage them to finish this off properly, and not let the Hammers get something from this match. In the 48th minute Dzsudzsak hit a shot from 30 yards out, which went behind for a goal kick off the outside of the post. We then laid seige to the Hammers goal for a couple of minutes, with Cardozo firing a header from a corner over the bar in the 50th minute. In the 52nd minute Ochoa made a great save, but from a shot that seemed to be well wide of the post, to concede a corner. In the 54th minute Rafa passed the ball forward to Grenier outside the box, and what happened next was pure brilliance, with him dribbling through a gap in the Hammers defence, shrugging off a player and then placing his shot as he reached the edge of the 6 yard box to double our lead. The Hammers went on the attack from the restart, but as they'd done several times, fired a long shot very wide of the goal. In the 57th minute Fatih Yucel got his head to a cross, which the keeper fumbled, but somehow they managed to clear the ball for a throw-in. In the 62nd minute only a fantastic save from the Hammers keeper denied Fatih Yucel when he hammered a shot from a cross. In the 64th minute the Hammers went close with our defence breached, but fortunately the shot went just the right side of the post from our perspective. We now seemed to settle into controlling the match, patiently building up attacks. In the 72nd minute Ephraim tested the keeper with a screamer from just outside the area, which he could hold but the ball went to a Hammers player. Everytime Grenier got the ball, there seemed to be panic in the Hammers defence. In the 77th minute he hammered a shot from just outside the area, which the keeper did really well to turn over the bar for a corner. In the 79th minute Cardozo hammered a free kick from 30 yards out just wide of the post. In the 83rd minute Ephraim had a tricky chance to add to the score, when the Hammers keeper came rushing out as he beat the defender, but unfortunately his left foot is weak, and he put the ball into the side netting. West Ham then started to press forward, and we began conceding far too many silly fouls. When we did get the ball we were passing it with great control, using up valuable time on the clock. The match came to an end with us winning 2-0.

I was pleased with this win, because West Ham are always a tricky team to play. I thought Grenier was fantastic, but for some reason his rating was only 7.3, with his stunning goal not seeming to count very high, even though I think it's one of the best individual pieces of skill we've seen this season. We did seem a little open at the back at times, but it rarely looked panicked. Dzsudzsak was named man of the match, which was quite fair, as he caused the Hammers defence a lot of problems, and provided an assist.

Result: 2-0

Portsmouth (A) Premier League

The last match of the year sees us travel to the south coast to take on Pompey at Fratton Park. Earlier in the season we have beaten them twice, in the league and the league cup, both times with 1-0 results, so despite being clear favourites, I fully expect this to be tight match. Portsmouth come into match having been unable to score or win in their last 8 matches, securing only a single point during that time, and sit in 18th position in the table, looking quite likely to be relegated on their current form.

The match started with us pushing forward for the first few minutes, but getting nowhere. The first shot of the match came in the 5th minute from a Pompey player firing just wide from the edge of the area. From a free kick near the left touchline, Cardozo hit the ball to Nasuti in the centre, and he passed it forward to Scocco in the area, and he hammered the ball home to give us the lead. Portsmouth then started to push forward, with Ochoa having to make a save in the 9th minute. In the 10th Scocco tried to lobbed the keeper, which nearly succeeded, but went just over the bar. Cardozo then tried the same in the 12th minute. In the 20th minute Grenier received the ball in the area, but he pulled his shot wide. In the 25th Ephraim managed to get through, but a great save deflected his shot for a corner. In the 29th minute Grenier was sent flying right on the edge of the of the area, earning the player a yellow card. Cardozo fired the free kick way over the bar, as his accuracy at free kicks had deserted him again. The following minute a defensive error allowed a Pompey player to get in on goal, with Ochoa saving the blushes to keep the ball out. The match then became very scrappy, with lots of fouls and stupid passes. The match reached half time with us leading 1-0.

I was pleased we had gone into the lead, but I felt we hadn't defended particularly well. I sent the players back out trying to encourage them to perform a little bit better and see out the victory. The second half carried on much the same as the first half ended. Pompey fired a header over from a corner in the 50th minute. We really weren't playing well at all, with far too many passes putting our players under pressure. In the 64th Pompey fired another shot over the bar. In the following minute Cardozo fired just wide of the post. In the 66th minute Portsmouth had Aaron Mokoena sent off for a second bookable offence. If anything Portsmouth seemed even more motivated, and it was hard to believe they were a man short, with us still finding it hard to work space. In the 80th minute Sunny was predictably booked, but given how the referee had treated the Portsmouth players this was inconsistent, showing that Sunny was being singled out. I was really annoyed when Grenier was hacked down, causing a potential shin injury in the 84th minute, causing his enforced substitution. The match continued in much the same fashion, but we managed to hold out to finish as 1-0 winners.

The scoreline was predictable, and I was pleased that we had managed to grab the victory, which we had deserved. Nasuti was named as the man of the match, after putting in a very solid defensive display, and also getting the assist for the goal. Grenier's injury was not as bad as I feared, with him sidelined after suffering a gashed leg for about 7 to 10 days, but I was still not very happy about it, as he'd been starting to play really well for us. I was cheered by other results that came through as the match finished, with Aston Villa held to a 2-2 draw with Man United, and Arsenal more surprisngly held to a 2-2 draw by Cardiff.

Result: 1-0

Monthly Roundup

This has been a fantastic month, given that we had to play 9 fixtures. I can overlook the disappointment of the way we allowed Aston Villa to come back and claim a draw. I was delighted with the manner of our wins over Peterborough and the teams at the Club World Cup.

Our lead has been cut to just 5 points by Aston Villa, although we do have 2 games in hand over the them, due to our trip to Japan, so we potentially have a much bigger lead if we can win those matches.

Our draw with Lyon was of no importance to us, but it did have a major effect on Lyon, as they dropped behind Porto in the group, and therefore failed to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament.

There were no awards at all for anyone at the club, and even Grenier's wonderful goal was not included in the goal of the month list, but I still think it was a stunning piece of football skill. His unfortunate injury sees him as our only player on the injury list at the end of the month, but he should be back playing in a couple of weeks. I've had to think very hard about who was our player of the month, with so many excellent performances on show. I decided to go with Balazs Dzsudzsak who scored one goal and provided 3 assists during the month, being our most consistent performer. Oddly he is struggling to settle in London, but continues to perform wonders on the pitch.

I'm sure there will some wondering at the bizarre title of this post. It is a reference that came to mind from an album by Ian Dury and the Blockheads from way back in 1977, called New Boots and Panties. It appealed to my rather twisted sense of humour to make a play on words from that title.

Our next month sees us scheduled for 7 fixtures, 4 being Premier League matches, at home to Cardiff and Sheffield United, and away to Leeds and Birmingham. We have the two legs of our League Cup semi final against Chelsea, and the FA Cup 3rd round match again Stoke. If we beat Stoke I believe we will play another fixture near the end of the month. Even worse would be to draw with Stoke, and have a replay as well.

Right at the end of the month AC Milan have just announced that they are looking to send the Brazilian defender Breno to us on loan, which would be astounding, as he looks to be at a very similar level to Kjær, which would make our defence even more solid.

November 2012 - Gilardino's Shooting Boots Are Stolen, Possibly By Cardozo

2010-03-01T00:40:00.001Z

This next month sees us scheduled for 6 matches, with 4 Premier League fixtures, all matches 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 in very poor form so far in the group matches. I have one slight concern before we start the month, which is Gilardino's form, because since scoring him hat-trick early last month, he's failed to find the back of the net, which is fairly worrying given how well he started the season, when he seemed to be scoring for fun.

Before the matches start the draw for the quarter final stages of the League Cup take place, with us getting very lucky, drawing Peterborough at home, who are a League One team. They are certainly not pushovers though, as they beat Sunderland in the 2nd round of the competition.

Wolves (H) Premier League

Wolves arrive at Loftus Road, with us overwhelming favourites for this match. Wolves have struggled this season, but arrive off the back of a rare victory over West Ham in their previous match. Victory is the only result that is acceptale from this match.

We started the match very lively, pushing Wolves back from the start. Our first shot came from a free kick just outside the Wolves area, which was not far wide of the post in the 2nd minute. With us having problems breaking through the Wolves defence but showing great passing I asked the players to pass into space. In the 13th minute Dzsudzsak passed the ball into the path of Daeseliere who cracked an absolute screamer from 25 yards out into the top corner of the net, to score his first ever goal for the club. It had taken over 2 years to come, but when it did, it was a cracker, finally getting a long shot on target. In the 17th minute Gilardino managed to slip free into the area, but hit his shot straight at the keeper. The following minute he crossed the ball for Cardozo to get his head to, but somehow the keeper managed to make a save. Wolves were showing they hadn't come to just make up the numbers, and Ochoa had to make a good save later the same minute, in what was turning into a action packed match. In the 23rd minute only an astonishing save by the Wolves keeper stopped Cardozo from adding to the score. From the resulting corner Sunny got his head to the ball, but was unable to direct it by the keeper. In the 29th minute Cardozo had another chance from a header, and again the keeper was able to save the ball. With Wolves starting to enjoy a bit more possession and trying to attack through the centre, I decided to ask the players to clear to the flanks, and play narrower. In the 45th minute Daeseliere continued his fantastic game, this time looping a cross into the box, where Cardozo headed the ball into the goal from less than a yard out to extend our lead. The half came to an end with us leading 2-0.

I was pleased with our performance, even though our chances would suggest our lead should be even bigger. Cardozo in particular had been causing the Wolves defence huge problems. Daeseliere had been very impressive, always looking to move forward and help in attack. I sent the players back out letting them know I was pleased, hoping they would go on and complete what was looking like an impressive performance so far. Right from the restart we pushed forward with Cardozo being slipped the ball on the left, and he advanced to the edge of the area, firing a shot from the edge of the area, which was pushed out by the keeper, falling to Sunny just outside the area, allowing him a fairly easy shot to extend our lead with just 32 seconds of the half gone. In the 55th minute Cardozo was put through again, but cynically brought down just before he could get into the area, earning the defender a yellow, although some refs would have given a red. Oddly Cardozo was miles off target with his free kick though. In the 62nd minute Cardozo had another free kick, this time going only just wide of the post. The following minute Ochoa was action again, making a good save, his first of the half. In the 64th minute I was disappointed when we were caught on the break allowing Kevin Doyle to get free and place the ball in the net. In the 66th Grenier played a ball across for Gildardino to shoot from the edge of the area, but his shot was extremely disappointing, giving the keeper an easy catch. In the 69th minute Wolves gave us a scare with a header just over the bar at a corner. In the 73rd minute Kjær made a very uncharacteristic sliding tackle to earn a yellow, which was very unnecessary. In the 82nd minute Cardozo tested the keeper again with a header from a cross. In the 88th minute Sanchez sliced a shot wide from a cross the edge of the 6 yard box. The match finished with us winning 3-1.

I was pleased with this performance, even though our finishing at times hadn't been as good as I would expect. Gilardino seems to be having a worrying run of form recently. We had done a fairly good job of cutting down the chances that Wolves could create. When the results came through from other grounds it was hard to believe what had happened, with Arsenal being beaten at the Emirates by Sunderland, and Man United losing to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

Result: 3-1

Rapid Wien (H) Champions League Group E

Rapid Wien arrive at Loftus Road with us clear favourites to win this match. Wien have low morale, and after our performance at their ground I felt confident that we will win this match. When the teamsheets are released it's interesting to note that Wien have now moved to the same tactical formation that we have, a 4-4-2 wide diamond.

We started the match looking lively, with Gilardino forcing the keeper to make a good save in the 5th minute. From the resulting corner he put his header just over the bar. In the 8th minute Balanta fired a long shot just over the bar. In the 12th minute Fatih Yucel ran onto a throughball into the area, but the keeper had closed him down too fast to be able to get his shot off. In the 15th our pressure finally paid off with Gilardino playing Fatih Yucel into the area, and this time he made no mistake by scoring to give us the lead. The match started flowing from end to end with a few long shots being fired off by both teams. In the 41st minute Balanta had another shot from within the area, forcing a great save from the keeper. The first half came to an end with us leading 1-0.

I was largely pleased with our performance in the first half, but only leading 1-0 did not feel comfortable. I sent the players back out giving them encouragement to go on and see the result out properly. In the 61st minute I thought we'd taken the lead, with Ephraim crossing the ball into the box, where Gilardino hammered a header home. The goal was disallowed for being offside, but the decision was really poor with Ephraim actually still being off the pitch after taking a throw-in as the pass was made, so believe it should not have been given. The keeper made a mistake from the free kick, allowing Gilardino free in on goal, but the keeper had somehow got back to make a save. In the 63rd minute the referee made an atrocious decision giving Rafa a second yellow card after a foul which should not have been given in the 63rd minute. I was absolutely livid. In the 76th minute Ochoa had to make 3 consecutive saves to keep Wien out, with the original pass through looking suspiciously offside, and yet another later on in the minute. In the 79th Puygrenier hit a header from a free kick just wide of the post. In the 82nd minute Ochoa was called upon again to make a good save. After the sending off I'd brought Cardozo on to play as a target man on his own up front. He was causing problems for the Wien defence, but they seemed to be getting away with obstructing him without conceding fouls. In the 85th minute Cardozo went close with a 25 yard long shot, going just wide of the post. We managed to hold on to the end of the match with the score finishing 1-0.

I was pleased we'd won, but disappointed with how things had gone wrong in the second half after Rafa was harshly sent off. I was angry with the officials for some very poor decisions that nearly cost us the victory.
This win does mean we have qualified from the group stages, which so I can rest some players for the final couple of group matches if needed. Ochoa received the man of the match award after his astonishing series of saves near the end of the match.

Result: 1-0

Sunderland (A) Premier League

We travel to the Stadium Of Light to take on the Black Cats, with us arriving as marginal favourites. This looks to be a much tougher match than I thought at the start of the month, with Sunderland having beaten Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal in 3 of their last 4 matches. Our record over Sunderland is very good, although our last two away matches with them have ended as 2-2 draws. Sunderland are so full of pace that I will go for a counter attacking strategy to make sure we don't ripped apart at the back.

Sunderland came straight forward, with them putting a header just over the bar in the 2nd minute. We quickly started to show some of our quality, with our first shot coming in the 7th minute with Cardozo firing just wide. In the 9th minute Jimenez played a pass forward for Cardozo to run onto just inside the area, with him managing to shake his marker off, and fired the ball into the bottom corner of the net to give us the lead. Sunderland tried to push forward, but we stood firm and in the 13th minute Sunny played a ball forward for Cardozo to run onto thumping the ball home again for his second of the match. This was very tight on whether it was offside or not, but it's nice to get the benefit of the doubt once in a while. In the 15th minute Ochoa had to push a powerful header from a corner just over the bar. In the 20th minute Sunny drilled a shot from distance, bringing out a great save from the keeper. Only a perfectly timed challenge stopped Jimenez getting through on goal, which actually sent him flying, so tight was the close timing of the tackle. Our players were beginning to enjoy themselves now, really pushing Sunderland, winning a free kick just outside the area in the 22nd minute. Cardozo stepped up with a chance to try and complete his hat-trick, but just caught the edge of the wall, with the ball flying for a corner. In the 26th minute from a free kick in our half, Ochoa fired the ball upfield, with Gilardino challenging for the ball and managing to get his header to go diagonally forward into the area, for Cardozo to chase, but was brought down right on the penalty spot. I was a little surprised the player who brought him down, Senderos, wasn't booked, although Lee Cattermole was booked for protesting about the penalty. Cardozo now stepped up with a superb chance of completing his hat-trick, and duly thumped it home in style. Sunderland were now looking quite ragged, allowing us to see if we could extend our lead even further. The ball was now being moved fairly quickly from end to end, with us creating slightly better chances, with a couple of long shots fired wide. In the 40th minute Ochoa had to make a diving save, with Sunderland making a rare break through, to shoot from edge of the area. In the first minute of added time was annoyed that we conceded from a corner, allowing Aaron Lennon to thump a header home, which is dismal defending, because he's the shortest player on the pitch and also below average heading skill. The half finished with us leading 3-1.

I'd been really pleased with our performance in the first half, until our loss of concentration just at the end to concede a goal. I sent the players back out still pleased with them though, hoping they'd continue with the high level of performance In the 49th minute Gilardino was fed the ball by Cardozo in the area, but his shot was straight at the keeper giving him an easy catch. We were pushing Sunderland quite a bit now, with the Sunderland foul count mounting, and they switched to 5 at the back, which was now making the match a bit more ugly. Our defence was looking very solid and the Sunderland throughballs were looking very poor, making it easy for Ochoa to move forward onto them. In the 73rd minute Ephraim hammered a shot from the edge of the area, which the keeper couldn't hold, but went safe. Sunderland were still trying to make a fight of this, putting a shot just wide of the post in the 85th minute, and in the 86th Jimenez forced the keeper to push his shot for a corner. In the 87th minute I thought Ephraim had got through, but a perfectly timed challenge saw the ball cleared for a throw-in. The match came to an end with coming away as 3-1 winners.

I was very pleased with this result. Understandably we found it a little harder to create chances in the 2nd half, especially after Sunderland went to 5 at the back. Cardozo put in a superb performance today, coming away with a great hat-trick, obviously not wanting to be out-done by Gilardino and Scocco who grabbed one each the previous month. This was a very good team performance against a side who had the ability to cause us problems, with their speed. One very pleasing aspect of the match for us was how few fouls we committed, only 4, with Sunderland up at 23, being quite lucky the referee was being lenient, with only one player receiving a yellow card. There were a couple of surprises from other results, with Liverpool losing away to Blackburn and Man United only managing a 1-1 draw at home to Birmingham. However Arsenal got back to winning ways, thrashing Ipswich 4-0 away from home.

Result: 3-1

In the days following this match, Luis Jimenez went down with food poisoning, meaning he is likely to miss our next match. Scocco is however back in full training again. Mark Hughes was finally sacked by Man City after his team suffered a 3rd straight defeat, this time to Birmingham. I have been linked with the job, but immediately issue a statement denying that I'm interested, which has delighted the board. It's worth noting that when he left, 7 other members of the backroom staff decided to leave. Unfortunately Onyewu pulled a hamstring in training, which will sideline him for 2 to 3 weeks.

Ipswich (H) Premier League

We welcome the Tractor Boys to Loftus Road with us overwhelming favourites to win the match. Ispwich had lost their last 7 matches, and have not won a match for two and half months, so look very demoralised having also failed to score in their last 4 games. We've had a week since our last match, and our next is also a week away, so I can field my strongest team to make sure we don't do anything silly. I'm pleased to see that it's actually dry for this match, which seems to be a real rarity. I can't quite decide if it's wet too much or not, but it does feel like we've played a lot of matches in the rain.

The match started with Ispwich looking surprisingly determined given their poor run of form. It took us a few minutes to settle. In the 7th minute we were denied a very good claim for a penalty, which was turned down, but we still won a corner. In the 8th minute Cardozo headed over from a corner. Ispwich were playing a very phsical match to try and stop us, which was frustrating. In the 16th minute Puygrenier put a header from a corner over the bar. In the 18th minute Sanchez ran down the right wing to the byeline and produced a superb cross into the area, where Grenier got his head to the ball and this time the back of the net was found to give us the lead. Ipswich were quite determined though putting a long shot just over the bar almost immediately from the restart. We then started to put the pressure on, which paid off in the 26th minute with Cardozo heading home from a Dzsudzsak corner kick to extend our lead. In the 30th minute only some luck stopped Ispwich from going even further behind at another corner, with the keeper only just getting a hand to a looping header from Kjær which then looped over to hit the bar and came back down for a defender to head over. From the resulting corner Puygrenier put his header just over again. In the 44th minute Sanchez hit a rocket from 25 yaards, which the keeper could only push over the bar. The half came to an end with leading 2-0.

I was happy that we held the lead and had largely controlled the match. What I was a bit worried about was how physical Ipswich were being, which so far hadn't caused an injury, but was bordering on the dangerous at times. I sent the players back out pleased, hoping they could keep this level of performance up. I was disappointed that we immediately gave the ball away with Ipswich looking fired up. The match became really ugly with the foul count mounting which was really breaking the game up. In the 70th minute Cardozo got through for a difficult chance but dragged the ball wide, and tested the keeper in the 72nd with a header. In the 77th he put another header wide of the post. In the 89th minute Ipswich managed to grab a slightly lucky goal, with an attempted shot, deflecting off Curri's legs to allow another Ipswich player through to score an easy goal. That said, Kjær really shouldn't have allowed the Ipswich player to get to the ball in the first place. Worryingly we gave the ball away within seconds of the restart, which I really was not happy about. We managed to hold on and see the match out for a 2-1 victory.

I was pleased with the overall performance, but given the number of shots we had, I didn't think we tested the keeper enough, and our lack of concentration at the start and end of the second half was frustrating, allowing Ispwich to pull a goal back, and nearly gave them a chance to grab an equaliser, which they would not have deserved. I told the lads that they'd played well in the first half, but the second half was poor. I think the players just became complacent in the second half, making a number of silly errors. One thing that is frustrating about a player being blamed for a goal which occurs near the end of the match, is that it seriously wrecks their rating in a way that I feel is harsh if they've performed really well up to that point. Kjær finished with a 5.4 rating, because he was blamed for the goal, but had been up at 7.5 before the Ipswich goal was scored. The reverse is also true if a player that has been really struggling, scores, their rating seems to jump up by far more than I would expect. Somehow despite the heavy tackling that was going on, we suffered no injuries.

Result: 2-1

Blackburn (A) Premier League

We travel to Ewood Park as clear favourites to win this match, but although Blackburn are seen as relegation candidates, they are sitting in mid-table, although only recorded one win in their last 5 matches. I hope the players do not show any complacency going into this match, as it's one we should be winning. Their most recent victory was a 1-0 win over Liverpool at home, so we can't take this match for granted.

The match started with us looking lively, with Dzsudzsak heading wide of the post in the 2nd minute. Blackburn were looking highly motivated, and really frustrating us, closing down and putting in heavy tackles. The officials were not helping matters with some dubious fouls given against us, and a really poor offside decision that stopped Gilardino being able to create a chance. This had the hallmarks of a really poor match, with Blackburn trying a few long shots. In the 27th minute Blackburn's Kalinic was sent off for an extremely ugly two footed lunge on Sunny. This seemed to spur Blackburn on even more, with Ochoa having to make a close range save in the 30th minute. In the 31st minute we won a free kick just outside the area, but Cardozo fired just over the bar, continuing his run of not being able to get a free kick on target. In the 39th minute I thought we'd taken the lead when Gilardino put the ball in the net, but he had been offside. I was annoyed when Sunny was needlessly booked for getting annoyed about the decision. In the 40th minute we won an indirect free kick about 30 yards out. Cardozo moved the ball to Jimenez who took a crack, forcing a great save from the keeper, with the ball rebounding into the path of Sanchez who'd run into the area, and he hammered the ball into the net to give us the lead. In added time I thought we'd extended the lead, when Cardozo hammered the ball from just outside the area, with it hitting the underside of the bar and going in. It was however disallowed, as it appears to have deflected off Gilardino on the way through, but I'm very dubious about that, making me angry again. The half finished with us leading 1-0.

I was pleased we had the lead, but I wouldn't say it was a good performance. I sent the players back out trying to fire them up more, because Blackburn were still looking very motivated. We pushed forward from the restart, and in the 47th minute Gilardino put a header from a corner just over the bar. We then started to give the ball away with some really stupid passes. In the 62nd minute we gained even more advantage when they had a player going off injured after having made all their substitutions. In spite of the advantage we were being incredibly poor. It wasn't until the 84th we created another chance with Ephraim hammering a shot from the edge of the area, bringing a great save from the keeper. In the 87th minute Cardozo forced another great save from the keeper with a header from a corner, as we finally started to pile on more pressure, with Nasuti firing his header wide from the resulting corner. Sanchez then fired wide from the edge of the area in the 89th. The match came to an end with us winning 1-0.

This was a very poor match, largely because of the horrible tactics from Blackburn, closing us down the whole match, with heavy tackles. I think this seemed to affect the players, causing them to hesistate at times. I guess it figures that it would be 1-0, because the previous match was a 1-0 victory for Arsenal and before that a 1-0 victory for Tottenham. They are a very frustrating team to play, with a huge amount of determination. In the 2nd half every one of their players was either motivated or fired up, which seems to make things very difficult. The yellow card that Sunny picked up in this match, means he will miss the next domestic fixture. I was delighted when other results came through, to find the Manchester derby had finish as a 1-1 draw and Arsenal had lost 1-0 to Aston Villa.

Result: 1-0

Porto (A) Champions League Group E

We travel to the Estadio do Dragao for our final match of the month as marginal underdogs. As we've already qualified from the group this match holds little relevance, but I'm still fielding a reasonably strong team, but giving some players a rest before we enter the December onslaught of fixtures. I still feel we have a chance of coming away with something from this match, as Porto have been disappointing so far, although they did beat Lyon in the previous match at this stadium. Onyewu is still out injuried and Rafa is suspended for this match. Porto see the return of Hulk up front, who was injured for our first encounter. The Brazilian striker is sure to give our defenders a hard time, with his speed and dribbling skills.

Porto came out looking lively, and in the 7th minute Ochoa had to make 3 good consecuctive saves to stop them scoring, and another good save in the 11th. We had tried to attack, but been unable to find the final pass. In the 16th minute Ochoa was in action again, making another good save, with us playing the worst I'd seen this season. In the 21st Ochoa pushed a shot from inside the area over the bar, with us under huge pressure. We were making so many stupid errors, giving the ball away it hard to believe, one of which forced Ochoa into a great save from a stunning 30 yard long shot. In the 38th minute we finally managed to get a shot, a stunning 25 yard drive from Gilardino which looked to going into the top corner, but the keeper managed to somehow hook the ball over the bar. In the 45th minute Ochoa had another save to make, with us totally unable to stop Porto from hammering shots at us. The half came to an end goalless.

I thought we were utter garbage, and lucky not to have conceded. We'd made so many mistakes, and when we tried to go forward just kept slowing the play down, which I couldn't understand. I hadn't seen us play this bad for a long time, only creating one single shot in the whole of the half. My assistant manager is obviously a comedian, but he reckoned I should tell the players I was pleased, but other than Ochoa, there was nothing to be pleased about. I sent the players back out, trying to fire them up to play better, having made a couple of substitutions. We didn't really look much better, and in the 54th minute Ochoa had to make another superb save to tip a thunderous long shot over the bar. In the 60th minute Gilardino put a header just over the bar from a corner. In the 67th minute Ochoa had to make another shot, and the clearance dropped for another Porto player to fire off a long shot, which went just wide of the post. I was annoyed when a really poor offside decision of epic proportions denied Scocco a possible chance to get clear of the defence. I decided to bring Cardozo on for the last 20 minutes of the match. Cardozo forced a good save from the keeper in the 76th minute from a free kick, his first on target for quite a few matches. In the 81st minute Ephraim produced a superb pass in the area, to give Cardozo a great chance, but the keeper somehow managed to get to the ball and claw it away. In the following minute he forced another great save from the keeper. We were finally playing well, and managed several other shots, either blocked or off target, with Porto now struggling to create anything. The match came to an end goalless.

I'm happy enough to come away with a draw, and pleased with how we played in the last 20 or so minutes. However the first half in particular had been pretty awful, and only some great saves from Ochoa and some poor finishing from Porto had stopped us from losing. Ochoa's performance saw him take the man of the match award. We seem to be setting up a pattern here, with the final match of the month ending up as a 0-0 draw for the 3rd month in a row.

Result: 0-0

Monthly Roundup

Another great month, the win over Sunderland being the highlight, especially as they'd had some great results over some of our rivals. The way we struggled against Porto early in that match was very frustrating, but we eventually found some form, and came close to stealing a result we wouldn't have really deserved, and to be honest the draw was fairly lucky. The Blackburn match had also been quite a struggle, and given that they'd had a player sent off and another player down through injury, we failed to take advantage of it, as I feel we should.

I'm completely stunned by how the other teams that were challenging right at the top have stumbled badly, allowing us to open up an 8 point gap at the top. This could be extremely important, as we are about to enter the busiest period of the year, especially as we will be travelling to Japan to play in the Club World Cup in December.

After the two results in the Champions League, we have confirmed our qualification from the group stages, and will now top the group no matter what results are played out in the final fixtures.

My player of the month is easy to pick this time, with Oscar Cardozo being very consistent, scoring 5 goals, including his stunning hat-trick against Sunderland. I picked up the manager of the month award for the 3rd time this season. The month finishes with only one injury, that being a hamstring injury to Onyewu, but he should return early on in December. I am getting rather concerned about the lack of goals from Gilardino since he scored his hat-trick last month. I will definitely be wanting to play him again Peterborough, hoping the he will be able to take advantage against weaker opposition to get his confidence back, which seems to be severely lacking. One thing I have noted is that he now has Scocco listed as one of his favoured personnel, so maybe setting these two together as a strike partnership may help him finally score again.

December begins with the fixture list showing 7 matches during the month, but it does not include the 2 matches we will play in the Club World Cup, so I'm unsure if we will play 9 matches, or whether one of the current fixtures will be moved. We have 5 Premier League matches, with 3 potentially tricky home matches against Aston Villa, Man United and West Ham. We will also be playing away to Fulham and Portsmouth, who are both difficult teams to break down when they have home advantage. We have our League Cup quarter final match against Peterborough and our final group match in the Champions League against Lyon, so it will be a very demanding month.

Breaking Down The Opposition Defence

2010-02-27T02:15:00.000Z

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.

October 2012 - Ochoa Puts On A Goalkeeping Masterclass

2010-02-24T22:01:00.000Z

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.

Defending - Defensive Gap Being Exploited

2010-02-22T22:01:00.001Z

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.

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.

September 2012 - Keeping Up The Solid Start

2010-02-17T02:05:00.000Z

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.

August 2012 - Solid Start To A New Season

2010-02-11T12:49:00.001Z

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.

Queens Park Rangers - 4-4-2 Diamond formation 2012

2010-02-09T21:59:00.000Z

Due to the interest being shown, in particular by Shafique, I have decided to show the latest setup for the formation I will be using for this season.

The formation is known as the 4-4-2 diamond. This really came about because I noticed that my central midfielders I had at the club, seemed to be split into two main groups, natural defensive midfielders, and natural attacking midfielders. It made sense therefore use that tactic in the previous season, especially with the siging of Jimenez.

Our success with this formation, which seemed to give us plenty of attacking options from the wings and through the middle, had been remarkable, which shaped my signings for the new season. One of the things that we'd been lacking was a striker who could take charge of crosses into a crowded area.

My two new strikers are Gilardino and Cardozo, both have superb heading skills. It made sense therefore that they play as a poacher, in particular Cardozo, who has the ability to create a lot of problems for the opposition defence. The other striker position, will largely be set as Advanced Forward, which Fatih Yucel, Scocco and Balanta can all play, as well as Gilardino. This gives me lots of options for which strikers I use as a pairing for any particular match.

The attacking midfielder is set up with the Attacking Midfielder role, with attack duty. In fact Jimenez could play the trequartista role, so I might experiment with this at some point.

My left and right midfielders are now set as wingers, with the attacking duty. They can quite easily be pushed forward to be attacking midfielders if I feel we need to push the opposition even harder, with little danger of conceding.

The defensive midfielder is set with that role, but with support duty, which suits Sunny particularly well. Rafa is more suited to being defensive, and if he's giving the ball away too often, I will change the role so that things are tightened up more.

The backline has not changed, with the fullbacks still set as Full Back, with automatic role, so they can head forward to provide overlap when trying to get crosses into the box. The centre backs are both set as Central Defenders with Defend duty.

The keeper, is still set as a Goalkeeper, as neither of my keepers are properly suited to play as sweeper keepers.

This setup seems to suit the attacking strategy very well against weaker teams, dropping back to standard against the other teams. It should be rare that I will feel the need to go counter attacking, although with the pace we have, this should still work very well.

During a match if I ever feel the need to go defensive to protect a lead, I will usually sacrifice a striker and bring on a 2nd DMC, usually with a defensive duty. This proved to be useful a few times last season, and still gives us good attacking options.

It's well worth spending time to check out all the different options available for each position, to try and make sure you have a player set for the correct role and duty. You could quite easily end up with a very good player appearing to be very mediocre if you don't set them up correctly. It's also important to think about this when you make substitutions during a match as well. In general you seem to be rewarded for tactical consistency, or at least only making changes that will not cause the team confusion, because they get used to being able to find a player in a particular position when looking for passing options.

Queens Park Rangers - Pre season 2012

2010-02-08T23:06:00.000Z

Season Expectations

The minimum expectation of the board this season is that we finish in a league position to qualify for a EURO Cup place. I have however decided to be a bit more adventurous this season, telling the board we can challenge for the title. This gives me a massive £61 million to play with on the transfer market, as well as upping my wage budget to £550k per week. The maximum wage I can offer to a single key player is now £65,000. This should open up some options in the transfer market that were unavailable to us before. We should also now be a slightly more attractive club to join due to our recent successes.

This year the board expects us qualify from the group stages of the Champions Cup, which I feel we should be able to do with no problem, after our display last season.

We will be contestng the European Super Cup, which the board have expectations of us winning. If we achieve that, we will be off to World Club Championship, which we would stand a reasonable chance of winning.

The board are expecting us to reach the semi final stages of both the League and FA Cup competitions.

The board do not regard the Community Shield as important, so there is no pressure for us to win it, other than for pride.

I will be keeping our current 4-4-2 diamond formation which served us so well in the previous season, and you'll see below seems to suit my new signings very well too.

Transfer movements in

During the June I set about having possible targets scouted with my top scouts working very hard to tell me if certain players were realistic targets.

Defensively we have a slight weakness in the full back positions, in particular on the right side. I decided that if I could find a player considerably better than my current right backs, I would sign them. I attempted to first attract Alvaro Arbeloa, but was sadly turned down by him in favour of heading to AC Milan. With him lost, I tried to sign Garry Bocaly, but this time lost out to Zenit St. Peterburg. I looked at many other right backs, but could not find any that I felt would improve us, without spending insane amounts of money, with wages we couldn't afford to pay, so gave up this line of enquiry. Hopefully next year we I can sort this out properly.

My sights were next set on getting a left and right winger, and seeing if I could secure the signature of one or two more quality strikers. Even the before the season ended I'd had an eye on Oscar Cardozo, so set about the process of negotiating a deal. In the last few days before the transfer window opened, I managed to gain the signature of my first target as a winger, in the form of Alexis Sanchez, from Udinese. He looks to be a very exciting purchase, and leaves the Udinese fans very disappointed that he was sold.

I was pleased to have captured someone of this standard, who can also play as a striker, and is an accomplished left winger too, which is a bonus. While checking to see if there were any interesting players to be found on the transfer list, my eyes nearly popped out when I spotted Alberto Gilardino for sale. After having him scouted and confirmed my belief that he is top quality still, I put a bid in. I also had several scouts out checking every part of Europe, when one popped up with the name of Balazs Dzsudzsak as looking like a good target to play on the left wing, so I set about negotiating with his club.

With Alexis Sanchez already at the club, I pleased to find out that not only had our offer for Alberto Gilardino being accepted, but he'd accepted our contract offer. With this deal just being sealed I finally finished my negotiations for Oscar Cardozo and Balazs Dzsudzsak, and offered them contracts. Two days later they accepted these contracts, and arrived ready to start playing in the friendlies. The fans at all these clubs were upset about losing these players, which is usually a good sign, and hopefully they will soon become favourites with our fans.

I was delighted with this progress on the transfer market, and felt things were going superbly well. Those that have been following the blog with know that my best keeper Lung jr, has been trying to leave the club, so I was busy getting my scouts to check out different keepers, drawing lots of blanks, either wanting way too much, or were not even as good as our 2nd keeper Jason Steele. You'll also know that I decided to sell one of my central defenders, who'd not performed well, and was unhappy, so I felt I needed to find a replacement, either another star defender, or one that would be on a par with Puygrenier and Nasuti.

After such a good start to my transfer dealings, things suddenly became very hard work. It was almost getting depressing with no further progress by the start of August, when a couple of scouts came back telling me about an AC Milan central defender who was being sold, and would if he joined the club, be our second best player in that position. At £2.7M I knew I had to seal the deal, especially as other clubs were nosing around, trying to get him on a loan deal. Another scout, checking Central America came back to me recommending Guillermo Ochoa to me, a name I knew I'd heard before. There followed several days of negotiation before the deal was sealed, and then a tense wait to see if we'd be given a work permit. Eventually this went through completing my signings. The fans of Ochoa's old club were also distraught that he'd been sold, and looks like he should be a star for us.

I felt we already have a decent number of young players coming through, with some decent players arriving this year in our under 18 team, so felt I didn't need to bring in any new additions at this stage. In fact I've completely exhausted our transfer budget, through using some of the money to increase our wage budget, which I have slightly exceeded, but nothing for the board to be alarmed about.

Transfer movements out

Before the transfer window opened I set about trying to sell the players I'd already decided that needed to leave. I was pleased to be able to sell Andwele Slory and Martin Stranzl in the June, neither of whom performed well for us last season, and were not happy about lack of first team football. They just weren't good enough when they did play, so it was best they went, along with several players on free transfers, I'd tried to sell the previous year, but just couldn't shift. When an offer to loan Matteo Alberti, who I'd like to sell, came in, I decided it was worth accepting this. Damion Stewart wanted to stay, hoping I was would give him a new contract, but there's no room for sentiment with a player who is only just good enough to make a Championship side, so I released him.

I set about trying to sell Faurlin, Lung jr and Buzsaky, who for various reasons were no longer needed. I started by offering these players up for sale, with Faurlin eventually leaving to go to Nice. However Lung jr and Buzsaky were just not shifiting. It didn't seem to matter what value I tried to offer Lung jr at, noone was interested in buying him. With Buzsaky however, there was interest, but every contract he was offered he would turn down. With the deal for Ochoa almost sealed, I wanted to reduce the wage bill, by seeing both these players leave. Eventually I decided that if I kept these players, but wasn't playing them, they would start to cause trouble in the dressing room, so decided it was time to make some harsh decisions. The first was to bring about the mutual termination of the contract with Lung jr, which he accepted without hesitation. I knew that if I tried to go for mutual termination with Buzsaky, this would cause a lot of trouble, potentially upsetting players at the club. I decided with a heavy heart to release him on a free transfer. The fans are unhappy to see both of these players leave, but for the long term future of the team it was necessary. It's only a game, but it's amazing how bad I actually feel about this. The fans felt that it was the right decision to let the rest of the players go however. Hopefully our performances on the pitch will soon have the fans forgetting about this.

Pre-Season Friendlies

I decided to play 6 friendlies this season, with 3 overseas teams, and 3 teams from the Championship, two of which were clubs relegated from the Premiership last season. One of these clubs is Charlton, who are now a feeder club for us, which sees us play a friendly match each year. We won all 6 of these matches, struggling a bit in the first match, but really finding our feet after this. I really didn't expect us to demolish Velez 12-0. The players just seemed to want to keep scoring, with Fatih Yucel grabbing a hat-trick, but the real star of the day was Grenier, who scored twice and provided 4 assists. This is the first time I've ever seen a team of mine in the game score more than 7 goals, producing 11 clear cut chances. The two new strikers looked very good, always causing the opposition defence problems. The two new wingers also looked good, with them both providing a couple of assists, with Sanchez also grabbing a couple of goals.

This is our best set of friendlies so far, because even in the Wigan match where we had some players looking complacent at times, we always looked capable of scoring more if we'd really want to.

Summary

Although I'm disappointed about what happened with both Lung jr and Buzsaky, overall I'm delighted with our dealings in the transfer window. We now look a lot more dangerous going forward, with 3 strikers with excellent heading ability. Cardozo in particular should be able to cause problems being 6' 4", and Gilardino is with similar skills at 6 foot should pose a threat. Fatih Yucel has excellent heading skills, but his height was always an issue in a crowded box.

The morale of the team is very high, with all our strikers having been able to get on the scoresheet during the friendlies. We now have a much better depth to squad up front, which at times last season became a bit of an issue during the busy periods of the season, especially when we had a few injuries.

Checking through the team, it seems that most of our defensive players are pleased that Gilardino has joined the club. Most of the attacking players are pleased that Ochoa has joined the club. I'm hoping that this is a good sign that there won't be any problems with the sqaud harmony.

August sees us play 5 matches, starting with our appearance in the Community Shield against Arsenal. We then have three league fixtures, followed by the European Super Cup against AC Milan, which means it will be a fairly busy start to the season.

Analysis of QPR 2011/2012 Season

2010-02-08T01:08:00.001Z

Competition Analysis

We exceeded the expectations of the board in all the competitions that we entered. The objective in the league was to achieve at least a EURO Cup entry from our league position, which we exceeded in style by lifting the Premiership title for the first time in the history of the club.

The expectation in the Champions Cup was very low, in fact it was to compete in the playoff which we were already in. We had an astonishing run, with a few slices of luck along the way, and managed to lift the Champions Cup beating Ajax in the final, way beyond what we could have ever dreamed at the start of the season.

In the FA Cup the expectation was to reach the 6th Round. We managed to go one stage further, getting to the semi-final, before our disappointing exit to Everton. The expectation in the League Cup was to reach at least the Quarter Final, which we again exceeded by reaching the final, losing to Arsenal in controversial circumstances.

There were no expectations put upon us, as far as the Community Shield goes. The board were happy that we were playing in it. We managed to overcome Man City and lift the trophy.

Team Statistics

Our top five goalscorers for the season were:

25 - Ignacio Scocco - Striker
23 - Fatih Yucel - Striker
15 - Angelo Balanta - Striker
12 - Hogan Ephraim - Midfielder
7 - Luis Jimenez & Akos Buzsaky - Midfielders

Nine other players managed to get onto the scoresheet during the season, in a fantastic all round performance. I was pleased with how the strikers performed and the level of goals being scored from the midfield. The most important goal of the season, was again scored by Clement Grenier, who grabbed the dramatic winner in the Champions Cup, in a similar fashion to his late winner in the FA Cup final the previous season.

The top five for providing assists this season were:

12 - Fatih Yucel
11 - Luis Jimenez
10 - Ignacio Scocco
10 - Clement Grenier - Midfielder
9 - Angelo Balanta & Hogan Ephraim

There were 13 other players who managed to provide at least one assist during the season.

Our top five rated players for the season were:

7.22 - Simon Kjær - Defender
7.21- Silvui Lung jr - Goalkeeper
7.21 - Sebastien Puygrenier - Defender
7.20 - Ignacio Scocco
7.18 - Laure - Defender

Six other player managed to achieve a rating of 7.00 or higher.

This indicates how well our defence performed this season, with Simon Kjær being the most consistent player. Our striker force this year wasn't quite as consistent as in the previous season, largely due to Fatih Yucel being distracted for the first few months, when he was upset, believing he needed to leave the club to further his career.

The fans player of the year was Ignacio Scocco, who also turned out to be rated as the best signing of the season in the Premiership.

Signings

I've already indicated that Ignacio Scocco was the signing of the season, for his goalscoring and assists, and one of the most consistent players in the team. It took a few games for him to gel with the squad, but soon started to turn in some excellent performances, providing many crucial goals during our league campaign. I look forward to him being available for the Champions Cup matches next season.

Simon Kjær was a very impressive signing, but due to the amount paid, does not rate as being as good a signing as Scocco. He is however a star central defender, and was the rock at the heart of our defence. His consistency was outstanding, rarely having a poor match during the season. As with Scocco he took a few matches to blend with squad, but once comfortable, he made it hard work for the opposition strikers to find a way past him.

Luis Jimenez was the bargain of the season, arriving on a free transfer, and putting in some good performances. He is not one of the most consistent players, becoming complacent sometimes against lesser opposition, which is his only real fault.

Sunny turned out to also be a superb bargain, playing in rotation with Rafa. Sunny managed to get on the scoresheet 3 times, and provided more assists but he also had more of a discipline issue, being sent off a couple of times.

Tomas Klimek, Carlos and Bretislav Pospisil have developed during the year, but still remain a season or two away from being able to break into the first team squad with any regularity. They are still showing some good promise, with Carlos being touted as the next Thiago Motta. He spent most of the season struggling to settle in London, but right at the end revealed that he is now happy, which should help him develop a lot quicker now.

Loan Players

Gianmarco Zigoni was another striker loaned to us by our parent club, AC Milan, arriving at a perfect time when I most required an extra striker, saving me the trouble of trying to buy another during the January transfer window. He proved quite a hit with the fans, putting in some good performances at times, but lacked consistency. His return of 6 goals and 5 assists was however very useful.

Paul Dixon was loaned from Bolton in the January transfer window due to an injury situation during a very busy period, when we only had one left back who was fit. He gave some very decent performances for us, providing an assist on his debut, being fairly consistent in the matches he played.

Awards

The English Players' Young Player of the Year award was given to Fatih Yucel, with Angelo Balanta coming second. Both players had an excellent year. If Fatih Yucel had not been distracted earlier in the season, he could have had another truly outstanding year. I have been named the manager of the year. Simon Kjær was our only player included in the Players' Team of the Year.

Fatih Yucel won the European Champions Cup Best Player Award, with Silviu Lung jr claiming second spot. Five of our players were named in the European Champions Cup Dream Team, with Hogan Ephraim, Luis Jimenez and Sunny named along with the best two players in the tournament.

The Future

Our defence has been very solid this season, with only Arsenal conceding less goals than us in the league. The biggest weakness is the full backs. They are however fairly good, so unless I can find much better players that I can afford to pay, their is little to be gained in this area. I will however be selling Martin Stranzl, as he became unhappy during the season, not seeing much action in the first team, largely because he didn't perform very well. I will be looking for a replacement, either a second star defender or a player to act as backup.

The biggest improvements will probably come from strengthening the wings. I will sell Slory, who was very disappointing this season, and look to bring in a couple of quality players to play on the left and right wings.

I am also tempted to increase the strike force, because this last season proved to be very tough on our strikers. That would also allow us to have much better cover on the wings, as Scocco can play very well as a right winger, and Balanta as a left winger if required.

I will also be looking to sell Alejandro Faurlin, as he was the worst performer of the season, ending up with a rating of 6.60 from the 11 matches he played, providing a single assist. His attributes suggest he should be able to perform well as an attacking midfielder, but he was very disappointing.

I'm in a bit of a dilemma with Akos Buzsaky, because he's starting to fall short of the quality required at this level. If I can sign some players that can provide at least the same quality of long shots and free kicks, then I can think about letting him go while I can still get a reasonable price for him. I like him as a player, and I know the fans would hate to see him leave, so it's a difficult thing to contemplate.

I also have the issue of Silvui Lung jr, who wants to leave. I'm hoping that I can get a good enough offer because it would be a crime to sell him for less than I bought him, especially as he's improved a lot. From the insulting offers I received in the January transfer window, it seems that he's wanted, but noone wants to pay much for him. If he causes problems I will have to let him go though.

May 2012 - The Seasons End

2010-02-07T03:17:00.000Z

This is the final month of the 2012 season, which sees us play only two fixtures. We have the final league game of the season away to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Our other match is now the most important match of the season, with us travelling to the Allianz-Arena in Munchen, to take on Ajax in the Champions Cup Final.

Angelo Balanta has recovered from his broken arm slightly earlier than expected, but not soon enough for the first match. Due to a lack of match fitness he will probably make the bench for the Champions Cup final. Martin Stranzl stubbed a toe in training, making him unavailable for the league match. At best he would have been a bench warmer in these matches anyhow.

Manchester United (A) Premier League

We travel to Old Trafford, finding ourselves as underdogs for this match. I'm hoping that we can find some inspiration for this final match, to put an end to a run of poor league results, and show some real pride.

The match started with United pushing us back, forcing us to defend, and we were finding it difficult to put passes together. In the 12th minute Lung jr had to make a good save to keep United out, from a shot that shouldn't have been allowed as it was at least a yard offside. After this scare, we seemed to settle, and start passing a bit better, but still not convincing. In the 19th minute however we finally managed to put together a great series of passes, with Scocco playing Fatih Yucel into the area, allowing him to get around the keeper and put the ball in the net. United were angry, feeling it was offside, but as the pass was made he was being played onside by 4 players, one at least 2 yards ahead of him. Within seconds of the restart Scocco managed to intercept a pass, and just as he was getting clear of Ferdinand to try and get a run on goal, he was fouled, resulting in a yellow card, which looked somewhat like frustration boiling over. We were looking much more assured on the ball after going ahead. In the 25th minute from a corner, Lung jr had to make another solid save to deny United again. In the 32nd minute United equalised, but in slightly odd circumstances. Just before, United had put the ball out, to allow a player to be treated. Instead of throwing the ball straight for a goal kick as should happen, we'd tried to go on the attack, which broke down, with a lucky bounce going straight to Rooney on the left wing, allowing him to counter attack, and he centred the ball into the area, making for an easy goal. It's a bit disappointing, because if this bug wasn't there, we'd not have conceded in this fashion. In the 39th minute Rooney thought he'd scored, and was upset when he was given offside, which he clearly was by at least 2 yards. It was a bit worrying how often United were able to work opportunities, and some of our clearances were very poor. The half finished with the scores level at 1-1.

I was fairly pleased with how we'd played, because the pace that United possess is very dangerous. I told the players that they can win this before sending them back out. The match was fairly even at the restart with opportunities hard to come by. In the 56th minute Lung jr had to make a good save from a long shot. In the 77th minute Lung jr had to make another save from yet another shot, where offside should have been given. In the 84th minute Grenier was dubiously given as committing a foul in the United box, which was annoying, as the ball he'd won, dropped to Buzsaky, which he hammered home. In the 86th minute a piece of magic happened, with Buzsaky lobbing the ball over the defence for Grenier to run onto in the right side of the area. The keeper rushed out for it, but Grenier got to it quicker and headed it over into the centre of the area, where Fatih Yucel was waiting to gratefully head it home to give us the lead. The United players were livid, believing that there was an offside, leading to Darren Fletcher receiving a yellow card. We managed to control the ball for most of the remaining time, although right at the end United gave us a scare, but we managed to hold on to secure a rare 2-1 victory at Old Trafford.

I was pleased with the way the players had performed in this match. It seems they were determined to gain revenge for the defeat that was inflicted upon at Loftus Road back in the December. Both our goals had been superb, but the buildup play in the 2nd was superb. This was a good battling performance, and one that the players can be proud of. Apparently Mancini, the United manager was angry about the first goal, believing it was offside, which it most definitely wasn't, so he should get a nice warning from the FA. This concludes the league season, leaving us just the single match left to play.

Result: 2-1

Ajax (N) Champions Cup Final

We travel to Munchen and the Allianz-Arena to take on Ajax, a match for which we are marginal favourites. I feel confident that the players will be up for this, as they'll be wanting to do this for the fans. I find it bizarre that in the middle of May the temperature for this match in Germany can be as low as 5 degrees Celcuis with drizzle.

The match started as a real midfield battle with both sides restricted to long shots early on. We were looking the more dangerous team. In the 20th minute we finally created a good chance with Grenier getting his head to a cross, only to see the keeper save it. We continued to push forward, creating a few more shots. In the 33rd minute Fatih Yucel got free of the defence only to make a rather limp shot giving the keeper an easy save. In the 35th minute our pressure finally paid off with Zigoni heading home a header from a corner taken by Grenier. In the 42nd minute Sunny hit a thunderous shot from outside the area, unfortunately too near the keeper. The half ended with us leading 1-0.

I was pleased with what I'd seen, with us restricting Ajax quite well, and fully deserved to have a lead. I sent the players back out telling them to bring the trophy home for the fans. We started the half by pushing forward looking to extend our lead. In the 53rd minute Ajax created their first really good chance, which Lung jr saved to keep us ahead, and a great save in the 55th after a mistake by Sunny allowed Ajax to get through. In the 57th minute Fatih Yucel put a header from a corner just over the bar. In the 63rd minute Ephraim provided a superb cross into the area, where Zigoni was waiting 2 yards from the line, only to make a complete mess with the ball bouncing clear off him. In the 74th minute Ajax grabbed an equaliser with an amazing long shot, somehow beating Lung jr; very disappointing. It looked like Ajax were now looking more confident and closing us down much better, so I made a couple of substitutions. In the 83rd minute Balanta struck a superb curling shot from just outside the area, which the keeper managed to somehow dive full length and hook away from the goal. Just as I was wondering how he could do that, I realised the ball was dropping to Grenier in the area, and he made no mistake in putting the ball into the net, to give us the lead again. Ajax then started to try and push, with us defending. We helped ourselves by taking up quite a bit of that time by getting forward with the ball. During that time Ajax created one chance with the shot being blocked by a defender to deny the opportunity. The match came to a finish with us running out 2-1 victors.

I was absolutely delighted by this win, which had been hard work, but I felt we'd done enough to deserve it. As this was the last match of the season and we'd achieved the almost unbelievable in lifting the Champions Cup, I told the players it was a fantastic result and to enjoy the victory. Grenier ran out as the man of the match, not only grabbing the winner for the 2nd year in a row in a cup final, but provided the assist for the first goal. The celebrations were amazing with fireworks and streamers going off everywhere. I was so proud of the players as we paraded around the ground showing off the trophy. Once our media commitments were finally done, we went back to our hotel for a big party, to celebrate this fantastic victory, as well as the long overdue celebration from lifting the Premiership title.

Result: 2-1

Monthly Roundup

A fantastic month in which we won both our fixtures, showing some of our best performances. The players really seemed to want revenge over Manchester United, and sealed the victory with a delightful move. The Champions Cup match had been close, in which we put together a good performance.

The league table shows that Arsenal managed to finish 2nd with Liverpool 3rd, who at one point looked unlikely to finish in the top four. Bolton and Newcastle are now confirmed as being relegated with Wigan.

There were some great performances in the two matches, with Fatih Yucel and Grenier being the most consistent. I have chosen Grenier for providing 2 assists, and grabbing the winner in the Champions Cup Final. The odd thing is, Grenier is not rated particularly highly, but is intelligent with some very good attributes for the position he plays, which seems to allow him perform very well.

This victory now means I have entered the top ten of English managers ranked at number 9. This brings the season to a close. The next post will give an analysis of how the players and signings performed during the season. I have already been scouting for new players to strengthen the squad, and will be upping the search before the players return from holiday.

April 2012 - All Aboard the Rollercoaster

2010-02-04T23:13:00.000Z

The month sees us scheduled for 5 fixtures, three of which are league matches, the FA Cup Final against Everton, and the second leg of our Champions Cup quarter final against Spurs. If we managed to overcome Spurs, the schedule will expand to include the two legs of the semi final. We have only one injury right now, that being the broken arm of Balanta, from which he is unlikely to see any further action this season.

Tottenham (H) Champions Cup Quarter Final 2nd Leg

Spurs arrive at Loftus Road with us favourites to win this match. However given the importance of this match, they are sure to fight all they can to come away victorious.

Unsurprisingly the match started as another midfield battle with both sides finding it hard to work a way through the defence of the other team. Spurs had a couple of off target long shots in the first 10 minutes. The first real chance of the match came in the 11th when we managed to work space for Ephraim to get free in the area, but his shot was pushed for a corner by the keeper. The match returned to being a tough midfield battle. The next incident of note was Puygrenier going down in the 21st minute with a head injury, after a clash with Crouch, who I guess must have a concrete head. There then followed a period of Spurs pressure, which we managed to hold off, with Lung jr making a great save in the 31st just getting his hand to the ball when Crouch tried to chip over him. This was getting quite worrying, and when we did get forward, we were either giving the ball away or being fouled in the midfield to stop our charge goalward. Lung jr had to make another good save in the 34th minute, with the pressure mounting on us. I was disappointed with how complacent we were looking. It therefore came as a huge surprise when we took the lead in the 39th minute after Zigoni's shot rebounded off the keeper, dropping to Ephraim who cooly slotted the ball home. After the goal our passing at least started to look better, and in the 44th minute Jimenez went very close from a free kick, some 40 yards out, only just going outside the post. Spurs were really starting to lose their composure, and in the 2nd minute of added time, a huge mistake by Hutton, allowed Fatih Yucel to steal the ball and hammer home our 2nd goal of the match from point blank range. That brought the half to a close with us having a 2-0 lead.

I was quite stunned to find us leading by two goals, because for the majority of the first half we had rarely looked as if we could score, and were having a tough time holding Spurs off. The last few minutes of the half, we looked every bit as good as I know we can be. In a way I'd been looking forward to giving them a hard time for how poor they'd been playing, but now all I could do was tell them I was pleased, and to now go out and complete the job. It was no surprise that Spurs came out really trying everything to find a way back into the match. We were keeping our composure well, and defending with confidence, with Spurs largely firing way of target. In the 62nd minute Palacios managed to get a long shot on target, with an extraordinary shot, which Lung jr pushed over the bar. In spite of their domination, Spurs were looking overly desperate, making some really strange errors when shooting. As the half wore on they started to get nearer and started making Lung jr have to make a lot of good saves. Near the end of the match we started to look a bit more controlled, finally pushing forward a bit, but never quite looking dangerous. Spurs kept fighting to the end but just couldn't find the shot with which to score, and we ran out 2-0 winners.

I'm delighted to get the result, but this was a very strange performance, with us only looking any good at going forward for the few minutes at the end of the first half. How we managed to hold on and not concede is almost a miracle. I think Lung jr was the real key, putting in a man of the match performance. Spurs dominance is illustrated by their 29 shots to our 9, but only 8 of those were on target, with 13 completely off target. That has to be about our worst ever victory, with only a few minutes of top class attacking on show. Admittedly our defending had been very good, with our keeper putting in a top class performance. That really isn't the way I like to win, but I'll always take that over losing. This now means we are through to the Champions Cup semi final, which is quite astonishing. There is some bad news from this match, with Puygrenier's head injury seeing him out for about a week, and he has also reached the yellow card limit for the tournament, so will miss the first leg of the semi final. He is quite understandably upset about this, as he will also the miss playing in the FA Cup semi final as well, due to the injury.

Elsewhere Man United were surprisingly beaten by Fulham, 1-0 at Old Trafford, and Arsenal were held to a draw at home by Liverpool. When these results are announced over the tannoy the ground is nearly blown apart with the roar of delight from the crowd. This now means that only Arsenal have a mathematical chance of beating us, sitting 9 points behind with 3 games to play. I'm quite astonished because I felt both would win those matches. The Man United result in particular is shock..

Result: 2-0 (3-1 aggregate)

The draw for the semi final stages will see us play against Inter, which will be another huge test for us. The other semi final sees Ajax take on Juventus, with those two teams respectively putting Barcelona and Real Madrid out of the competition.

Blackburn (H) Premier League

Blackburn arrive at Loftus Road, with us clear favourites to win this match. Rovers have struggled at time this season, finding themselves now sitting in 13th place and feeling confident of avoiding relegation after beating Bolton, the bottom team in their last match. That was however their first win for over a month. This is definitely a fixture I need to try and get my players fired up for to make sure they're not complacent, as this is our opportunity to seal the Premiership title. When I arrive at the ground I see the trophy waiting to be awarded to us, should we manage to achieve the result required to seal the title today. It's quite a scary moment to see it sitting there, with our name all but written on it. The ground is absolutely packed out, as it has been all season. When the players go out onto the pitch for the warm up they receive a huge welcome from the fans. The atmosphere inside the ground is amazing, it's bubbling like a cauldron, with the sound welling up inside the compact stadium.

The match started with going immediately forward, with Zigoni seeing his shot from inside the area, go just over the crossbar, with 20 seconds on the clock. At least none of our players were looking complacent, but some of our passing was not looking overly confident, which gave Blackburn a chance in the 7th minute, with the shot pulled just wide of the post. In the 14th minute we were completely undone allowing Kalinic in to place the ball in the net to put Blackburn ahead. Our defending had been shocking, allowing him to move into space at will. Our players finally started to show a lot more purpose, with Blackburn having to defend doggedly, but this didn't seem to last long, with Blackburn holding firm and making us look fairly average for a while. The players seemed to going from nervousness to being motivated depending on who had the ball and where on the pitch it was. You could also feel the tension within the crowd, because they would be so disappointed if we lost and failed to life the trophy this evening. In the 41st minute though, we finally put a really good move together with Rafa putting a great ball over the top for Ephraim on the left side. As he reached the left edge of the area, he passed to Scocco now running forward into the area, and he slotted it home from 6 yards out. You could feel the mood in the crowd change, as they started to get behind the team urging them on. Oddly we had more players looking nervous after this, with Blackburn immediately going on the attack from the restart, and winning a corner. From the cleared corner, Zigoni received the ball on the right, and ran forward, putting a speculative cross into the box, which a Blackburn defender neatly headed into his own goal to suddenly give us the lead in the 44th minute. The noise in the stadium was astonishing, and there's a small part of you, that can't help feel sorry for the player putting the ball in his own net. That slice of luck settled the nerves within the team, and so the half finished with us leading 2-1.

This had been another very strange performance from the team, having shown the odd good bits of skill, but seemed to be finding it hard to break Blackburn down. Our lead owed quite a bit to luck, with the own goal being scored just before the end of the half. I sent the players back out giving them encouragement, hoping they would make a bit of a better showing of things this half. I was immediately disappointed to see Nasuti looking complacent when they went back out. In the 52nd minute we nearly paid the price for some more poor defending with Steele pushing the ball over the bar from a Kalinic shot from within the area. In the 56th minute Fatih Yucel had a chance from just outside the area, but oddly thumped the ball straight at the keeper. In the 57th he had another chance, but his first touch let him down, and I realised he was looking complacent, which was very disappointing. We were now much more in control of the match, but really failing to take advantage of this. Not long after the match turned into a really dismal foul fest, making the rest of the time pretty awful to watch. I was somewhat mythed that Rafa was booked after committing 3 fouls, and yet a couple of Blackburn players were able to happilly commit several more without even as much as word. I begin to feel my DMC's are being picked on. In the last few minutes, with the crowd starting to sing "We Are The Champions," Blackburn really pushed hard, but could not find a way through, allowing us to run out 2-1 winners.

I was deliriously happy, not particularly caring for the moment whether we'd been good bad or indifferent. This result meant we had secured the premiership title for the first time in the club's history. The fans were chanting so loud I thought we'd all go deaf. I thought lifting the FA Cup had been amazing, but to parade around our home ground showing off the premier league trophy was something else. I was delighted that the hard work put in by all the players had paid off. I was quite taken aback by the praise given to me by our most consistent performer during the season, Simon Kjær. I can't praise the players enough, but there's still silverware to play for, so our full celebrations will have to wait a while. From the first team squad the only player whose morale is not showing as superb is Zigoni, probably due to being substituted during this match. I have never seen the morale of the team so high. I now need to bring them back to earth quickly and prepare for our FA Cup semi final clash with Everton in 4 days times.

Result: 2-1

In the cold light of day, we had played better in this match than we had against Spurs in the preceding match. Whether we deserved to get the win, I don't know, but it goes a long way to forgetting about our loss to Arsenal in the League Cup.

Everton (N) FA Cup Semi Final

We travel again to Wembley for the 3rd time this season, to take on The Toffees, finding ourselves as clear favourites. The bookies give Everton little chance of coming away victorious. I know however that we can't take them for granted, and if we show any complacency they have the firepower to make us pay for that. Everton arrive off the back of 3 straight losses, but this doesn't seem to have dented their morale too much, so they will surely be up for this match. In the warmup for the match my assistant sees no signs of any player being complacent, so I tell the players to do this for the fans.

The match started as a pretty turgid affair with both teams struggling to work an opening, with Everton giving Steele an easy catch from a long shot early on. Both teams were passing really well, but it seemed to be heading nowhere, until the 17th minute when Ephraim picked out Scocco at the edge of the area. He moved across the face of the area to get some space and hammered the ball into the top corner of the net to give us the lead, with our first shot of the game. Everton became a little more attacking, which started to open the game up a bit more, but it was still a struggle. In the 26th minute I was upset when Everton suddenly produced a goal out of nowhere, after a lucky bounce off one of our defenders, to level the scores. In the 36th minute I couldn't believe we didn't take the lead, when first Scocco hit the keeper who managed to recover quickly enough to make an outstanding diving save to stop Jimenez's follow up shot. In the 42nd minute Everton scored a really silly goal, with Steele beaten at the near post from a very tight angle from 20 yards out. I can't believe he's allowed that to go in, as it seemed impossible for anyone to score from there. We pushed forward but failed to really create anything before the half finish with us trailing 2-1.

I was furious that we were trailing, especially as the 2nd goal was such a silly one to concede. I told the players I expected to see more from them before sending them back out. We were just looking awful, missing our passes, and doing some really strange things. At one point Jimenez got in behind the defence, and instead of shooting, he inexplicably tried to pass to someone else, rather than shoot. Things got worse in the 63rd minute when Rodwell curled in a shot from 30 yards out to give Everton a 2 goal lead. I was shocked by how poor we were for the rest of the match, not really showing the urgency we needed. We were quite simply awful, with the match finishing with us losing 3-1.

I was very disappointed with both the result and the performance from the team. I can't remember the last time we'd been this poor. The scoreline flattered Everton, as they weren't that much better than us on the day. I'm left rather shocked after that very dismal display. From our side there was only one good thing, that being Scocco's goal. It was like we'd sent poor imitations of the real players out onto the field. For the first time since the early games of the season, Kjær had a poor game. It seems that after clinching the title the players have already gone on holiday.

Result: 1-3

Inter (A) Champions Cup Semi Final 1st Leg

We travel to the Giuseppe Meazza in Milan as clear underdogs for this match. Inter are packed full of talent, but hopefully we can put in the same kind of performance that we did against Valencia in the first leg, grabbing a couple of vital away goals. On the whole their side is not based around pace, although their full backs are very quick. I'm sure the team will not be complacent about this match.

The match started with us taking the attack to Inter, with Grenier putting a header just over the bar with a minute on the clock. In the 4th minute the keeper had to save a free kick from Fatih Yucel, taken from just outside the area. In the 8th minute the keeper had to make a full length diving save to keep a shot from Jimenez out. Inter were looking totally devoid of ideas when going forward. However in the 15th minute they suddenly produced a goal out of nowhere to take the lead, with the ball somehow managing to go right through Nasuti. Suddenly Inter were all over us, forcing a couple of good saves from Lung jr. In the 21st minute we were back on level terms with Ephraim putting a diagonal ball into the area for Jimenez to run onto keeping his composure to slot the ball home. In the 25th minute Zigoni was put through clear of the defence, but saw his shot saved by the keeper. In the 36th minute I thought we'd taken the lead with Sunny smashing a shot from 25 yards into the net. However the assistant erroneously disallowed the goal as offide, even though I'm sure the player in question did not touch the ball, which really annoyed me. Just to rub the insult in, Inter took the lead again in the 43rd minute with a 30 yard shot into the top corner. In the last moments of the half, Kjær put a header from a corner just over the bar, bringing the half to a close with us 2-1 behind.

I was pleased with the performance the players had put in, but felt very cheated with the goal being disallowed. I told the players they could win this, and sent them back out, hoping they would take this to heart. When Sunny was hacked down from behind, causing a potential knee injury in the 49th minute, with no yellow card being shown, I began to feel things were not going our way at all tonight. Later that minute Fatih Yucel had the ball in the 6 yard box, but somehow the keeper managed to deflect his shot for a corner. In the 58th minute Jimenez got through one on one with the keeper, but shot straight at him. Inter where all over us again for the next few minutes, but there was incredible magic about to happen. In the 66th minute Grenier managed to dribble by a couple of players down the right to the byeline and fired in a cross, which Zigoni met with his head at the near post to direct it in, giving us an equaliser.

I have found a really weird bug at this point. When Zigoni scored he was fouled, taking a slight knock requiring the physio to tend to him. When Inter kicked off he just stood on the half way line until the ball finally went out of play. Definitely one to post up for SI to check out. Fortunately it didn't make any difference as we didn't go on an attack.

After that we had a period of possession, knocking the ball about with ease, searching for gaps, before Inter tried to push forward again. In the 80th minute Cambiasso made a clumsy tackle on Jimenez, receiving a very dubious looking straight red card. Maybe things were looking up for us in this match after all. In the 83rd minute Grenier wasted a great opportunity to score, but put the ball wide of the target. With the clock ticking down it was now clear that Inter were now more intent on trying to hold onto the draw. In the remaining time it was us pushing forward, wondering quite how we didn't find a goal, with Grenier heading over, Fatih Yucel having a close range shot saved, right at the end. The match came to an end with the scores level at 2-2.

I should be delighted that we managed to claim a 2-2 draw here, but I feel we could have won this. I'm still pleased with the players, for the effort they'd shown in pulling the scores back level twice in the match. The result gives an advantage in the tie at this point, having scored two away goals. After our dismal effort in the match against Everton, this was a delight to watch, in a very entertaining match, in which we could feel unlucky not to have come away with a win. The fans are still pleased with this result, as they were very pessimistic before the match. I'm also pleased to find that the knock Sunny took, has not caused an injury, so he remains fit and ready for our next match. According to the match report Cambiasso hacked Jimenez down with two feet, confirming what I'd suspected, that the 3D display is not always showing everything correctly. Also the disallowed goal apparently came off an offside player, but that's not what was shown in the 3D view.

Result: 2-2

Aston Villa (A) Premier League

We arrive at Villa Park as marginal favourites for this match. As we have now confirmed the league title as ours, I have made quite a few changes to the squad to rest some key players, but I still feel we ought to have enough quality in the side to fight for the win.

The match started fairly even in terms of possession, but Villa were finding it far too easy for my liking to create shots, with Steele having to make a a number of saves to keep them out. As the half went on we began to make it a little harder for them to get through out defence, but it was still tough for us to work a way through them. In the 33rd minute, shortly after telling the players to pass into space, Laure passed the ball to Buzsaky, and he advanced to just outside the area, striking a beautiful shot into the top corner of the net to open the scoring, although it took a slight deflection off Scocco who gets the credit for the goal. Villa unsurprisingly started to pile the pressure on, with Steele having to make a great save in the 39th minute, and in the 41st they hit the crossbar with a header from a free kick. Steele had to make another couple of good saves in the remainder of the half to deny Villa again, bringing the half to an end with us leading 1-0.

I was pleased that we'd managed to grab the lead, but it was worrying that Villa had taken 15 shots to our 3 in that half. I decided to try and encourage the players to go back out and see the result out, hopefully with a more convincing display defensively. It was clear very early on that the situation was not any different, with Villa pushing us hard again, and we finally succumbed in the 57th minute with them scoring an equaliser. I was really annoyed when we conceded from a corner in the 63rd minute to go behind, after allowing a Villa player the easiest of headers. It was totally pathetic defending. After that we managed to get forward a bit more, but we never truly looked like finding the equaliser, and Villa were still looking far more likely to score again than us. The match finished with us losing 2-1.

This result was very disappointing, largely because we'd been so poor at dealing with the pace of Villa. It's hard to pin-point exactly why in this match we were so poor. We also struggled very badly to create chances ourselves. This was a pretty poor performance, but it was very annoying to concede the winner from a corner. I can only think that after winning the league, a lot of the players have pretty much switched off. This was only our 2nd defeat in the league, and our first away from home.

Result: 1-2

Inter (H) Champions Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg

Inter arrive at Loftus Road as marginal favourites, although after the first leg, we currently hold a marginal advantage. I have picked exactly the same squad for this match, as we played in the first leg. I fully expect the team to be up for this match, and like the fans feel fairly optimistic about our chances of progressing to the final.

The match started with even possession, but Inter were the team creating chances. I was worried that our defending had looked very scrappy at a couple of corners. In the 15th minute Lung jr had to make the first save of the match. We'd not even managed to fire off a single shot. The match opened up a bit more after that, although Inter were still looking more dangerous. We did at least start to create shots, though not really looking very dangerous. In the 37th minute Inter struck the post from a long shot. In the 38th Lung jr made an outstanding save, as Inter started stepping up the pace. In the 40th minute Curri fired a ball over the top for Jimenez to run onto clear of the defence, and hammered the ball home as he entered the area, to give us the lead against the run of play. In the 42nd minute Lung jr made another stunning save, this time from a close header. We managed to hold out till half time still leading 1-0.

I was pleased that we'd managed to grab the lead, which means Inter need 2 goals to win the tie. I am however a bit concerned about how much defending we'd had to do, and how panicked things had seemed at times. I sent the team back out telling them not to get careless. We started the half under pressure which started to increase as it went on. Somehow though we were managing to keep them at bay. Things became very anxious in the 85th minute when Inter finally managed to break us down and score an equaliser. After this Inter started throwing everything at us, trying to find the winner they required. We really struggled to hold on, but somehow we did. There was 4 minutes of added time, which worryingly extended into a 7th minute for no apparent reason, with Inter having several corners during this Fergie time. Fortunately we held on to get the 1-1 draw.

I was pleased with the result, as it was enough to see us through to the final on away goals. Our performance though was pretty poor, being nowhere near as good as we'd been in the first leg of the tie. We were very lucky to get away with a draw as our defence had looked very ordinary, and our passing had been very poor. For some reason this month, apart from the first leg of this tie, we've not performed particularly well. I think the only reason we got away with this was Inter's poor finishing, having 29 shots to our 7. Their is some bad news, because Kjær was booked in this match, which was sadly justified for the foul in question, but very out of character for him, bringing him to 3 yellow cards in the tournament, meaning he will miss the final, which is a tradegy for him and a big blow to us. The referee had a very average game, declining to send off one of the Inter players in the 2nd half, who committed a 2nd bookable offence on a par with Kjær's foul. We also had a few players who were lucky not to also be booked.

Result: 1-1 (3-3 aggregrate - QPR win on away goals)

The following day our opponents are confirmed as Dutch Champions Ajax.

Tottenham (H) Premier League

Spurs arrive at Loftus Road with us marginal favourites for the match. After our recent performances I have little idea what will happen. Since confirming the title we've rarely put in a good performance.

The first 15 minutes of the match were were characterised by our passing letting us down, Spurs committing a lot of fouls, and our defence doing a superb job of stopping them break through us. The only shots in that time were a couple of free kicks we had from distance. In the 19th minute Scocco received the ball at the edge of the area, and cracked a shot, which the keeper only just managed to tip over the bar, actually deflecting over off it. The match then became a pretty horrible midfield battle with few chances created. At about 40 minutes Spurs then seemed to be able to do no wrong, with every pass being pin-point, even delicate little lobs to players on the wing, which I found odd, given it's supposed to be gusty. However we managed to hold out, even from a couple of corners which we seemed to defend none too convincingly. In the 2nd minute of added time, we managed to clear the ball from a corner, with Curri setting Jimenez free with a great ball over the top just inside the Spurs half. He then advanced forward on goal, beating the keeper to give us the lead. The half came to end shortly after the restart with us leading 1-0.

I was quite pleased with what I'd seen, with this being one of our better recent performances. I sent the players back out giving them encouragement to go on and see the match out properly. Despite us starting the half looking good, we got done against the run of play, with Lung jr making a great save, only for the ball to drop for Defoe to have an easy shot to level the scores. It was disappointing, because Spurs had not deserved to get a goal. In the 62nd minute Crouch managed to get his head to a ball that looped just over the keeper, but I'm really angry, as I feel he should have been able to save that. In the 64th minute I was perplexed when the Spurs keeper, with lower pace, was somehow able to run a further distance than Fatih Yucel to beat him to kick the ball clear. After this we really pushed forward, creating chances, but we just couldn't get the ball beyond the Spurs keeper. The match came to an end with us losing 2-1.

I was really disappointed that we'd lost this match, as this had been one of our better performances recently. Spurs really didn't deserve to win this match. For no reason I can understand, we suddenly can't win a match to save our lives, and now started losing. I can only think the players have lost their focus a bit.

Result: 1-2

Monthly Roundup

A rollercoaster of a month, with some huge highs and some lows too. Winning the league and managing to scrape through to the Champions Cup final are the highs, for which I should be absolutely delighted. However the disappointing loss to go out of the FA Cup and the losses in the league after it was won, have caused some concern. After securing the league title, we seem to have switched off apart from our tremendous performance in the first leg of the Champions Cup semi final, where we should have taken even better advantage of the situation. I believe that we became complacent and it was very hard to get the team to perform, apart from that one match, where we were firm underdogs.

The league table shows that there are 3 teams with a chance of taking 2nd place. I'm pleased that we managed to secure the title when we did, even though that seems to have had the effect of us turning in some poor performances.

In our poorest month form wise, the best two players were Jimenez and Scocco, both scoring 3 goals each from 5 matches. It's just about impossible to seperate them, as they were about our only players to show good consistency during the month.

Given how we played in the 2nd leg of the Champions Cup tie against Inter, I'm quite amazed that we managed to hold on and get through to the final. In the final we will take on Ajax, who were crowned as Dutch champions, a match for which we are slight favourites, taking place at the Allianz-Arena in Munchen.

Besides the Champions Cup final we have one other fixture to play, the last league fixture of the season against Man United. I'm hoping we can put in a good performance, to keep our morale up for facing Ajax.

March 2012 - Motivation, that's what you need

2010-01-28T00:57:00.000Z

This month sees us scheduled for just 6 fixtures, with 4 league matches, an FA Cup tie and the second leg of our Champions Cup match against Valencia. Our injury list, sees only one casualty, that being Varrault, who should be back in training with us by the end month. Our first match is 6 days after our League Cup loss, which is the longest gap we've had between fixtures since Christmas, which is very welcome for many of our players.

Tottenham (A) FA Cup Sixth Round

We travel to White Hart Lane for this tricky cup tie as slight underdogs. The record of our previous 6 matches, sees us share 2 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws, which doesn't tell us an awful lot. We have not so far managed to beat them at this ground, which doesn't bode too well, but I believe we have a chance of finally changing that.

The match started looking as though it was going to be a real hard fought midfield battle. However we soon started to control the ball and in the 9th minute the first good chance fell to Grenier in the area, but his shot hit the crossbar, bouncing off to go for a throw-in. In the 10th Grenier was again involved, this time crossing from the right into the area, where Ephraim was running through, and hit a superb low volley to give us the lead. After this we had to withstand a lot of pressure from Spurs, who were desperate to find an equaliser. One thing we were doing very well was managing to keep Crouch and Defoe quiet. One worrying aspect was how many fouls we were giving away, some of which were decidedly dubious, in particular one where Kranjcar made a clear dive to win a free kick. We did manage a few attacks ourself, but made little to worry the Spurs keeper again. The half came to an end with us leading 1-0.

I was quite pleased with what I'd seen, because despite the pressure we were under, Crouch managed 2 off target shots in the first half, and Defoe did not get a single shot. I sent the players back out giving them encouragement to go on and see this result out. For a large part of the second half we were having to defend strongly, finding it very difficult to take control of the ball properly, making all sorts of weird passes, and giving the ball back too easily. Our defending however remained top quality, keeping Spurs at bay even though they were getting more desperate. I tried a few changes, but these didn't seem to have much effect until the last 10 minutes of the match, where we started to finally pass the ball properly and dominated the possession near the end, helping us to play out the rest of the match to give us a 1-0 victory.

I was pleased that we managed to grab this victory, but to be honest this was a very poor match. In the 2nd half we'd again kept Crouch and Defoe quiet, each managing just 2 shots in that half, none of which were on target. In fact Spurs only managed two shots on target, which were of so little consequence I didn't feel it was worth mentioning them as chances. We managed 3 shots on target, plus a shot off the woodwork. The majority of shots from Spurs were long range efforts that were either blocked or off target. That has to go down as one of our ugliest wins, but the way in which we were able to stop Spurs creating any good chances was extremely encouraging. This win also puts us through to the semi final of the FA Cup.

Result: 1-0

In the days following this match the draw for the semi final was made which sees us play either Blackburn or Everton. The other semi final sees either Liverpool or Arsenal play Chelsea. I was kind of hoping to play Chelsea, as I feel we definitely have the beating of them, but maybe if we win the semi, we'll get them in the final for the ultimate grudge match of the season.

Valencia (H) Champions Cup First Knockout Round 2nd Leg

Valencia arrive at Loftus Road, as marginal favourites to win the leg, and hold a one goal advantage so firm favourites to win the tie and progress to the next stage of the competition. Our 2 away goals do however give us an advantage if we are able to claw our way to 1-0 or 2-1 victory. Given the talent of Valencia though that will not be easy, but I'm sure my players will be giving it a try. We are likely to get a fair amount of possession, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage, but the speed of some of their players is always a handful to deal with. There is a huge bonus to us before the match starts with David Villa being injured. Since the first leg, Valencia have recorded 2 losses and a draw in the league, being thrashed by Getafe and Real Madrid. Their morale is very low coming into this match, which I hope will make a difference.

We started the match going forward, and in the 2nd minute Fatih Yucel hit the post and the follow up shot from Grenier hit the keeper. In the 4th minute Sunny took a knock causing a possible upper body injury, but not bad enough to need substitution. In the 11th minute we conceded a very dubious foul not far outside our area, with Sunny receiving a talking to. I get the feeling already that the referee is biased. From the free kick the ball hit our post, going safe, and I breatehed a sigh of relief. In the 14th minute Grenier got another chance, but again found the keeper with his shot. It was noticable that Valencia were getting more and more nervous the longer the scores stayed level and us pushing forward. This was looking a much uglier match than the first leg, with several of my players taking knocks from hard tackles. This seemed to be the result of their growing nervousness; they had 7 players nervous, and 1 playing without confidence. In the 31st minute Sunny found a superb throughball for Fatih Yucel to run onto in the area, and he took great delight in putting the ball by the despairing keeper to open the scoring. Their nervousness proceeded to get worse, and in the 42nd minute when one of their centre backs was booked, all their players were either nervous or playing without confidence. I have never seen a team in such a bad way before. This didn't stop them making attacks, but there lack of confidence was making things very easy for us to defend. The match reached half time with us leading 1-0.

I was pleased with what we'd done in the first half, and the current scoreline if we could hold on to it would put us into the next round. I sent the players back out giving them encouragement to go on and see the match out properly. Valencia came back out still looking very nervous. In the 51st minute I thought Fatih Yucel had extended out lead, but he was unfortunately offside as the pass was made. In the 59th minute Balanta had a great chance to extend the lead, but the keeper managed to close down fast enough to stop him scoring. In the 62nd minute Grenier had an even better chance, but again found the keeper blocking his shot. Later the same minute Buzsaky struck a thunderous long shot which the keeper managed to deflect over the bar. In the 75th minute Valencia's persistent fouling brought about the sending off of Alex, to take them down to 10 men for the last 15 minutes. In the 77th minute Grenier produced a superb cross to Balanta at the edge of the area, with space and time to place his shot perfectly in the corner of the net to give us a 2-0 lead. Valencia were now looking very ragged, and their attempts to come forward were easy for us to cut off. In the 87th minute Zigoni had the chance to seal the victory beyond all doubt, but hit it at the keeper. In the 89th minute he produced a superb long shot from just outside the area, which looked destined for the top corner, but the keeper managed to get a hand to it, pushing it for a corner. In the 4th minute of added time, he had yet another chance, but again shot straight at the keeper. The match came to an end with running out 2-0 victors.

I was delighted with the team, after this performance, which sees us advance to the quarter final stages of the competition. We played much better in the second half, really taking advantage of the nervousness of the Valencia players. If our finishing had been better, this could have been a very embarrassing demolition. I have to give some credit to Getafe and Real Madrid who had totally demoralised them in the run up to this match. Such was the number of times the Valencia keeper denied us, he ran out as man of the match. I have to say, even though I felt before the match we had a chance after the first leg, I did not expect Valencia to be so poor in the 2nd leg. Today I saw how a very good team can become extremely average if their morale is bad. A couple of bits of bad news from the match, are that Sunny suffered a bruised rib, sidelining him for about a week. Laure picked up a yellow card in the match, which will see him miss the next match in the Champions Cup.

Result: 2-0

In the days following the match, the draw took place for the quarter finals, which will see us play Tottenham. In one way I'm pleased with this, as we know we can beat Spurs, but I'd have preferred a different team, rather than playing another 2 fixtures against them. After our previous fixtures it's bound to be a hard fought contest, and they'll be looking to get revenge for us beating them in the FA Cup. The first of these fixtures at White Hart Lane will take place later this month, so our fixture list has increased to 7 games.

Everton (H) Premier League

The Toffees arrive as clear underdogs for this match, struggling in mid table, but seemingly clear of relegation worries now. My big worry about this match is that Everton have always been my nemesis team, but after securing a draw with them earlier in the season to finally take a point from them, helps me to believe I might finally vanquish my nemesis.

The match started in amazing fashion with Scocco slipping a pass through for Grenier to run onto in the area, with his shot going in off the inside of the post to give us the lead with just 70 seconds on the clock. Although Everton were trying to push forward, we were doing a good job of keeping them at bay, and on the attack we were looking dangerous, with the keeper having to save a stinging drive from Buzsaky in the 6th minute. In the 9th we had a little slice of luck, with an attempted throughball from Buzsaky bouncing off an Everton defender and dropping at the edge of the area, where Ephraim rifled an unstoppable shot into the net to extend our lead. In the 12th minute I was livid when the referee awarded Everton a penalty, with a shockingly poor decision, for a supposed foul by Buzsaky. Yakubu stepped up and hammered in the penalty to bring them back into the match. In the 23rd minute however Fatih Yucel set Scocco free just inside the Everton half and as he reached the edge of the area he placed the ball into the bottom corner of the net to restore our 2 goal lead. After that the match became more even, with neither side really creating much, although every time we went forward we looked a threat. The match reached half time with us leading 3-1.

I was pleased with what I'd seen, with one of our best performances in a first half for a while. I'd even calmed down after the dodgy penalty decision. I sent the players back out telling them I was pleased, hoping they would keep this performance going. Early on in the half it was clear the referee was still seeing things in a quite strange way, with Fatih Yucel twice penalised for fouls, after winning a header. When Rafa was booked in the 55th minute for a relatively innocuous foul I was really starting to get wound up by the referee. Two minutes later we had a scare when a header was put just wide of our post. In the 60th minute we had a shout for a penalty, which was not given, which to be honest looked as much a penalty as the one given to Everton; in other words I didn't think it was. In the 62nd minute Everton thought they'd pulled another goal back, which was disallowed for being offside. At least the assistant referee was getting decisions correct. However I was wrong because in the 74th minute he got a decision wrong with Steele having to make a great save to deny a shot which should have been ruled offside. In the 85th I was livid when Everton scored, a goal from a definite offside position. It appeared the officials wanted Everton to get back into this match. After that Everton started throwing everything into getting forward, but we were standing firm, and Ephraim had a chance after a clearance to score having run from 10 yards inside our own half, but he just dragged the shot wide. That was the last kick of the game bringing the match to an end with us running out 3-2 victors.

I was pleased with my players for finally beating my nemesis team, Everton, even if it appears the officials were trying to stop that from happening. Fortunately the dubious penalty and the offside goal did not cost us the match. The really bizarre booking of Rafa now means he will now serve a 3 match ban, having picked up 10 yellow cards. Some of the Everton players commited several much worse fouls without getting booked, so I was left shaking my head about that. Given how many fouls, including the one to concede penalty, had the commentary say "That's dubious", or harsh, I find it intriguing that the post match report can say the referee had a good match. I'm sure in my position Fergie would have been shooting his mouth off after that match.

Result: 3-2

Bolton (A) Premier League

We travel to the Reebok Stadium as clear favourites for this match. Bolton are struggling in 17th place, and have lost their last two matches. Our record against Bolton is good, although last season we could only manage a draw in this same fixture. This is a match I feel we should be targetting all 3 points, as we push to consolidate our title challenge. Given how we often get complacent against lower opposition I decided to tell my players that I expected a win.

We started the match looking quite bright, forcing Jaaskelainen into two consecutive saves in the 4th minute from Jimenez and Scocco. In the 8th minute there was another great save from Grenier, and another from Curri shortly after. In the 10th minute our pressure finally paid off with Sunny passing the ball to Laure in space just outside the area, and he hit an absolute screamer into the top corner of the net, for his first goal of the season, and must be his first ever long shot on target. We continued to pressure Bolton getting a number of shots, and corners. Bolton managed the odd sortie forward, but we restricted them to just a few long shots. In the 35th minute I couldn't believe we didn't extend the lead, with Jaaskelainen making two superb saves from Ephraim and the follow up from Scocco. In the 42nd minute Bolton hit the crossbar, the closest they'd come to the target. We saw the half out to lead 1-0.

I was largely pleased with what I'd seen, with us largely controlling the match, and it was only the superb keeping from Jaaskelainen that had stopped us adding to our goal tally. I decided to give the players encouragement to go on, and hopefully see the match out in proper style. What followed was a pretty horrible battle, with few really good chances. Both teams had shots hit the crossbar, and a few saves made by each keeper, but there didn't seem to be much danger of the scoreline changing. In a rather turgid half that's exactly how things played out, with the match finishing with us running out 1-0 winners.

I was pleased that we managed to get the win. Although our second half performance was not as good as the first, where we were largely in control, with Bolton creating very few real chances. Laure's performance today was excellent, scoring only his 2nd goal for the club, and deserved his man of the match award. Both defences had performed well, making a low scoring match almost inevitable. This is the first match I've tried using the team talk, "I expect a win" for a long time, and this seems to have made a difference, as no players were looking complacent early in the match, as they had in a couple of matches the previous month. This was a result we deserved, and is extremely important given results elsewhere on the day, with the Manchester derby finishing 1-1, Liverpool losing 2-1 to West Ham, and Arsenal losing 4-2 to Chelsea. A better day I could not have imagined.

Result: 1-0

Newcastle (A) Premier League

We arrive at St. James' Park as clear favourites to win this match. Newcastle have slipped to 20th position, without a win for just over 2 months, claiming 2 points from their last 8 matches. Those 2 points came from their last 2 matches, showing a slight shift in their form, but looking doomed, especially as their remaining fixtures are all against teams in the top 8 of the league. This seems to be another match which probably requires me to tell the lads I expect a win. For the first time in months, I have named an unchanged side, which reflects the luxury of a one week break we've had since our previous match.

The match started with both sides showing good passing skills. In the 4th minute Scocco had a chance to score from the edge of the area, but hit the shot straight at the keeper. In the 7th minute Steele had to make a save from a long shot. Although the possession was fairly even for a while, we were getting into better positions to create chances, with Scocco hammering a shot way over the bar in the 10th minute. In the 16th, Ephraim put Fatih Yucel through into the area, clear of the defence, placing the ball into the opposite bottom corner of the net to open the scoring, his 20th goal of the season. In the 19th minute Scocco hit a long shot, which the keeper managed to push behind for a corner. Two minutes later Jimenez decided to have a crack from distance too, with the keeper just tipping the ball over the bar. From the corner Puygrenier got his head to the ball, but his shot wasn't good enough to beat the keeper. After this the match became much more of a midfield battle, with both sides finding it very difficult to create any chances, with a only a few each created in the rest of the half, bringing us to the break still leading 1-0.

I was pleased with what I'd seen, but slightly concerned we'd only put one of our chances away. I sent the players back out giving them encouragement to see this result out. For the first 5 minutes we were under seige, and I was disappointed to see that a couple of my players were looking nervous for no reason I can understand. Once we'd ridden this pressure, with shots seeming to rain in from everywhere, we finally settled a bit, and in the 57th minute Fatih Yucel was put through on goal, his shot hit the keeper, with Scocco on hand to hammer the rebound in. This settled the nervousness within my players, which I was pleased to see. It was still worrying though how easy it was for Newcastle to work their through us, with Steele having to make a great save in the 61st minute. Two minute later Fatih Yucel broke through into the area, but somehow the keeper managed to hook his shoot away. In the 66th minute Newcastle hit the post from a free kick, with Puygrenier receiving a yellow card that I felt was harsh. Three minutes later Kjær then received a yellow card, that probably was deserved. After this match the became a midfield battle, with rare chances created by either side. In the 86th minute Newcastle's Alan Smith made an awful two footed challenge on Buzsaky gaining himself a straight red card, dropping them down to 10 men. In the 88th minute Balanta was put through on goal only to see his shot saved. A minute later Sunny took a crack at a long shot, only denied by a superb save from the keeper. Newcastle just seemed shellshocked after that, not seeming to have any interest in even finding a consolation goal, bringing the match to an end with us running out 2-0 victors.

I was pleased with this victory, even there were some concerns with how easily Newcastle were able to work a way through us at points. On the whole though our defending had been excellent, and our movement going forward was superb. This was thoroughly deserved win. Elsewhere there were some important results, with Arsenal beating Tottenham, with Man City surprisingly losing 2-1 to Aston Villa.

Result: 2-0

Our opponents in the FA Cup Semi Final have now been confirmed as Everton. When the draw was made I was hoping that Blackburn would beat them, but as we have subsequently managed to vanquish my nenemis earlier in the month I am no longer so concerned.

Tottenham (A) Champions Cup Quarter Final 1st Leg

We travel the few miles across north London to White Hart Lane, for the 3rd time this season. We are marginal underdogs for this fixture, despite the last 2 visits giving us a draw and a win. The record suggests that not many goals are likely with only a single goal being scored in those two matches. As in the our FA Cup match earlier in the month the key will be in trying to keep their strikers out of the game as much as possible. After a long absence I have decided to give Lung jr his first start for a while, to see if his attitude on the pitch has changed.

The match started as a fairly ugly midfield battle, with few chances. The first came to Balanta in the 7th minute, but gave the keeper a very easy save with his rather limp looking shot. In the 9th minute Robbie Keane hit the post for Spurs from a long shot. In the 14th minute I thought Puygrenier had put us ahead scoring from a header at a corner, but he apparently fouled someone while challenging for the ball, which has me mystified. The commentary says he backed into and fouled the keeper, which is astonishing as he was moving forwards towards him at the time. I thought we'd scored in the 19th minute when Zigoni put the ball in the net, but he was clearly offside so the goal didn't stand. After this, Spurs started to try and dominate the game, but were lacking the penetration to open us up properly. I started to worry a bit when Puygrenier was booked in the 24th minute and then Rafa just 2 minutes later. The referee was being so niggly about everything, that play was just not flowing. In the 28th minute Lung jr had to push a thunderous long shot from Palacios over the bar. A minute later when Carrick brutally chopped Jimenez down from the behind, causing a potential shin injury, without even getting a talking to from the referee, I began feel the world was against us. After that we started to play a bit better, and the deadlock was finally broken in the 41st minute when Grenier played a ball over the top for Balanta to run onto. As he neared the keeper he seemed to suddenly look nervous, and it was obvious he was not going to score. His shot hit the keeper, bouncing out to the edge of the area, where Zigoni put the ball back through to Balanta, and this time he found the target to give us the lead. Spurs pushed forward after that, but stood firm to finish the half leading 1-0.

I was pleased with how we battled, and despite Spurs looking the better team, but had created the better chances, and taken one of them. We'd managed to stop Crouch from having a single shot, and restricted Keane the other striker to a couple of long shots, only one on target which was a tame effort. I gave the lads encouragement to go out and see the match through and give us the advantage heading into the 2nd leg. We started the half looking quite bright, before the match settled into a midfield battle. In the 56th minute Spurs worked their first really good opportunity with Lung jr making a good save to push the ball for a corner. When Mattock chopped Balanta down from behind in the 58th minute without even a foul being given, from which he suffered an arm injury requiring substitution I was really wondering what the referee was actually seeing. The match settled back to being the midfield battle although Spurs were looking the more dangerous, with them now finding the head of Crouch a few times, although he wasn't finding the direction or power to really worry us. In the 71st minute, Keane was looking nervous this showed when he gave our keeper an easy chance to clear the ball for a throw-in. A minute later Buzsaky was put through clear on goal, but the keeper was able to push his shot wide for a corner. The match then started to become very ugly with Spurs pumping the ball into our area, making it hard for us to clear our lines. I was really upset when Defoe managed to break through in the 89th minute to score an equaliser. Not long after the match came to an end with the scores level at 1-1.

I was pleased with the effort put in by the players, and feel very let down by a biased referee, who would not book any of the Spurs players, no matter what they did. Rafa and Puygrenier were both booked after 3 trivial fouls each. However Spurs Hutton made 3 far worse fouls and was not booked. The fouls that caused injury to both Jimenez and Balanta looked like they warranted yellow cards. There was also the bizarrely disallowed goal. I was astonished when I saw the post match report say that the referee had a good game. Despite being very upset at the referee, I feel that a 1-1 draw is still a useful result, but under the circumstances this was a kick in the teeth and I sympathised with the players. Fortunately the injury to Jimenez caused no issues, but when Balanta was unceremoniously dumped to the ground he broke his arm, putting him out for the best part of 2 months, and therefore will almost certainly not be back before the end of the season. He is quite understandably distraught about this, but I at least made him feel a bit better after saying "It's a blow, but it's not the end of the world" in the post match press conference.

Result: 1-1

Cardiff (A) Premier League

Our last match of the month sees us travel to the Cardiff City Stadium with us favourites for this match. Cardiff have struggled this season, finding themselves in 15th place having a 6 point gap to the relegation zone. Before the match Dave Jones was trying to play mind games, which seems to have fired up several of our players, so may backfire on him. Only Jimenez has taken a negative view, so will be start the game on the bench. Cardiff are one our rivals, so it shouldn't be hard to get the team fired up for this match, especially after the comments from their manager.

The match started with Cardiff looking quite lively, going close in the 5th minute with header from a corner hitting the bar and going behind. The match started to even up more, and after 10 minutes we started to spend a lot of time camped in the Cardiff half. This pressure finally paid off in the 19th minute with Fatih Yucel sliding a pass for Buzsaky to run onto at the edge of the area, which he placed into the back of the net to give us the lead. The rest of the half was pretty poor with Cardiff keeping very tight at the back, and struggling to find a way through us. Right at the end of the half, Scocco had a tricky chance, but couldn't keep the ball down, with it flying over the bar. The half came to an end with us leading 1-0.

I was largely pleased with our performance, having shown good motivation from the start of the match. I sent the players back out encouraging them to go on and complete the job. The half started as a continuation of the midfield battle, but Cardiff then started to control possession. In the 62nd minute Lung jr had to make a great save to keep us in the lead. I tried some changes, but Cardiff were still all over us. In the 87th minute Cardiff thought they'd found an equaliser, which was ruled out for being offside. We managed to see the rest of the half out without conceding to give us a 1-0 victory.

I was pleased that we'd managed to claim this victory, but it certainly wasn't one of our best performances. After controlling the first half so well, it was disappointing that how near Cardiff came to cancelling our lead out, and we rarely looked dangerous in the second half. It was all told a pretty poor match, that another day we could easily have thrown away. During the match I'd been casting an eye over other fixtures, and up until the very end of the match, Arsenal were drawing their match against Sunderland, only to cause some diappointment by finding a late winner.

Result: 1-0

Month Roundup

This has been an absolutely fantastic month. It's hard to know where to start, but I think the best result was against the very lacklustre Valencia. Even though they were demoralised after recent defeats, they were by no means easy to beat, but the nervousness of their players certainly helped, especially when it came to shooting. The ground out victory over Spurs to advance to the FA Cup Semi Final was good, with the way we managed to stop them from being able to score. Of the 4 league wins, it can be said they were all teams that have struggled, and so we should be able to win them. All our league matches seemed to follow a similar pattern with us taking the lead, and then having to hold out against pressure. The draw in the Champions Cup match against Spurs was disappointing, after getting so close to snatching a win, although before the match I'd have been happy to take a score draw from the match. There were some weird decisions from some referee's, but if you get the result at the end of the day, you soon forget those. It's also easy to overlook the times when you benefit from some dodgy decisions yourself, which I know we have, but can't readilly think of any. It's human nature to remember the incidents that go against you, and forget when the opposition suffers in the same way.

Before the month started, I knew our rivals had a much harder set of matches than us, but I never expected them all to lose so many points, giving us a 10 point advantage over Arsenal and a 14 point advantage over Man United. Arsenal and Man United are now the only teams that that could beat us to the title, and even though we play the latter on the last day of the season, they both need to win all their remaining matches to have any real hope, with us falling apart in our last 4 matches. That said, our last 4 league matches are home to Blackburn and Spurs, and away to Aston Villa and Man United. Blackburn are the lowest of those teams sitting mid table, so none of these fixtures are guaranteed points. The only tricky fixture that Man United appear to have is the last match against us, with Arsenal having one tricky encounter at home to Liverpool. I can't think the team would throw it away now, but there's something scary about this scenario. Our league form has seen me pick up the Premiership Manager of the Month award again.

I'm pleased to see they my team talks seemed to be making difference, because earlier in the season when I checked the results of my team talks, there rarely seemed to be any player that was affected by them. Hopefully I seem to have found the best way to motivate players, at least this late in the season anyway.

This month has again seen some excellent performances, by many players, with Fatih Yucel picking up the Premiership Young Player of the Month award. Although he put in some decent performances, I was surprised he picked up the award this month. My player of the month is Simon Kjær who put in another set of great performances, showing his consistency. I feel that Sunny ran him pretty close, but was not quite as consistent. There is really only one disappointment after this month, that being the broken arm suffered by Angelo Balanta. He has put in some good performances this season, always giving his best, with a habit of popping up in just the right places. It's not an injury that should stop us from claiming the title, but it does weaken the backup to our main strike partnership.

Next month we are currently scheduled to play 5 matches. Three of these are league matches, our FA Cup Semi Final against Everton and the 2nd leg of our Champion Cup quarter final at home against Spurs. Should we manage to beat Spurs, there would 2 further matches in the month to play the semi final stages of the competition.

February 2012 - The Quest for League Cup Glory

2010-01-25T20:18:00.001Z

This month starts with Slory and Varrault out with long term injuries and Ephraim a few days away from recovery following his elbow injury. This is going to be a tough month where we will be playing 8 fixtures for the 3rd month in a row. The last couple of months has really tested the depth of our squad, and on the whole we've stood up to the challenge very well. We have 5 league matches, an FA Cup tie, our first leg of our Champions Cup knockout 1st round and the League Cup final to end the month.

Liverpool (H) Premier League

The Reds travel to Loftus Road as marginal favourites for this match, but I feel if we play well, we have every chance of taking the 3 points. Liverpool are one of or closest challengers, sitting just 2 points behind us, so the result of this match is very important. For this match I am giving one of our young players, Alexander Kacaniklic his debut, with Paul Dixon taking a place on the bench. This is a slight risk, but I feel the pace of Kacaniklic and his dribbling may cause Liverpool some problems.

The match started with our players looking to attack, and really taking the game to Liverpool, but their defence was proving very hard to break down, with them playing 2 DMC's. When Liverpool did get forward, we were looking solid as well, and after quarter of an hour this was looking like being a pretty dreary match. In the 23rd minute the first real chance of the match came with Faith Yucel receiving the ball in the area, but Reina in goal caused frustration by saving it; where's a beachball when you want one? The next was 3 minutes later, this time Steele was the keeper making the save. In the 35th some patient build up play saw Scocco get in close but his shot was parried by the keeper, out on our left where Kacaniklic quickly passed it back to Scocco, who spotted Fatih Yucel in space just outside the area, and gave him a perfect ball to hammer into the net to give us the lead. We'd been looking good and continued to outplay Liverpool, even though we had less possession. However just to cause maximum frustration we conceded in added time at the end of the half from a corner. I was massively disappointed in our players for allowing this. The half finished with the scores level at 1-1.

I was disappointed, as Liverpool really did not deserve to be level, as they'd shown little in the way of positive play. Most of their greater possession was just interminable passing in the midfield. I sent the players back out telling them could win this, hoping it would spur them on a bit more. In the 47th minute Scocco was brought down in the Liverpool area, and Curri stepped up to take the penalty, hoping to set the record straight after having his previous penalty saved. I have to admit I was a little nervous, but he hammered it home to give us the lead again. In the 55th minute Gerrard gave a us a scare cracking a long range effort which thumped into the crossbar, and bounced out to one our players. In the 66th minute Jimenez went down after a heavy challenge with a potential upper body injury, so in a slightly risky move I decided to substitute him and change our formation slightly to 2 DMC's, with Scocco sitting in just behind Fatih Yucel. In the 71st minute before this substitution could be made Torres managed to get through for his first shot of the match. Huge credit goes to Steele for closing him down and making an excellent save to stop him from scoring. There was no surprise that Liverpool starting pushing forward, but we were doing the sensible thing on the whole when we got the ball, moving forward and passing the ball about trying to keep possession and see if we could find another way through the defence. In the 90th minute that nearly happened with Fatih Yucel having a shot from the edge of the area saved. Liverpool gave us one more scare in added time when they got a cross into our box with an astounding number of their players in the area, but fortunately their header was wide of the post. For the rest of the time we managed to retain possession and see out the match to seal a 2-1 victory.

I was delighted with how we'd taken the game to Liverpool and managed to come out on top. This victory is extremely important in our title fight, and one of the big keys to this was how quiet we'd managed to keep both Torres and Gerrard, with them both managing just 2 shots each during the entire game. When you consider that before this match, Torres had scored 24 times from 23 matches, keeping him so quiet was some acheivement. I felt that with the hard work our players had put in and the positive attitude they showed, we deserved this victory. Kacaniklic gave a good account of himself on his debut, showing a few good moves, and showed quick thought and vision to put the pass back to Scocco in the build up to our first goal. Fortunately Luis Jimenez has not picked up an injury which is good news. It is grealy amusing to see this result described as a shock victory in the Premiership Round-up.

Result: 2-1

The FA Cup 4th Round replays took place the same day as this match, and our next opponents in the 5th round will be Portsmouth. There was an upset in the replays, with Championship side Swansea defeating Premier League strugglers Wigan at the DW Stadium.

Birmingham (A) Premier League

We travel to St. Andrews as firm favourites for this match. Birmingham have been struggling this season and find themselves down in 15th place, just above the relegation zone, and come into the match off the back of losing in an FA Cup replay to Blackburn. This is an away match we would expect to collect all the points, but as with all teams in the league they always have the ability to cause a threat. Paul Dixon our loanee from Bolton will make his debut for us in this match at left back, giving Curri the chance to take a breather.

Early on we were showing greating ability to retain possession and passing, but failing to make the best of this as Birmingham were defending very well, restricting us to long shots. A few times they managed to get forward, but also restricted them to a couple of long shots. After 15 minutes I decided we needed to work the ball into the box, because our long shots were just nowhere near the target today. We continued to dominate, and in the 24th minute this paid off with Dixon, playing in debut, slipping a pass through into the area for Zigoni to run onto and slot the ball home to give us the lead. Birmingham felt this goal was offside, but the replay shows that Zigoni was just onside as the pass was made. In the 27th minute Rowlands went down after a tackle with a potential foot injury, not bad enough for an immediate substitution, but a worry still. We continued to do an excellent job of retaining possession, pushing Birmingham back all the time, but their defence proving to be very tricky to break down again. In the 42nd minute Sunny conceded a foul, that I don't understand at all, just outside our area, and received a yellow for this mysterious offence. Fortunately Steele was up to the job and caught the free kick. Right at the end of the half, Birmingham had their best period of play, in forcing a series of corners, but we held firm to keep the score at 1-0 when the break arrived.

I was pleased with what I'd seen in the first half, with us dominating the game, and always the more likely to score the next goal. I decided to send the players back out giving them encouragement to go on seal the victory for us. Birmingham started the half showing their intent to try and get forward and find an equaliser, but we again stood firm, although they were nervous moments, and our defending was looking more frantic. We really needed to just calm things down, and get the ball back under our control. In the 58th minute Buzsaky had a great chance from a rebound after a Zigoni shot, but he didn't make the most of that and allowed the keeper an easy save. In the 64th minute Scocco missed a great chance to put us further ahead, shooting wide of the target. I made a couple of substitutions to try and just mix things up a bit, getting Curri out on the left wing, and Balanta up front with Zigoni, as for once Scocco was not having a good game. This almost immediately had a big effect with us going forward, with Curri running onto a Grenier throughball, but his finishing is not good, so it was no shock to see the keeper push it wide in the 71st minute. From the resulting corner, Birmingham cleared the ball out to the centre of the park and we quickly moved back out to our right wing, where Buzsaky delivered the ball back into the area, with Balanta making a one touch pass allowing Zigoni to run through and score his 2nd of the match, in the 72nd minute. Birmingham were again crying out for it be ruled as offside, but out near Buzsaky was a defending playing him onside at at least 3 yards. As you'd expect Birmingham started to push forward, but we were still standing firm, and once we got the ball we were looking very good at retaining it, and now working chances with ease. In the 79th minute Zigoni will probably never get a better chance of a completing a hat-trick, shooting from about a yard out to the right of the goal, and somehow he fluffed it hitting the post; one of those nightmare moments for a striker. In the 85th minute Steele made a mess of trying to catch a ball from a corner kick, which allowed Birmingham to pull a goal back; with his aerial ability and handling that was most unexpected. That gave them a lot of encouragement, pushing forward again, and I was nervous when they got another corner, but we cleared it and then took control of the ball well, with Buzsaky denied in the 3rd minute of added time by a superb full stretch save from the keeper. The full time whistle brought the match to an end seconds later with us securing a 2-1 win.

I was largely pleased with the performance today. Was a disappointment to concede another goal from a corner, especially in the manner it came about, as Steele is normally excellent at dealing with the ball crossed in the air. Fortunately our defending after was good and our control of the ball and passing moves were excellent. It was a shame that Zigoni missed his golden opportunity to score a hat-trick, and will be wondering how he hit the post. Fortunately the knock that Rowlands picked up has not caused an injury, which is great news. I was impressed with the debut of Paul Dixon, especially as he started the match understandably nervous, but after he supplied the pass for our opening goal, he really settled down and did a fine job for us, finishing with a rating of 7.40, which is excellent in his first competitive match of the season.

Result: 2-1

The last few matches I'm beginning to feel I'm getting the strategy and touchline shouts better coordinated, which seems to avoid the situation I was having before, where sides would just overrun us. The matches haven't had the same inevitable feel that the opposition are going to peg us back as I was suffering before. It doesn't mean this will always work, but I feel I have a better understanding of how to counteract a team suddenly going on the attack. It's very easy to just panic and think the match engine has gone crazy, but after reading some guides, most of which are neatly listed by FM Pundit here, I feel so much more confident about dealing with each team we play. I would advise anyone who hasn't check these out, to do so, as things should become a whole lot clearer.

Arsenal (H) Premier League

The Gunners arrive at Loftus Road, with us narrow favourites for the match. Having come through the big test with the visit of Liverpool earlier in the month, this is our next challenge, as Arsenal are pushing us the closest of any team at the top right now. Both sides will be trying to ensure they are not defeated, as that would hand the advantage in the league to the other team, and therefore this match could have a huge bearing on who wins the premiership title this season. Our record against Arsenal is remarkable so far with 2 wins and a draw. The 2 wins last season though were definitely gifts through them playing weakened teams against us in both matches. I doubt that will happen this time though. As I had in our last meeting, I decided to go with a Counter attacking strategy, which had largely worked for us.

The first half was a fairly even but unexciting battle. Arsenal created more shots, but there were no real incidents worth noting. We seemed to be cancelling each other out, and so the first half ended up goalless.

I was reasonably happy that we'd done quite well at keeping Arsenal quiet, but concerned that we'd only managed a couple of shots. I sent the players back out telling them they could win this game. The 2nd half started in much the same fashion, so it seemed the match was destined to be very boring. However in the 56th minute Balanta ran with the ball down the left and hit a cross into the box, which Scocco met with his head to give us the lead, and is his 100th career league goal. In the 70th minute disaster struck from an Arsenal free kick, with the ball deflecting in off Curri, dubiously given as an own goal, to level the scores. That was definitely a lucky goal as the free kick had delected off an Arsenal player's body on the way into the area with him having no control of it. In the 1st minute of added time I was livid at the referee for sending Daeseleire off for a 2nd yellow card offence, which seemed far too harsh. It was a relief when the final whistle blew bringing a very poor match to a close with the scores level at 1-1.

Having managed to get the lead it was disappointing to only end up with a draw, especially as the goal we conceded owed a lot to luck. I sympathised with the players over this bit of bad luck. The red card for Daeseleire sees him banned for a one match. The performance of Kjær in the centre of defence was great today, earning him a well deserved man of the match award. Even though we lost the lead, to only claim a draw, the fans are still happy with this result. Elsewhere there was a very significant and surprising result with Liverpool being mauled 6-2 by Sunderland.

Result: 1-1

Portsmouth (A) FA Cup 5th Round

We arrive at Fratton Park to play the current leaders of the Championship, which makes us only marginal favourites for this match. This is definitely not a match we should take for granted.

When the match started Steel was called upon to make a save in just the 2nd minute. After that we began working our way forward putting Pompey under some pressure. It was clear though that Portsmouth were up for trying to grab the win here. In the 8th minute they won one of the most mysterious corners ever, with Steele apparently being given as making a save on a ball that was not noly wide of the post, but he also never got close to it. That would suggest either the referee/assistant are terribly biased, or what you see on the 3D view is sometimes not even close to what the match engine believes is going on. This seemed to spur Pompey on and they started mounting attacks, so I decided that our best chance was to try and see if we could exploit the flanks, as the speed and dribbling of Grenier and Ephraim should start to cause problems. This worked perfectly in the 18th minute with Grenier steaming down the right touchline, and produced a superb cross into the box, where Ephraim was placed to side foot into the back of the net. Pompey were determined to come at us, which gave us more space to get down the flanks, and they were struggling to deal with this, with plenty of last ditch tackles going in. In the 26th minute Scocco skied a chance from in the area, but he was under pressure from the defender. After this Pompey started trying to thump long shots at us with that disturbing accuracy, making Steele really work for his wage today. In the last 5 minutes of the half Pompey were putting us under huge pressure, very nearly cracking us with Steele again coming to the rescue with a great save. We manged to see the half out with us leading 1-0.

I was pleased that we had the lead, but it felt rather fragile with the way that Pompey were pushing so hard. I decided to tell them to do this for the fans, hoping that would give them the added motivation to hold on, and hopefully stretch our lead. For a while we had to withstand quite a bit more pressure from Pompey, before we finally managed to get forward again. As Pompey were now doing a good job of stopping us down the flanks, I switched to exploit the middle to see if it would make a difference. Ephraim had a good chance to score again in the 58th minute, but couldn't find the back of the net, with the keeper saving the ball. Although this in itself wasn't creating many more shots, it was making it harder for Pompey to attack, as they were now mostly going down the wings, which we seemed to be happier to defend against, although there were still a few scares. In the 81st minute Fatih Yucel stuck an almighty long shot from 30 yards, but the keeper managed to get a hand to it, to push it for a corner. We then spent most of the rest of the match camped in the last third of the pitch, with Buzsaky having a close shot saved by the keeper. This allowed us to play out the rest of the match to take a 1-0 victory.

I was pleased with how my touchline shouts in the 2nd half really changed the dynamic of the game. The shots from Pompey shows the big difference between the two halves, with 12 in the 1st, and just 3 in the 2nd. We had only 3 in the 1st and 7 in the 2nd half, which shows just how much better we had played. Our performance in the 2nd half, even though it didn't give us any more goals, really did stop Portsmouth being anywhere near as effective as they had been. I have to admit I was rather worried after the way they were all over us in the 1st half. This is a match that we could have thrown away if we'd continued to allow Portsmouth to dominate as they had in the 1st half. Steele really earned his wage today and the clean sheet bonus in that 1st half, but his performance was eclipsed by Ephraim, the man of the match, who along with Grenier really terrorized the Pompey backline. One of the best things about this match was that it did not end up as a draw, as that would have added to our already congested fixture nightmare.

Result: 1-0

The draw for the 6th round of the FA Cup took place a couple of days after this match, and will see us play away at either, Tottenham or Cardiff. Given all the teams left in the draw are Premiership teams, it could have been worse, such as away to Arsenal or Liverpool. Tottenham however if they do win the replay are still a tricky prospect. One good aspect of the 6th round onwards are that all matches are settled on the night, with no replays.

Valencia (A) Champions Cup First Knockout Round 1st Leg

We travel to Spain and the Nuevo Mestalla for our most daunting challenge of the season, as underdogs, and expected to be thrashed. This is the first match of the season that the fans have been pessimistic. Success for us in this match is not be completely thrashed I feel, with a draw being a long shot, and win would be a miracle. I decided the best option would be to set us up for going on the counter attack, and hope that if we can hold steady at the back, we have a hope with a quick counter attack.

The match started with Valencia pushing forward, giving Steele some early catching practice. What happened next stunned me and the entire stadium. The ball was cleared to the left and forward to Zigoni, who squared the ball inside to Fatih Yucel at the edge of the centre circle, in space and able to dribble forward clear of the defence. As he got into the area, he unleashed a great shot to beat the keeper to give us an astonishing lead in just the 5th minute. Valencia immediately pushed forward, forcing Steele, who was looking really motivated for this match, to make a stunning save in the 6th minute from a long shot. One of the oddest things was how Valencia seemed in little panic to pressurise us, and were allowing us a lot of time on the ball when we got it. In the 22nd minute Steele was called upon to make a good save, but wasn't working as much as I expecting. In the 34th minute we finally worked our 2nd shot of the match, with Zigoni's shot from the edge of the area, just saved at the near post. The inevitable happened in the 40th minute with Valencia's, David Villa finally receiving a great pass at the edge of the area, and managed to somehow slide it in the corner of the net. It was a bit disappointing, but it takes a striker of his quality to pull out a great shot like that. Just slightly left and it would have been wide, just a touch right and it would have hit Puygrenier who was right in front of him. Valencia then seemed to up the tempo, and in the 43rd minute Villa got in clear, only to see Steele push his shot out for a corner. We managed to see the half out with the scores level at 1-1.

I was pleased with what I'd seen, because although Valencia are clearly better than us, we'd not allowed ourselves to be overrun, and it'd taken a classy finish to break through our defences. I sent the players back our telling them I was pleased, hoping this would motivate them for the 2nd half. I have no idea if the half time talk really had an effect, but from the kick off the ball was worked to the left, for Balanta to move forward, and spotted a diagonal pass to Fatih Yucel, just outside the area, with space, and again as he entered the area he unleashed another superb finish into the far bottom corner of the net to give us the lead again. I was stunned, and delighted. Although Valencia were getting forward and putting some pressure on us, we were still getting a lot of time on the ball. In fact at this point we'd had more possession and our passing completion was better. In the 57th minute from a corner, Zigoni got his head to the ball and the Valencia keeper made a save he didn't know too much about from point blank range, allowing Puygrenier a follow up shot, but he could only give the keeper some catching practice. In the 63rd minute Villa scored the equaliser from just outside the area, yet again just finding the one place, that missed a defender, and although Steele got a fingertip to the ball, he couldn't stop it going in. In the 69th minute Villa got through looking for his hat-trick, but this time Steele was able to get enough on the ball to push it out for a corner. In the 75th minute there was huge disappointment with Valencia scoring from a corner, which I really hate. For some reason I can't fathom, about half of the goals conceded at corners, seem to be by a player scoring their first goal of the season. In the 78th minute Ephraim will wonder for a long time how he couldn't find the shot to score with just the keeper to beat in the 6 yard box. My players looked determined to try and find an equaliser in the game pinning Valencia back and winning several corners. With the seconds ticking away we gave it one last try winning another corner, from which we went close, with the rebound dropping to Sunny just outside the area, but his shot couldn't find a way through the crowded area. That was the last shot of the game, bringing it to an end with us losing 3-2.

In spite of losing, I was really pleased with the performance we'd put in, even if the winner was a very disappointing goal to concede. To have taken the lead twice against such good opposition was superb, and gives us a little hope that we might just be able to pull off a big surprise in the 2nd leg, with the two away goals we have scored. Even if don't, we have given a superb account of ourselves in this match. I was delighted that Fatih Yucel was given the man of the match award, scoring two superbly taken goals. The only surprise for me, was that Jimenez had a very average game. The email summary of the match states that we put in a good display and could feel unlucky at losing this match. Despite the loss, the morale of the team is still very high, which is great as they are obviously viewing this match objectively.

Result: 2-3

Manchester City (A) Premier League

We travel to the City of Manchester stadium as clear underdogs for this match, but our record against them is actually quite good, with 4 wins out of the last 5 matches between the two teams. This is another extremely important match in the title race, as City are 3 points behind us having played the same number of games.

The match started with Man City going close, after getting a cross in from the byeline, with the header fortunately giving Steel an easy save. After that things became a lot more even, with both sides creating some chances, with the closest being a long shot from City that hit the crossbar in the 16th minute. This seemed to spur City on for a few minutes, with us having to defend hard. In the 20th minute we worked the ball forward patiently getting a series of corner kicks, with Kjær getting his head to one in the 25th minute to give us the lead. City really pressed after this, and the equaliser came in the 32nd minute, much to my disappointment. We tried to react, but everytime City got the ball, they were moving the ball so fast, we were struggling, and Steele had to make a superb save in the 35th minute to stop the ball going into the top corner of the net, and another brilliant diving save in the 41st minute. We managed to weather the storm putting a big clearance up the field for Zigoni to run onto on the right side, he held the ball up near the corner waiting for options, and provided Grenier a superb pass to run onto in the area. He ran to the right edge of the 6 yard box, and somehow managed to beat the keeper at the near post to give us the lead again in the 1st minute of added time, and gives him his first goal of the season. The first half came to an end with us still leading 2-1.

Our first half performance had been rather variable, with our defence being opened up a bit too often, but our attacking play had been good at points, although our strikers seemed to become rather isolated. I sent the players back out telling them I was pleased, hoping they could hold out for a victory. City found the equaliser in the 48th minute, with Steele making 2 great saves, before Tezvez pounced to stab the ball home. I was disappointed that we let them back level so quickly. In the 50th minute Steele had to make another great save after we allowed Robinho to just dribble right through us, and was beginning to seriously worry me. However, we were not about to lie down, and we moved the ball forward again patiently, and in the 53rd minute Ephraim picked out a superb cross to Jimenez in the area, who kept his cool to place the shot into the net to give us the lead again. This was now becoming a real end to end affair, and Adebayour scared us in the 57th minute getting clear but fortunately for us he shot just wide. The match continued going end to end with scares for both teams, one of the biggest being in the 76th minute from a City cross, with the header somehow being put wide of the target. In the 79th minute Steele produced an absolutely astonishingly lucky save after a Barry shot from outside the area, hit the bar, and bounced down, hitting him bouncing safe allowing us to clear the ball. For the last 10 minutes City were almost camped in our half of the pitch, with a scary number of shots, but fortunately for us the shots were either blocked, easy saves, or off target. I have no idea quite how we managed to hold on to this 3-2 win.

This definitely goes down as a lucky win, and shows the frailty of the City defence, in that we managed to score from 3 of the 7 shots we had in the match. I was disappointed to see the man of the match award going to Tevez, as I felt Steele who had an outstanding game, was more deserving, but goals always count higher for ratings. I was delighted to come away with this most unlikely victory. I don't how or why but we seem to have the something over City, no matter what they throw at us. One thing I did notice early on in the match was that we had several players motivated from the start, which seems to happen rarely. An observation about City that may explain this result, is that each time the scores were level they were quite happy to allow us the time and space on the ball to work openings. Once behind they would then push, and the longer they stayed behind, the more desperate they seemed to be, such that although they had lots of shots, they were easier for us to stop than if they had been more controlled about working an opening, as they had been when scoring their 2 goals.

Result: 3-2

Fulham (H) Premier League

Our final league fixture of the month sees Fulham travel the short distance to Loftus Road, with us being favourites to win the match. Fulham are a team we see as a rival, but they actually see us as fierce rivals, so they are sure to have serious motivation for this match. The sides have not been seperated by more than one goal in our previous 4 matches, so this is likely to be another tight contest. When the teamsheets are announced we find that Fulham are lining up with a 3-5-2 formation, making for a very congested midfield, but hopefully giving us space on the wings to get behind them.

As I expected space in the midfield was difficult to come by and it was clear a patient build up would be needed. In the 4th minute after a lot of passing, we finally fashioned an opportunity for Scocco to hit a long shot, which the keeper only just pushed out for a corner. From the resulting corner, Fulham made a poor effort of trying to defend, and the ball dropped to Puygrenier, who even with his poor finishing skills managed to find a gap through the bodies to give us the lead in the 5th minute, even though the keeper managed to get a hand to the ball. Our lead didn't last long though, with Fulham equalising in the 9th minute, the first time they'd even managed to get near our area. Most annoyingly this goal should have been given for offside, so I feel very aggrieved by this. Our players continued to build regular attacks, and in the 18th minute, the keeper saved another tremendously struck long shot from Scocco. Fulham were now looking more attacking and causing a few more worries at the back, but it was us that struck again next, with a well worked moved down the right side, with Scocco passing the ball inside to Jimenez, who flicked it on into the area, where Ephraim arrived to hit the ball into the net to give us the lead again in the 29th minute. Fulham then dropped to a 5-3-2 formation, I'm guessing to strengthen the backline. Although Fulham were still managing to make attacks, it was allowing us huge amounts of space to get down the wings when we went forward. In the 44th minute Jimenez put Fatih Yucel through into the area, and he gave us our 3rd goal of the match to give us a 2 goal lead. We quickly won the ball after the restart and went looking for another, and only a well timed tackle stop Fatih Yucel the opportunity to score, and a couple of minute later the half time whistle blew just as he hit a shot, which went into to net, but wouldn't count, so the half finished with us leading 3-1.

I was pleased with what I'd seen so far, with us able to rip through Fulham with ease, and our defence had not had much work to do, with a dodgy offside decision being the only time we'd failed to deal with and attack. I sent the players back out pleased with what they'd shown so far, hoping they would continue to show the same endeavour in the 2nd half. Fulham came out absolutely fired up, pushing us back as much as they could, winning several corners early on. The pressure from them was quite intense, but we were still standing firm, but they were closing us down fast when we were heading forward. I made a few adjustments, but in the 71st minute they still managed to get a player clear with a great throughball, but fortunately Steele managed to stand his ground and make an excellent save. Later the same minute we managed to get Ephraim through, but he pulled his shot wide of the target. In the 78th minute Steele made another superb diving save. Fortunately after this we calmed down and started to play more sensibly, and our defending became much more solid, Puygrenier really taking control of the things at the back, winning almost every header when the ball was hit forward. We also managed to take some time out of the game by retaining possession, but still looking to score again. We managed to play the rest of the match out claiming a 3-1 victory.

I was pleased with this result, although I feel we a few times we nearly panicked in the 2nd half under pressure, but this turned out to be a very good team performance, all built upon the superb attacking play we'd shown in the first half. Puygrenier won the man of the match award, after having put in a superb performance in defence, as well as scoring a goal. This is our best performance against Fulham, and we stood up the to pressure we knew would come in the 2nd half. The fans are delighted with this result, as they should be when we beat one of our rivals.

Result: 3-1

The FA Cup Replays were also took place on the same day, confirming Tottenham as our opponents in the next round, giving us a tricky encounter at White Hart Lane. Elsewhere Arsenal were surprisingly beaten in the home leg of the EURO Cup tie against HSV, 3-1 to be put out of the tournament.

Arsenal (N) League Cup Final

Next up is a visit to Wembley to play Arsenal for the second time this month, with them clear favourites to lift the trophy. This will definitely be a tricky match, and after being knocked out of the EURO Cup earlier in the week, it's hard to know exactly how they will react to that. We can only hope it has a negative effect upon them, rather than inspiring them to give us a good thumping. The two matches between us in the league, both ended as 1-1 draws, so this could well be a closely fought match. One piece of luck for us, is that Theo Walcott is injured, and won't be playing. When the teamsheets were revealed, it was clear they were intent on winning this trophy, with a very strong side announced.

The first half was pretty awful, where we had marginally more of the ball, but for the first half an hour, we were getting nowhere when we went forward, and giving the ball away too often at the back. In the 10th minute we have Steele to thank for making a great save after Puygrenier allowed himself to be caught dwelling on the ball. This happened with several players during this time with Steele having to save us. It wasn't until the 42nd minute we finally worked a proper chance, with Ephraim receiving the ball in the middle of the area, but he thumped it straight at the keeper. The half ended goalless with Arsenal having created 3 times as many chances as us.

This was a really poor display, not helped by what appeared to be a terribly biased referee. We had Laure and Sunny booked in the first half, and yet Arsenal seemed to able to take my players down without it even being given as a foul. My favourite was Sunny being behind Fabregas, but somehow giving a foul away for backing into him. I told the players I was disappointed, hoping this would fire them up to start performing. We came out looking much more motivated, but it who still Arsenal who broke through for the first chance of the half with Steele having to make a great save in the 49th minute, and another in the 55th. In the 60th minute we were denied claims for a penalty with Boateng pushing Fatih Yucel as he was jumping for a header. Our first shot came a minute later with Fatih Yucel blasting just over the bar. We'd been doing a good after that of retaining possession and cutting out attacks from Arsenal. In 83rd minute though, I was angry for 2 reasons, with van Persie being offside, and then I'm sure he fouled Steele before putting the ball in the net. I was spitting chips after that, and decided to just go full out attack. Sadly we totally failed to achieve anything and the match came to an end with us losing 1-0.

I was totally gutted by this result and feel totally cheated by the complete injustice of van Persie's goal which I feel should have been disallowed, and for us not being a awarded a penalty. To lose the League Cup in such controversial circumstances really hurts, but it's something we need to put behind us. I was also disappointed with how few times we managed to create shots, with only 6 to the 17 Arsenal had. The players had put in a lot of effort without managing to really create much. This is the first match we've failed to score in since Christmas, which is also a disappointment.

Result: 0-1

Monthly Roundup

Despite being absolutely gutted at losing the League Cup Final in the way we did, I feel we had a superb month. Our league form was brilliant with 4 wins and draw, with 2 of those wins over our closest title rivals. The win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup 5th round was not as convincing as I feel it should have been, but it was still pleasing to advance to the 6th round. In the Champions Cup against Valencia, who I expected us to really struggle against, I ended up feeling disappointed that we'd managed to draw the match, as we played so better than I could have dared hope. However I still feel that scoring 2 away goals was good, as it gives us some hope in the 2nd leg at home next month.

Our wins over Man City and Liverpool have given us a good advantage over them, and the hectic fixture schedule took its toll on Arsenal, who lost to Aston Villa during the month, allowing us to gain an advantage over them. This run won me the Premiership Manager of the Month award for the first time this season, with Man United's Roberto Mancini in 2nd and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger in 3rd. Our chances of taking the title are quite a bit better after this month. Liverpool had a terrible month with 1 win, 2 losses and 2 draws to slip 10 points behind us, the low point being the 6-2 thumping they suffered at the hands of Sunderland.

Clement Grenier won the Premiership Young Player of the Month award with Angelo Balanta placed in 3rd. There were a lot of great performances from different team members, but my player of the month is fairly easy this time, with Kjær being the most consistent performer for us in the centre of defence, with an average over 7 games of about 7.4. The month ends with Slory now back to fitness and ready to play in the 1st team again. Varrault is our one remaining injury, still about 3 weeks from being able to make his return.

The next month sees us play 6 fixtures, which feels like a very quiet after 3 straight months with 8 fixtures a piece. We will be playing Tottenham in the 6th round of the FA Cup, our second leg of our Champions Cup tie against Valencia, and 4 league fixtures.

I now feel more optimism that we may be able to win the title, because our rivals appear to have a slightly tougher run in to the end of the season than we do, although we don't want to rely on other teams slipping up.

January 2012 - Problems in the Dressing Room

2010-01-21T17:47:00.000Z

The month starts with the confirmation that AC Milan have sent Gianmarco Zigoni on loan to us, and according to my backroom staff he is rated as our 3rd best striker, behind Fatih Yucel and Scocco, so should be able to do a decent job for us during the heavy fixture congestion we have coming up. He is however severely lacking match fitness so will need a match or two in the reserves before joining the first team.

Unfortunately the harmony in the team seems to breaking down a lot. The catalsyt for this seems to have been after one of my hot prospects had a falling out with Rafa while he was tutoring him. Silviu Lung jr has also expressed a desire to leave in order to join a bigger club and win trophies. In order to avoid causing a huge upset, I have responded that he should wait until the end of the season. I'm not happy with this, but if I decline his request to leave, I'm sure he'd stop playing at his best, as happened with Fatih Yucel for a while. I find this desire to leave a bit strange, given that we are currently 1st in the Premier League and also in the League Cup semi final, with a good chance of making it through to final, as well as also winning the FA Cup last season, and the Charity Shield in this one. I can only hope that we do manage to hold on and win the league, and that this causes him to have a change of heart. In the hopes of bringing some of the harmony back to the dressing room, I have accepted offers for both Rowan Vine and Matthew Connolly, who appear to have been the most vocal is stirring up trouble. Wayne Routledge looks to be another player that needs to leave, so I've also offered him to other clubs. This may appear brutal, but I feel I need to clear out those who I feel are no longer good enough to play for the team, and causing our dressing room problems.

Sunderland (H) League Cup Semi Final Leg 1

The first match of the year sees Sunderland arrive back at Loftus Road just 4 days after we gained victory over them in the FA Cup. We are again narrow favourites for this match, and know that we can achieve a win. It would be ideal if we can give ourselves a comfortable victory and keep a clean sheet if we can. My biggest concern in this match is how the problems in the dressing room affect the players out on the pitch, but my assistant seems to have no worries about the focus of any of the our players on match day.

We started the game by going on the attack, allowing Sunderland little time on the ball. In the 6th minute this paid off with Varrault finding a superb diagonal pass into the area for Scocco to run onto and round the keeper to give him the easiest of shots to give us the lead. In the 11th minute Scocco received the ball clear of the defence, but this time the keeper was able to close him down and stop his shot from finding the back of the net. Although Sunderland were trying to mount attacks, were doing a good job of cutting these out and mounting our own attacks and in the 17th minute Scocco squared the ball to his right just outside the area for Fatih Yucel, who moved forward and placed the ball into the net to give us a 2nd goal. In the 25th minute we nearly added to our goal tally with Buzsaky's curling shot from just outside the area saved, with the rebound dropping to Scocco in the area, but his shot was also saved by the keeper. After the half hour mark Sunderland came a bit more into the game, managing a few shots, but nothing that required a great save from our keeper. We continued to mount attacks, with Buzsaky having another shot saved in the 36th minute. Although Sunderland were regularly managing to get down the flanks, their crossing was pretty woeful, which was making our job of defending that much easier. The first half came to and end with us still leading 2-0.

I was pleased with what I'd seen in the first half, with the players looking good on the ball, and making it hard for Sunderland to attack. I sent the players back out telling them I was pleased, hoping they would continue to make the same sort of effort for the 2nd half. Sunderland came out looking motivated, but this didn't seem to be helping them, and in the 51st minute a series of swift passing moves, saw Rowlands slide the ball across the face of the area, for Fatih Yucel to run onto and score our 3rd goal of the match. Annoyingly we got caught out in the 56th minute by the speed of Bent, getting onto the end of a ball and sliding it by Lung jr again at the near post, which is very disappointing. In the 69th minute Scocco had a tricky chance to extend our lead again, but failed to even find the target. In the 84th he had another chance having got clear of the defence, only to hit the keeper again. In the 90th minute I was angry when Bent managed to get on the end of another ball and hammered it by Lung jr without him seeming to make much of an effort to make the save. That was very annoying, as I feel he really could have saved both of these goals, making we wonder if he is distracted by his desire to leave the club. We saw the match through to gain a 3-2 victory.

I was pleased to get a victory, but very annoyed that we'd conceded two goals I felt our keeper should have made a much better effort to try and save. It's very disappointing not to finish with the margin of victory our performance had deserved. Although we will head to the Stadium of Light holding an advantage, but it's not as good as I would have liked.

Result: 3-2

Wigan (A) Premier League

For our first league fixture of the year we head off to DW Stadium to take on Wigan, who have been struggling quite a big this season, finding themselves in 16th place, which makes us favourites to win this match. Our record over Wigan is good, having won the last 3 matches we've played against them, although each time the margin of victory has been by a single goal.

The match started as a midfield battle and continued on from there. In spells we looked good, causing the Wigan defence problems, and several times had a player just about to get clear with the ball, only for him to be fouled each time, denying us any really good chances. In the 40th minute Lung jr had to make the first save by either keeper of the match. We reached half time goalless, in what had been a pretty dreary match so far.

I was somewhat disappointed with our play, although that had a lot to do with the tactics of Wigan. I sent the players back out telling them it had been disappointing so far, hoping this would bring them more to life for the second half. At the start of the 2nd half we were awful, being overrun by Wigan, and took ages to start to settle again. It wasn't until the 59th minute Jimenez had a chance to score, only for his shot to be saved. In the 63rd minute Scocco had a better chance, but somehow the keeper managed to flail an arm and bring off a miraculous save. In the 82nd minute there was great controversy when we were awarded a penalty for a foul on Buzsaky, which Fatih Yucel stepped up to take, and buried into the back of the net to give us the lead. It's no surprise that Wigan started pushing hard to find an equaliser, with Lung jr having a make a save in the 88th minute from a stinging long shot. In the 1st minute of stoppage time, Wigan had a shot bounce off the crossbar and go safe, with Lung jr called upon the following minute. Fortunately after that we managed to keep the ball as I wanted us to, and play out the time for a 1-0 victory.

I was pleased we managed to get this victory, and at times in the 2nd half our performance looked good, but overall the match was pretty poor, with Wigan's very defensive and negative tactics making it very hard to break through. Such was the poor quality of the match, Sunny was named the man of the match with a rating of just 7.5, which says a lot. Our defence, which had seen a few changes for this match for the purposes of maintaining fitness levels, had done a pretty good job, giving me a lot of confidence in all the defensive players I will be using over the next few months.

Result: 1-0

Following this match we have now confirmed the sale of Rowan Vine to Norwich for £500k, which has seen the dressing harmony rise a bit, but is still far too low. Although the harmony of the squad is down, their morale is very high, with the results still being good, but I definitely need to improve the situation as quickly as possible.

Sunderland (A) Premier League

We now travel to the Stadium of Light for a league match against Sunderland, who we're getting to know extremely well recently. They are the narrowest of favourites for this match, and after our recent meetings I feel we have a decent chance.

The match started as a fairly even affair, with both sides looking to mount attacks. In the 8th minute Lung jr had to make a very good save keep the ball out of the net. This seemed to spur Sunderland on, and in the 10th minute Lung jr had to make another great save from a free kick, where our wall was in the wrong position. It took us a few minutes to settle again, with our first shot of the match coming in the 16th minute from a Scocco long range drive that flew just wide of the post. Sunderland were however finding it far too easy to break through our back line with Lung jr making another good save in the 19th minute. In the 28th minute Scocco managed to get on the end of a throughball clear of the defence, but he failed to be able to get the ball by the keeper who'd been quick to close him down. However later the same minute Slory slotted a pass through to Scocco at the edge of the box, allowing him to move by his marker, and this time he managed to slide the ball under the advancing keeper as he dived to try and make the save. Sunderland tried to respond, which was giving us a bit more space to attack when we got the ball, and in the 34th minute Fatih Yucel tried a long range shot from outside the area, which the keeper could only push over the bar for a corner. From the resulting corner there were shouts claiming that we should have had a penalty, but it's very unclear, and the ball went for another corner. In the 37th minute there was disappointment as Sunderland broke through again allowing Aaron Lennon an easy shot to level the scores. Just two minute later Puygrenier was given a very dubious yellow card, for an apparent trip on a player who was running from behind him as he jumped for a header. No idea how that works out. Just into added time Lung jr produced an amazing save to deny Kenwyne Jones when he managed to get the ball clear of our defence, bringing the first half to a close with the score level at 1-1.

Although Sunderland had enjoyed more possession, the match had been fairly even, and was quite pleased with what I'd seen, hoping we could now push on to find the winning goal. The 2nd half started with Sunderland pushing forward, forcing another couple of saves from Lung jr, but we soon started to mount attacks ourselves, and in the 52nd minute Fatih Yucel had an excellent chance to score, but just couldn't get it out of the reach of the keeper, with the ball was cleared out to the right, where the Sunderland right back had the ball stolen from him, and then fouled Slory trying to win it back. Buzsaky stepped up, and I was just expecting the ball to be delivered into the box for one of our players to try and get a head on it. However his kick was directed towards the far top corner of the net, but fully expected the keeper to push it over or wide for a corner, but he misjudged it, and ended up deflecting it into the goal to restore our lead. This was an own goal, as it looks unlikely the ball would have gone in without his touch on the ball. My delight didn't last long as Sunderland managed to claim an equaliser by just keep pumping the ball back into the box, and eventually it fell for one of their players to put the ball in the net in the 55th minute. I was angry with this goal, as our defending had let us down badly, with us getting pushed back far too much. Sunderland then started pushing for a winner, and worryingly in the 62nd minute Buzsaky went down with a potential thigh injury. After this we seemed largely powerless to stop Sunderland from creating chances with shots coming from everywhere, causing a lot of worry. We did get foward a few times, but the last part of the match was pretty poor with us having to withstand some serious pressure, but we managed to hold out and reach the end of the match with the scores level at 2-2.

Given how we'd managed to take the lead twice, I was disappointed with the result and how much we were outplayed by Sunderland in the last part of the match. I guess I should be happy though to come away with a draw, as this is not an easy venue to get a result at. One good piece of news is that Buzsaky has not sustained an injury from the knock he took in the match.

Result: 2-2

In the days following the match I have now sold Wayne Routledge to Birmingham for £1 million, which should ease some more of the dressing room disharmony.

Sheffield United (H) Premier League

The Blades arrive at Loftus Road with us clear favourites to win this match. The backroom staff tell me that we have a lot of different advantages over them, so this is a match we should definitely be winning against a side that have struggled this season, sitting in 17th place in the table. I've decided to give Zigoni his first start since joining the club.

With just 10 seconds on the clock, Sheffield United's Crisetig hacked Ephraim down with a vicious tackle, resulting in him being sent off and his victim suffering a potential knee injury, which is a bit of a worry, but at the moment a substitution is not needed. For some reason after this, it was Blades going on the attack, pushing us back for a while. In the 9th minute a superb throughball over the top nearly got a us a goal with Balanta taking control of it, and hitting the shot, which the keeper just managed to get a hand to and deflect around the post. From the corner Ephraim had a shot which bounced off a defender and dropped perfectly for Puygrenier to swing a leg and thump the ball into the back of the net and give us the lead in the 10th minute. The Blades were now dominating possession, stroking the ball about like we weren't there, but we nearly got them on the break in the 17th minute with Balanta again getting clear and again seeing his shot kept out by another great save. We started to gain a bit more time on the ball, but still giving possession back far too cheaply, which was disappointing. In the 29th minute we won our second corner of the game, and the Blades made an awful mess of trying to defend it, with the ball bouncing about like it was in a pinball machine, before it bounced off the keeper, allowing Kjær to pounce on the ball and prod it into the net to give us a 2 goal lead. In fact it was Kjær's initial flick on to put it over the head of the flailing keeper that helped to cause the panic. This appeared to settle us properly for a while, but again we started to give the ball away far too cheaply. Near the end of the half Balanta and then Jimemez went down having taken a knock, which is not good during this busy period of matches. The first half ended with us leading 2-0.

I was pleased that we had the lead, but felt we hadn't taken as much advantage as we should have, especially with a player having been sent off. I sent the players back out telling them I was pleased, hoping they would then go on the see this match out properly. The half started with the Blades looking very good, making me worry a bit with the ease with which they were moving the ball about. In the 50th minute we'd finally wrestled the ball back, and Zigoni had a good chance to extend our lead, but his shot was the victim of another great save by the keeper. We finally seemed to settle down after that taking a lot more control. In the 56th minute I was astonished when Balanta was booked for a supposed dive in the area, but it looks like he was brought down to me. Somehow the keeper managed to make another astonishing save to deny Zigoni yet again. In the 61st minute we were the victims of another of the AI's miracle long shots, to pull a goal back for the Blades. We then started to enjoy a good period of possession, looking to restore our 2 goal lead, rarely letting the Blades mount a counter attack, but every time they did I got nervous. In the 78th minute Curri spotted Scocco, on as a substitute, in space just outside the area, and he thumped in a superb long shot to restore our 2 goal cushion. After this we were really dominating possession well, and giving the Blades no opportunity of getting forward. This was spoilt though when the referee made what I feel was a disgraceful decision to give Sunny his second yellow card of the game leading to him being sent off in the 87th minute. That sending off had little effect on the result though, with the match ending 3-1.

I'm pleased that we got the win, but absolutely livid about Sunny's sending off, and the bizarre booking of Balanta for a supposed dive. It was quite nice to see our two centre backs get on the scoresheet, but Scocco's screamer was an absolute delight and really settled my nerves. In the post match analysis it actually says that the referee had a mixed day, and could be accused of a bias towards to the visitors, which I certainly felt. The bad news is that Sunny is now banned for 2 matches after his sending off, but there is some good news which is that Ephraim has not sustained an injury as a result of the vicious foul in the first few seconds of the match. One of the more astounding stats is that Sheffield United only commited only 2 fouls in the match, or at least the referee gave only 2 fouls against them.

Result: 3-1

Sunderland (A) League Cup Semi Final Leg 2

We travel back to the Stadium of Light, as marginal underdogs looking to advance through to the final of the League Cup, holding a narrow lead of one goal in the tie. If we can match our performance earlier in the month we played in the league at this stadium, then I'll be very happy, as it will be enough to see us through to the final.

For the first 15 minutes of the match we were completely and utterly rubbish, so bad I was thinking of joining our fans and booing the awful display they were putting on. The only good things I was seeing was some herioc defending under great pressure. I really started shouting at the team, telling them a few fortunes, and this seemed to wake them up from whatever drugged haze they had been in at the start. Suddenly they were managing to string some passes together and in the 18th minute Fatih Yucel squared the ball in the area for Jimenez to stroke the ball home to open the scoring, in what had up until then looked a very one sided match. The match became a little more open after that even though Sunderland were pushing to find an equaliser. This was opening the pitch for us to mount counter attacks which were causing them some worries, even though we weren't creating any shots. In the 29th minute one of those counter attacks saw Scocco put through on the left and when reached the byeline he turned and sent a great pass to Curri who'd moved into the area, who then slipped a short diagonal pass to Rafa, who looked sure to increase our lead before he was flattened by a tackle from Anton Ferdinand. This resulted in a yellow card, which was fairly lucky given Rafa had a clear chance to score. Curri stepped up to the take the spot kick but somehow the keeper managed to make a save and deflect the ball onto the post, with Scocco's shot from the rebound saved, and then Jimenez had a shot from just outside the area, go just wide of the post. I can't believe we've let them off like that. To add serious insult to this missed penalty, Varrault went down in the 36th minute with a possible thigh injury, requiring his substition. This missed penalty seemed to give Sunderland more confidence and they pushed forward again, with Lung jr called upon to make another great diving save in the 38th minute. We went through another period of 5 minutes looking totally awful again, but we managed to make it to half time still leading 1-0.

Although we'd looked really poor at times, I was pleased that we'd managed to get the lead and although Sunderland had put a lot of pressure on us, we'd managed to stand up to that so far. There was a bit of disappointment that we'd had a penalty saved, and Varrault had needed to be substituted. I sent the players back out pleased, as we were now holding a two goal lead on aggregate, and hoped they would be a bit more consistent in the second half. We actually started the half looking a bit better than we had, but it was Sunderland who were to make the breakthrough in the 53rd minute, with another of those annoying long shots flying in that you find hard to believe. For the next few minutes there was big midfield battle, which ended with Sunderland getting a cross into the box for them to head the ball home to take the lead and level the scores on aggregate. From the moment of that penalty everything was going against us, and now we were getting poor offside decisions given against us with the wrong player being called, when the receiving player was actually onside. We desperately needed some change of luck if we were to get out of this with the result we so desired. After about 70 minutes we started to enjoy our best period of the game, but a lot of our attacks were being stopped by fouls in the midfield area, which was getting frustrating. In the 86th minute there was an awful tackle on Slory leading to his enforced substitution with a possible thigh injury, but the player inflicting the injury was not even given a talking to. From the resulting free kick Rafa got his head to the ball, but the keeper somehow managed to deflect the ball over the bar for a corner. In the 3rd minute of added time, we won a corner which was cleared, and the ball was then passed back to Jimenez on the right, who crossed it back into the box, where it took a deflection off a Sunderland player towards the goal, with Scocco the first player to react and he hammered the ball home to level the scores and restore our aggregate lead in the most dramatic fashion. Despite Sunderland immediately going on the attack, there was not enough time for them to find the goal they needed to send the match into extra time. The match ended with the same scoreline there had been in the league game, a 2-2 draw, meaning we'd won the semi-final 5-4 on aggregate.

I was delighted, with how much better we'd been in the 2nd half, especially in the last 20 minutes of the match. Luis Jimenez came away with the man of the match award, after putting in a great performance today, rounded off by getting the assist for our dramatic late goal that put us through to the final of the League Cup. I had just about resigned myself to the match going to extra time, where I feared we would start to tire, and possibly give the match away. The injury to Cedric Varrault is a quite nasty one to his hip, putting him out for between 2 to 3 months, which is not good. Although we have Curri who can play just as well at left back to cover his absence, I feel we need to look at signing another player for this position. Slory's injury is fortunately nowhere near as serious, with it just being a dead leg, putting him out for just 3 to 4 days. Our opponents in the final will be Arsenal, who came through after getting a 1-1 draw away to Everton, to win 3-2 on aggregate.

Result: 2-2 (5-4 aggregate)

Annoyingly a deal to sell Matthew Connolly to Sampdoria fell through when they were unable to find the funds, so I've have offered him up again for sale, but increased his price a little as there is a lot of interest in buying him.

Huddersfield (H) FA Cup 4th Round

Huddersfield visit Loftus Road for this cup tie as clear underdogs for this match. They have had a reasonable run of late in the Championship sitting midtable, and victory can not be taken for granted. As far as the fans are concerned defeat in this fixture would be almost unforgiveable, so it is very important that our players are not complacent.

The match started with us pushing forward looking for a way through, and Huddersfield helped us by conceding a free kick just outside the area. Buzsaky stepped up and stroked the ball home into the top corner of the net to open the scoring in the 3rd minute of the game to get us off to a great start. Rowlands had a shot from a narrow angle saved in the 6th minute to win a corner. In what I felt was a slightly bizarre move Huddersfield substituted their fastest striker, and changed from a 4-4-2 formation to a 4-1-4-1, which I was sure could only be a good thing for us, even though it would make it harder to crack their defence again. What followed was a rather unexciting period of play where we were dominating possession trying to find a way through the solid wall that Huddersfield had decided to create, and it wasn't until the 29th minute that Rowlands picked Balanta out in space in the area, where he drilled the ball along the ground to beat the keeper and double our lead. Just three minutes later Zigoni showed good vision to put Balanta through on goal with in space and he advanced into the area and placed the ball into the bottom corner of the net to give us a 3 goal lead. Huddersfield then switched to trying to play possession football, trying to work forward slowly, but that was just succeeded in making the match fairly boring, as it seemed be just a matter of time before we would cut a pass out and clear the ball. Their only shot of the half came from a free kick conceded about 40 yards out, which was blocked, and so the half ended with us leading 3-0.

I was pleased with how we'd performed, getting 3 goals, and totally snuffing out Huddersfield as an attacking force. Steele our keeper in this match, had hardly had anything to do in the match. I sent the players back out pleased, and hoped they wouldn't get complacent in the 2nd half. Huddersfield came out looking motivated, pushing us back suddenly and in the 51st minute they managed to grab a goal back. This seemed to give them hope, and there followed a boring period of play with a midfield battle, and then they started to push forward as if they were Man United, suddenly able to do whatever they liked, and Steele had to make a great save in the 66th minute to stop them finding a 2nd goal. This was bizarre, even when we did break forward, suddenly our first touch had gone, the passing was suddenly going all wrong and Huddersfield were making every tackle perfectly with the ball always going to them. Any tackle we made, the ball was also going straight back to them. I decided to make some substitutions, as nothing else seemed to make any difference, and this seemed to at last suddenly have our passing back again. Huddersfield still seemed to be able to charge through us in a way that I find hard to believe given their players and the skills. They just continued until the end still pushing to find a goal, but I'm pleased to say they couldn't find a way through, so the match ended 3-1.

I'm pleased we got the victory, but I find the 2nd half just totally bizarre, where the only reason that Huddersfield didn't get back into the match was due to some poor finishing and some good defending. Even trying to hassle the opponents didn't make any difference apart from us picking up some yellow cards, so I removed that shout. I know that in real life Huddersfield in that situation may try to go for it in the 2nd half, but to dominate it to such an extent was beyond belief. This seems to happen too often, and I'm glad this time I've got away it, unlike our match against PSG last month, where we were beaten with us unable to do a thing in the 2nd half of the match.

Result: 3-1

Following this match Matthew Connolly has now been sold to Torino for £2.2 million, which is a great relief, and brings a bit more harmony back to the dressing room.

Leeds (A) Premier League

We travel to Elland Road as marginal favourites for this fixture, but this surely has the potential to be a banana skin for us, as Leeds have performed quite well in their first season back in the Premier Division, sitting comfortably in 10th spot. Leeds have also played no matches for 10 days, so their team is fully fit as well, but hopefully that will not prove to be much of an advantage. Their home form is quite poor, so they seem to struggle in front of their own fans.

We started the match in fine form with, with us working Scocco through in the 2nd minute, but he fired just wide. We continued to push forward, and in the 5th minute Jimenez put a superb pass through for Fatih Yucel to run onto and he found the target with a fine finish to open the scoring. We were still doing a good job of controlling the match, and in the 24th minute Fatih Yucel was put through again, but this time the keeper was equal to his shot. In the 26th minute Steele had to make a superb save to stop Leeds grabbing an equaliser, and another great save in the 30th to push the ball over the bar. In the 41st minute Scocco will wonder how having got clear his shot was saved by the keeper. From the resulting corner Fatih Yucel met the ball with his head, only to see the keeper manage to push the ball clear. We continued to press on seeing the half out still leading 1-0.

I was pleased with what I'd seen, but felt we really should have had a better lead. The match restarted looking a bit more open. In the 51st minute Kjær put a header just wide from a corner kick. In the 55th minute Scocco hit the crossbar, he was then brought down, but no foul given, on the edge of the area. In the 56th minute Scocco got clear again, only for the keeper to make another amazing save to deflect the ball for a corner. In the 58th minute this pressure finally paid off with Fatih Yucel turning to provider to flick a short pass to Eprhaim in the area, to slot the ball home to give us a 2 goal lead. We continued to pile on the pressure and in the 62nd minute Ephraim played the ball inside to Scocco 30 yards out in space and he hit an absolute rocket which hit the back of the net, despite the keeper getting a hand to the ball. Immediately Leeds went on the attack from the restart, but Steele was equal to the shot holding the save with ease. In the 65th minute somehow we allowed Beckford to dribble his way around our defend and pulled a goal back, which was hugely disappointing. As in our previous match, it appeared that a team we'd been outplaying with ease, were suddenly turning on the style in a somewhat unbelievable fashion. Fortunately this didn't last long in this match, and we charged forward again, with Daeseleire producing an excellent cross which went over the keeper's head where the waiting Ephraim had the easiest of headers to put the ball in from point blank range for his 2nd of the match. Ephraim's desire to complete his hat-trick seemed to now be driving us on to look for another goal. I was very annoyed when he went down under a challenge in the 84th minute with a potential arm injury. That seemed to inspire Leeds, with a long shot from 40 yards out only being kept out by a stunning save from Steele. I was pleased though that when we did get the ball we were still looking very comfortable and confident. In the 89th minute Scocco hit a shot straight at the keeper with the ball rebounding out in the area where Ephraim was waiting and he managed to keep his composure in front of an almost empty net, to slot the ball home, and complete a wonderful hat-trick. Leeds tried to see if they could find another consolation from the restart, but once we got the ball back it was easy for us to see the match out for a marvellous 5-1 victory.

I'm absolutely delighted with this win and a superb performance, where the margin of victory could have been even bigger. From the starting 11, the lowest rating was a 7.1 from Sunny who was the first player I substituted due to him picking up a yellow, and looked in danger of getting a second. This is one of the best performances I've seen from the team, demolishing a team that could have caused us a few problems. Ephraim was outstanding, finishing with a hat-trick and an assist. The coaches only rate him as a good player for a Championship side, but there's something about his attributes that make him a great winger, even though his overall attributes are fairly average. He also completed the match with a damaged elbow that will see him sidelined for up to a 2 weeks. The fans that travelled to Leeds were also delighted having seen us dominate a game and for the first time this season produce a result that was befitting of the performance put in. I have to give huge credit to my players, because with the dressing room not showing the greatest of harmony, once they get on the pitch that his being forgotten.

Result: 5-1

West Ham (H) Premier League

The visit of West Ham to Loftus Road sees us as clear favourites for the match. West Ham have struggled a bit recently and find themselves in 11th place in the league, but they are by no means an easy team to beat.

We started the match looking to take it to West Ham, but somehow just couldn't find a way to create a chance, with the Hammers getting more time on the ball and being more creative. In the 9th minute though we finally managed to work our way through, with Grenier forcing a save from the keeper, which rebounded out for Zigoni to pounce on and stroke the ball home to give us the lead, this being his first goal since coming on loan to us. The Hammers then tried to push forward, but we were standing firm, and this allowed us an opportunity in the 19th minute to counter attack, with Laure hitting the ball upfield allowing Zigoni to race clear of the defence, and as the keeper advanced he produced a wonderful lob over the keeper to score his second goal of the match. In the 26th minute Balanta was set clear but the keeper stood firm to make the save. We were doing a great job of keeping West Ham quiet, but in the 40th minute they won a corner, from which the ball was cleared to the edge of the area, and hammered straight into the back of the net, through a crowded area without hitting any player on the way, to pull a goal back. In the last minute of half time there was a bit of a panic in our area but we managed to clear the ball, and the half ended with us still leading 2-1.

I was reasonably pleased with our performance in the first half, and felt that we were quite unlucky in conceding the goal in the way we had. I sent the players back out trying to encourage them to keep up their level of performance. In the 1st minute of the half we nearly allowed Owen to put the scores level and only a good save from Steele stopped that happening. For the first 10 minutes of the half we were almost under siege, before finally starting to get ourselves together and getting our passing back under control. In the 57th minute Balanta had another shot, but the keeper again made a great save. In the 61st minute Steele had to make another close range save to deny Owen again. In the 65th minute Zigoni was put through with a chance of claiming his hat-trick but again the keeper managed to make the save. A minute later West Ham got lucky with a deflection allowing them to score the equaliser, and also disappointed that Steele had not managed to make the save. There followed a big battle in the midfield for about 15 minutes. In the 80th minute we thought we'd taken the lead again when Jimenez put the ball in the net, but this was ruled out for him being offside. In the 85th minute I was livid when a nasty tackle caused Slory to go down with a potential foot injury, fortunately not bad enough to require substitution, but pretty nasty and yet again no card or talking to for the player that inflicted this; just a free kick. In the 89th minute West Ham hit the post, with us clearing the ball for a corner; I can't understand this, as there was very easy to have cleared this for a throw-in. Fortunately that odd decision to concede the corner didn't matter and the match came to end with the scores level 2-2.

I was really disappointed to end up with only a draw, especially after holding a 2 goal lead and although we had less shots, we had by far the better chances of scoring. This definitely goes down as 2 points thrown away. Slory ended up with a twisted ankle, which will see him out for about 4 weeks. This is frustrating, because with Curri who plays really well as a left winger now covering at left back, I'm effectively down by two left wingers. The situation is slightly worse than that, due to Ephraim still a few days away from making a return after this elbow injury.

Result: 2-2

When Varrault became injured I decided I needed to look to cover our left back position. Even though Martin Stranzl can play as a left back, he isn't the ideal cover for that position for any length of time. This became even more important with Slory picking up an injury, as it might then allow us to play Curri as a left winger again, where he seems to be very effective. In the days following I looked at signing some players, but had some good offers rejected, before I found Paul Dixon of Bolton avaliable for loan, and decided that this would probably be our best option, even though he's not quite as good as Curri or Varrault. I am happy this will give us the adequate cover we need.

Monthly Roundup

This was another great month for us, remaining unbeaten, and securing progression through to the League Cup final and the 5th round of the FA Cup. In the league we managed to claim 3 wins and 2 draws. The draw against West Ham is the result I'm most disappointed with, as we'd held a 2-0 lead which we somehow let slip.

The league table sees us slip to 2nd place, on goal difference behind Man City, but we do have a game in hand over them. Arsenal are 3 points behind us with a game in hand over us, with a better goal difference. The top 5 teams are all very much in touch, so the end of the season could be quite exciting as there are no clear favourites yet for the title. We can only hope the other teams make some slips somewhere along the way. It's interesting to see how Everton have managed to claw themselves out of the relegation area, with the odd win but then drop a lot of points to drag them closer again. They may be saved by the teams below them being just as bad this season, but they are definitely the team performing way underpar at the moment. Leeds are also sliding slowly down the table, which after their fantastic start is rather disappointing for them.

Ephraim's stunning hat-trick against Leeds was enough for him to win the Premiership Player of the Month award. There were a lot of good performances this month in the team, with Balanta and Fatih Yucel giving us 4 goals each, and Scocco producing 5. I think for his consistency over over those matches, Scocco just about edges it for my own player of the month. Every member of the team delivered some very good performances, with the demolition of Leeds being the highlight, where Ephraim put in arguably his best ever performance while scoring a hat-trick, so it was a real shame that he suffered an injury in that match. Fortunately he is only a few days away from returning to the squad. Sadly Slory will be out for about 4 weeks and Varrault for about 2 months.

I'm quite amazed with how the squad, which started the month lacking harmony in the dressing room, were able to keep morale very high and produce some excellent results. The good news is that at the end of the month the dressing room is now much more harmonious. If we hadn't been able to keep the good results coming in, I think the lack of harmony would have become a big problem, as a lot of players were making comments to the press about this issue during the month. All is looking much better, but due to Lung jr's getting all upset, I have given Steele a bit of a run in the first team, to bring his spirits up more, as I guess he may well become my number one keeper at the end of the season, and the only way he'll improve more is through playing. Zigoni has made quite an impression with the fans already, especially after the two goals against West Ham, with the 2nd of them being a quite exquisite lob over the keeper.

February sees us scheduled for 5 league fixtures, the League Cup Final and the first leg of our Champions Cup knockout match against Valencia. Once our next oppenent in the FA Cup is confirmed we will be playing that match too, which will mean travelling to either Charlton or Portsmouth, both of these teams being Championship sides. After our match against Huddersfield, which was a bit tense at times, neither of these teams can be taken for granted. Our league fixtures also look tough with matches against Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City, so the next month will be very important in determining how realistic our challenge for the league title is. Although we have a busy schedule of 8 matches, it appears that once Arsenal know their FA Cup opponents, they will have 9 fixtures to play, which for a month with just 29 days, sounds like hell.

December 2011 - Anyone for a grudge match?

2010-01-16T20:19:00.000Z

December sees us play 8 fixtures in what seems to be our toughest month so far, with only one week in which there is not a midweek match. There are 6 league fixtures, our final group match in the Champions Cup and the final match on New Years eve is our FA Cup tie against Sunderland. Ephraim is our only first team player currently suffering an injury, and will definitely not be ready to play before Christmas. The match before the FA Cup tie is at home against our fiercest rivals, Chelsea, which for the fans is the most vital fixture of the season.

Cardiff (H) Premier League

Our first match of the month sees struggling Cardiff, currently in the relegation zone, arrive at Loftus Road, with us clear favourites to win this match. Although they've struggled, they have only lost one of their last 5 matches, that being to Everton. I hope our team will not be complacent heading into this match.

We started the match going on the attack, and in the 5th minute Jimenez supplied a great throughball for Scocco to run onto outside the Cardiff area. He closed in on goal and placed the ball in the opposite corner of the goal to give us the lead. Cardiff tried to come at us, but they were struggling to find a way through. In the 18th minute Scocco really should have increased our lead when Fatih Yucel supplied him with a great throughball, but he scuffed it wide off his weaker foot. In the 28th minute a Cardiff long shot was only just kept out by Lung jr, with a slightly fumbled save, fortunately going safe allowing us to clear the ball. Although Cardiff started being able to get forward more, we were still looking much the more dangerous team. In the 45th minute we won a free kick just outside the Cardiff area. Fatih Yucel stepped up, and saw his kick deflect off the wall, and go just wide of the post. In the 2nd minute of added time, we had another free kick just outside the area, which Fatih Yucel got on target, but this was far too easy for the keeper to save. The first half came to an end with us holding a one goal lead.

I was happy what I'd seen so far, having done a pretty good job of restricting Cardiff. Our display going forward had been a pleasure, with us looking very efficient. I sent the players back out giving them encouragement. In the just the 2nd minute of the half Rowlands had an excellent opportunity to extend our lead, but sent the ball just wide. We continued with our display of precise passing, causing Cardiff problems everytime we moved forward, looking the most likely to score next. However the next goal was totally against the run of play, with Cardiff managing to break through, with their first attack in the 2nd half and level the match, with the goal going in off the inside of the post. I was livid, as all our good work had been undone by the only good piece of play Cardiff had managed in the 2nd half. I was delighted with how we reacted to this with Sunny supplying a superb throughball for Rowlands in the penalty area in the 76th minute. The keeper came out for the ball, totally missed his save giving Rowlands the easiest of shots to restore the lead and give him his first goal of the season. It has to be said it was a very marginal call as to whether this should have been callede offside. Cardiff unsurprisingly started to push forward chasing the game which was allowing us opportunities to mount counter attacks. In the 90th minute of the match Balanta produced one of the most awful shots you could ever see, with him making a terrible mess of a volley, with it actually going for a throw-in. In the 2nd minute of added time Balanta produced a brilliant cross trying to make amends, which Scocco got on the end of only to see his shot saved by the Cardiff keeper. We managed to see out the remaining time to come through with a 2-1 victory.

This was a deserved victory with us putting in a great display, with Rowlands putting in a man of the match performance, and grabbing us the winner with his first goal of the season in his first start as well. The fans were pleased with the number of shots we created as I was, with us creating 3 times the number of shots that Cardiff did.

Result: 2-1

Paris Saint-Germain (A) Champions Cup Group D

We travel at the Parc des Princes as marginal underdogs. It is hard to know exactly what to do with this match, as their is nothing to actually play for, except our current unbeaten record. There are also a number of players I would like to give a rest, due to the sheer number of fixtures we've had so far. I decide to make quite a few changes, and tell the players the pressure off.

The match started with PSG having a lot of possession, but looking to have trouble getting through our defence. In the 7th minute we mounted our first attack of the match, which led to us winning a free kick just outside the PSG area. Fatih Yucel stepped up and cracked the ball into the top corner of the net to open the scoring. PSG really started to push forward hard, making things quite uncomfortable for us. In the 22nd minute Jason Steele who I decided to give a match, produced a superb diving save to push a superb long shot around the post. Our passing was looking rather inconsistent, with us giving possession away far too easily, so I decided to slow our tempo down a bit to see if our passing would improve. Despite the pressure being put on us, our defending was looking fairly solid. In the 30th minute PSG thought they'd scored the equaliser but this was ruled out for a foul by the player that had put the ball in the net. In the 35th minute we managed to go on another attack, with Routledge making a short pass to Fatih Yucel in the area, clear of his marker, and he thumped the ball into the back of the net in style. This looked to finally settle us down a bit, with us looking much more assured. In the 41st minute Steele produced another great save from close range, be unfortunately the ball bounced out right into the path of a PSG player who hammered the ball into the back of the net before he could recover properly. In the 45th minute I was angry when a PSG player hacked Fatih Yucel down, which took a big chunk out of his condition, with the player earning a booking, but I feel he got off lightly. In the 4th minute of added time, only a brilliantly timed tackle stopped Fatih Yucel completing his hat-trick. The match reached half time was us still leading 2-1.

In spite of us having less possession and only having 2 shots in the half, both of which were put away, I was pleased with our performance, and could only hope we'd be able to stop PSG from overrunning us in the second half. We started the half looking better, with PSG looking a bit ragged, with some players looking quite nervous. Despite this, they started to work themselve more into the match again, and in the 55th minute Steele was called upon making 2 quick saves, this time holding the shot that had come from his rebounded first save. Where PSG were struggling the most was with discipline with their foul count rising fast. In the 61st minute Steele was called upon again, making a wonderful diving save to parry the ball allowing the clearance to be made. 3 minutes later he spectacularly tipped the ball over the bar from a long shot from 40 yards out. Unfortunately from the resulting corner we conceded, which we really shouldn't have, and I so hate conceding from corners in particular. In the 68th minute Steele had to make another save, from a close range shot that really should have been given offside, with the player at least a yard beyond the last defender as the pass was made. What was happening now seemed to be every clearance or tackle we made was falling to a PSG player, which was getting very frustrating. It was no surprise therefore that PSG took the lead in the 76th minute. What annoys me most about that goal is that Steele was beaten at the near post, which is almost criminal. PSG seemed in no mood to let up on the pressure, in a period of play that is next to unbelievable. Nothing I did made any difference, they were just running rings around us. It's frustrating when this happens, because you're just left powerless. This was just awful with my players now unable to pass, first touch gone completely, in a totally unrealistic fashion. It wasn't until added time we even managed to get forward again, and the whistle blew just as Buzsaky was receiving a great pass in the clear with a great chance of snatching a late equaliser, just add to the ultimate frustration. I can't believe PSG are that much better than us to totally dominate the second half so much. I can believe they could find the 3 goals for the win, but the manner of it really annoys me.

I sympathise with the players, after being played off the park in the most unbelievable fashion. I'd even tried putting pass to feet as a touchline shout, and we were still trying to lob passes over the top. Even players with good first touch who were apparently playing with confidence, were unable to control the ball. This is the worst I've ever seen the game do this to me, where you seem to be left completely helpless, with your players seeming to forget how to play football. Fortunately it doesn't seem to have damaged the morale of the players, even though the fans are devestated about the loss. It's not the loss itself I hate so much, but the manner of it, especially after we'd managed to get 2 goals up, and then suddenly we could do nothing right until the last few seconds of the match. There is one pleasing aspect to this though, which is that Fatih Yucel is now looking something like his old self, and back in goalscoring form.

Result: 2-3

Aston Villa (H) Premier League

Aston Villa arrive at Loftus Road with us marginal favourites for this match. Aston Villa have been playing quite well this season, sitting in 6th place, but come here off the back of a midweek defeat to Everton in the League Cup. We have a good record against Villa, having secured a win and draw last season, but I feel they always have the potential to cause problems, especially when Agbonlahor is playing up front for them.

The match started off looking like this was going to be tough match, with Villa pushing forward, and also quite physical, with tackles flying in all over the place. In the 4th minute we won a free kick just outside the area, but sadly Buzsaky hit the shot wide of the post. Villa pressed hard early causing problems with their pace, and it took us a few minutes to adjust, and get our own passing working properly. In the 16th minute this all came together with Balanta receiving a pass on the right side of the area, and instead of going for goal, he squared the ball to Scocco in the middle of the area for him to thump home the first goal of the match. In the 18th minute Scocco took a heavy knock taking a big chunk out of his condition and just 3 minutes later Balanta was fouled also taking a heavy knock having his condition badly hit too. Although Villa were still pushing forward, we were forcing them to try long shots. In the 25th minute same great skill nearly saw Balanta get on the scoresheet, but he was denied by a good save. In the 28th minute Scocco took advantage of a defensive howler, with a Villa defender making a total mess of trying to deal with a cross into the middle of the area by Balanta. The defender failed to control the ball properly, making it easy for Scocco to steal the ball and power in his second goal of the match. Two minutes later Balanta was hacked down, with no foul given knocking yet more off his condition, meaning he'll probably have to be substituted soon. Villa are really targetting our fowards, and too often getting away with bad fouls. From the resulting throw-in which we'd conceded to put the ball out so Balanta could be looked at Villa went close with a header inside the six yard box which went just over the bar. If that had gone in, it would have a serious insult, and I hope SI fix this issue in the next patch, very soon. Villa were now pressing very hard, with Lung jr making a stunning save from a long range shot in the 35th minute, pushing it for a corner, and making another great save from a header at a corner 2 minute laters, tipping the ball over the bar. Again it took us a few minutes to start recovering our composure, with Villa pushing forward like mad, with long shots flying about everywhere, seeming to always go for corners. Somehow despite the insane pressure, we managed to reached half time leading 2-0.

I was pleased, as we were standing firm under some serious pressure and managed to score twice, the first coming from a superb series of passes down the right hand side of the pitch. I sent the players back out letting them know I was pleased with them. We started off going on the attack, which was good sign, but I knew that Villa would be trying everything to get back in the match, and in the 48th minute I was livid that Agbonlahor, was allowed to get his head to the ball at a corner, which deflected into the goal. However he apparently commited a foul in the process of heading the ball, so the goal was not allowed to stand, and I breathed a massive sigh of relief, although to be honest I can't actually see the foul. Villa were still trying to keep the pressure up, but the foul count was rising and not helping their cause. With the hour mark reached I substituted Balanta and Buzsaky for Fatih Yucel and Jimenez, and we started to push forward again, with the idea that while we're in the opposition half it's difficult for them to score. In the 72nd minute I was to get angry again, with a Fatih Yucel the victim of a vicious body check, which again was not given as a foul, and causing him a possible groin injury. At least he was able to play on, as I'd just commited to my last substitution. My forwards really are being savaged in this match. In the 77th minute Scocco should have completed his hat-trick, but was denied by the keeper who pushed the ball for a corner. In the 84th minute Scocco had another chance, this time he hit his shot, from just outside the area, under pressure from a defender, only just wide of the post. In the 89th minute some excellent defending was required to block a shot inside our 6 yard box. The ball was then cleared to the left quickly with ball moved inside to Fatih Yucel who'd come deep, then running forward, and passing it back out wide to Curri who raced down the touchline, and produced an excellent cross into the box. Fatih Yucel had made a superb run into the box to meet the cross, and smashed the ball into the back of the net in the 90th minute, which would surely put the match beyond a doubt. Despite Villa pushing forward again we managed to get bodies back behind the ball, and deny them an opportunity of scoring, to see the match out to give us a 3-0 victory.

I was pleased with this, because although we'd had less shots and less possession, we'd been so much more incisive when we'd gone forward. The movement and passing involved in our 3rd goal was a delight to watch. Our defending had been put under some serious examination, with Villa also seeming to target our forwards for some very heavy tackling. I can't say I thought too much of the referee, being very inconsistent, and apparently his decision to disallow the Villa goal was wrong. I'm pleased to say that the injury concerns over Fatih Yucel were for nothing, and he came through the match unscathed. Scocco is now being praised heavily in the press having scored 5 goals in his last 3 matches.

Result: 3-0

Blackburn (A) Premier League

We travel to Ewood Park as narrow favourites for this fixture. Blackburn are siting in the middle of the table, but have lost their last two home matches, which might be a good thing, but then again it might give them extra motivation in front their fans. This is a match I feel we should be able to take the points from, so fielding a very strong side, in spite of another tough match against Tottenham in 3 days time. I believe it's important to take as many points as possible if you can, especially when in the middle of a very busy period. Before the match all the talk from the Blackburn manager and the press is about the need to be able to stop Scocco, though with Fatih Yucel alongside him, we should be able to make it tough for the defence.

The match started in astonishing fashion, with Sunny lobbing the ball over the Blackburn defence with only a minute on the clock, with Scocco making a well timed run onto the ball, though still some 40 yards from the goal. He made a neat little move to the side as he got into the area which gave him the space to plant the ball into the bottom corner of the net. In the 3rd minute Curri produced a throughball for Scocco to run onto again, clear of the defence just inside the Blackburn half, and again made no mistake with his finish as he got into the area. Looking at the replay, this probably should have been disallowed, as it appears Scocco was offside this time. It's rare to see us get the luck with a poor offside decision, so I'm very happy to take this. Oddly the Blackburn players are not disputing this, with the goal looking even further offside in the 2D view. Blackburn to their credit started to try and find their way back into the match, but looked to be struggling with an inexperienced frontline. In the 12th minute they nearly got a goal back, but despite breaking through our back four, Lung jr was more than equal to the shot. With Blackburn trying to push we were getting plenty of opportunities to counter attack, and in the 33rd minute it's almost unbelievable that we didn't extend our lead, with the ball cleared to Curri on the left. He made an excellent run down the touchline, skipping a tackle from the right back, and crossing to Fatih Yucel at the edge of the box. Somehow the keeper managed to dive and save the ball, with the rebound coming out to Jimenez, with his shot tipped over the bar by the keeper. Only 3 minutes Fatih Yucel had another excellent chance running onto a throughball but was denied by a stunning diving save to push the ball around the post. At this point Blackburn were struggling to cope with us, and on the odd ocassion they got forward, it was easy for us to clear and put the pressure back on them. We reached half time with us leading 2-0.

I was delighted with what I'd seen in the first half, and amazed that given our number of chances, we'd not scored more goals. I sent the players back thrilled with them, hoping they would continue to show the same level of confidence on the ball and complete the job properly. In the 47th minute though things nearly went wrong with Blackburn getting through us, but one of their inexperienced strikers seemed a bit lost in front of goal, making it easy for Lung jr to stop his shot. It was no surprise really that the team were looking a little complacent, but they soon started to get back in their stride, with Rowlands having a good chance from the edge of the area tipped around the post in the 51st minute. A minute later Fatih Yucel went very close with a free kick from just outside the area, only just clearing the bar. In the 55th minute Lung jr had to make another good save, with us not looking quite as dominant as we had. In the 61st minute the seemingly inevitable happened and Blackburn got a goal back. Blackburn now seemed to have belief, and where coming at us hard, looking like a totally different team, and now we were struggling to to create anything going forward. Fortunately we managed to keep Blackburn out and saw the match out to give us a 2-1 victory, but after our first half performance, it really shouldn't have been such a struggle to keep our lead.

I was pleased that we'd managed to get the result, with our first half performance being one of the best we've played, however the 2nd half display was nowhere near this standard, with our defence having to work very hard. I'm delighted with the form that Scocco has shown, scoring another 2 goals in this match, making that 7 goals in his last 4 matches.

Result: 2-1

In the run up to the next match, the draw for the first knockout round of the Champions Cup has been made, with us drawing Valencia. All the teams in the draw are tough, but I know we could have got a much tougher team than this, but still expect a couple of tough matches.

Tottenham (A) Premier League

We arrive at White Hart Lane, just 3 days after our last match, as slight underdogs, in a tough match, which won't be helped by Tottenham having had a full week to recover after their previous match. We do however get a full 8 days of rest before our next match, which will be very welcome after another hard run of matches. From the last 5 matches between the two teams, our return has been 2 wins, 2 losses and a draw, so I expect this to be a tough match. Like us, Tottenham are on a run of 4 straight league wins, so something has to give.

The match started with us looking incredibly poor with Tottenham pinging the ball about with ease, after 4 minute, we'd hardly seen the ball, and not completed a single pass on the rare ocassion we'd seen the ball. In the 5th minute Daeseleire brought down Bentley in our area to give Tottenham a penalty; a nightmare start. Pavlyuchenko stepped up and cracked the ball straight onto the crossbar to my delight. This close call seemed to finally wake the team up, with us at last managing to string a few passes together, and starting to enjoy themselves. In the 8th minute we got our first shot of the game, a cracking left front drive from Fatih Yucel at the edge of the area, but the Spurs keeper was able to just push it around the post for a corner. In the 12th minute Buzsaky was denied by another great save after hitting a powerful shot from just outside the area. The match then settled more into an even contest with both sides creating chances, and after 30 minutes Spurs had so far given Lung jr nothing to do, which was pleasing. In the 33rd minute Fatih Yucel again tested the Spurs keeper only to be denied for a 2nd time. Spurs continued to create more chances than us, but by the end of the first half with saw the match goalless, Lung jr's only action had been to take kicks and deal with back passes, and overhit throughballs.

I was pleased with what I'd seen in the first half, and if Spurs continue with their poor shooting, we have a great chance. Spurs came out for the 2nd half really looking up for this, pushing us very hard, with our defence having to work hard. It took us a quite a while before we managed to settle again. In the 71st minute Spurs finally had their first shot of the match on target, with Defoe hitting the ball at Lung jr, and it bouncing up over him goalwards. I breathed a sigh of relief as Curri was on hand to clear the ball off the goal line. Throughout the half Spurs largely maintained the pressure with us rarely getting forward. Somehow Spurs were still not finding the target, and with the match finishing goalless.

I'm pleased to come away with a draw, but not entirely happy with the performance, especially in the 2nd half, where were rarely looked like causing Spurs any problems. Spurs will definitely be wondering how they didn't win this game, because they were so much better than us on the day. Thankfully for us, with the one exception, which was cleared off the line, they never managed to get the ball on target. The missed penalty was astonishing, as I never expected to get lucky like that. I think this performance was partly due to the intensive run of matches we've had over the last few weeks. It is now 9 days to the next match, which will be a welcome break for our players.

Result: 0-0

Manchester United (H) Premier League

The Red Devils arrive at Loftus Road on a freezing cold Boxing Day, with sleet falling for what will be a tough match. We are marginal favourites for this match due to having home advantage, but I expect United to come at us from the off. One thing in our favour is that United have been inconsistent this season having lost 5 league matches, most notably against Leeds and Man City, both at Old Trafford, and find themselves sitting in 5th place.

The match started as a big battle in midfield with both sides really cancelling each other out in the early stages, such that the first shot which came from United was in the 12th minute. In the 17th minute Lung jr had to make a good save to deny United from taking the lead. United were now looking quite dominant, with us so far totally failing to create any shots at all, which I was disappointed with. Our first shot of the match, a long shot way off target finally came in the 25th minute. In the 28th minute the pressure took its toll when Nani, of all players, (I believe massively overrated in the game) hammered in a screamer from 30 yards out on the left. This seemed to finally wake us up with some great passing from the restart, and in the 30th minute Sunny produced a superb throughball for Fatih Yucel to run onto in the area making no mistake in the hammering the ball home to bring us level almost immediately. This really seemed to settle us down, and now we were competing on much more evens terms, with a Scocco shot from the edge of the area 4 minutes later, requiring a great save from the United keeper. In the 38th minute I was disappointed when Rooney got free to put United ahead again. The match reached half time was us trailing 1-2.

This was a hugely disappointing performance with us giving United too much of the ball, and seemingly unable to cope properly with their pace. I sent the players back out telling them I was disappointed with them, and expecting to see more from them. In the 49th minute Fatih Yucel had an excellent chance of levelling the scores again, but his shot was a big disappointment with it being straight at the keeper. I have to say we were now looking up for the match, and disappointed again in the 54th with Fatih Yucel denied yet again. In the 63rd he was denied yet again by a stunning diving save. United then pushed for a while, with Lung jr having to make a couple more saves from astonishing long shots. In the 81st minute Grenier got through on goal from the right side, but scuffed his shot wide, which was disheartening, and then Fatih Yucel denied again just a minute later. In the 85th minute there was a big melee in the United area, with the ball bouncing around, and quite how we couldn't manage to find the shot to score with I don't know. In the first minute of added time Scocco had a shot saved with the rebound dropping to Fatih Yucel, but again the United keeper saved his shot. In the 4th minute of added time Berbatov hit a long shot which Lung jr managed to push around the post. The match came to an end with us losing 1-2.

I'm hugely disappointed at losing this match, because our 2nd half performance more than deserved us at least getting a draw. I honestly do not know how the United keeper Foster managed to make all those saves, for which he received the man of the match award. His very last one was next to unbelievable. Not only does this end our unbeaten run, but brings to an end our 100% home record. Arsenal are now the only team unbeaten at home, while we are the only team unbeaten away.

Result: 1-2

Chelsea (H) Premier League

This is the most important fixture of our season, the visit of Chelsea to Loftus Road, or as I prefer to call them, the Blue Scum. Chelsea have been struggling a bit this season, with Javier Aguirre being sacked, and Avram Grant taking over in the last few weeks. They find themselves in 8th place, which by their standards is a very poor showing, which makes us marginal favourites for this match. The day before the match Grant is trying some mind games, saying that his side will get victory over us to make sure it's hard for us to win the league title. Some of my players are determined to prove him wrong, although a couple of players are not sure that we can win the title. I've selected the team to try and take the best advantage of this, with Ephraim also returning from his injury, and one player I know will be fully motivated for this match.

We started the match looking highly motivated for this contest, looking to get forward often. We really should have taken the lead in the 7th minute, but Balanta put his shot just wide. It was a fairly even half, with both sides creating chances, although we were creating the better chances. Most of the shots that Chelsea took were long range efforts. The match reached half time with the goalless, with no further incidents of real note.

I was fairly pleased with what I'd seen in the first half, as we'd been the better team. Balanta's performance had been very poor, so I brought Fatih Yucel on, having started on the bench due to still being a bit tired after our last match. In the first minute of the second half I thought we'd taken the lead with Fatih Yucel putting the ball in the back off the net, only to see it disallowed for being offside. In the 50th minute Kjær was denied by a stunning save from the keeper to push his header from a free kick away from the goal. In the 53rd minute Buzsaky was denied from a close range chance. In the 56th minute we were able to take advantage of a poor backpass which saw Fatih Yucel steal the ball from Chelsea's Ivanovic, slip the ball to Scocco who advanced a bit, drawing the keeper foward, before squaring the ball back for Fatih Yucel to stroke the ball home to give us a well deserved lead. This definitely provoked a reaction out of Chelsea, although we were doing a good job of standing firm and getting forward quite often ourselves. In the 70th minute Lung jr had to make a save from at a corner, as Chelsea won a series of corners, with us struggling to clear the ball. I was a bit disappointed soon after to have to substitute Ephraim, due to taking a knock during a heavy tackle, as he'd been very lively and causing the Chelsea defenders a lot of problems with pace and dribbling. I was soon delighted though in the 84th minute when the ball was cleared, after another Chelesea attack, to the left for Curri (Ephraim's replacement) to run onto and he dribbled down the touchline, producing an excellent cross as he reached the byeline. Sunny another substitute in this match had made a brilliant run through the middle, and was there to meet the cross and hammer home a sweet volley for our second goal, to the absolute delight of our fans. I was pleased that we managed to avoid immediately letting Chelsea claim a goal back, and we went on the attack, which most importantly was using up valuable time on the clock. In the 90th though Chelsea managed to break through with Lung jr called on to produce a great save to deny Drogba at the near post. I was annoyed though when the match just entered the 4th minute of added time, out of 3, when Lampard somehow managed to get through and score a goal getting the ball through at the near post. It's hard to credit how Lung jr did not save that goal. Fortunately there was not enough time for Chelsea to conjure and equaliser, so we saw out the match to win our most important fixture of the season 2-1.

I'm delighted that we've managed to claim victory over our fiercest rivals, and also shut Avram Grant up for a bit. I was delighted with how my substitutions had worked out, with 2 of them claiming goals and one of them providing an assist. Our performance had been excellent, with most of the team having worked very hard throughout the match. Scocco received the man of the match award, having worked hard throughout the match, providing the assist for the first goal. As might be expected the fans went home in jubilant mood after securing this victory.

Result: 2-1

Sunderland (H) FA Cup 3rd round

The last match of 2011 sees Sunderland travel to Loftus Road on New Years Eve for the 3rd round of the FA Cup, and the 1st of 4 fixtures between the two clubs over the next 18 days. We are slight favourites for this match. We will be trying for the victory, but the main thing to achieve in this match is for it not to end as a draw and go to replay; as bad as it sounds, a defeat would be preferable to an extra fixture.

The match started with Sunderland going on the attack forcing Lung jr to make a great save in the just the 1st minute. Both teams were looking very good on the ball, making some great moves, and in the 6th minute Scocco had an excellent chance after Jimenez put a great throughball in the area for him, but the Sunderland keeper managed to charge out to make a good save from his shot. In the 9th minute another move resulted in Sunny putting a great ball through for Balanta to run onto in the area, and hit the shot first time to bury the ball in the top corner of the net to give us the lead. In spite of Sunderland now pressing hard, we were doing a good of keeping them at bay, until the 25th minute when Lung jr made bad mistake going for the ball at a free kick, allowing Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones to head the ball in the net, which was awfully disappointing and a very poor goal to concede. In the 39th minute Scocco was denied again by another great save. In the 45th minute Lung jr had to make a great save to keep the scores level, at least making up a bit for his earlier mistake. The match reached half time with the scores level at 1-1.

To be honest I was rather disappointed as we really have been leading this match, with the soft goal we conceded really annoying me. I gave the players a bit of ear bashing and sent them back out, hoping they would buck their ideas up. The players looked a lot more motivated at the start of the half, hassling Sunderland well when they had the ball, and really starting to put some great passing together. In the 56th minute this paid off with Jimenez providing another throughball for Balanta, this time just outside the area, which he collected with a great first touch shrugging off his marker, and placed the ball with ease into the bottom corner of the net to give us the lead again. Just 3 minute later Slory had a difficult chance to extend our lead, but couldn't get the ball past the keeper. From that save followed a couple of attacking corners, from which we were only denied through another couple of fantastic saves to keep the ball out. In the 62nd minute Sunderland got through with Lung jr having to make another great save to keep out their first shot of the half. That seemed to spur Sunderland on a bit with them having a few shots, mostly long range efforts, but we were still causing them a lot of problems, and in the 76th minute Fatih Yucel really should have scored our 3rd goal, but somehow the keeper managed to make an outstanding reflex save low to his right to keep the ball out. In the 85th minute Kjær made a superb clearance off the line from Sunderland's first corner of the match. In the 2nd minute of added time Kjær had a chance to score with a header from a free kick, but the keeper was in the right place to catch the ball. Shortly after the whistle blew to the bring the match to an end with us running out the victors 2-1.

The team talk at half time seemed to do the trick and we outplayed Sunderland in the 2nd half, fully deserving to claim our victory, which really should have been more comfortable. I am delighted that we managed to secure the this result and move through to the next round, but this was another hard fought battle in the pouring rain. This also means we avoid playing a replay, which would have been a nightmare, avoidng making our already congested fixture list worse. Balanta's man of the match performance was excellent, given how poor he'd played during the first half of the Chelsea match, very much aided by the great passing skills of Sunny and Jimenez.

Elsewhere there was a bit of a surprise with Birmingham putting Man United out at this stage, and Everton and Arsenal both being held to draws by League 2 opposition, the Toffee's being the more surprising, as they were playing at home.

Result: 2-1

Monthly Roundup

Although we lost a couple of the matches, I think it's been another great month for us, especially as we defeated our fiercest rivals, Chelsea in the biggest grudge match for us in the season. Fortunately the match against Paris Saint-Germain was a dead tie, and seemed not to dent our players morale. The defeat to Man United was more frustrating as we had the chances to not only claim the draw but even snatch all the points. However to balance that out, we were lucky to gain the draw with Tottenham, who have the best away form of any team in the league so far.

Fortunately for us, Liverpool and Arsenal were unable to take advantage of us dropping points, with the former actually dropping further behind. Man City put in an outstanding run during December to move to within 5 points, with a game in hand and also nudge ahead of their main rivals Man United.

In the Champions Cup we are confirmed as the winners of the group, having already confirmed our qualification through to the first knockout round of the tournament, where we will face Valencia, with the matches not taking place until February and March.

Throughout the 8 matches there has been quite a lot good performances from our players, but I think Ignacio Scocco. our £8 million striker. edged it this month, having scored 5 goals during the 7 matches he played in. Fatih Yucel has also scored 5 goals during this month, starting to show a return to form, which is very welcome after his dismal display earlier in the season. Lung jr was on the whole very consistent, but made a couple of mistakes in the last 2 matches, which fortunately did not cost us the victories we deserved.

In the draw for the FA Cup 4th round we will entertain the Championship side, Huddersfield at Loftus Road. It is also possible that AC Milan will be sending Gianmarco Zigoni, a striker, on loan to us. If Zigoni is of high enough quality, he may well get to play in a number of matches, which will ease the workload on our 3 current best strikers, Fatih Yucel, Scocco and Balanta. It is also pleasing to note that we have the completed the month with no first team players injured.

January sees us scheduled to play another 8 fixtures, comprising 5 league fixtures, an FA Cup tie and the two legs of the League Cup semi final. Three of the fixtures are against our most recent opponent Sunderland, for the two legs of the League Cup semi final and a league fixture.