September 2012 - Keeping Up The Solid Start

I've been very busy the last week, so I couldn't play as much as I'd have liked.

The month starts with coming off the back of our historic win over AC Milan in the European Super Cup. I'm pleased to note that we have no injuries to the first team, with morale on a high, and the atmosphere in the dressing is the best it's been for a long time. We will be playing 6 matches, 4 in the league, a Champions League game, and a League Cup tie.

Leeds (H) Premier League

Leeds travel to Loftus Road in poor spirits having been thrashed in their first 3 league fixtures, by Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. That would have to rate as a nightmare start to the season, with them playing us, the league champions following that. Their only consolation is a good victory over Swindon in their last match in the League Cup 2nd round. This is a match we must surely win, and must be looking to do so comfortably.

The match started with Leeds looking really motivated, trying to close down on us, and pushing us back. It was a bit worrying at the start with Leeds pushing forward, although they only managed one long range blocked shot in the first few minutes. In the 8th minute we finally managed to push forward, with Leeds conceding a free kick just outside the area slightly towards the right hand side of the area. Cardozo stepped up and produced the most stunning curling shot into the near corner of the goal, without the keeper seeming to even move. This really seemed to settle us down properly, and we were pushing forward with much more confidence. In the 15th minute from an attacking throw-in, Laure headed the ball into the middle of the area, where Gilardino ran forward and headed the ball neatly over the keeper to extend our lead. In the 19th minute Leeds gave away a free kick just outside the area, this time towards the left side of the area. Cardozo stepped up and slammed in his second goal of the game, giving the keeper no chance. Leeds were still showing a lot of motivation, and started to push forward, creating their first decent chance in the 28th minute, with them firing a shot over the bar from just inside the area. For some reason after this our passing started to deteriorate, with us suddenly making some really strange passes, which we hadn't been doing before. The rest of the first half pretty much became a pretty horrible affair with fouls everywhere, and Leeds taking the odd long shot that was off target. The half finished with us leading 3-0.

I was pleased that we were leading, having only had 3 shots, and scored with them all. What I didn't understand was why Leeds were suddenly looking so much better, and we'd started to look like we'd forgotten how to play. I sent the players back out, hoping they would take more control of the match in the 2nd half, and make sure Leeds couldn't find a way back into the match. Things looked a bit better from the restart, and in the 47th minute Gilardino got in behind the defence, but saw his shot deflected for a corner by the keeper. In the 50th minute I wanted to kill the referee, when he gave Leeds a penalty, for a foul which should not have been given, with a players Leeds just running straight at the back of Sunny after he'd played the ball. There was no hope of him even getting the ball, and the supposed foul, wasn't even in the area. The penalty was put away, and I was left extremely angry. In the 55th minute Sunny hammered a shot from 25 yards out, which hit the topside of the crossbar, going behind for a goal kick. Sunny seemed desperate to make up for his misfortune, hammering another shot from a similar position, which was deflected for a corner off a Leeds head, in the 59th minute. In the 69th minute Sunny was tripped just on the edge of the area, with a free kick being given. Cardozo stepped up with a chance to complete his hat-trick, but unfortunately found the wall this time. In the 80th minute Ochoa was presented with an easy save. In the 86th minute Ochoa was in action again this time saving a long shot. Leeds continued to push, but we were holding firm, and the match came to an end with us 3-1 victors.

I was pleased we'd achieved a victory, still seething about yet another dodgy penalty decision, this one being far worse than the previous two. I really can't understand why this is happening, because conceding penalties had been very rare for us, and suddenly in 3 of or 4 league matches we'd conceded a penalty, all which were very dubious. This last one was pure fantasy from the referee. Fortunately the result was not affected, but it's getting quite frustrating. What I was delighted with is Cardozo's ability at free kicks, having that attribute at 19 seems to be quite a difference over the 17 which Fatih Yucel has. I was delighted when news of other results came through, finding that Man United and Man City had both been beaten.

Result: 3-1

Sheffield United (A) Premier League

We travel to Bramall Lane to take on the Blades, arriving as favourites. The Blades however are on a high after beating Man City in Manchester, 3-1, with Ched Evans scoring a hat-trick. They definitely pose quite a threat to us, but in our past 4 meetings we have won twice and drawn twice, and I hope we can add another victory.

The match started with us having more possession, but you could see the Blades were trying to close us down. We kept calm moving the ball about well, and in the 5th minute Scocco supplied Gilardino with a superb throughball to get through into the area, and open the scoring with a placed shot into the corner of the net. The Blades were showing a lot of determination, trying to push forward, but our defence was standing up to any pressure, and was allowing us to make breaks up field. In the 16th minute Scocco was put through on the right side. Once he reached the right edge of the box, he turned from his defender who'd caught up, hit the ball back to Sanchez at the edge of the area, who hit a pass straight to Grenier, who was waiting on the edge of the 6 yard box, giving him an easy job of extending our lead. You could see our confidence had grown after this, and we were looking much more in control. In the 26th minute Dzsudzsak hit a corner kick into a crowded box, and Puygrenier was delighted when his header hit the back of the net. The Blades were still not giving up though, and in the 28th minute put a header just over our bar. We were still causing their full backs problems, and looking very dangerous. In the 32nd minute Ochoa had to make his first save of the match, keeping the ball out at the near post. Things were a bit more even after this, with the ball going end to end, with only one shot before the half time whistle, that being an easy catch for Ochoa. The half finished with us leading 3-0.

I was pleased with what I'd seen. Our defending had looked very solid, and we'd put away all our best opportunities of scoring. I sent the players out hoping they would be able to keep this performance going, and not let the opposition have a sniff of getting back into the match. The Blades were certainly intent on getting back into it, putting a header over the bar with just 20 seconds of the half gone. In the 50th minute they put a shot from the edge of the area, just wide of the post. The Blades had changed their left back at half time, and it was soon clear, he just couldn't cope with the pace of Sanchez. The Blades were now piling bodies forward, making life difficult, and in the 63rd our marking failed big time, allowing their slowest striker acres of space to receive the ball and he slammed it home to pull a goal back. We were now giving the ball away far too often, with silly passes. I even shouted for us to retain possession and pass to feet. This didn't seem to make much difference, with us still trying far too many looped passes over the top, and it wasn't as if we were even being closed down as much as earlier in the match. The Blades continued to press, but were stood firm to deny them. The match came to an end with us 3-1 winners.

I was pleased with our first half display, but felt we allowed Sheffield United to come at us too much in the 2nd half, and gave the ball away too often. Fortunately we seem to be very strong at the back, with Ochoa picking up the man of the match award, which surprised me a little, as I didn't feel he'd needed to do that much. I guess a good keeper makes some of these saves look easier than they are. I was glad to see didn't add to the list of penalties conceded in this match. I was delighted when other results filtered through, with Arsenal only managing a draw and Liverpool losing.

Result: 3-1

Porto (H) Champions League Group E

Porto travel to Loftus Road for the first Champions League match in the group stage, with us slight favourites to win. I feel we should be able to win this, but Porto will probably put up a good fight.

The match started as a real battle with both sides having a couple of long shots early on, but off target. In the 10th minute we won a corner, and Dzsudzsak swung the ball into the area, finding Cardozo's head, and he directed the ball straight into the goal to give us the lead. We were starting to look confident now, and in the 12th minute Jimenez struck a shot from the edge of the area, which went behind off the post. In the 21st minute Jimenez had a shot blocked, with the ball dropping to Fatih Yucel, whose shot hit the post, before being put out for a corner. From the corner, it was cleared before being pumped back into the area, where Cardozo had a close range shot saved. In the 27th minute Cardozo launched a shot way over the bar from just in the area. A minute later Ochoa was given a nice easy catch from a shot just inside the area. In the 44th minute Cardozo knocked a pass through into the area, for Dzsudzsak to run onto, and he hammered the ball home to double our lead. The half came to an end with us leading 2-0.

I was very pleased with our performance in the first half, and fully deserved our lead, having restricted Porto very well. I sent the players back out looking for them to see the victory out properly. The half started with the ball going end to end, but not too many chances, with a few long shots not producing anything of note. In the 56th minute Fatih Yucel managed to get clear in the area, but couldn't beat the keeper. Shortly after Fatih Yucel looked to have been fouled in the area, but the referee refused to give a penalty. After that both sides were pushing forward, but we were looking very solid, restricting the chances that Porto had. We were creating only a few chances too, but certainly looked the more likely to score. The match came to an end with us winning 2-0.

Our performance had been very good with us deserving our win. This starts our Champions League campaign with a good start. Dzsudzsak has performed superbly today, grabbing a goal and an assist. The other match in our group had been a 1-1 draw, which is very much to our advantage.

Result: 2-0

Birmingham (H) Premier League

Birmingham arrive at Loftus with us seen as overwhelming favourites to win. We are expected to hammer Birmingham in this match, so I hope we can live up to that expectation.

We started the match looking in control. In the 7th minute Gilardino headed just over the bar. It was clear very early on the referee was being extremely harsh, booking Birmingham striker Benitez, closely followed by Rafa, for their first fouls of the match. This had the look of a match where a red card looks almost certain. In the 13th minute Scocco produced a superb cross from the right, towards the far post, where Gilardino arrived to put away one of the easiest headers ever to give us the lead. For a while the match became more even with both sides pushing forward, but after 25 minutes, we seemed unable to stop Birmingham from getting the ball. Our passing was suddenly awful, Grenier had for no reason become nervous, which I really find odd. In the 27th minute Ochoa had to make a close range save, and in the 31st we just about scrambled a cross out for a corner. That scare seemed to clear our heads, and we began to look more normal again. In the 40th minute Grenier, in spite of his nervousness, managed to put a great throughball into the area, for Gilardino to run onto, and he placed the ball into the back of the net, to grab his second goal of the game. The first half came to an end with us leading 2-0.

I was pleased with our performance on the whole, and we'd caused the Birmingham defence plenty of problems, and scored twice. I sent the players back wanting them to keep this performance going. Birmingham have a lot of determination, according to our scouts a lot more than us, and sure enough they started to come at us. In the 51st minute they hit the crossbar from a header. Our passing had become all erratic again, doing some very silly things. I shouted for us to pass to feet, this seemed to sort out our passing problems. In the 59th minute Gilardino appeared to be fouled in the area, first being pushed in the back, and then being squashed between two defenders, the referee was not interested in giving us a penalty. For the 2nd game in a row we were denied what appeared to be a certain penalty, with this one appearing a certainty. In the 61st minute Ochoa had to make another save, which was quite comfortable. In the 63rd minute Ochoa had to make another good save, deflecting a shot just wide for a corner. Birmingham scored from the corner.

A whinge break here. No matter how I try to setup up defending at a corner, the players do not mark the correct members of the opposition. I have a number of our tallest and best headers of the ball set to mark the tall players, and some others to mark the shorter, but it's always a total mess. I now understand why defending corners is so hard. I think this happened in the last patch, when I noticed us consistently having trouble defending corners. This appears to be an acknowledged bug, so hopefully will be fixed in the next patch.

We started to push forward after this, keeping Birmingham camped in their own half for the next 15 minutes. After that Birmingham managed to make some moves forward, but we were defending extremely well against the crosses and throughballs, to make sure they didn't get a chance. The match finished with us running out as 2-1 victors.

Given how we'd controlled the match so well at times, it's a little disappointing that we didn't win by a bigger margin. Before the first goal went in, it was clear that Birmingham had come intent on playing for a draw, with them trying to waste time in the few minutes. I was however reasonably pleased with the performance, and hopefully when SI manage to resolve the positions of players at setup pieces, we won't concede so many times from corners. Even if we'd had the right player marking, we might still have conceded, but at least I wouldn't feel so unhappy about it. The penalty situation is getting really bizarre right now. It seems at the moment that no referee wants to give us a penalty, but will give them against us at the drop of a hat. It's frustrating, but it happens in real life too.

Result: 2-1

Nottingham Forest (A) League Cup 3rd Round

We arrive at the City Ground as clear favourites to take the win. As our next match against Man City is only 4 days away I've decided to give a lot of my key players a rest. Our quality in depth should be more than enough to see us overcome Forest.

We started the match pushing forward, and were camped in the Forest half for the first 6 minutes. In the 6th minute we had another shout for a penalty turned down. We continued to dominate, with Fatih Yucel putting a shot from just outisde the area wide of the post in the 15th minute, and Grenier did the same in the 19th. In the 24th minute I thought Fatih Yucel had given us the lead with a header from the corner, but this was disallowed for a foul, but can't see the foul in the replays. In the 30th minute Ephraim had a chance from a header, but could only direct it at the keeper. A minute later Grenier put a header just over the bar from a free kick. In the 33rd minute the Forest keeper produced a superb diving save to deny Grenier, who'd made a great run into the area. We continued to dominate with Cardozo having a close range header saved in the 42nd minute. The half came to an end with the match goalless.

We absolutely dominated the first half, but somehow we had not managed to score, with a couple of very dubious decisions going against us. I sent the players back out, really hoping we could start to put the ball in back of the net. In the first minute of the 2nd half, Forest had their first real shot of the match, with Steele having to make a good save. When Sunny got booked after a Forest player just blatantly ran into the back of him to claim a dodgy foul, I began to worry. In the 48th minute Fatih Yucel put another header just over the bar. In the 54th minute Ephraim was put through on goal, but again the Forest keeper who was being a superhero today denied him, and then saved Onyewu's header from the resulting corner. In the 57th minute Forest put a shot just wide of our post. In the 60th minute Curri hit a cross into the area, where Cardozo got his head to the ball and finally managed to put the ball in the net to open the scoring. We continued to press forward, and in the 65th minute Fatih Yucel swung a cross into the area, and Cardozo again put the ball in the net, but was adjudged to have fouled someone getting to the ball, which again looked very dubious. Apparently he pushed the keeper, which is a very poor decision, because he'd headed the ball before he even reached the keeper. In the 69th minute Grenier made another great run into the area, but again the keeper was able to make the save. In the 72nd minute with Sanchez only a few minutes on the pitch he had a close range shot saved by the keeper, and Grenier's follow-up was deflected for a corner. In the 89th minute Cardozo swung a free kick from the left into the area, where Puygrenier hit the bar with his header. Dzsudzsak managed to react quickest to get forward and head the ball into the goal, which this time was allowed. From the restart Forest raced forward and hit the crossbar with a long shot. The match came to an end with us winning 2-0.

I was very pleased with our performance in this deserved win, but wondering how it was that we'd not won this match by a larger margin. It was also a great sign we'd not been complacent in this match, looking to dominate as much as possible the whole way through the match. There were two big scalps that fell in this round, with Arsenal and Man United going out, with 4 other Premiership clubs also being beaten.

Result: 2-0

In the days following the match, the draw for the fourth round took place, with us drawn away to another Championship side, this time against Watford.

Manchester City (H) Premier League

The Citizens arrive at Loftus Road having had a mixed start to the season, already losing a couple of matches they would expect to have won. We are clear favourites for this match, having won all but one of our previous 6 meetings.

The match started as battle with both teams largely cancelling each other out. The first shot came in the 8th minute with Tevez blasting a long shot way over the bar. The next incident of note came in the 29th minute with Ochoa making a great diving save to push a long shot for a corner. In the 35th minute Gilardino looked to be getting free of the defence, but was brought down by Lescott, who received a yellow card. It was a little disappointing to be denied what could have been a clear chance. In the 37th minute Jimenez put a shot from just outside the area just wide of the post. A really dismal first half came to an end with the match goalless.

I was disappointed with our display, we'd only created one really good chance, and that was denied us by a foul. I sent the players back out telling them to do better in the second half. The second half started with Man City giving Ochoa catching practice with a header in the first minute of the restart. City were looking the more dangerous side at this point, which was very disappointing. The next moment of interest, in what was turning out to be terrible match, was in the 57th minute when Gilardino blasted a shot from within the area, wide of the post. We finally began to wake up a bit after this, but it was still not a good match to watch. Both defences were looking so solid, it was really killing the match. In the 69th minute Gilardino managed to get clear, and tried to shoot from just outside the area, but his shot was pushed for a corner by a good save. Gilardino was now starting to cause problems for the City defence, and in the 71st minute got free in the area, only to see another fine save keep his shot out. The next incident of note came in the 79th minute with Kolo Toure being sent off for a 2nd bookable offence. With the one man advantage we pressed forward, but could only manage a couple of tame efforts both of which were easy for the keeper to save. The match ended goalless.

This was a really awful match to watch, with the defence of both sides dominating proceedings, with shots a rarity. A draw was a pretty fair result, although I still feel we should have stolen the 3 points with one of our few good chances. This is the first time we've played out a goalless draw with City. Both teams just seemed to lack enough penetration in the final third of the pitch.

Result: 0-0

Monthly Roundup

This was another good month for us, remaining unbeaten, and putting in some good wins. The draw against Man City was however disappointing, mostly because of how poor the match was, especially as we were playing at home.

The 3 wins and a draw in the league sees us move into 2nd place with Arsenal ahead of us on goal difference. I'm very happy with the start, as it's given us a solid base to work from. The chasing pack are potentially closer than it appears, due to several teams having games in hand. Everton have played 3 matches less than us, so could face some problems over the next few months with fixture congestion, especially as they are plaing in the EURO Cup group matches.

Our victory over Porto, and the 1-1 draw between the other teams in the group, means we currently hold a clear lead. I feel our matches against Lyon will be the key to us qualifying, as I fully expect us to beat Rapid Wien without any problem.

Our form in the league has seen me take the manager of the month award again, although it's unclear why I've been placed ahead of Arsene Wenger. There were several contenders for my player of the month, with Cardozo and Gilardino both scoring 4 goals. However there was one player to stand out ahead of everyone else, Balazs Dzsudzsak, who scored 2 goals and provided 3 assists. The month is completed with no injuries to any of our first team members, which is great news.

Next month sees us scheduled for 6 fixtures, with 3 league matches, 2 Champions League encounters, both away matches to Lyon and Rapid Wien. We will also be away to Watford in the fourth round of the League Cup. The 3 league fixtures are all very tricky, being away to Liverpool and Chelsea, and a home match against Arsenal.