November 2011 - Forging onwards. To glory?

This month sees us playing 6 matches again, with another 2 week international break, after the second match of the month. This consists of 2 Champions Cup matches, the League Cup quarter final and 3 league matches. This could be another good month for us, as the 3 league matches are all against teams that are struggling in the lower reaches, although one of them is Everton, my nemesis team.

Fiorentina (A) Champions Cup Group D

We arrived at the Artemio Franchi as underdogs for this match. Our previous match at home had been very tricky, with us achieving an unlikely win. I was pretty sure this match would be very tough, with us needing to do a lot of defending. I decided to go with a Counter attacking strategy, and sent the players out wishing them luck.

We started off looking to attack, but Lung jr was called upon in the 2nd minute to make a couple of great saves. Our performance in the first half was poor, being under almost constant attack, without looking dangerous at all when we did get forward. Lung jr had to make a couple of great saves from long range thunderbolts in the 32nd minute. To be frank, we were really poor, with our passing being the worst I've seen, with us trying all sorts of weird and silly ones. Although Fiorentina outplayed us, I would say they'd not played particularly well either. I was relieved that we reached half time goalless, such had been our dismal display, without even taking a single shot.

I sent them out telling them we could win this, but that could only happen if we made a huge improvement. We started showing a bit better in our passing, but so nearly went a goal behind in the 49th minute, with Lung jr putting in a great diving save to steer the ball around the post, with the ball hitting the post from the resulting corner, when we totally failed to defend it properly, and then another seconds later, with Fiorentina getting every little bounce going their way, with all our tackles ending with the ball going back to them. We were struggling to even make a pass at all now. In the 65th minute Firoentina's poor finishing came to our rescue with the ball hitting the post, although I'm convinced it should have been given as offside, so I feel it was justice. In the 67th minute we finally had a shot, although it was an unconvincing header from Faurlin. This seemed to signal us starting to finally play football at long last, with our second shot a minute later from a free kick, but that hit the wall. We started to look a bit more confident now, with Fiorentina's foul count starting to rise quite fast. Our defending was looking a lot more assured too, although Fiorentina were still causing us problems regularly, with Lung jr having to tip the ball over from a tremendous long shot in the 87th minute. Somehow we managed to reach the final whistle without conceding, with the match staying goalless.

I'm pleased to get away with a draw after the man of the match performance by Lung jr. What was very disappointing was the performance for a large part of the match, with us only showing what we can do near the end. Given how results between two teams in this competition is taken into account before goal difference, this result could be extremely important, as it gives us an edge over Fiorentina, should we gain the same number of points. I think this match and the previous one between the two teams shows that we are a fair bit behind in quality to the top clubs, but can on any given day compete. Our fans are disappointed, but I feel the Fiorentina fans will be even more so, given they should really should have beaten us. The following day Rowlands suffered a bruised rib to sideline him for about a week, with Jimenez returning to full training after his injury, though probably won't be ready for our next match.

Result: 0-0

Newcastle (H) Premier League

Newcastle arrive at Loftus Road with us touted as comfortable favourites, with them arriving off the back of 4 successive defeats. Given we beat Newcastle last month in the League Cup I feel we should be looking to repeat the victory. After a couple of goalless matches, we will be looking to get back into the scoring mood, but very importantly we managed to also stop the opposition scoring in those matches, keeping us still unbeaten.

We started the match looking much more agressive than Newcastle, really pressing them back well. In the 7th minute Buzsaky had an excellent chance to open the scoring when he tackled a Newcastle defender, but the keeper closed down too quickly for him to be able to get the ball in the net. Worryingly Newcastle started to come more into the game. We were definitely looking the more dangerous, although it was Newcastle who were to go the closest next, with their striker putting the ball just wide, although I believe Lung jr had it covered. In the 33rd minute Balanta did the same, putting an excellent chance just wide, although it was another the keeper probably had covered. The first half ended with neither team able to break deadlock. I was reasonably happy with what I'd seen in the first half, feeling that we had more to offer than Newcastle in a tight match.

I sent the players back out telling them that would can win this. We started the half brightly, but then allowed Newcastle to start pushing us back, which I was not happy about at all. We managed to get forward, but Newcastle were really starting to play well in the second half, making things hard for us. In the 72nd minute Fatih Yucel really should have given us the lead from just inside the area, but his shot was frustratingly straight at the keeper. Newcastle were showing signs of settling for a draw by wasting time, so I decided to go to an attacking strategy, which I hoped would not prove to be our downfall. In the 80th minute Newcastle thought they'd taken the lead, which turned out to be offside, so cancelled out, which I was delighted about and breathed a sigh of relief. In the 86th minute Puygrenier went down with a potential thigh injury, but no substitution necessary. In the 89th we were caught on the break, which required Lung jr to make a brilliant save to stop Newcastle going ahead. From the resulting corner we went on the break, with Fatih Yucel providing an excellent pass through to Scocco in the box, who remained calm to round the keeper and slot the ball home to give us the lead in the 90th minute. I moved to a control strategy immediately and we had little trouble in seeing the match out to claim a 1-0 victory. We nearly paid the price for going on the attack, but most importantly we managed to grab the win right at the death.

I was pleased that we were able to battle to this win, although we really should have made it easier on ourselves. Lung jr was again influential, and I'm a bit surprised that his performance was only rated at 7.0. The injury to Puygrenier is a groin strain, which will put him out for about 3 weeks, but I feel we have adequate cover to make up for his absence. There is a two week break for international matches, which is very welcome, after another run of weeks with both weekend and midweek fixtures.

Result: 1-0

Everton (A) Premier League

We arrive at Goodison Park as marginal underdogs for this fixture, even though Everton have been struggling this season, and currently in the relegation zone, desperately trying to claw their way out. Their last 4 league matches have seen them pick up a win and three 1-1 draws in a row heading into this fixture, so their form has picked up a lot of late. Everton also happen to be my nemesis team, which does not bode well, but I hope we can finally put this right.

Everton started the match looking to push forward and close us down fast. Early on we were looking far too hurried and giving the ball too often, but after the first 15 minutes we started to settle a bit. In the 29th minute Scocco was provided with a throughball to run onto and probably should have done better with the best chance by either side so far in the match, hitting the ball directly at the keeper. In the 31st minute Scocco produced a great throughball for Balanta in the box, and he placed it perfectly into the corner to open the scoring. My joy soon turned to frustration a minute later with Nasuti allowing himself to be outjumped in the area for Everton to score a headed equaliser. It is immensely disappointing that we seem to have lacked the concentration immediately after going a goal ahead. The first half came to close a with the score level at 1-1.

I don't know whether to be pleased, or disappointed at the performance that half. We actually performed well, even though Everton created more shots than us, but I feel that once we'd settled, we were the better side. The manner of the equaliser was poor, as the striker should not have been able to get in front of Nasuti as he did. I sent the players back out telling them they can win this. If it had been a home match I'd have probably told them I was disappointed. The second half started with Everton again looking to push us back and close us down. In the 53rd minute Lung jr had to make a good save by closing down the Everton striker. As with the first half we started to work our way back into things, but not looking like finding a way through the defence at all. It wasn't until the 62nd minute we finally had a shot in the second half, with Balanta hitting the ball like a rocket which was pushed just wide by the keeper. In the 65th minute he really should have scored again after running onto an excellent throughball, which is very frustrating. In the 76th minute our keeper was again in action having to make another good save, diverting the ball for a corner. In the 83rd Scocco hit a shot at close range into the oncoming keeper, which rebounded out to Jimenez, who shot was somehow deflected just wide of the post by the keeper. If the shot had been just marginally to the left it would have gone straight in; a real head in the hands moment. Lung jr was called upon again a couple more times from long shots, but saved the ball comfortably. In the 3rd minute of added time Everton thought they'd taken the lead, but this proved to be ruled out for offside. I'm pleased that it was, because this would have been so much more controversial, as it was as a direct result of us putting the ball out in our half for an injury to an Everton player to be seen to, and they just went for the goal from the throw-in. Such was my annoyance in that moment I punched front of my PC. I almost hit the reset button, but fortunately I missed and just caused the DVD drive to open. In the 5th minute of just 3 added on, Lung jr had to produce yet another great save. If that had gone in, I would have known exactly what it was like to be on the end of Man United extra-extra time, that seems to appear from nowhere like magic, because the injury in added time could not justify 2 extra minutes..

Given how much I hate playing Everton, having lost both meetings last season, I think I should be pleased to get away with a draw, even though we had the opportunities to have sneaked the points. It will be no surprise that Lung jr's performance yet again earned him the man of the match award. He seems to be single handedly keeping us in matches that we would otherwise most likely be losing, and badly at that. It's frustrating to only get the draw given the circumstances surrounding the equaliser, which I feel was a very soft goal to concede. I suppose it's no shock that it ended 1-1 given that's what Everton's previous 3 fixtures were, so now they have four in a row.

Result: 1-1

As an additional comment regarding nearly punching the reset button, I have since moved my PC so I can't do this. This case is old and overall an excellent design apart from the position of the reset button, as in the past I've pressed the reset button when I've been meaning to eject the DVD drive. There was more cause for great aggravation later, but not while playing the game thankfully, when I moved my foot under the desk and managed to flip the power switch on my distribution board, so that is also moved, and makes me wonder how many times I've been close to switching everything off over the last couple of years.

Panathinaikos (H) Champions Cup Group D

Panathinaikos arrive at Loftus Road with us narrow favourites for this match. The Greek side have been the worst team in the group, having suffered heavily in their last match, losing 5-1 to PSG. That said I still don't expect them to make it easy for us, as they still hold an outside chance of gaining qualification. For us a draw or win would be enough secure us qualification through to the knockout stages.

The first few minutes were awful with Panthinaikos all over us, and such was the closing down we could hardly even make a single pass, let alone string 2 together. After about 5 minutes we began to settle and start passing properly, and it was us that took the first shots of the game, although nothing that was endangering the net. Our period of good play was short lived with the Greek side again looking dominant. It took us a while to come back to life again, and in the 24th minute we created the best chance of the game so far, with the ball coming to Slory in space in the box, but he failed to place it in the net. After this we started to enjoy ourselves much more pushing the Greek side back, as our passing was looking better as each minute passed. In the 31st minute we won a free kick right on the edge of the area, and as Buzsaky stepped up, I was hopeful he could add to his tally, and he didn't disappoint by hammering the ball into the top corner, giving the keeper no chance. In the 37th minute disaster struck at a corner, with Varrault deflecting the ball into his own net just out of the reach of the keeper. Bizarrely the commentary said it was his missed interception that led to the goal, but it was more like the fact that he didn't miss the interception. In the 40th minute Balanta missed a golden opportunity to give us the lead again, but instead of placing his shot, he hit the keeper. In the 44th minute Slory put a good cross into the box which was met by the head of Curri sending it goalwards, but the keeper produced a superb save to deflect the ball around the post. The half came to an end with the sides level at 1-1. I'm a bit bemused that Varrault has taken a huge hit in his rating, which is the first time I've seen this happen to a player who has scored an own goal. I've always thought they should take a hit for it, but why this time, I have no idea.

Apart from annoyance of conceding the own goal, I was pleased with how the team had got themselves together after a slow start, and where looking by far to more likely team to score. The second half started as a fairly open affair. In the 61st I was swearing as the Greek side took the lead, and I'm mythed that Lung jr was unable to save this shot. In the 69th minute Ephraim was clattered to the ground in the Panathinaikos area, leading to a penalty and the player concerned was given a red card. Fatih Yucel stepped up to take the penalty, which he dispatched into the bottom corner with ease to level the scores again. It looked like the Greek side should struggle now with only 10 men, having already made all their substitutions and a couple of players also looking in poor condition. We really started to put the pressure on now, having wave after wave of attack, which paid off in the 80th minute with Slory sliding a wonderful ball into the box for Balanta to run onto and he made no mistake this time as he hammered the ball across the keeper into the far side of the net. Panathinaikos were determined not to lie down, and gave us some scares, also Fatih Yucel hit a volley just over the bar. In the last minute Jimenez took the ball forward on the left after a clearance and found ephraim in the middle just outside the box, and his thunderous shot was just tipped around the post, to deny him a wonderful goal. Panathinaikos had time to give us another couple of scares from corners, but we held firm to take a 3-2 win, and give us qualification through to the knockout stages of the tournament, with the result of the final group match being just a matter of pride.

I was pleased with this result, because after conceding the lead I feared we'd buckle, but we showed character, aided by the awful tackle which gave us the penalty. I'm trying to think, but this might be the first time we've had to come back from behind in a game this season. This is the first match for a while where Lung jr has not put in a sensational performance, so very glad we managed to grab the win as we did. Defensively this was not one our best performances, but going forward at times we looked really good. Balanta's late winner gave him the man of the match award, although this was a close call between several players. On a slightly sour note, just before final whistle Ephraim was the victim of a late tackle, from which he suffered a dislocated jaw, which sees him out for about 4 weeks, which is a big disappointment.

Result: 3-2

Bolton (H) Premier League

Bolton travel to Loftus Road and find themselves underdogs, having struggled this season, and find themselves in 15th place. Last season we picked up a win and a draw against Bolton so I'm looking to see if we make that 2 wins this season. One piece of backroom advice that concerns me is that apparently we are now looking complacent against sides with a lower reputation than us, which might include Bolton. It appears I will need to try and get the lads fired up before the match. When the teamsheets are seen it is clear Bolton have come to play defensively with a 4-1-4-1 formation.

We start the match looking quite bright, but Bolton are doing their best to make this a pretty ugly match. Although we doing more with the ball, I'm astounded to notice that Bolton are securing more possession. In the 36th minute only some brilliance from Jaaskelainen stopped us taking the lead, with him saving a shot from Balanta closely followed by a shot from Curri, which he somehow pushed away, and 3 minutes later he managed another great save to stop Scocco from scoring, and the following minute with Grenier being the next to be unable to find a way past him. I was pleased with how were pushing, but getting worried that with the astonishing performance of the Bolton keeper we still hadn't found a way to open the scoring. In the 43rd minute we gave away a free kick just outside our area and only a marvellous save from Lung jr stopped us going behind. The half ended with the match still goalless, largely through the Bolton keeper being at his best today.

I was reasonably happy with our performance, but a little annoyed that we've been unable to make our much better performance pay dividends. I sent the players back out telling them they can win this. We started the second half looking much as we did in the first, but still struggling to find a way through to open the scoring. In the 64th minute we won a free kick not far outside the area, and Buzsaky, only on the pitch as a substitute for a couple of minutes stepped up and curled a beauty into the top corner of the net to break the deadlock. Bolton then enjoyed their best period of the match, and in the 70th minute went very close, hitting the outside of the post, and a few minute laters another good save was required, but otherwise we did an excellent job of keeping Bolton at bay who were now trying to push for an equaliser. We retained possession for a lot of the remainder of the match, which helped our cause, but just couldn't find our way to make the win more comfortable. The match came to an end with us running out deserved winners, the best performances besides Buzsaky's free kick, coming from the keeper and the full backs, with the man of the match award going to Varrault, who really looked motivated today; probably trying to make ammends for his own goal in the previous match. The stats suggest this should have been a much easier win, but as I know a great keeper is a huge asset, and Jaaskelainen is just that for Bolton. I'm delighted Buzsaky seems to be back at his confident best from free kicks, as he had been struggling earlier in the season to even get them on target or was hitting the wall too often. There one piece of bad news, which is that Rafa picked up another yellow card meaning he has now reached 5, so he will now miss the next match, that being the League Cup quarter final.

Result: 1-0

The FA Cup 3rd round draw before the next match hasn't been as kind as it could, although it's a home tie, but we've picked out Sunderland, which isn't the ideal start to our defence in that competition, but then again it could have been a whole lot worse, such as Man United at Old Trafford.

Hull (H) League Cup quarter final

We've definitely pulled out the easiest draw of the round with a home tie against Hull, the only non premiership team still in the competition, who are in a playoff spot in the Championship, so victory can't be taken for granted. The Tigers arrive as clear underdogs with us expected to win this with ease. We need to show the same determination we did in the previous match, but hopefully we can make a better job of getting the ball in the net, and make things more comfortable. After looking at the backroom advice and the teamsheet, I decided to follow what I've been told by my staff, which was to keep the defensive line normal, but set ourselves quite a bit wider, and up the tempo.

The match started with Hull going on the attack, and in only the 2nd minute we'd commited 2 fouls and Lung jr had been called upon to save a close range shot. Not the start I was looking for. It's hard to put into words how unutterably poor we were in the first 10 minutes. I was beginning to get a bit worried but after that 10 minutes we started to settle a bit, but not really that much better, and began to wonder if I needed to change our strategy a bit, but decided to give it bit more time. It took until the 20th minute for us to even have a shot, but we did at least seem to now be stopping Hull getting through our defence now. It was with relief that I greeted the first goal in the 29th minute, with Slory nodding the ball forward for Scocco just outside the area, and he hit an absolute screamer into the back of the net. We didn't have to wait long for a second, which relied a little to luck, with Varrault sliding a pass to the edge of the area for Curri, with the keeper rushing out and making a diving save at his feet, the ball seems to have bobbled, allowing Curri hit his shot, which appears to have gone between the legs of a defender and rolled without great pace into the net to double our lead in the 32nd minute. This is Curri's first ever goal for the club, which is very pleasing. Only 2 minutes later we should have been 3 goals up when Slory was passed the ball clear in the area, but his shot was poor giving the keeper an easy catch. It was great to see the confidence we now had, which was such a contrast to how we were at the start of the match. We continued to push forward, creating several more chances, with Fatih Yucel hitting one just over the bar. Half time arrived with us leading 2-0, which after the first 20 minutes I didn't expect, but was fully deserved for how we played subsequently.

I was pleased with how we'd played in the latter part of the first half, showing some great passing moves, and during that time Hull only had one shot, that being from a long range free kick. I sent the players back out telling them I was pleased. After 2 minutes we'd opened Hull up again, with Scocco having his shot saved after a great piece of skill from Fatih Yucel saw him dribble by 3 Hull defenders, and then pass the ball. Sadly this great show of skill was not properly rewarded. Hull started to push and gain a bit of ground, but we weathered that with some great defending, also aided by some poor shooting, with one long shot being so bad it would not have worried a goal 4 times the size. In the 62nd minute, Slory provided a first time pass to Scocco just outside the area, in space, and he hammered home his 2nd of the game in style, to give us a well deserved 3 goal lead. It is to Hull's credit that they kept trying to find a way through, but we were looking very solid at the back today. To my annoyance, even though it probably would not make any difference, Hull finally broke us down in the 88th minute to pull a goal back. We managed to see out the match to the end and maintain our 3-1 lead.

I'm very pleased with this result, because for all but the first 20 minutes we looked like a team that is playing well in all parts of the pitch. Our defence put in such a good performance Lung jr had hardly anything to do. This victory puts us into the League Cup semi final, where I expect us to be made to work a lot harder. Scocco's two tremendous strikes from just outside the area helped him to earn the man of the match award. Our back four put in a great performance this match, showing that we can be ruthless against sides from lower divisions; this being a much more convincing display than our 1-0 victory over Barnsley in the 3rd round.

Result: 3-1

Monthly Roundup

This has been another great month for us, remaining unbeaten, and booking places in both the Champions Cup knockout stages, and the League Cup semi final. I was happy with our performances in the league matches, even the draw against Everton, who I seem to always struggle against.

Our 2 wins and a draw see us maintain 1st place in the league, with Liverpool and Arsenal in close attendance. Whether we can stay there in the long term I don't know, but we should have no trouble securing another entry into the Champions Cup again next season. After their fantastic start, Leeds are now struggling a bit, but on current form should be able to maintain a mid table position.

Our hard fought comeback win against Panathinaikos has guaranteed us qualification through to the knockout phase of the Champions Cup. In fact, due to us having a better record against Fiorentina, we will finish first, and Fiorentina are guaranteed qualification due to their superior record over P.S.G.

It's hard to pick out the best player of the month, with several players putting in great performances. Daeseleire deserves mention for his consistent form, along with Slory who is finally showing his promise and of course the ever amazing Lung jr, who probably just edges it again by having kept us in several matches with his stunning saves. While checking through the squad, I have now noticed that Fatih Yucel has now decided he is happy to playing for the club, so he will hopefully start to play to the best of his ability now. This is fantastic news, as I was not looking forward to seeing him leave the club as I was expecting to happen.

We now know that our semi final opponents for the League Cup will be Sunderland, which is a little frustrating, having also drawn them in the FA Cup, and also have a league match against them in January, which means we will play them 4 times in the space of 18 days. We do have a decent record against them, but I hate to play a team that many times in so short a space of time. December will see us play 8 matches, one being our final Champions Cup group game, 6 league fixtures and the final match on New Years eve will be the FA Cup tie against Sunderland. We end the month with just the one injury worry, that being Ephraim's dislocated jaw, which won't see him return until deep in December.