October 2012 - Ochoa Puts On A Goalkeeping Masterclass

This month sees us scheduled for 6 matches. We have 3 very tricky league matches, away to both Liverpool and Chelsea, with the other match at home to Arsenal. We also have two away matches in our Champions League group against Lyon and Rapid Wien. We have a fourth round League Cup match against Watford away to complete the month.

Olympique Lyonnais (A) Champions League Group E

We travel to Lyon for our next match in the Champions League, which sees us marginal favourites. Lyon have struggled a bit in the French league so far this season, and head into the match with fairly poor morale, which we can hopefully take advantage of.

The match started fairly quietly with both sides largely sparring, with a just a few long shots in the first few minutes. In the 12th minute Cardozo moved the ball to Jimenez, who went forward to about 5 yards outside the area, and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net to open the scoring. Lyon then started to push forward, causing the game to become stretched. In the 15th minute Ochoa had to produce a good save to deflect the ball for a corner. In the 17th minute the Lyon had to make a good save to deny Fatih Yucel. Lyon equalised in the 19th minute with an unbelievable long shot with a first time volley flying in from 30 yards out. In the 35th minute Fatih Yucel looked almost certain to score when he managed to get through into the area, but blasted the ball just over the bar. A minute later Ochoa was in action making a good save from a long shot. In the 42nd minute he had to make another good save from a close range shot. The ball was quickly moved forward, down the left with Dzsudzsak supplying a great pass to Cardozo who hammered the ball home from just outside the area to give us the lead again in the 43rd minute. Both teams continued to push forward, but the half came to an end with us leading 2-1.

I was pleased that we were leading, although slightly worried that Lyon seemed to be able to work through our defence at times with rather too much ease. I sent the players back out, encouraging them to go on and claim a victory. The players went back out looking quite motivated, and appearing to defend a bit better. In the 54th minute Dzsudzsak put Jimenez through into the area, with his shot going in off the inside of the post to extend our lead. A minute later Ochoa was back in action making another good save. I decided I could afford to substitute Dzsudzsak as he'd picked up a slight knock, so he'll hopefully be fine for our match in a few days against Liverpool. In the 59th minute his replacement, Ephraim headed just over the bar from a corner. The ball continued to go from end to end. In the 63rd minute Sanchez received the ball just inside the area, but couldn't find a way by the keeper who'd advanced to close him down. The following minute Fatih Yucel made a poor back pass, which allowed a Lyon player to intercept, bringing out a good save from Ochoa. Lyon tried to push forward, with us restricting them to mostly long range efforts. In the 69th minute Cardozo was put clear of the defence, having his effort saved. There was a bit of a worry in the 75th minute when Kjær went down with an arm injury having to go off the pitch for treatment. Fortunately Lyon where unable to take advantage of his absence from the pitch. In the last 10 minutes Lyon were trying to get the ball into our area as much as possible, but our defending was superb, with us stopping them from creating any further chances. The match came to an end with us running out 3-1 victors.

I was pleased with this performance, especially in the 2nd half, where we defended much better. Jimenez had a great game, coming away with the man of the match award, having scored 2 goals. I was pleased with how we'd continued to try and find more goals, even after gaining a 2 goal lead. There was one negative aspect after this match, with Kjær suffering a gashed arm which will sideline him for about a week, which means he will miss the next match. I was very pleased when I heard the result from the other group match, where a 1-1 draw was played out, which gives us a 4 point lead in the group after 2 matches.

Result: 3-1

Liverpool (A) Premier League

We now travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool, in a match where we are marginal favourites. The previous 4 matches see an even record, with both sides recording a victory, with the other 2 matches drawn. The speed and ability of Torres is our main concern. I've decided to play Cardozo and Gilardino upfront together, because they are both tall and great at heading the ball, because I feel this might be our best chance of opening Liverpool up, as I'm sure they'll play with 2 DMC's, so a physcial presence in height and strength could be important.

The match started with us looking lively, with Cardozo putting a shot from inside the area, only just wide of the post in the 2nd minute. In the 12th minute Ochoa had to make a save from a quite miraculous header from just outside the edge of the area. Ochoa quickly threw the ball to Daeseliere, who pumped the ball over the top into the Liverpool half, where Gilardino was the only outfield player from either team, allowing him to race forward and advanced to the edge of the area before slamming it into the top corner of the net to give us the lead. In the 16th minute Ochoa had to make a good save to deny Benayoun, who was allowed too much space. Sanchez then bizarrely put the ball out for a corner, with no pressure on him at all. The match began to get rather scrappy, with both sides finding it hard to work opportunities to shoot. In the 28th minute Ochoa had to make a great save to deny Benayoun again, who was proving to be the biggest problem for us so far. This seemed to spur Liverpool on, and we became very ragged, with passes going astray, and mistakes being made. In the 39th minute Cardozo had a difficult chance from a tight angle, but as you'd expect, he couldn't beat the keeper at the near post, but won a corner. From the resulting corner Dzsudzsak curled the ball to the far post, where Onyewu beat his marker to the ball and hammered his header over the line to give us a 2 goal lead, and score his first ever goal for the club. Our confidence was now looking very high, and in the 44th minute Cardozo slipped a diagonal pass through for Gilardino to run onto just inside the area, and he absolutely hammered the ball into the back of the net to give us a 3 goal lead, with his 2nd of the match. From the restart Sanchez stole the ball almost immediately and raced down the right hand side, crossed to the far post, where Cardozo got his head to ball, but couldn't direct it out of the reach of the keeper. Just before the whistle blew Jimenez had a header inside the box after great play from Cardozo had set him free, but the keeper was able to hold onto it, bringing the half to an end, with us holding a convincing 3-0 lead.

I was pleased with the players, especially with how we started to play in the last few minutes of the half. I sent the players back out telling them I was pleased, hoping they would go on and see this result out properly. Liverpool came out looking to take the game to us, with most of their players either motivated or fired up. This was causing them some problems though, with them making some heavy tackles. From a free kick in the 49th minute Cardozo fired the ball into the area, where Gilardino got his head to ball, but the shot never looked like beating the keeper. In the 52nd minute I was angry when Agger clearly fouled Sanchez to win the ball back, which allowed Torres to go on a run towards goal. Fortunately his shot was from a tight angle, making it easy for the keeper to push it for a corner. The match started to look as though it might get ugly, with yellow cards starting to fly, with Nasuti gaining a yellow for a dubious looking bodycheck when Torres just ran into the back of him at speed. In the 60th minute Rafa managed to win a header looping the ball over towards the penalty spot, where Gilardino beat the Liverpool defenders to the ball and powered a header into the corner of the net to complete a superb hat-trick. The team were now looking inspired, and looking to completely humiliate Liverpool. In the 71st minute Ochoa saw only his second piece of action of the half, being given a tame header to catch. A minute later Liverpool got a huge slice of luck, with Gerrard hitting a pass into the box, which took a deflection off Nasuti, slowing the ball down, which allowed Torres, who looked offside, to get to the ball and hammer it home. Without that deflection, Ochoa would have had no problem getting to the ball first. In the 74th minute Grenier hit a shot from the edge of the area, which was deflected just wide of the post off a Liverpool defender. Liverpool were now coming at us hard, but there was more controversy to come when Mascherano was sent off for a 2nd bookable offence in the 77th minute, taking them down to 10 men. After that we did a pretty good job of controlling things, allowing us to run out as 4-1 winners.

I was very pleased with this result, and our performance had been excellent. My plan of putting Cardozo and Gilardino upfront had definitely paid off, with them causing no end of problems for the Liverpool defenders. We deserved the win, having outplayed Liverpool for large parts of the match. Gilardino looked superb in this match, always looking for opportunities to score, and working chances for other players, being a most deserving man of the match. Onyewu also put in a fine performance in the centre of defence, to go along with his goal. It's almost a pity that we now head into two week break for international matches, but a rest will be good for some of our players.

Result: 4-1

Chelsea (A) Premier League

After the international break, we travel to take on our fiercest rivals, Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are marginal favourites, despite them having an indifferent start to this season, and only finishing in 8th the previous one. I feel we should be able to take this match, especially after we'd had such a great result against Liverpool.

The match started with one of those miracle long shots, from a Chelsea player, forcing Ochoa to push the ball over the bar in the first minute. The match quickly became quite ugly, with some very hard tackles going in. After the first 5 minutes we started to look much better on the ball, but Chelsea were breaking most of our attacks up with fouls. In the 21st minute we finally got our first real chance with Cardozo getting a shot from inside the area, but couldn't beat the keeper. For no apparent reason we suddenly started playing lots of stupid passes, and putting the ball for silly throw-ins. This allowed Chelsea to get several shots, because we'd suddenly forgotten what a football was. Fortunately after 10 minutes of that, we began to pick up again, the match then became really boring. The only other incident of note was Grenier trying a long shot from 25 yards, but fired it wide of the post. A really dismal half came to an end goalless.

I was very disappointed with our performance, both going forward, and defensively we'd look far too open at times.  I sent the players back out telling them to improve. The players certainly looked more motivated, but only a great save from Ochoa stopped us going behind in the 48th minute when Cassano was allowed to get clear in behind our defence. The match was fairly even, but Chelsea seemed to be able to fire off shots at will, but we were struggling to find any opportunities. We finally got a shot in the 2nd half in the 61st minute with Cardozo getting his head to a cross, but wasted it, by giving the keeper an easy catch. The match kept on like that, with us looking better on the ball, but Chelsea able to create almost all the chances to shoot. In the 73rd minute we created our 2nd shot of the half, with Gilardino heading just over the bar at a corner. I decided it was time to bring Dzsudzsak on, who'd been looking a bit tired after the international matches, so put him on the bench. He looked up for the match straight away, and in the 82nd minute managed to get through to the byeline on the left side and curled the ball to the edge of the 6 yard box, where Cardozo was waiting, and made no mistake this time, heading the ball into the back of the net to give us the lead. Chelsea started to push up the pitch more, looking for an equaliser, which allowed us space going forward, with Gilardino giving the Chelsea keeper catching practice in the 89th minute from a tight angle. A diagonal pass back to Jimenez in the middle of the area, would have been a better choice as he was unmarked. Although Chelsea tried to push forward after we took the lead, they failed to create another shooting chance, allowing us to play out for a narrow 1-0 victory.

I was delighted to get the win over Chelsea, but to be honest it was not a particularly good performance. Dzsudzsuk's appearance near the end seemed to be the catalyst to changing our performance. We'd performed better than Chelsea, apart from in the number of shots, although that was largely down the way the AI teams always seem to try so many more shots from distance, and silly blocked attempts, than my team seem to try. The fans were understandably delighted by our victory over our fiercest rivals, Chelsea. I was delighted when news from other matches came through, with Arsenal only managing a 2-2 draw away to Man City.

Result: 1-0

Rapid Wien (A) Champions League Group E

We travel to the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Wien for our next match in the Champions League. We are marginal favourites for this, and looking at the opposition they shouldn't cause us problems with their pace. Unfortunately we are also in the middle of a heavy run of fixtures, so need to rest some players, but feel the striker pairing of Scocco and Fatih Yucel is very very strong.

We started the match looking lively, passing the ball around very well. In the 7th minute Scocco hit a long shot, which looked to have beaten the keeper, but bounced off the top of the crossbar. In the 9th Fatih Yucel tested the keeper with a header from a Sanchez cross. In the 14th minute our pressure paid off, although it came from a Wien defender slicing a Sanchez cross into the back of the net, to give us the lead. It looks like he was trying to hit it over the bar for a corner. Ochoa was given a simple test straight from the restart. In the 16th minute Scocco supplied a superbly timed ball through into the area, for Fatih Yucel to run onto and he dribbled the ball by the keeper into the back of the net. In the 31st minute Wien hit an astonishing long shot, which brought out a superb save from Ochoa, but I can't believe how the player could hit it that well with Sunny seeming to block him being able to even make a shot. In the 32nd minute Fatih Yucel missed a golden opportunity to extend the lead, hitting his shot straight at the keeper. In the 37th minute Ochoa had to make a good save, when our backline was breached. In the 45th minute Scocco had a shot saved by the keeper, and Jimenez got to the rebound, but saw it deflected just wide of the post for a corner. The half came to an end with us leading 2-0.

I was pleased that we held a 2 goal lead, but a bit worried by how many times we'd allowed a player to get through clear to take on Ochoa, and the number of long shots that were flying about. Fatih Yucel had however caused a lot of problems, only denied more chances by some perfectly timed tackles in the area. I sent the players back out hoping they would play better defensively in the 2nd half. We started confidently with Jimenez getting through one on one with the keeper, but saw the keeper make a great save to deny him. In the 49th minute we nearly fell victims to the set piece instructions bug, at a corner. Fortunately Ochoa was able to save the header. In spite of asking the team to play deeper, we were caught pushing up too high in the 54th minute, but fortunately Ochoa was able to keep the shot out. We were starting to be pressured now, with Ochoa having to save another amazing long shot. In the 56th minute Sanchez got through at the other end, but could only give the keeper an easy catch. In the 59th Sunny headed the ball forward to Scocco at the edge of the area, allowing him to turn and thunder a shot into the goal, giving the keeper no chance. We were still looking a bit vulnerable, with Ochoa again keeping the ball out of our net in the 63rd minute. In the 66th minute the Wien right back Jonas Troest, who'd only been on the pitch 15 minutes, was sent off for a professional foul on Jimenez, which denied him a clear opportunity to get clear on goal. Wien were then suddenly playing expansive football, knocking the ball about in a way they'd not been able to do before they had a player sent off. Ochoa had to make a great save in the 76th minute and another in the 77th. Ochoa had to make another save from a header at a corner, as we seemed unable to stop Wien passing the ball about with precision. After this we managed to restrict them to a few long range efforts, but it looked more like we were the team who were a man down. We managed to see the match out and claim a 3-0 victory.

I was pleased that we'd claimed the win, but disappointed with how we'd been outplayed once we had a one man advantage. Up until that point I was mostly pleased with the performance, but it was only Ochoa that had saved us from conceding on several occassions. In the other match from our group, Lyon beat Porto, which gives us a 5 point lead in the group, and 7 point margin over the 3rd place team. It also means that Porto sit bottom of the group with just 1 point, which is a big surprise.

Result: 3-0

Arsenal (H) Premier League

Our only home match of the month sees us play host to Arsenal, with us slight favourites for the fixture. Arsenal come into this match off the back of a 4-0 victory in the Champions League so have good morale. There is one piece of good news for us, with Walcott out injured.

The match started with us looking lively, and in the 2nd minute Gilardino was set free behind the Arsenal defence, but uncharacteristically fired the ball straight at the keeper, allowing it to be deflected for a corner. In the 11th minute Dzsudzsak fired a cross into the middle of the area, where Cardozo met the ball with his head, but fired it just wide of the post. We were doing very well in the first 25 minutes, but wasting opportunities, with several shots going wide of the target. In the 25th minute our backline just stood like statues as Fabregas burst through onto a throughball, forcing a good save from Ochoa. In the 31st minute there was more frustration with Gilardino getting free on goal again, but his shot was deflected for a corner. The half came to an end with the match goalless.

I was fairly pleased with our display, but very frustrated that we'd not managed to take advantage of any of our excellent chances. I sent the players back out, trying to get them more fired up. In the 50th minute Jimenez struck a shot from the edge of the area, which had clearly beaten the keeper, only to see it hit the crossbar and bounce safe. A minute later we won a free kick just outside the area, which Cardozo fired toward the top corner, which the keeper managed to get to, with the ball falling to Sanchez, but he fired just wide of the opposite post. In the 57th minute Arsenal hit the post from a free kick, with our wall in the wrong place. After about the 70th minute the referee started to give some really dubious fouls against us, which allowed Arsenal to fire a free kick goalward in the 74th minute drawing a great save from Ochoa. The referee was throwing cards around like confetti in bizarre fashion, with a certainly a couple of players from each side being very unlucky, which begged the question why Alex Song of Arsenal was still on the pitch, given he'd made most of the worst tackles. In the 86th minute van Persie fired a shot from 6 yards out, way over the bar, making it look like the match is destined to remain goalless, and that's the way it ended.

I was disappointed that we'd been unable to win this match, because we'd just about been the better team, but failed to put away several excellent chances that I was surprised about. The referee was poor, being so inconsistent. Arsenal's Alex Song should have been off the pitch early in the second half, with both teams having at least one player who could feel angry about the yellow card they received in this match. One of those was given to Rafa, which means he will miss the next domestic match. For the second month in a row, our last league match of the month ends in a 0-0 draw, although at least this match wasn't the awful tedium of the Man City game, though still frustrating. With our poor finishing, I have to be glad that Arsenal were also unable to take their chances either.

Result: 0-0

Watford (A) League Cup Fourth Round

Our last match of the month sees us travel the short distance to Vicarage Road to take on the Hornets. We are clear favourites for this match, but looking to give a number of players a rest, but I still believe we should be able to win this match without too much trouble. Watford have also lost their last two league matches, finding themselves down in 20th place in the Championship, and also several loan players ineligible to play in this match. Their first team keeper is also injured, meaning they have put out a 16 year old keeper, who I feel we should test as much as possible.

The first 15 minutes of the match were utter garbage, with neither team getting anywhere, and Watford seeming to able to chop my players down without any fouls given, but all we needed to do was look at one of their players and a foul was given against us. In the 17th minute though, Grenier managed to get into the area, and was stupidly flattened in the area, when he didn't seem to have a chance of beating the keeper. Fatih Yucel stepped up and hammered the ball into the back of the net. This seemed to settle us, and in the 21st minute Ephraim slipped a ball to Scocco just outside the area, and he rifled it straight into the back of the net. In the 24th minute Fatih Yucel was set free in the area, and made an astonishing miss, firing the ball wide, totally out of character. The referee was annoying me still, not noticing an astonishing dive from a Watford player to gain a free kick, for which Grenier got a totally undeserved warning. In the 31st minute Watford got a head to the ball from a corner, which was cleared off the near post by Varrault. The assistant referee was next to annoy me calling Fatih Yucel offside incorrectly, denying him a chance to run free onto a througball. In the 40th minute Steele, our keeper this match, had to make a save, when a diagonal ball allowed in the Watford left winger. Quite predictably Sunny received a yellow card right near the end of the half which came to an end with us leading 2-0.

I was pleased we held a 2-0 lead, but absolutely fuming over the performance of the match officials. About the only thing they got right was our penalty decision. I sent the players back out hoping they could perform better, because only creating 4 shots in the first half was pretty poor. The 2nd half started in style, with Varrault clearing the ball down the left for Fatih Yucel to run onto, and he produced a superb cross into the box for Scocco to hammer home his second of the match from 12 yards. In the 49th minute we broke forward again with Fatih Yucel on the left, this time he cut inside and was hacked down in the area, to give us our second penalty of the match. Scocco stepped up this time, with a chance to complete his hat-trick, and buried it in the back of the net to his absolute delight. Watford were looking determined to try and get a goal back, but our defending was now looking more assured. Watford were lucky not to have a player sent off in the 56th minute, when Fatih Yucel was brought down just outside the area, for what looked to be a professional foul, but only received a booking. Fatih Yucel tried to test the keeper with the free kick, but a slight deflection helped him to be able to save the ball. In the 67th minute Scocco went down with a potential knee injury after heading a ball, requiring a substitution. The poor decisions were still coming with a Watford player allowed to get one on one with our keeper, but Steele was equal to the job. In the 75th minute Balanta hooked a cross from the left into the area, and Fatih Yucel got his head to the ball and directed it in to the top corner of the net for his 2nd of the game. In the 88th minute Steele had to turn a deflected long shot around the post for a corner. From the resulting corner we conceded, which was very frustrating, because we allowed the shortest player on the pitch with the worst heading ability to score. Also this is a player that hardly ever scores, and yet somehow Onyewu who is a lot taller, with better jumping and heading attributes by a long way missed the ball while standing right in front of him. For some reason he didn't bother to jump, and watched the ball float over his head. From the restart we tried to grab another goal with Cardozo just failing to beat the keeper with a tough chance from within the area. I thought he'd scored in the 2nd minute of added time, but he was offside as the pass came through. The match came to an end with us winning 5-1.

I was very pleased with our second half display, where we looked more lively, creating a lot more chances, with Scocco completing a nice hat-trick, and Fatih Yucel grabbing a 2nd. The performance of the referee really annoyed me, especially in the first half. Unfortunately Scocco twisted his knee which will put him out for a couple of weeks, but at least this season I have plenty of strikers to choose from.

Result: 5-1

Monthly Roundup

Another great month, with some superb victories, in particular the win over Liverpool at Anfield. The no-score draw against Arsenal was the only disappointment, being our second in a row at home, and our only match of the month at Loftus Road. Our victories over Rapid Wien and Watford should restore a lot of confidence back to Scocco and Fatih Yucel. The win over Watford sees us advance to the quarter final stages of the competition. Remarkably only 5 of the 8 teams left in the competition are Premiership teams.

The two wins and a draw, with Arsenal only managing a win and 2 draws, sees us jump above them into first place in the league. I have to be delighted with this position, because it's a marginally better start than we achieved last season at the same stage.

Our two excellent wins away from home in the Champions League now give us a big margin over the other teams. Our position is so commanding that we would guarantee qualification in the next match if we were to win it, and even a draw could be enough, if Lyon fail to win their match against Porto.

My player of the month is easy this time, despite the hat-trick heriocs from Gilardino and Scocco, and fine performances by Fatih Yucel, Puygrenier and Jimenez. There was one player who stood far ahead of the others this month, that being Ochoa, with an average over the 5 matches he played in the month of 7.80, and only conceded 2 goals. He seems to have the ability to make fantastic saves look simple, and it's only when you look at them in a replay that you fully appreciate how good they are. With a keeper this good, it can be easy to not realise just how good a performance they have put in. I believe his agility at 19 is the major key to just how good he is.

We complete the month with one injury, that being a twisted knee for Scocco, which sees him out for about 2 weeks. With the depth of squad we have, this is not a big issue. The next month sees us scheduled for 6 matches, with 4 Premier League fixtures, all of which we have a good chance of winning, the toughest being a trip to Sunderland. We also have a couple of Champions League matches, home to Rapid Wien, and away to Porto to finish the month. I'm confident we will win the first of these matches, and have a good chance of claiming victory over Porto, as they've been very poor so far in the group matches. It would appear to be a much easier month than this one, so I hope that complacency doesn't start to creep into our play.